should we admit he's been working?

[ionsnewwife 0]

hi everyone,

my hubby and i got married in a small ceremony on new year's eve. he originally came here from moldova in november 07 on a b1 visa, but overstayed when it expired in feb 08. i met him last year, so our relationship was unrelated to his visa and status - until now, obviously. so we are wading through our immigration paperwork (i-130, i-485, G325a, i-864, i-765, etc) and trying to determine whether we should report that he has been working in the 3+ years he's been here. he has not paid taxes, but he does have an ITIN and an EIN. we don't know yet if his former or current boss have reported paying him or not since they would be employing him illegally basically, but we weren't able to access any tax transcripts online in the years he's been here, either. my accountant is unsure about what to do in the immigration context. a moldovian lawyer and all of my husband's friends/family who have been through this say he shouldn't/doesn't have to report his income or that he's been working if he hasn't paid any taxes, esp since my income alone is over 125% of the poverty line. but i've always thought "honesty is the best policy" and i believe we should own up to him working all this time. i don't want to have either of us "lying" on our forms or in our interviews.

what do you all think? we're thinking about consulting with an american immigration lawyer as well, but $$ is so tight for us right now, esp with filing the papers... advice, please?!

thanks!

meridian

[ionsnewwife 0]

hi everyone,

i'm posting this here too, to maximize exposure and get some answers! my hubby and i got married in a small ceremony on new year's eve. he originally came here from moldova in november 07 on a b1 visa, but overstayed when it expired in feb 08. i met him last year, so our relationship was unrelated to his visa and status - until now, obviously. so we are wading through our immigration paperwork (i-130, i-485, G325a, i-864, i-765, etc) and trying to determine whether we should report that he has been working in the 3+ years he's been here. he has not paid taxes, but he does have an ITIN and an EIN. we don't know yet if his former or current boss have reported paying him or not since they would be employing him illegally basically, but we weren't able to access any tax transcripts online in the years he's been here, either. my accountant is unsure about what to do in the immigration context. a moldovian lawyer and all of my husband's friends/family who have been through this say he shouldn't/doesn't have to report his income or that he's been working if he hasn't paid any taxes, esp since my income alone is over 125% of the poverty line. but i've always thought "honesty is the best policy" and i believe we should own up to him working all this time. i don't want to have either of us "lying" on our forms or in our interviews.

what do you all think? we're thinking about consulting with an american immigration lawyer as well, but $$ is so tight for us right now, esp with filing the papers... advice, please?!

thanks!

meridian

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

If you don't disclose the illegal work, you could and probably will be denied for misrepresentation. If your lawyer thinks that lying is the way to go, then you should fire him/her immediately. Illegal work is irrelevant for a spouse of a US citizen, although you do have to go back and pay taxes on it. Even illegal aliens are required to pay income tax. The only issue that would arise is if he was using someone else's SSN or claimed to be a USC in some other way.

What would happen if the IO asked your husband "How were you able to support yourself all these years?" They are going to figure it out anyway. Better them knowing he worked under the table than thinking he was a drug dealer.

[milimelo 4,481]

Moving to AOS from student, tourist, work visa.

[Anh map 2,098]

Consulting an US based immigration attorney who is experienced with US immigration law would be a prudent step. Accountants and foreign attorneys would not be the best sources of advice and information.

Getting caught in a lie could result in a deportation order and multi-year ban for your husband. The attorney $$ would be a good investment.

Best of luck.

[ionsnewwife 0]

Consulting an US based immigration attorney who is experienced with US immigration law would be a prudent step. Accountants and foreign attorneys would not be the best sources of advice and information.

Getting caught in a lie could result in a deportation order and multi-year ban for your husband. The attorney $$ would be a good investment.

Best of luck.

thanks for the advice! just to clarify: the moldovian attorney is here in the US practicing (immigration) law, but he is originally from moldova (where my husband is from) and has worked with a number of my husband's friends to get their papers here. but his work with my husband's friends is also how we know he is expensive and way more than we can afford.

[Kang Lang 7]

hi everyone,

i'm posting this here too, to maximize exposure and get some answers! my hubby and i got married in a small ceremony on new year's eve. he originally came here from moldova in november 07 on a b1 visa, but overstayed when it expired in feb 08. i met him last year, so our relationship was unrelated to his visa and status - until now, obviously. so we are wading through our immigration paperwork (i-130, i-485, G325a, i-864, i-765, etc) and trying to determine whether we should report that he has been working in the 3+ years he's been here. he has not paid taxes, but he does have an ITIN and an EIN. we don't know yet if his former or current boss have reported paying him or not since they would be employing him illegally basically, but we weren't able to access any tax transcripts online in the years he's been here, either. my accountant is unsure about what to do in the immigration context. a moldovian lawyer and all of my husband's friends/family who have been through this say he shouldn't/doesn't have to report his income or that he's been working if he hasn't paid any taxes, esp since my income alone is over 125% of the poverty line. but i've always thought "honesty is the best policy" and i believe we should own up to him working all this time. i don't want to have either of us "lying" on our forms or in our interviews.

what do you all think? we're thinking about consulting with an american immigration lawyer as well, but $$ is so tight for us right now, esp with filing the papers... advice, please?!

thanks!

You should never under any circumstances lie! The consequences for misrepresentation are insurmountable, file the taxes with the itin. Best of luck and congrats on finding love and getting married

meridian

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Duplicate thread moved from General Immigration Forum and merged with existing thread in AOS from Work, Student & Tourist Visa.

While it may seem like you get 'more exposure' by posting in more forums, it doesn't actually work that way, You get the best responses by posting in the correct forum and keeping all of the information together. Members who are knowledgeable in certain subject areas tend to read and respond in those subject areas so they will find the post and respond to it in its correct forum.

Edited February 1, 2011 by Kathryn41

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Not only will you disclose that he worked, but you will also enclose his tax returns or, better, tax transcripts (available free of charge) for the past 3 years with the AOS petition. I do understand what you mean with "money is tight right now," trust me, but tax evasion is a felony, plain and simple.

USCIS will not make working without authorization an issue. More to the point, they probably will already know that your husband worked here in order to eat and pay rent and do what people do who live in the US. But Uncle Sam will not forgive your husband if he tries to cheat the US Government out of the taxes he owes him. Imagine your husband getting a Green Card and then, shortly after, having IRS charging him with tax evasion. That would really take the fun out of everything, wouldn't it?

Now . . . in all confidence . . . let me put it this way: it doesn't matter how much or how little your husband made in the past 3 years. What matters is that he filed an income tax return for those years. If unsure, let him file those returns now based on 1099 income. Afterward, he can truthfully state that he filed tax returns, and everybody is happy. As a reward he will already have checked off 3 of the required 10 years needed for Social Security benefits, just like that!

If you don't understand what I was trying to hint at, P.M. me.

[ionsnewwife 0]

Duplicate thread moved from General Immigration Forum and merged with existing thread in AOS from Work, Student & Tourist Visa.

While it may seem like you get 'more exposure' by posting in more forums, it doesn't actually work that way, You get the best responses by posting in the correct forum and keeping all of the information together. Members who are knowledgeable in certain subject areas tend to read and respond in those subject areas so they will find the post and respond to it in its correct forum.

ok! thanks!

Not only will you disclose that he worked, but you will also enclose his tax returns or, better, tax transcripts (available free of charge) for the past 3 years with the AOS petition. I do understand what you mean with "money is tight right now," trust me, but tax evasion is a felony, plain and simple.

USCIS will not make working without authorization an issue. More to the point, they probably will already know that your husband worked here in order to eat and pay rent and do what people do who live in the US. But Uncle Sam will not forgive your husband if he tries to cheat the US Government out of the taxes he owes him. Imagine your husband getting a Green Card and then, shortly after, having IRS charging him with tax evasion. That would really take the fun out of everything, wouldn't it?

Now . . . in all confidence . . . let me put it this way: it doesn't matter how much or how little your husband made in the past 3 years. What matters is that he filed an income tax return for those years. If unsure, let him file those returns now based on 1099 income. Afterward, he can truthfully state that he filed tax returns, and everybody is happy. As a reward he will already have checked off 3 of the required 10 years needed for Social Security benefits, just like that!

If you don't understand what I was trying to hint at, P.M. me.

thank you for your in-depth response!

[juliava 80]

hi everyone,

i'm posting this here too, to maximize exposure and get some answers! my hubby and i got married in a small ceremony on new year's eve. he originally came here from moldova in november 07 on a b1 visa, but overstayed when it expired in feb 08. i met him last year, so our relationship was unrelated to his visa and status - until now, obviously. so we are wading through our immigration paperwork (i-130, i-485, G325a, i-864, i-765, etc) and trying to determine whether we should report that he has been working in the 3+ years he's been here. he has not paid taxes, but he does have an ITIN and an EIN. we don't know yet if his former or current boss have reported paying him or not since they would be employing him illegally basically, but we weren't able to access any tax transcripts online in the years he's been here, either. my accountant is unsure about what to do in the immigration context. a moldovian lawyer and all of my husband's friends/family who have been through this say he shouldn't/doesn't have to report his income or that he's been working if he hasn't paid any taxes, esp since my income alone is over 125% of the poverty line. but i've always thought "honesty is the best policy" and i believe we should own up to him working all this time. i don't want to have either of us "lying" on our forms or in our interviews.

what do you all think? we're thinking about consulting with an american immigration lawyer as well, but $$ is so tight for us right now, esp with filing the papers... advice, please?!

thanks!

meridian

Oh, get rid of that lawyer immediately!!!!! It just reminds me of another one who used to work mostly with Romanians and messed up everybody's paperwork because of his fraudulent activities and he was also running astronomical rates. Have you ever wondered WHY does he "prefer" Moldovians and why is he so expensive? Sharing the same citizenship, requesting a high rate and offering that crappy advice highlighted above will never guarantee success in your immigration process.

Time to shop for another lawyer if you are still considering hiring one and don't forget honesty is the best card that you should not give up in this game ever. Good luck!

[Maxximus1074 14]

As far as legal advice goes - and maybe the moderators here can create a "sticky topic" or extra forum for that -

there is most likely some community non-profits out there that have no or low-cost help and advice counselors, clinics.

In my area we have immigration advice by an immigration attorney at "Catholic Charities" - you don't have to be catholic in order to receive their help.

Edited February 1, 2011 by Maxximus1074

[ionsnewwife 0]

Oh, get rid of that lawyer immediately!!!!! It just reminds me of another one who used to work mostly with Romanians and messed up everybody's paperwork because of his fraudulent activities and he was also running astronomical rates. Have you ever wondered WHY does he "prefer" Moldovians and why is he so expensive? Sharing the same citizenship, requesting a high rate and offering that crappy advice highlighted above will never guarantee success in your immigration process.

Time to shop for another lawyer if you are still considering hiring one and don't forget honesty is the best card that you should not give up in this game ever. Good luck!

thanks for your advice! i thought he was super shady also!! we are definitely going to schedule a consultation with a different lawyer. i've got one call in already, but i also looked at the American Immigration Lawyers Association website so i'm probably going to reach out to one or more of those lawyers as well. we just want to make sure we dot our i's and cross our t's.

[ionsnewwife 0]

As far as legal advice goes - and maybe the moderators here can create a "sticky topic" or extra forum for that -

there is most likely some community non-profits out there that have no or low-cost help and advice counselors, clinics.

In my area we have immigration advice by an immigration attorney at "Catholic Charities" - you don't have to be catholic in order to receive their help.

yes! what a great idea! come on, VJ, make the addition!!

i did try searching google for some pro bono immigration lawyers a few times, and came across catholic charities as well. i didn't have a good first impression of them (didn't make me feel like they could handle our more complicated case), but maybe i'll try again. thanks!