Armenia

You didn’t have to change your last name. It’s not required in either the US or the Philippines. 

Forms are read by AI/OCR. 
 
When handwriting, PRINT. make sure every letter is  legible and words are spelled correctly (particularly email addresses) and not missing letters.  No cursives. AI should be able to differentiate your c from your e, your D from your O, your a from your o, your lowercase L from your uppercase I, etc. 
 
When printed, don’t use a super small font size just to be able to cram a lot of characters in a box (especially true for law business names that want to include every lawyer partners names in the box). Make sure letters are easily read and very distinct from each other. 
 
Lawyers reading this - just type one single name in the box. Don’t put/stamp all lawyers’ names in the box and then circle one. That’s just really lazy and actually doesn’t hasten processing. AI ignores the circles you make all over the forms. 
 
Don’t write/print outside boxes. AI can’t see anything outside boxes. 

Just clarifying in case someone reads your reply without reading back to the question you were answering:
You are considered married if your status is married on the last day of the tax year. (see IRS Publication 17 - Tax Guide 2012 - http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf).
So, if you got married any day (including Dec 31) on 2012, then you will file your 2012 Tax Return as married.
@ Kiran Pandit - 2012 Tax Return = single; 2013 Tax Return = married
@ Lee & Madel:
IMO, the reason that tax preparers give incorrect advice sometimes is that tax preparers, in general, are used to preparing taxes for mainstream people/couples (US citizen/resident with US citizen/resident spouse). The tax preparer would need to have previous experience with immigrants' tax returns to know more. I took a tax preparation course where more than half of the class were immigrants. Our poor instructor, he got bombarded from all sides with "what if" questions that would seem silly to a US citizen/resident-living-his-entire life-in-the-US person but are real and common scenarios for immigrants.
Your tax preparer was right in saying that you cannot file as Married because your wife does not have an ITIN or SSN. However, she should have told you to get an ITIN for your wife. Filing Single was the quick way out (i.e., you can file your tax return immediately vs. having to wait for the ITIN) which was not a very serious issue (in the mind of the tax preparer) since you can always file an amended return. What the tax preparer doesn't know is how important the Tax Return/Transcript is to a person with immigration-related concerns which is probably why she didn't push you to get an ITIN and file as Married Filing Jointly.
You should have filed as Married. Since you already filed as Single, you can amend your return later. Amended returns are filed within 2-3 years but since your tax return is important to your wife's immigration application, you should file your amended return soon. I don't think filing an amended return, because you were not sure of your filing status, would be a big deal. Not all people know. For instance, someone who is Single and had been filing as Head of Household for many years may think that he should still be filing as HH even after he got married because he is, after all, still Head of Household (although you'd think he would have chosen to file as Married Filing Jointly since he also qualifies for that and the standard deduction for MFJ is higher).
Here are some resources for you:
ITIN for your wife - http://www.irs.gov/t...pics/tc857.html
Amended returns - http://www.irs.gov/t...pics/tc308.html
Your wife would fall under "An alien individual, claimed as a spouse for an exemption on a U.S. tax return, who is not eligible for a SSN"
Get the ITIN first, then file an amended return.
When you file an amended return, there's a box in Part III of the form where you get to explain the change. Explain fully here. There's nothing bad about the mistake you made. You weren't sure about what your filing status should be. You knew you were married but your wife isn't a US resident nor does she have an SSN. You asked for advice from a Tax Professional. She gave you advice. You followed the advice but later learned that you can get an ITIN for your wife so that you can file MFJ.

IMO, it depends on each individual's personality, intellect and resourcefulness. Whoever is better at organizing and going through details will more likely do most of the paperwork. It doesn't matter what the gender is, the nationality or whether he/she is the petitioner/beneficiary. Many FIlipinas are college/university-educated, hold postgraduate degrees, are professional workers, and are fluent in English (sometimes more so than the USC when it comes to grammar, spelling and composition). If the beneficiary happens to lack adequate English language skills and/or lacks reading comprehension and/or is unused to doing paperwork, then I agree that the USC petitioner should be helping out more.

IMO, it depends on each individual's personality, intellect and resourcefulness. Whoever is better at organizing and going through details will more likely do most of the paperwork. It doesn't matter what the gender is, the nationality or whether he/she is the petitioner/beneficiary. Many FIlipinas are college/university-educated, hold postgraduate degrees, are professional workers, and are fluent in English (sometimes more so than the USC when it comes to grammar, spelling and composition). If the beneficiary happens to lack adequate English language skills and/or lacks reading comprehension and/or is unused to doing paperwork, then I agree that the USC petitioner should be helping out more.

IMO, it depends on each individual's personality, intellect and resourcefulness. Whoever is better at organizing and going through details will more likely do most of the paperwork. It doesn't matter what the gender is, the nationality or whether he/she is the petitioner/beneficiary. Many FIlipinas are college/university-educated, hold postgraduate degrees, are professional workers, and are fluent in English (sometimes more so than the USC when it comes to grammar, spelling and composition). If the beneficiary happens to lack adequate English language skills and/or lacks reading comprehension and/or is unused to doing paperwork, then I agree that the USC petitioner should be helping out more.

IMO, it depends on each individual's personality, intellect and resourcefulness. Whoever is better at organizing and going through details will more likely do most of the paperwork. It doesn't matter what the gender is, the nationality or whether he/she is the petitioner/beneficiary. Many FIlipinas are college/university-educated, hold postgraduate degrees, are professional workers, and are fluent in English (sometimes more so than the USC when it comes to grammar, spelling and composition). If the beneficiary happens to lack adequate English language skills and/or lacks reading comprehension and/or is unused to doing paperwork, then I agree that the USC petitioner should be helping out more.

I know I can just ignore threads I do not like but this is so very annoying.
Gilles, yours posts on this thread and on your other very long thread are about the same problem. You ask the same questions over and over and over and over again. People here keep giving you the same advice over and over and over and over again. And yet you seem to be blind or lacking in comprehension since you still post the same questions and complaints over and over and over and over again.
I am amazed at how patient people here are in repeating themselves over and over and over and over again.
If you were in my class, you'd have flunked a long time ago. When you speak with a grown up with no mental or physiological disability, many university professors and instructors would say - I will only say something once. Hear it, understand it. Do not ask the same question more than once. Do not repeat what you already said. Learn and apply what you've learned.
You come across like a very desperate man too afraid to confront his spouse for fear that she will leave you. Stop it. You're a grown man but you're behaving like a helpless toddler. Use your brain. What is the point of having a brain if you're not going to use it?

Culture (including family, education, community) may play a part in a person's tendency to engage in infidelity as culture does contribute to shaping a person's sense of right and wrong. It does not matter if you are a romantic or a "rational" person, it boils down to how strong your sense of right and wrong is.
I believe that when you're a single person and have to interact with a married person (at work, school/church activities, etc.), you have to immediately set your "invisible" boundaries. If you're a woman but the guy is married, "interact" but be always conscious that you have to be careful with how you behave or with what you say. It does not matter if your closeness to the married guy is "innocent" because it matters a great deal how the guy's family perceives your relationship with the married guy. IMO, if every female/male on the brink of falling for a married person stops and thinks about what the impact of her/their actions would be on the married person's wife/husband and children, that person would stop from pursuing/continuing his/her affair. And, that is why, I view men/women who engage in adulterous affairs as, generally, very inconsiderate and selfish people. How can anyone knowingly hurt another person? What does it matter if you are so much in love or in lust with the person? You should be able to control what you say or what your hands/feets/ mouth/body do. What does it matter if the married person says his/her spouse does not love her? The married person should leave/separate/divorce his/her spouse if he/she wants to be in a relationship with another person. The only acceptable excuse to me to have been involved in an illicit affair is if the single person had no knowledge that the other person was married/in a relationship with someone else.
I just do not get people who would deliberately hurt others who have not harmed them in any way. I know some women who had/have affairs with married men. It's always about their feelings and how the guy feels . They never talk of the guy's wife or children. That doesn't surprise me. Once you start considering the feelings/welfate of other people, it would be mighty difficult to justify selfish behavior. Some people, however, do seem to completely lack empathy/sympathy. I knew a guy who enjoyed the attention that women and gay guys gave him (the guy was good looking) and hooks up with several of them at a time. He rationazes by saying that what's he's doing is just harmless play. I pointed out to him that "it may just be a game to you but it's not to the women you're involved with. Based on what the women wrote or said to you, they each thought that you're serious about your relationship with them." It's rare though that I encounter quite such a narcissistic person.
Yes, I am one judgmental b-i-t-c-h but I do practice what I just preached here.

Culture (including family, education, community) may play a part in a person's tendency to engage in infidelity as culture does contribute to shaping a person's sense of right and wrong. It does not matter if you are a romantic or a "rational" person, it boils down to how strong your sense of right and wrong is.
I believe that when you're a single person and have to interact with a married person (at work, school/church activities, etc.), you have to immediately set your "invisible" boundaries. If you're a woman but the guy is married, "interact" but be always conscious that you have to be careful with how you behave or with what you say. It does not matter if your closeness to the married guy is "innocent" because it matters a great deal how the guy's family perceives your relationship with the married guy. IMO, if every female/male on the brink of falling for a married person stops and thinks about what the impact of her/their actions would be on the married person's wife/husband and children, that person would stop from pursuing/continuing his/her affair. And, that is why, I view men/women who engage in adulterous affairs as, generally, very inconsiderate and selfish people. How can anyone knowingly hurt another person? What does it matter if you are so much in love or in lust with the person? You should be able to control what you say or what your hands/feets/ mouth/body do. What does it matter if the married person says his/her spouse does not love her? The married person should leave/separate/divorce his/her spouse if he/she wants to be in a relationship with another person. The only acceptable excuse to me to have been involved in an illicit affair is if the single person had no knowledge that the other person was married/in a relationship with someone else.
I just do not get people who would deliberately hurt others who have not harmed them in any way. I know some women who had/have affairs with married men. It's always about their feelings and how the guy feels . They never talk of the guy's wife or children. That doesn't surprise me. Once you start considering the feelings/welfate of other people, it would be mighty difficult to justify selfish behavior. Some people, however, do seem to completely lack empathy/sympathy. I knew a guy who enjoyed the attention that women and gay guys gave him (the guy was good looking) and hooks up with several of them at a time. He rationazes by saying that what's he's doing is just harmless play. I pointed out to him that "it may just be a game to you but it's not to the women you're involved with. Based on what the women wrote or said to you, they each thought that you're serious about your relationship with them." It's rare though that I encounter quite such a narcissistic person.
Yes, I am one judgmental b-i-t-c-h but I do practice what I just preached here.

I know I can just ignore threads I do not like but this is so very annoying.
Gilles, yours posts on this thread and on your other very long thread are about the same problem. You ask the same questions over and over and over and over again. People here keep giving you the same advice over and over and over and over again. And yet you seem to be blind or lacking in comprehension since you still post the same questions and complaints over and over and over and over again.
I am amazed at how patient people here are in repeating themselves over and over and over and over again.
If you were in my class, you'd have flunked a long time ago. When you speak with a grown up with no mental or physiological disability, many university professors and instructors would say - I will only say something once. Hear it, understand it. Do not ask the same question more than once. Do not repeat what you already said. Learn and apply what you've learned.
You come across like a very desperate man too afraid to confront his spouse for fear that she will leave you. Stop it. You're a grown man but you're behaving like a helpless toddler. Use your brain. What is the point of having a brain if you're not going to use it?

I know I can just ignore threads I do not like but this is so very annoying.
Gilles, yours posts on this thread and on your other very long thread are about the same problem. You ask the same questions over and over and over and over again. People here keep giving you the same advice over and over and over and over again. And yet you seem to be blind or lacking in comprehension since you still post the same questions and complaints over and over and over and over again.
I am amazed at how patient people here are in repeating themselves over and over and over and over again.
If you were in my class, you'd have flunked a long time ago. When you speak with a grown up with no mental or physiological disability, many university professors and instructors would say - I will only say something once. Hear it, understand it. Do not ask the same question more than once. Do not repeat what you already said. Learn and apply what you've learned.
You come across like a very desperate man too afraid to confront his spouse for fear that she will leave you. Stop it. You're a grown man but you're behaving like a helpless toddler. Use your brain. What is the point of having a brain if you're not going to use it?

I know I can just ignore threads I do not like but this is so very annoying.
Gilles, yours posts on this thread and on your other very long thread are about the same problem. You ask the same questions over and over and over and over again. People here keep giving you the same advice over and over and over and over again. And yet you seem to be blind or lacking in comprehension since you still post the same questions and complaints over and over and over and over again.
I am amazed at how patient people here are in repeating themselves over and over and over and over again.
If you were in my class, you'd have flunked a long time ago. When you speak with a grown up with no mental or physiological disability, many university professors and instructors would say - I will only say something once. Hear it, understand it. Do not ask the same question more than once. Do not repeat what you already said. Learn and apply what you've learned.
You come across like a very desperate man too afraid to confront his spouse for fear that she will leave you. Stop it. You're a grown man but you're behaving like a helpless toddler. Use your brain. What is the point of having a brain if you're not going to use it?

@ GIlles:
It's been over 6 months since your first post and you and your wife still haven't settled your differences (albeit now you have a "modified" problem since she's already working)? Do what must be done and not what you WANT to do or feel comfortable doing. You're coming off as bad as your wife when you have to ask for advice for every bit of action that you have to do. You're a lot like some people who enjoy complaining but aren't willing to do anything SIGNIFICANT about what they're complaining about. Saying that you're a "nice guy, wants to please, etc. etc." as an excuse for your lack of/inadequate action is not a valid excuse. It amazes me that other people in this forum are so patient in repeating (over and over and over and over again) their advices to you when "talking" to you is like talking to a wall. You keep whining about the same things over and over again.