Pat2021

Thank you Both, that's what I figured but wanted to confirm!

Hi All,

My wife and I recently bought a property but before we move there's some work that needs to be done - so it will be around a month or so before we move over there permanently.

Now I know we need to notify USCIS of a "change of address" within 10 days. Is there any specific information as what they consider "change of address"?

We already received mail over at the new property (mostly just spam, but also home-insurance docs and utilities) but currently we still reside (and have our bank accounts etc.) at our original address.

Do we need to let USCIS know now or only once we physically relocate?

Thank you in advance.

Thank you all again, very good insights here. My degree, and work experience, is from the UK, from one of the top universities (Ivy league equivalent) so should be accepted here without too many issues.

The idea with temp jobs might not be a bad one - how / what is the best way to look for them? Indeed and LinkedIn don't seem to list them from what I've seen.

18 hours ago, Pinkrlion said:

Post your resume on indeed.com and Linkein .com

 

You will see an increase in referrals. 

I did that, but so far nothing. No one even looked at my LinkedIn profile within the last two months...

14 hours ago, millefleur said:

Really recommend working with a recruiter. You can try to message them yourself on LinkedIn, there are so many out there. There might also be recruiters/staffing agencies in your city you can contact.

I used the LinkedIn Premium Trial to message a few, but not one has read my message or even looked on my profile. I'll look into recruiting agencies though, thank you.

I also tried applying / looking for internships, but at least around LA they require you to be enrolled in a university program and have proof of such.

Thank you everyone for those suggestions and ideas. I'll take them into account and let you know how it goes

17 minutes ago, Timona said:

You're looking for BIG companies? Good luck. They bleed you to death. I will not entertain any calls from FB, Apple, Tesla. As soon as I hear one of them, I tell them flat NO..

 

Some people,  however, get tickled by big companies and only want to work for such. Having worked a few years of my career, I only do small or medium companies. Better pay, flexible hours and I do whatever I want, as long as you get the job done. 

I do agree with that, however I am applying across the spectrum, from tiny companies all the way to giants like Boeing. Just to get in somewhere, after that I'll have more leverage (and at least income).

39 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

have u thought about going back to college

California has some great offers for honing in your skills 

 

Who qualifies for free college tuition in California?

 

California residents or nonresidents under the California Dream Act may be eligible for the California College Promise Grant if they: Demonstrate financial need. Complete a FAFSA or California Dream Act application. Maintain at least a 2.0 GPA.

 

And this:

 

Do California residents get free college tuition

my add from resources online  (i believe this one requires 366 days residency the state)

 

Free college isn't a new idea in California: The state's Promise program gives full-time students at some colleges scholarships to cover tuition, and students with a low-enough income can also apply to have their fees waived.Sep 8, 2022

Hmm fair enough but the only degrees above what I have would be MBA or PhD, both of which I don't believe would qualify for this?

Thank you both for the good advice. The ideas, especially #2 sounds very good. For #1 I've noticed for the big companies it's usually "faceless" and difficult to find out who department head / hiring manager is.

For city, I live near LA, so looking for jobs in LA, there's no shortage of postings thankfully.

20 minutes ago, powerpuff said:

What I suggest doing is at the top of the resume write a short sentence stating “authorized to work in the US - Lawful Permanent Resident”

Most companies I've applied for ask for that during the automatic profile creation thing, but I can double-down on the resume if that's helpful.

I immigrated at the beginning of the year to the US on IR1 and have since been looking for work. However, so far, after 2 months of trying, I have not had a single call-back, job interview, or even invite. Just a few rejections and mostly radio silence.

I've finished an MEng degree, which doesn't seem to be known here, so wondering if that's an issue? I also have 3.5 years of work experience, but with nearly a year gap due to COVID lay-offs in 2020/21 and then I quit my job in Dec. 2022 to move to the US and no work since - is that an issue?

Furthermore, the jobs I had, I was being rotated through various departments on an as-needed basis, so I don't have technical skills in a specific area but rather a wide variety of skills in lots of areas.

I did look at how to tailor resumes for the US market, how to apply, and had my resume looked at by multiple people that said it's strong, but even so, nothing as of yet.

I am wondering if either the MEng or the gaps are red flags and if so how can I overcome them?

From what I've seen MEng is pretty much equivalent to MS, just more engineering focused, so when the online portal only lets me choose between BS, MS and PhD, I choose MS.

I've seen it's now a numbers game, and I'm applying to a big number of jobs, so that should not be it. Could it also be that recruiters think my resume is fake, as the companies on it are based in the UK?

On 2/22/2023 at 7:19 AM, Mike E said:

Did it really  ask if your were an LPR? What was the specific term it used?

 

 I filed joint taxes for tax year 2019, and don’t recall   TurboTax.com asking me if my wife was an LPR. 
 

Perhaps you were asked if you were a “resident alien”. That’s now a different thing from an LPR.  To the IRS and USCIS “resident alien” mean different things. 

I don't remember the exact wording as we've now filed MFS for her and not filed for me, using TaxAct. Seemed more straightforward than TurboTax. Going to file for me next year. It could've been "resident alien".

1 hour ago, top_secret said:

She might have several other arguments that she was not a California resident too.  The wise move for most is to cut ties to California State if moving overseas.  Lots of people get a virtual mailbox in a tax free state to maintain a US address and presence for banking, voting, drivers license etc. that is NOT in California . 

Thank you. Yeah, hindsight is 20/20 as they say, originally she just went to the UK to study, didn't expect to have a job there. Oh well. She's (we're) now back in CA, so for 2023 definitely have to file state taxes!

4 minutes ago, top_secret said:

OK, I get it.  Yea, the safe harbor rule would apply.  She shouldn't file a CA return.

Ah that's good, I wasn't sure if safe harbor only applies if the work is from a US company that sends you abroad, or also from living abroad and getting a job there through a local employer / company.

So looks like she's in the clear, both safe harbor wise and income wise

2 minutes ago, top_secret said:

 

She was domiciled in California, but a resident abroad last year?  Or she moved back to the US from her UK residence and presumably UK domicile  sometime during 2022?

She was a resident of the UK from 2017 to 2023 (moved back Jan '23), but domiciled in CA. It seems in CA it is nearly impossible to sever ties, so you're always domiciled unless you take specific actions (moving to other states for example) before leaving to go abroad. As she was registered to vote, had driving license, bank accounts, etc. all in CA.

44 minutes ago, top_secret said:

 

Was your wife a resident of California at all last year or have any California income?  If she was a UK resident, it would seem she was not a California resident so therefore wouldn't even need to file a CA tax return. If she was a California resident for part of 2022 she might owe CA taxes on worldwide she earned while a CA resident, but it seems unlikely she would have UK income during her CA residency.

Yeah it seems CA is one of those states that requires you to file state taxes even if you are a resident abroad, as long as you are domiciled in CA which she is / was.

However, looking at the income on https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/residency-status/index.html, the income was below the requirement to file, so I think we're in the clear by not filing?

We just filed the federal ones as MFS though, and next year we'll switch to MFJ for 2023, which makes sense. Then I can wait until we submit the return for 2025 and file N400 then

2 minutes ago, Ayrton said:

You can still elect to be treated at resident alien for the whole year in order to file jointly.

 

" if you are a nonresident alien married to a U.S. citizen or resident alien, and you and your spouse make an election for you to be treated as a resident alien for the entire calendar year"

 

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc851

Thank you, but there doesn't seem to be any benefit in doing so, as the income is below any tax threshold anyway.

16 hours ago, Ayrton said:

Does Turbo Tax asks you if you are a LPR or if you are a resident? In order to file jointly, you must be considered a resident for tax purposes, that's not the same as being a Permanent Resident per USCIS. The tax form doesn't ask what your immigration status is, that's why it's odd if they are asking if you are a LPR. If they are asking if you are a resident, you can say yes (as you elect to be treated as a resident for tax purposes). I'm not sure if turbo tax have that, but usually that choice is made by signing a letter asking to be treated as a resident.

Yeah that's probably it, last year I was not a resident, neither for tax purposes nor an LPR. So MFS it is!

Thank you both. I think for simplicity we'll file MFS. Playing with TaxAct now, and the Federal return looks good - same as last year's.

But CA apparently does not allow to exclude foreign income so it's telling me my spouse owes CA $$$.

However, apparently there is a "safe harbor" rule if you've been out of the country for 570 days. Which my spouse has been (UK resident since 2017). But I don't see how / where to enter this on the website.

Anyone able to help? I don't want to E-File wrong and have to pay. Thank you.

Hi, so I moved to the US on IR1 Visa on the 11th of Jan 2023.

Before that my wife and I lived and worked in the UK.

My wife always filed as married, filing separately, as I didn't have ITIN / SSN / Green Card.

She always claimed foreign income exclusion, as her income was from UK employer and she paid taxes there.

She's done that with a CPA through her parents.

Now, since we want to "take matters into our own hands", I started filing taxes using TurboTax, as that seems to be the recommended place to file both State (CA) and Federal taxes for "newbies".

Trying to fill this out, we thought going down the married filing jointly route - is that correct? Even though I was not a LPR nor had an SSN in 2022?

If so, we've come to a weird TurboTax thing - the foreign income for her she can exclude no problem.

For me, it asks if I'm US Citizen - No, so then it asks if I was LPR in 2022 - again No. 

It then says "since XXX was a nonresident Alien in 2022, XXX must file form 1040NR, ..., unless XXX was married to a US Resident" (now the last part is a Yes).

"We don't include form 1040NR on TurboTax".

It then tells us that we owe quite a bit in taxes - because my foreign income did not get excluded. However, I believe this to be incorrect as a foreigner with no green card in 2022 I don't owe the IRS anything, right?

So my question is - should we proceed with this, and file this form 1040NR somehow separately, or is it not worth the hassle and for 2022 she should still file as married filing separately and I'll only start filing for 2023, the year I actually became resident?

If the latter, will this provide a hurdle for N400 3-year rule down the line?

What does VJ recommend?

Thank you!

Just spoke to a DMV agent and they said all permanent residents, regardless of expiration date, have to have "limited-term" printed on it. Maybe it's a new thing to be real-id compliant?

5 hours ago, BahamaBaby said:

@Pat2021 thanks for sharing your timeline! Is the address something you can choose when paying the IV fee or does it go to the address you nominate during the interview at the consulate? Did you need to sign for card on delivery? 

They asked me to confirm the address during my interview and then once again during immigration. You should also be able to change it at any time via AR11 before card gets dispatched.

As to the delivery, it was just standard USPS mail into the mailbox, no signature or anything like that.

48 minutes ago, top_secret said:

 

That is probably a mistake and is not due the one year stamp in your passport.  "Limited Term" is for someone who has an I-94 with a "depart by" date.  Permanent Residents are..... "permanent".  My wife got her CA license with her endorsed CR-1 Visa and it is full term.   If I were betting, I'd guess some not so bright DMV worker does not know the difference between an endorsed IR-1 visa which IS a green card, and a B2 or any other type of visa.  As for the legal implications?   If it's valid it's valid I guess.  I can't think of where specifically it would be an issue.  You probably should get DMV to fix it but I bet if you do it goes to the "legal presence unit" in Sacramento for like 3 or 4 months to fix the first agents mistake.   Getting a Real ID drivers license would definitely fix the limited term issue but you would end up paying the $30 fee again unless you win a dispute with DMV.  Welcome to California and our fantastic DMV experience.

Great, thank you

It is already a Real-ID, I made sure to apply as Real-ID, so that won't change anything...

I'm wondering maybe because my birthday was in Dec., so the expiration date is Dec. 2027, so maybe that's why it's "limited-term"?\

Otherwise, can I just leave it until Dec. 2027 and then when renewal comes around hopefully they'll fix?

My timeline:

• 21 November 2022 - Paid IV fees
• 11 January 2023 - Entered via LAX
• 2 February 2023 - Card is being produced
• 6 February 2023 - Card is being mailed / USPS picked it up
• 9 February 2023 - Received Card in the mail

Seems they're speeding up green card production 🙂

I just got my physical driver's license in the mail and under Class: C it states "Limited-Term" - I found online that you usually get this when your Visa expires before your DL.

But I came here on an IR1 Visa, so ten years. Should be full term then?
Is it maybe because when I applied I did not have the physical green card and used the 1 year IR1 stamp in my passport?

Is it something that needs "fixing" or can I leave it as is until renewal time in 5 years?

Thank you

45 minutes ago, mam521 said:

What's stopping you from getting your driving history from Austria?  Insurance and driving history aren't the same thing.  I had to get both myself when I moved to the US.  

 

Get an insurance broker to shop rates for you.  Our broker has saved us thousands.  She does the shopping, picks the best policies, presents them to us with the differences and we choose.  Saves the headache of navigating different companies and then getting spammed for forever and ever, despite not purchasing their policy!  

Austria does not really maintain a driving license record that much, as the car is insured, not the person, and all citations go through the police. So if anything, they would be recorded on a police certificate, which I have due to the visa, but when I offered it to AAA they said they won't take a police certificate, it has to be from a driving magistrate...

All in all it seems like AAA is just being crappy, so yeah, I think I'm going with another insurance for myself.

Thank you everyone.

1 minute ago, AW1704 said:

Woof. That just seems silly. I’m sure they think they have statistics and stuff to support the policy but on the face of it I just don’t get it. You have so much more experience than a new driver. I also don’t know how it can be legal to discriminate against you based on your nationality, but I am no lawyer. 

 

In any case, good luck getting it sorted. Rest assured there are a million insurance companies in the US who would be only too happy to have you as a customer!  

Thank you, yeah it seemed dumb. Even the insurance agent stated he'd rather me drive with ten years experience rather than some of the people he insured previously.

But then again, he also stated that I should just drive the car if I need to go somewhere, as its a "legal grey area and there are plenty of uninsured drivers anyway"...

25 minutes ago, AW1704 said:

I would second this. Do they just not insure any new drivers til 18 months post licensing? Doesn’t seem to add up. 

Yeah, we quadruple checked with them. They expect new drivers to be under 25, and then they can be added as "permissible driver" for a year and then be added as a permanent driver.

Over 25, they don't insure unless you've had your license for over 12 months, or 18 if you're a foreigner. Which seems ridiculous to me but that's what they said over and over and even a supervisor concurred.

So probably I'm going to "buy" one of the two cars and just take out an insurance in my name. I already found Progressive for example has no issue with my foreign license or how long I've held my CA license. AAA just seems incompetent.