Liam and Sam

Is one for the I-765 (EAD)?

We received one for the I-485 (AOS) and the other for the I-765 (EAD) so whether it is normal or not, it happens...

Yes it looks like the second one is for the I-765... does that mean we have to go to both? Or can we just get it done the first time and show them the second notice too... they are only 3 days apart.

I've received 2 appointments for biometrics for two different days... is this normal?

Thanks for the responses. Liam and Sam if it makes any difference I have the AOS/AP/EAD but no biometrics appointment so it could always be worse!

Ours arrived pretty fast. I'm sure yours is just around the corner!!

Is anybody having luck viewing their case status on the USCIS website? I used the receipt number from the NOA1 AOS and it doesn't work. It says "Your case can not be found at this time in Case Status Online. Please check your receipt number and try again. If you need further assistance please call the National Customer Service Center at 1.800.375.5283."

We sent 2 checks (80 & 930) and they both have different MSC numbers on the back of them. Only one of those numbers matched up to one of the NOAs received... maybe the other number is the missing EAD NOA.. Ha.

Haven't been successful viewing our case status online either. From what I've been reading a lot of people see it online after they've had their biometrics appointment. Ours is March 4th so I'm hoping that fixes things.

We received an NOA for AOS and AP but nothing yet for the EAD - ... first foot into the process and already starting to have nightmares about possible problems.

i hope you get this resolved. keep us posted with what happens.

Received our Biometrics appointment letter for March 4th. I wonder if I can ask them to look and make sure the EAD is being processed. I have no idea if they would even have access to that information.

We received an NOA for AOS and AP but nothing yet for the EAD - ... first foot into the process and already starting to have nightmares about possible problems.

Ok, so we received the NOA1 for the AOS and AP but nothing for the EAD. Looking through everyone's timelines it seems like all 3 arrived at the same time. I am crossing my fingers that the final notice arrives in a day or two.. but should I be worried or contact USCIS if I don't receive an NOA1 for the EAD by the end of this month?

I finally found you guys! Knew there would be a Feb 09 thread somewhere around here..

Can anyone tell me if you need to fill out a special exemption form if you choose not to include your spouse on your taxes this year? I've put my husband as an exemption as he has earned no US income, is no one else's dependent, and will not be filing a tax return for 2008. I just want to make sure that I don't need to fill out a different special form stating that he is not filing this year... I looked at Form 8843 but it seems like it's only for teachers, students, athletes etc..

How did you include your husband as an exemption? He can only be on the form when you file MFJ, he cannot be listed as a dependent. If you did file MFJ, then he has filed (since MFJ is both of you filing). Did he have foreign income? Filing MFJ will most likely reduce your tax burden. Additionally, if you wait to file until he has his SSN, then he can receive the Recovery Tax Rebate (up to $600) if he didn't receive it last year.

From what I read, you are allowed to put your husband as an exemption (not a dependent - they are two different things) as long as they meet 3 criteria. It was too complicated to have us file joint and I'd rather exclude his overseas income because the exclusion amount calculated wouldn't cover his foreign income. So it was more beneficial for us to do separate. Still though, I just want to make sure he doesn't have to do a special form saying he was exempt from taxes for 2008...

Reading the instructions for form 8843, it appears to be to exclude days of presence to get to a lower number (so as to not meet the 183 days of presence that would make the USA a nonresident alien's "tax home"). So it would basically be to avoid being considered as a resident. Your husband was not in the USA more than 183 days, so the form would not apply (this would impact athletes, students, teachers, etc. who come here to work, but don't really "reside" in the USA).

Thank you for clarifying!! I just put a note in with my return saying that my husband had no income for US tax purposes in 2008, not any other taxpayer's dependent and that I'd be taking him as an exemption. I haven't found any information stating that he has to file any other paperwork so we'll just leave it as is and send in my MFS return only. Crossing my fingers that this is right! Next year will be so much easier..

Can anyone tell me if you need to fill out a special exemption form if you choose not to include your spouse on your taxes this year? I've put my husband as an exemption as he has earned no US income, is no one else's dependent, and will not be filing a tax return for 2008. I just want to make sure that I don't need to fill out a different special form stating that he is not filing this year... I looked at Form 8843 but it seems like it's only for teachers, students, athletes etc..

How did you include your husband as an exemption? He can only be on the form when you file MFJ, he cannot be listed as a dependent. If you did file MFJ, then he has filed (since MFJ is both of you filing). Did he have foreign income? Filing MFJ will most likely reduce your tax burden. Additionally, if you wait to file until he has his SSN, then he can receive the Recovery Tax Rebate (up to $600) if he didn't receive it last year.

From what I read, you are allowed to put your husband as an exemption (not a dependent - they are two different things) as long as they meet 3 criteria. It was too complicated to have us file joint and I'd rather exclude his overseas income because the exclusion amount calculated wouldn't cover his foreign income. So it was more beneficial for us to do separate. Still though, I just want to make sure he doesn't have to do a special form saying he was exempt from taxes for 2008...

Can anyone tell me if you need to fill out a special exemption form if you choose not to include your spouse on your taxes this year? I've put my husband as an exemption as he has earned no US income, is no one else's dependent, and will not be filing a tax return for 2008. I just want to make sure that I don't need to fill out a different special form stating that he is not filing this year... I looked at Form 8843 but it seems like it's only for teachers, students, athletes etc..

If someone decides that filing married separate/non resident alien for tax purposes is best for their situation and the fiance made absolutely NO US income in 2008 - they fill nothing out right?

In order to claim him as an exclusion I have to mark that he will not be filing a US tax return. But I don't have to do any special papers on the side saying he has no income right?

According to Form 2555, to meet the bona fide test . . .

A U.S. resident alien who is a citizen or national of a country with which the United States has an income tax treaty in effect and who is a bona fide resident of a foreign country, or countries, for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year (January 1–December 31, if you file a calendar year return). See Pub. 901, U.S. Tax Treaties, for a list of countries with which the United States has an income tax treaty in effect.

Svetlana arrived in the USA in October. Thus, she was not a bona fide resident of Russia "for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year."

So how can anyone who arrived in the USA in 2008 meet this test? What am I missing?

As far as I know - if she lived in Russia her whole life before migrating to the US then she was a bona fide resident of Russia. the "uinterrupted period" includes years before 2008, not just 2008 alone.

Ok, I've already run into my first question... On TurboTax - when you enter in Wages - I'm putting down the Gross salary right. How about Box 2 - Federal Income Tax withheld. My fiance paid Australian income taxes on that gross salary - so do I put that value in box 2? Or are they only talking about US federal income withheld...

I bought the program because I like to do a bunch of different scenarios and be able to go from one to another. And I also do my ex in-laws taxes for them. So owning the software is what I personally prefer. I only bought the Basic ($29.88) version because I don't itemize or need the extra deduction help included with the next level.

TurboTax was a little confusing to me until I figured out I had to pretend my husband had a W2 in the income part of the "interview". I skipped that part at first because he didn't have a W2, thinking his income would be put in using the Foreign Income part. All it did was take his off my income. The refund was almost $10K and I knew that wasn't right. So I had to go back and search around to see how to show his income on line 7 before it took it off on line 21. That's when I dicovered the whole substitute W2 which you can mark as foreign income.

You can read about the stocks in that Publication 519. It goes into all the types of income. I didn't read all those since Nick only had salary. Considering it was a loss rather than a capital gain, it probably wouldn't fit into a taxable category. But read the publication. I found reading the tax info from the IRS in detail gave me a good idea of what to expect in Turbo Tax. For instance I realized his income wasn't in line 7, but was deducted in Line 21 so I must have skipped a critical step. I had aleady read about being a bonafide resident of another country, so when those types of questions were posed by TurboTax, I knew how to answer.

If you get stuck on Turbo Tax, just PM me if you want to know what I did. Not claiming to be a tax expert, but I spent days reading and re-reading and highlighting relevant parts of lots of IRS published material until I felt I understood how I was going to proceed. And I've done my own taxes for decades, by hand before computer programs, so I'm somewhat used to IRS-speak. LOL. Maybe I should try to get paid for doing this...hahaha.

I just learn and focus on whatever is my situation at the time. A few years back I was super knowledgeable about Estate returns and deceased taxpayers. Now it's aliens. Next year will be way easier.

Thanks so much for the info. I was reading through a couple of the other forums that you posted and you have some really good information. I tried to figure this all out quite a while back but there are soooo many options! The Australian tax year being something like June-July doesn't make it any easier. I am about to try and find out what average to use for the exchange rate - the Australian dollar fell apart right after he arrived in the US... I'd rather use a crappier exchange rate because I don't want to go over that exclusion limit. Ahh!! Heading over to TurboTax now...

Does anyone have any idea what to do if your fiance had stocks in a foreign country (through their previous employer there)? We decided to get rid of them last March and no Australian taxes were applied because they were sold for less than he bought them for... and their tax year is a bit different than the US so technically he's already paid taxes on his income for part of 2008. Should we just ignore that part of things (considering they were sold for less than bought) and just count regular income he made through salary?

I would really like to file married and joint for a better chance of a refund but don't want to run into any problems because of the stocks. This is such a mess..

Oh and a BIG thank you to Nich-Nick for answering all of those questions - they were exactly what I was looking for. Did you do Turbo-Tax online or actually go out and buy the program?

Marco had his AOS approved yesterday!

Congrats!! That is so exciting that you're done with immigration for a while.

God bless and good luck to all the VJ Texans

Thanks! It's a bit windy right now, but nothing else yet where we are in NW Houston. We'll use Internet for as long as we have power!

Just about to move my computer away from the windows. I live in an apartment complex and the first thing they did was send around a note saying - you are responsible and will pay for any damage you do to the structure by putting up plywood.

Oh how nice that they are concerned with our safety. Hope all Galveston residents had the opportunity to leave. I can't believe the people who are still hanging out down there. It's getting a bit windy and dark on this end. No rain yet though.

We're on the north side of Houston, not in a mandatory evacuation area, so we're staying put. It's my first experience of hurricane season and part of me is scared and the other part is hoping it could just be fun to "camp out at home" for a few days! Anyone else in Houston? Anyone in the mandatory evacuation area? Just curious...

Stay safe, all!

I'm in Houston too - the Northwest side up near Cypress. I'm 100 miles from the coast and they're still predicting some pretty incredible wind/rain for us.. My fiance arrives in two weeks; hopefully there is something left to see when he gets here. Stay safe and don't forget to fill your bathtub with water before this thing gets in and takes the power out.

Congrats to you and be safe!!!

Aww, thank you .

It's strange but getting married is making me feel so selfish with regards to this storm. We're glued to the hurrican tracker on our local news website, hoping it will take a turn and hit Florida instead of spoiling our beach wedding! If the worst comes to the worst, we can put it off for a few days as our JP is willing to do that for us, or to do it in another location that same day.

If you go to Weather Underground the predictions all include Texas for some rain. I think that's a given. So it's good that your JP is accomodating. There is no way to do Monday morning or earlier instead?? Sending good thoughts your way; be safe!!

We are still here. I am still obsessed with VJ and check it several times a day.

How is everyone doing?

Im good should have ssc next week, so can start to get organised.

Sal and Jay: when you turned in your AOS stuff - did you have your vaccination sheet transcribed by a Civil Surgeon??

Liam doesn't get here for another 30 days - I am envious of you all! Hope all is going well and you're having nice first impressions of living in the US.

I am from Ontario Canada and am moving to Nacogdoches when I get my Visa. Are there lots of differences between Ontario and Texas driving? I've driven in Texas a lot and haven't noticed any yet.

A lot less snow...

Alot more pickem up trucks...

lol thanks for the replies...I kinda meant are there any legal differences. Like are you not allowed to turn right on a red light and stuff like that.

I'm in Houston and I don't think there is anything too major to worry about. You can turn right on a red light but beware of cameras they've set up for those who don't make a full stop. I can't think of anything that would really be that different.

Hi,

I (USC) got married last August to a Japanese citizen in Japan (where we currently reside). My wife lived in the U.S. about 5 years ago as a student so she has a social security number. Currently, we are beginning to apply for an immigrant visa by DCF in Tokyo. Our I-130 submission is scheduled for April 23rd. Anyway, I have already submitted my 2007 tax forms, but after reading some things on this forum, I am not sure I filed my wife's status properly. Since she is not a U.S. citizen and she does not currently reside in the U.S., I listed my status as married but filing separately. However, my wife has no U.S. income, is not a U.S. citizen, and has no visa, so she is not going to submit a tax return. Now, I am worried whether I checked the right box or not? For our situation, is what I did correct?

Thanks,

John

You can choose to do either: married filing joint or married filing separate. It really depends on your personal situation. The way you've filed for 2007 is fine. However, if you'd like you can calculate out whether married filing joint would give you more of a return and choose to amend your 2007 taxes. As I said before it's all relative - some people choose not to do filing joint because it throws them into a higher tax bracket even after the foreign income exclusion. Keep in mind that if you choose to file joint you'll have to claim your wife's worldwide income and also put in a statement saying you'd like to consider your wife a resident for tax purposes since you two are married.

hey everyone! haven't posted in a while so i don't know if this has been discussed, so sorry if this is repetitive. my aussie and i are hoping to get our NOA2 soon and we'd like to get a jump on whatever we can start doing now, to reduce the wait time from this point forth. I have a rough idea of what's in packet 3, but i don't know if it's different for each country, so if anyone can tell me exactly what the embassy in sydney asks for and what we can start gathering now, that would be great. like, does he have to wait to get the police certificate, or can he get it now, or is it just a form he has to get filled out? and the AOS from me (from my employer, i'm assuming), can i get that now, or do i need to wait until he gets his instructions so that it's dated after our NOA2?

thanks guys!

Possum, you asked my question Thanks!

Hope everyone is doing well! Two weeks until I get to go to the wonderful land of Oz to visit my fiance. It has been four months since we last saw eachother, and the days are inching by....we will be staying in Townsville/Magnetic Island before heading off to "The Bush" ha ha!

One quick question for the Sydney K1 people who have already been approved: From the time you were approved for the NOA2, how long from that day did it take for the interview/visa? I know that everyone's will be different due to the Packet 3 times being sent out. Jimmy just recieved his Police Cert from the QLD police, and they did say it was valid for one year. I am also gathering the new documents needed for the Packet, getting a letter from my boss saying that I work there, pictures, etc...I am still also a little confused about the medical, if you can get it before you have your appointment scheduled or not. The police dept. said that the certificate is going to be mailed directly to Jimmy, is that correct, or should it have been forwarded directly to the Consulate?

Possum, your NOA2 is right around the corner, seeing all these March approvals! Grats in advance! (Hopefully one more month for this April filer! What a great b-day present if so!)

Heather

Our stuff arrived in Sydney in early April and our interview was May. So about a month and a half.

I faxed the Consulate a provisional file request and they sent Liam packet 3 straight away (had I known I could do that earlier then I would have faxed it over the day I got the NOA2). I attached a copy of the NOA2 as proof of our approval. This way we could see what exactly was in packet 3 and get our things in to them faster rather than waiting around for them. I mailed supporting documents (I-134 stuff, pictures, etc) to Liam before receiving packet 3 so he would just have to turn around and send it back as soon as possible.

Liam put the Consulate's address on the Police Certificate request. So they mailed it directly to the Consulate. Though if Jimmy receives it he can just include it when he mails his things in with packet 3. Liam hadn't had his Medical yet when we sent in Packet 3 so we just put a note in saying his appointment date and that results would be brought with us to the interview.

Hope this helps!

Ok everyone, Liam's computer arrived from Australia and he wants me to check and make sure everything is a go. I flipped the red switch on the back and it now reads 115V. I have a power cord from a previous computer that I can use. But I haven't had the courage to switch it on yet.. Have I missed anything?

I am so terrified of turning it on and having it fry the insides... my mother did that when we lived overseas a long time ago - all I remember is the smoke and the popping sound.