Instructions for filing taxes with spouse outside of the country

[gil & gina 0]

Thanks for your reply.This is seriously pissing me off! I guess I have no choice but to get an ITIN number? Once I get that from the IRS taxes, do I use that number as her SSN for my state taxes? Someone please let me know! Thanks.Edit - I also need to ask, can I get her passport notarized at the U.S. Consulate in Cebu, instead of the Embassy in Manila? That would be silly.

If you would decide to file as married-filing jointly then you will need an ITIN, you will need to fill out form W7 for your wife. If you file jointly, after you completed and signed your 1040 and 540, you will need to send those documents to your wife so she can sign it and send it back to you. When you file your taxes, just keep her SSN blank, then just attach a copy of the w7(application for ITIN), and a copy of her notarized passport for IRS. For the state, I left my husband's SSN blank, they just asked me to include a schedule CA (please dont quote me on this coz we might have different situations).

Her passport can be notarized by the issuing agency, U.S. consulate, or U.S. Embassy. My husband just had his passport notarized at DFA Manila yesterday, thats where his passport was issued.

But there will be steps that she needs to do:

• First, she needs to make an affidavit stating that the contents of her passport are correct ... ... ...
  
• She needs to bring that affidavit and the copy of her biographical page of her passport to a certified notary public,
  
• then she needs to bring those to RTC (Regional Trial Court) to certify the notary public who notarized her passport are valid then
  
• thats the only time she can bring those documents to the issuing agency of her passport.
  

[jlisakay 2]

What happens to UK persons who move to USA and marry and get pensions fron UK and pay UK tax on it do you have to give that info on those pensions thanks for any help

[waitwaitwait 3]

I don't know if a new thread would be better but you folks with tax problems seem to be here so I will ask. I send all by stuff in to Austin (followed all the advise here and on the IRS insturctions) I ask my wife to apostile her pass port and the federal government in Kiev. (Laughed) So I sent the stuff in and I know it was delivered. I have not gotten a request, rejection or anything. Those members who got a request for information can you give me an idea how long it took? Should I assume they are processing and it will take four weeks to get the ID and they when did you know your taxes were actually filed? Sorry if I missed the answers in this thread.

Ken

[waitwaitwait 3]

Should have wwaited a day. In my mail was a letter did not have enough proof. I called the number given and talked with a Ms. Jackson (very interesting conversation) I did send a copy of my whole NVC package. She indicated it might just depend on who got the file to handle. (brutally honest). So I sent it off today and see what happens.

[CarlosAndSveta 808]

What happens to UK persons who move to USA and marry and get pensions fron UK and pay UK tax on it do you have to give that info on those pensions thanks for any help

Once the UK person becomes a Resident Alien (Permanent Resident for immigration purposes) then the UK person is treated like a U.S. citizen and is taxed on his worldwide income. This means that the UK pension should be included on the U..S. tax return. The pension income will not qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion since pension income is usually not considered earned income. Your only relief from double taxation will be to claim a foreign tax credit on your U.S. tax return.

As has been stated previously, once you are married to a U.S. citizen you can elect to be treated as a Resident Alien even though you haven't yet received your green card. This might be your situation when it comes time to file your 2011 tax return.

[Ashley_Armando 1]

i'm confused...is it a copy of my passport (biographic page, notarized) that I send or my foreign husband's??

[gil & gina 0]

i'm confused...is it a copy of my passport (biographic page, notarized) that I send or my foreign husband's??

your foreign husband's notarized biographic page.

[Ashley_Armando 1]

your foreign husband's notarized biographic page.

is it gonna have to be notarized there? (prob. not, but thought i'd ask) cause i have a copy here with me. i really don't want him to have to take the expense of sending me that one document alone.

[1love 2]

Pls help me understand this. How do you get higher refund when u cannot claim the EIC filling joint without ITIN?

What is resulting in a higher refund? I have both the cd and downloadable turbo tax.

Pls help me if I am doing something wrong as I have not seen any increase or will irs do it and include the EIC after the ITIN is issued?

[waitwaitwait 3]

If I might suggest follow what Gary and Val have posted. There is NO easy way. I went through this last year and received the maximum refund. I will tell you it is manual and you have to follow the instructions explicidly. Yes it takes time. I love the russian translation of the quote "They say time is the fire in which we burn." Follow the insturctions. It will save you time in the end. Also you will get the maximum refund.

[jcassidy610ko 0]

This is a wonderful post with a GREAT explanation!!

I do have another question... Do you have to get your spouse an ITN? For us...that is such a huge process, and expensive for my husband to mail me those forms..AND it would take forever... (from Nepal) Is it possible to file without this?

Thanks!

mywife hasa3yr old can i apply for # for him also

[jcassidy610ko 0]

This is a wonderful post with a GREAT explanation!!

I do have another question... Do you have to get your spouse an ITN? For us...that is such a huge process, and expensive for my husband to mail me those forms..AND it would take forever... (from Nepal) Is it possible to file without this?

Thanks!

mywife hasa3yr old can i apply for # for him also

[jcassidy610ko 0]

This is a wonderful post with a GREAT explanation!!

I do have another question... Do you have to get your spouse an ITN? For us...that is such a huge process, and expensive for my husband to mail me those forms..AND it would take forever... (from Nepal) Is it possible to file without this?

Thanks!

mywife hasa3yr old can i apply for # for him also

[Gaijinsan 3]

Hello,

Does she have to sign the W-7 in English, or is her native language acceptable?

One's signature is whatever it is. (Mine just looks like some kind of lines & scribbling...)

My wife always signs English language documents in Japanese, which also matches her passport. Never had a problem. Plus, makes it a lot harder for some random person to try to forge.

[KnowledgeIsPower 2]

I sent in the W-7 to Austin's PO Box last week with my tax return, I checked the tracking right now and it said "Notice Left (No Authorized Recipient Available)". Why is that? Priority mail should not require any signature, and it's a PO box right? I used the PO Box address that was in the W-7 info sheet directly from the IRS website so I know it's a recent address.