Hedda&Liam

Thanks to all of you!!!

Hedda&Liam, our Packet 3 was sent 3 weeks after we filed I-130 in Perth. If I remember it right, Kaffy's took only 2 weeks? So there's a good chance you'll receive your Packet 3 within 2-3 weeks. Where did you file your I-130?

It may also be a good idea to email them and ask for updates after a week or two.

We filed in Melbourne. I emailed them on Thursday afternoon - just because I was so anxious. I'm sure we'll hear something this week - even if it's just that they're still processing! Thanks for your advice, it's such a nerve-wracking process!

Hedda

Congratulations, Faith, on your smooth interview and approval!

Thanks, Kaffy for the well wishes! Yesterday we received an email from the Sydney Embassy basically saying that we'd submitted our forms and giving us our case number. From here, I suppose we wait on the Packet 3. I hope they send it out quickly! 3 months seems like such a long time; I'm anxious to see my family!

Cheers!

Hello everyone! My name is Hedda and I just wanted to post and say what a great thread this is. I'm a USC living in Melbourne with my Aussie husband of nearly 4 years. We've just begun the DCF process - filed our I-130 at the consulate last Wednesday. I was terribly nervous about all of this since I've lived in Australia so long (4 years), but reading all of your posts has given me more peace of mind! I am so happy for all of you; and glad that the process seems to be working fairly quickly for everyone. Hopefully, it will for us as well as we're hoping to be in Tennessee by December.

Peace and luck to everyone!

My wife and I were married last year and I understand that I have the option of filing jointly for 2007 by obtaining an ITIN for her by submitting a W-7 form along with our tax forms.

I'm living in China with her and if we do elect to file jointly, then I wont be able to exclude my foreign income using form 2555 (if we elect to file jointly, then all of our world income is considered US income).

So, I see that we have two choices:

1) Married filing jointly, but without the Foreign earned income deduction.

2) Married filing separately, but this time I can qualify for the foreign earned income deduction.

My question is that if we do married filing separately, do I even need to go through the process of getting her an ITIN and even filing a tax return for her?

Thanks,

JP

I have just recently encountered this difficulty myself and have been advised that even though my husband and I live in Australia, not the US, and he is not a citizen, nor has he ever lived or worked in the US, in order for my taxes to be filed correctly, he must be issued an ITIN, the W-7 form must be attached to my submitted 1040s along with the required verification of his identity. In our case, that meant paying $110 to a solicitor here in Australia for a notarized copy of his passport and another $60 to the Department of Foreign Affairs to certify the solicitor's notarization! I've spoken to both an international CPA and the IRS help line and they have both confirmed this is the legal way to file in this situation- even though I have am filing Married filing Separately. Very frustrating, but just my experience on the matter!