1 130 APPROVED IN A WEEK

[fftpholdings 0]

Hi fellow Vjers, I am very glad to post the successful outcome of our petition filed at the USA Johannesburg Embassy.We got a email notice of the said approval and it reads as follows.....

Dear Sir/Madam,

Your petition you filed with USCIS Johannesburg has been approved. We have mailed out the approval notices to your address on record. You do not need the USCIS approval notices in order to continue processing with the Department of State’s Immigrant Visa Section at the U.S. Consulate General in Johannesburg. If you do not receive the USCIS notices by mail and would like to have a copy for your records, you may ask the interviewing officer at the time of your Immigrant Visa interview for one.

This concludes all USCIS action on the matter. You should receive a notice from the Immigrant Visa section explaining the next steps in the process within the next few weeks. If you do not receive any correspondence from them, you can contact them via consularjohannesburg@state.gov or on 011 290 3089/3201.

Thank you,

USCIS Johannesburg

My questions is a as follows...

1. My wife,the USC has been living in South Africa for a very long time and to be precise over 10 years that she has not filed US taxes and reading from an Affidavit of Support instruction, she is lawfully obliged to file her USA taxes. Her annual salary is below 15,000 USD. What steps would you suggest from your experience that we should take to file back taxes. Can she be exempted? And if yes, how can we determine that?

2.Is there any agency or Government Department she should call to get back her Social security number as it a requirement to fill that Affidavit of support form notwithstanding that she does not meet up income requirement as my primary sponsor.I have cousins and her family residing in the US that are willing and capable of fulfilling that part of Support requirement as Joint sponsors.

3.Is it necessary that she must visit USA before I apply for the Immigrant Visa if she can stay here and meet her tax obligation?

Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions.

I wish you all goodluck in the stage you are in the process.

[tru_loves_journey 117]

[jessicaruizw 9]

hey! Yeah, I am in the same situation, you must file.....unfortunately, you can not file online for previous years!

So go here - http://www.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/priorFormPublication.html and download the previous years 1040 (enter 1040 in the search box, and organize results by year).

The form to exempt foreign income (2555) allows you to exempt up to around $90-95,000 depending of the year assuming you meet certain requirements (physical presence test or bonafide residence test). All this is explained in the instructions of the 2555, it is worth the tedious work to actually read through them! In the end though, it is not too hard.

Also - when you file foreign income, list your total on line 7 of the 1040 (salaries, wages, etc) 15,000 for example and then on line 21 (other salary) you can put -15,000 and on the line to explain, write - Form 2555 and then your total income on line 22 remains 0 so as not to affect your AGI. This is how turbotax did it for me any way.

Good Luck!

[jessicaruizw 9]

Side note - What I just explained about line 7, 21, and 22 was for the form 1040, not 2555.

Also, what do you mean "get back" her social security number?? Does she not remember it?

[jessicaruizw 9]

Sorry and one more thing!! When I spoke with an IRS agent on the phone, she told me paper filing (which you will be doing for previous years) takes 6-8 weeks to be processed (just to give you an idea).

Also, you can purchase tax software (turbotax, H/R block, etc) for previous years which makes the process easier, but is going to run you around $60. And you still have to print, sign, and mail the forms regardless.

If you want to buy more time for this year, you can file for an extension with the IRS for untill October I believe. irs.gov has a ton of user-friendly info!!

[fftpholdings 0]

Thanks very much

[fftpholdings 0]

Side note - What I just explained about line 7, 21, and 22 was for the form 1040, not 2555.

Also, what do you mean "get back" her social security number?? Does she not remember it?

Yes she can remember her social security number. Can she be able to get it from the US Consulate? Advise please

[fftpholdings 0]

So you mean, previous years tax return can not be filled online?

Can we contract an Accountant in USA to file the returns or get an exemption note,explaining her income is insufficient to file USA Taxes?

[jessicaruizw 9]

No, you can not file previous years (2010 or before) online....they only accept e-filing until october or so of the SAME YEAR. So this year you can only e-file your 2011 taxes until Oct 2012 (you would have to look up the exact date on the irs website)

Yes she can remember her social security number. Can she be able to get it from the US Consulate? Advise please

I am still not sure what you mean by "get it". what information/thing does she need exactly if she already knows her SS#? What is "it"?

As far as contracting an accountant, I don´t know. It seems like a waste of time/money. Turbotax is super easy and would probably be cheaper and faster anyway.

Even if she wasn´t obligated to file because of her level of income, I understand that if the I-864 requires it, then you have to do it. There does not exist any sort of "exemption note" as far as I know.

Check out this thread - http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/353391-i-864-just-how-necessary-are-the-last-three-tax-returns/page__st__15__p__5203793__fromsearch__1#entry5203793 as well as this one - http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/357198-how-can-you-file-a-tax-return-when-you-havent-been-living-in-the-usa/page__p__5226700__fromsearch__1#entry5226700

Aside from that, here is the IRS checklist to see who is obligated to file- http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96623,00.html

You said she made less than 15,000, but notice that the minimum is 9,500 for 2011 (a lot lower than 15,000).

[jessicaruizw 9]

IRS number for individual tax help - 1-800-829-1040

[fftpholdings 0]

I made a mistake. She can not recollect her Social security. Can she be able to collect her Social security from the Consulate here South Africa?

Your Remarks......Even if she wasn´t obligated to file because of her level of income, I understand that if the I-864 requires it, then you have to do it. There does not exist any sort of "exemption note" as far as I know.

From the I-864 instruction, it says... Do not submit any tax returns that you filed with any foreign Government unless you claim that you were not required to file a Federal tax return with the USA government and you wish to rely on the foreign return solely to establish the amount of income your income that is not subject to tax in the US.

Is it necessary to file federal income tax return if her foreign earned salary is below the threshold that is subject to US taxes?

How would I know exactly the current MINIMUM foreign earned income that is not subject to US taxation?

And is there any way IRS can confirm an exemption if foreign earned income is not subject to US taxation?

[jessicaruizw 9]

I made a mistake. She can not recollect her Social security. Can she be able to collect her Social security from the Consulate here South Africa?

If she doesn´t remember, it should be on her birth cert (was she born in US). Try and use more specific language. You say collect social security, are you referring to collecting her social security benefits?? her SS card?? Your best bet is just to call the SS 1800 number (google it).

Is it necessary to file federal income tax return if her foreign earned salary is below the threshold that is subject to US taxes? Technically no (unless she meets other certain filing criteria), but I wouldn´t risk an RFE.

Ok, here is what you need to do......call the 1800 number I wrote above and ask to speak with someone regarding the requirements to file for the tax years 2009, 2010, 2011. They will give you a series of questions to see whether she was required to file her taxes. The questions for 2011 are in the link in my previous post where I mention the IRS checklist.

How would I know exactly the current MINIMUM foreign earned income that is not subject to US taxation?

Now, it is important that you understand that the threshold to be obligated to file, and the amount of foreigned earned income you are allowed to exclude from federal taxation are completely different things. The tax agent can tell you the threshold for filing, as well as the amount she will be able to exclude by filing form 2555 "Foreign Earned Income Exclusion" (you mentioned she made below 15,000, so she should be able to exclude all of that). This can be confusing....excluding your taxes is like exempting them, it DOES NOT mean that one does not have to file. Bascially, the IRS isn´t going to ask for taxes on that income, but they want to know about it. Ipso facto, if you make more than the threshold (9,500 for 2011) you MUST file regardless of where that income was earned or if it is excludable.

And is there any way IRS can confirm an exemption if foreign earned income is not subject to US taxation?

Take the time to visit the link I posted on march 28 about downloading previous forms and download the previous years 1040 and 2555. All the information is there, you just have to read it (obviously download the instructions that accompany said forms). I do not want to give you incorrect information about the specific dollar amount requirements.

Basically, you need to speak to an IRS professional about these questions, and then once you know whether or not you MUST file, turbotax it. Like I said, I would just go ahead and file it anyway, avoid a fun little RFE. If you are short on cash, turbotax just 2009 so you can see how the forms are filled out when you print it. Then just follow the exmaple and obviously the specific years instructions to fill out 2010 2011. You could have her taxes filed by now.

[together4evr 360]

Is she still an American? Everyone knows their Social. It does not come on our birth certificates. It comes to us after birth.

Does she have a domicile in the USA as required by the petition to get a visa.

[patient2010 93]

congrats on the approval!

[mounir412 101]

congrats!!!