Canadian/US duals completing I-864 for spouse

[frustrated1 0]

my husband is a canadian/us citizen by naturalization (via american mom). he had not lived in the US since birth until he decided to move for work in 2006. therefore him sponsoring me (the wife) etc. now we are in the AOS process where he has to complete the I-864 affidavit of support etc. there is no issue with meeting 125% of poverty line and showing enough assets. he has a copy of last years' tax return, however, we cannot answer 'yes' to "have you filed taxes in the last 3 years" in question 25.

has anyone had this situation and how did you handle it?

Edited January 24, 2008 by frustrated1

[YuAndDan 153]

Did you file last year? 2006 return. If not why not wait until you file your 2007 return. You only need to provide past year's return, not all 3 years.

Asset data not needed if income exceeds 125%.

Consider using I-864EZ, it is for simple cases, only needs (IRS Return (1 Year, 2-3 optional), Pay stubs, and employer letter)

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

[frustrated1 0]

yes, he did file for 2006 and has a copy. even though they are asking for the most recent year,

the form says we need to give an explanation why there weren't tax returns 2 years prior as well. do you think we can skip this? or do we have to attach a letter explaining why IRS didn't require it (which the IRS website also confirms)

[ELW 5]

I provided a letter of explanation, just in case. I was living in India for 21 years so only filed taxes for 2006.

[rebeccajo 14]

The question still needs to be answered. Answer it.

[Reba 2]

what year did he obtain US citizenship? If it was before 2006, then he should have filed a tax return with the IRS even if he wasn't living in the US.

[ELW 5]

Yes, as requested you should provide an explanation letter of why no tax returns were filed for the last 2 years.

Though I was a USA Citizen, I did not file tax returns for 21 years (while living in India) because I was not earning enough, and therefore exempt. What I did was on Question 25 on the I-864 "Federal Income Tax Return Information" where it says "I have filed a Federal tax return for each of the three most recent tax years", I crossed out "three" and I wrote in with pen "one" then checked the box and only wrote in the info for 2006, leaving the other two lines blank.

In addition, I wrote a letter explaining how I was not earning the minimum requirement and therefore did not file tax returns. I sent IRS tax return transcripts that stated I did not send tax returns for the previous years. I also included a print-out of excerpts from Publication 501 on the IRS Website, "Who Should File" IRS Publication 501

Of course, although not required, I also overloaded them with paperwork including tax returns from 2006 with W2s, 1099s, letter from employer, pay stubs for the last 6 months, bank statements, letter from the bank, etc.

All this worked for me and we got approved with no request for further info.

[frustrated1 0]

He's been a US citizen since he was 11 (36 now) and this was because his mother is american and she just got all her kids the citizenship. he never lived here till 2006 so never even thought of filing a return since there was no domicile here. so yes, if he answers all the questions on the IRS website to determine eligibility, especially minimum income requirement in the US to file federal tax, he meets the criteria to NOT file prior to 2006. this is what we were intending to mention in a letter.

we were also thinking of attaching paystubs, and the mortgage papers to establish home ownership here.

ELW, if you crossed off the 3 and wrote 1 for question 25, and it worked? then i'll do the same since there's no other option that meets my criteria.

thanks for the link.

[ELW 5]

Yes I thought it was risky what I did but it was accepted fine.

Send exactly what they requested you to send (explanation letter), and send lots of proof too. Good luck!