Italian_in_NYC

I doubt the children are stateless.

Her husband would have to be born on Jan 1, 2000 or after (making him barely 18 years old now) and not in Germany (OP said her husband is from Germany, which I assume it means born in Germany).

If we were in Vegas I'd bet big on German citizenship at birth.

Just go to the German consulate with your kids, their Swedish birth certificates with the parents name on them and your husband and his German passport. They will issue German passports to your kids.

German passport is one of the best to travel (if not the best).

I also think there is an accelerated way to bring your twins to the US should you decide to move back (but I defer to others as I'm not an expert). Actually, I think they need to go through the IV process and once they enter the US with the visa they acquire US citizenship.

Just to be clear, any US person for tax purposes must report his or her worldwide income.

And yes, it is possible to pay taxes in the US on that income as well (although foreign tax credit covers in many cases, but not in low-tax countries cases).

It is not double taxation as the US allows you to claim foreign tax credit. However, if you pay no taxes abroad or not enough taxes, then you have a US tax liability.

FEIE is an option but only if you meet the tests and only if it is earned income (unearned income is not excludable).

And don't forget about State taxes. Foreign tax credit does not exist at the State level. And tax treaties do not apply to States.

Last but not least, information returns! FBARs, 8938, 5471, 8865, 8858, 8621 for PFICs etc etc.

3 hours ago, miho585 said:

Hi JoJoJoJo. 

I was able to process my tax return using Turbo tax filing jointly and also excluded my foreign income based on tax treaty between Canada and USA.

Be very careful with tax treaties.

If you lived in the US for just a week, you might not have to file (unless you had enough income during that last week).

I'm pretty sure the kids are German, unless info on wiki is wrong (which might be possible).

In case they are stateless, they can still obtain a travel passport from Sweden and they can enter the US with that (not sure which visa they will need).

Sounds like you have to go to the German Consulate or Embassy with your kids birth certificates and your husband and his German passport.

This is also from Wikipedia.. .unless your husband is 19, your kids should be German citizens.

A person born of a parent with German citizenship at the time of the child's birth is a German citizen. Place of birth is not a factor in citizenship determination based on parentage.

• Those born after 1 January 1975 are Germans if the mother or father is a German citizen.
• Those born before 1 January 1975 could normally only claim German citizenship from the father and not the mother. Exceptions included cases where the parents were unmarried (in which case German mothers could pass on citizenship) or where the German mother applied for the child to be registered as German on or before 31 December 1977.
• Special rules exist for those born before 1 July 1993 if only the father is German and is not married to the mother. The father must acknowledge paternity and must have married the mother before 1 July 1998.
• A child born in a foreign country will no longer receive German citizenship automatically by birth, if his/her German parent was born after 31 December 1999 in a foreign country and has his/her primary residence there. Exceptions are:

1. The child would be stateless.
2. The German parent registers the child's birth within one year of birth to the responsible German agency abroad.

This is from Wikipedia:

A child born after 1 April 2015 acquires Swedish citizenship automatically if:

• one of the parents is a Swedish citizen at the time of the child's birth
• a deceased parent of the child was a Swedish citizen upon their death

Something doesn't sound right.

Unfortunately, you were 4 months short to pass US citizenship, that's true.

But I'm pretty sure a baby born in Sweden from a Swedish parent gets Swedish citizenship, it must be.

Is your husband a Swedish citizen?

Doctors warned parents about danger?

That's great! I was thinking about giving one or two of them to my kids with scrambled eggs for breakfast otherwise.

Who would have thought they were dangerous?!?!?!?

5 hours ago, jelicacham46 said:

So I just went to file my taxes. My husband has been here since March. We filed for adjustment of status in June but he still doesn’t have a social. So we need to get a itin number to be able to file jointly. It take up to 7 weeks to get one. Just wanted to put that out there because I had no idea. 

You could have still filed jointly without an ITIN, but with an application for it (W-7 and proper documentation, including a copy of his passport authenticated by the Questura).

The IRS would have accepted it (pending approval of W-7) and you would have got the ITIN in the mail within 7 weeks (likely 4-5).

Alternatively, just file for an extension (no payment due if you expect a refund) and wait to file the return when he gets his SSN.

On ‎2‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 1:21 PM, Durant200 said:

So here is a little update , H&R Block sent us a text stating that IRS accepted our forms. 

 

Yes it had to be about health coverage , I didn't have the benefits of health insurance where I worked ( i had to work full time for a whole year ).

 

so my only question is , is there going to be any consequences in the future that can affect me due to that negligence ? I want to do things right and not get in trouble 😨 If you say they won't review all we submitted then it's all good I guess right ? 

No worries.

If you get audited and they make an assessment, you'll just pay up, no trouble.

But IRS is SEVERELY understaffed, so I wouldn't worry at all

Btw, acceptance doesn't mean anything. Only that your e-filing went through.

What country are you from?

I'm telling you, you can save yourself a headache by just claiming FTC (unless you are from a no-tax or low-tax country).

Most of the time, it's more convenient to just claim foreign tax credit.

2 minutes ago, CEE53147 said:

If you cannot deal with your toddler and preschooler, how do you think an older aldy will be able to do so? There are reasons children are gifted to the young.  In a few years when you have a moody 12 year old who cries whenever you look at her crosswise or the 16 year old son who slams his bedroom door so often that he loses the privilege of having one (yes, we did take the door off the hinges and put it in the attic) you will wonder why you thought 1 and 4 was so hard.

That'll be grandma's problem starting next week

On ‎1‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 12:15 PM, EandH0904 said:

In your experience (as a tax professional dealing with many international clients), if I have dependents at home and have not lived with my spouse for all of 2017 (We just got married in November) - is it more worthwhile to apply for HOH instead of MFJ? I meet the criteria for HOH and would prefer to get my refund sooner rather than later. If I file as HOH and then amend the return to MFJ and apply for ITIN after the fact, is that acceptable practice, or does the ITIN need to be filed with an original tax document only? 

 

I've seen two accountants, one said you can do ITIN only with original application, the other suggested I file HOH for a quicker rebate then amend it - I'm not sure which one is right! 

Those are two different options. I tend not to advise to file returns you already know are going to be amended.

Although it never happened to me at work, I am pretty sure you can file a W7 with an amended return as well.

16 hours ago, Award1345 said:

Thank you so much!

Do we need to file form 1040 and 2555 for my husband since he had a foreign income??

No need for 2555, just file 1116 and take FTC.

Of course that is if he files a PY resident state return.

On ‎1‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 5:59 AM, CEE53147 said:

Having a baby is not an extenuating circumstance.  Even maternity leaves in the US are for less than 6 months. When I worked they were 6 or 8 weeks.

I have two babies (now almost 4 and just over 1) and I tend to disagree.

These little hooligans are nuts!

PS: My mom's IV got issued yesterday, today she received it at home and she's immigrating here on Saturday (for the very purpose of dealing with my two little hooligans).

1 hour ago, Londonergirl said:

Yes, the lawyer advised her to wait 2 years to avoid ROC. But what was stopping her from applying anyway? I can not see anywhere that the lawyer had said that she CANT apply now. 

The lawyer is not a prison guard, cannot force anyone to do anything.

However, the lawyer gives professional advise, and is paid for it.

The client reasonably relies on the professional advise (otherwise what would be the point of paying someone?).

I'm an accountant, I advise my clients on certain tax positions to be taken. The client signs the return (I sign as preparer) and is personally responsible and liable for it, but if I give bad advice, the client can sue me for damages.

1 minute ago, Londonergirl said:

Exactly! You don't know the whole story behind this. How do you know what the lawyer has said and not said to her? The information written here is very vague. To advice, someone to sue someone really isn't clever at all, especially if you don't know the whole story.
Where does it say that the lawyer has said to her that she can absolutely not apply before 2 years? It just said that he recommended her to wait 2 years. 
How do you know that the lawyer didn't tell her that she shouldn't spend more time in the US than Canada? 

I'm not the OP's lawyer, so mine is not legal advice.

This is a public forum, not a Court of law, I can only comment on what I read.

If that were the whole story, then a lawsuit is the bare minimum (and a slam dunk win). Obviously, if that were not the case, well... the OP will use her own judgment.

1 minute ago, Londonergirl said:

Where does it say that the lawyer had adviced her to travel back and forth from Canada? Also, where does it state that the lawyer had advised her to spend more time in the US than in Canada? I can not find that anywhere that the lawyer has adviced her to do that. 
All I can find is that the lawyer advised her to apply after 2 years. I cant see anywhere that the lawyer had said that she couldn't apply before 2 years. Only that it was advised to apply after 2 years. 

I said I only heard one side.

Having said that, why would you advise postponing (for 2 years, not 2 months) a process while you are raising a newborn? To save a few hundred bucks (and a couple hours of work) for the ROC?

He should at least warned her not to travel to the US as a visitor unless for a short stay, and even that would have posed a risk of being denied entry (married, with an infant baby, traveling to stay with her American husband).

The more I think about it, the more the damages.

Just now, Londonergirl said:

What was the bad advice that the lawyer gave? If I read the whole thing correctly, all the lawyer had said was that he/she advised applying after 2 years of marriage and it would be more smoothly and she would receive an unconditional GC rather than a conditional one? 
Did the lawyer say that she was absolutely not allowed to apply before 2 years? I cant find that... Please let me know if I missed to read it somewhere.....
 

First of all, I only know one side of the story, so I base my opinion on that.

The lawyer advised to wait to apply for an immigrant visa and go back and forth from Canada with her infant child (or while expecting), clearly in violation with her tourist/visitor status (although no visa is necessary for Canadians). Of course she got caught. Now she wasted one year, likely can't step foot in the US until she receives her immigrant visa (where she will have to disclose that she got denied entry into the US before, and that's usually not a plus). All of this while she is raising a 1-year old without the father who can't enter Canada.

28 minutes ago, Londonergirl said:

What is she going to sue the lawyer for? On what terms? 

He or she gave extremely bad professional advice which caused tangible damages (emotional for sure, since now there is a family which is being split between two countries).

I can't quantify the emotional damages (definitely in the tens of thousands of dollars, at least). The monetary damages are at least the legal fees that she paid for that bad advice and possibly other troubles, lost wages, etc etc.

Professionals carry malpractice insurance for this very reason.

32 minutes ago, 8eitghy2wo said:

I have a question and would appreciate if anyone can help in this case especially those who are/were in a similar situation:

 

facts:

- i got married last year in May 2017 and my wife is US citizen

- lived the first half of the year in Pennsylvania and then moved to California in August 1st

-I had a job (OPT) in Pennsylvania and worked the entire period between January and July and have my W2 from there

-still on F-1 Status as I haven't received my green card

- my wife 's w2 is from here job here in California she had the entire tax year of 2017

- I have no income from California since moving because i never worked since then.

 

my wife and I decided to file married jointly because i dont want to have any issues with my aos process when they know we did it seperatly

how do we file for tax year 2017? if my all my income was from Pennsylvania and all her income from California.

Resident Alien or non Resident Alien?

 

You can exclude your F1 days for the physical presence test, but that might be a moot point.

It's probably more convenient to file the whole year as a US Person (for tax purposes).

File PY resident PA and PY resident CA. You might have to file MFS State returns to minimize the State tax impact.

11 minutes ago, Londonergirl said:

Sue a lawyer for giving bad advice...? Are you serious?

I'm dead serious.

It's called malpractice and it definitely caused damage (emotional for sure and probably monetary as well).

I suggest you sue that lawyer right away if you relied on his advice, that (bad) advice.

I totally sympathize with you and your situation (having a 1-year old and your husband in another country is not easy), but getting a conditional green card is no big deal. Yes, you have to apply to remove conditions after 2 years, but it's (usually) a painless process which allows you to keep living in the US with your family and travel wherever you want in the world and freely.