no insurance, no ss#, past tax issues, please help

[erised1 0]

After a lot of discussion my German boyfriend and I are thinking it would be financially best for us both to get married in CA then have him go back to Germany and file for CR1. I have concerns about evidence however.

1. I don't have medical insurance so can't place his name on policy I don't have.

2. 3 years past taxes all are joint married to my ex-husband. (Our divorce will be finalized in April 2013 as it takes 6 months in CA for divorces to be finalized). Will this cause problems??

3. in CA and with my bank, we would need an SS number to add him to my bank account or open a joint one so I can't add him or open one together because he doesn't have an SS number.

4. We want to get married in vegas, a small ceremony with just him and I. We would take photos and stuff but we are not into flashy big wedding thing.

5. He and I have been together for almost 4 years now so we've had ongoing relationship and have spent 4 weeks together here in CA, would this help our case?

6. I do own my own car, is it possible to add him as co-owner? Or would he still require SS number for this?

I'm thinking of trying to find lawyer to help because it feels so complicated and we don't want to risk anything going wrong especially after being so long together miles and miles away- we want to be together finally!

Any advice would be grately appreciated.

[Cathi 5,775]

The embassy will be curious as to why you have been together 4 years while you were married to another man, and then married immediately following the divorce Someone on VJ was recently denied because of a similar circumstance. The job of a CO is to weed out fraud, and when you marry someone immediately after a divorce it looks very suspicious. Just make sure you can explain the circumstances and be prepared for him being questioned in depth about this. Not having a lot of joint things is normal in a new marriage and immigration is aware of that, especially when one is from a foreign country. My husband and I did not have anything in both of our names, and it was not an issue. Good luck!!

[erised1 0]

Well, we were seperated but I had to finish my BA then because the plan was always him coming here, I knew I had to get a job that made decent money so I went to nursing school right after I graduated with my BA. That was a year of school. Then I had to find a job. Now I have completed those goals, can take care of myself and not have my husband do it, and we were finally able to afford filing for divorce. Everything is related to money, money, money. We have been slowly doing what we could do, trying to be as careful and responsible as possible. We don't have the luxury like others who have money, time, etc to just have done it years ago. So now that we are here, we have jobs, etc., we are ready to go forward and want to do it the right way and not be delayed.

So if evidence via joint assets is ok, what about showing my taxes for past 3 years?? Like I said, being legally married they were filed under that catergory. So will this be a huge issue? If so, what can I do about it so it doesn't delay us??

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

I was able to add my wife to my chase and vehicle registration with power of attorney.

[Villanelle 4,122]

When you say you filed tax returns as married because you were married and you were legally required to file that way- Im assuming you filed married filing separately and not married filing jointly?

If you didnt youre going to have an incredibly difficult time proving to the Officer interviewing you that your relationship with spouse 1 was over if you filed joint tax returns with your spouse.

Basically a joint tax return with your spouse (a married filing joint return that is) is a statement you and spouse 1 made to the US government stating during tax year 2009, 2010, 2011 etc, Mr and Mrs lived together at X address and co-mingled funds. To present to another Officer of the government (the one interviewing you) a tax return and say- I know the return says this, but its really not true- our relationship was over and we only filed that way for tax benefits- shows you are not a trustworthy person. So why should they believe you when you are now saying me and spouse 2 have a legitimate relationship?

So I really hope your tax returns are married filed separately. It will show you filed the proper way and are trustworthy, it will show your relationship with spouse 1 was over when you said it was- because you and spouse 1 separated assets by filing separately.

If you do have legitimate reasons for waiting to file for divorce and can document them, it shouldnt be a problem. You should be aware that it is going to be questioned, because it is a red flag. So be prepared. Have answers ready and proof. Statements from people who knew you back then and will attest that you did separate from spouse 1 on X date. If its in the divorce papers- highlight it. If you have utility bills that show spouse 1 was removed from them on X date bring them. If you moved from a joint home you shared with spouse 1 to your own place, bring documentation. You must show marriage one was over way before spouse 2 came along so they do not accuse you of terminating the marriage solely for the purpose of helping spouse 2 obtain immigration benefits.

Once you clear that hurdle they will address what evidence you have of proof of your relationship with your current spouse. Different people have different things. Like Mimi said, in a new marriage they dont expect to see tons of joint things, especially when one person is living overseas.

[erised1 0]

Am replying from phone so I apologize for not being able to see names:

I called my ex and asked him if he's been applying for us together or seperatly on taxes. He said together. I asked if he could file sepertaly for us this year and he said we didn't have to, "the irs doesn't care where we live- together or not." So I looked online and found that it is legal to file married jointly, even while seperated so long as the final divorce decree did not fall on dec 28 (last day of the year). So it seems I am actually okay as it is within our legal right to file this way. The divorce papers say we have been seperated since 2007 as well.

Once I got my license and job, I moved to a smaller place (ex was paying for rent, everything was in his name till then since I didn't have a job). That was 8\2011 and have been living on my own and paying my own utilities, etc. So that I can provide as proof. The only thing my ex was paying for was the car, which was in his name, but after he paid it off he changed the title to me.

Either way, maybe I should consider a lawyer just to be safe, I don't know. I just don't want to have to wait longer to be with my german bf. We've been waiting so long to move forward. Now it feels we are so close but still so far.

Its very sad how hard it is to be with someone from another country. Its sad that other people who did (are) filing fraudulant visas make it so hard for others who genuinly have and want to be together.

Where can I find more info on power of attorney for adding my german bf to my bank and car note after we get married?

[Villanelle 4,122]

I called my ex and asked him if he's been applying for us together or seperatly on taxes. He said together. I asked if he could file sepertaly for us this year and he said we didn't have to, "the irs doesn't care where we live- together or not." So I looked online and found that it is legal to file married jointly, even while seperated so long as the final divorce decree did not fall on dec 28 (last day of the year). So it seems I am actually okay as it is within our legal right to file this way. The divorce papers say we have been seperated since 2007 as well.

Yikes

The IRS may not care if you file jointly or if you have been filing jointly for years while living separately. Yes, it is legal to do so. But that is NOT the point. You are applying for a visa from immigration.

You made a statement to one government agency (the IRS) stating you have a joint address and co-mingled finances with spouse 1 (over multiple years no less) and now youre making a different contradicting statement to another government agency (USCIS) stating something different.

So which one is the truth? A huge part of the process is you making a statement that your relationship is legitimate. Making conflicting statements to the US government calls your trustworthiness into question.

Youre going to need to overcome it.

Everything I wrote before about showing your relationship with spouse 1 was over is now a little bit harder because the tax documents show it wasnt. The tax documents are contradicting evidence showing a link between the two of you.

So while you have a divorce decree showing a date of separation and proof of separate residences and proof of your own utilities etc. And perhaps statements from people saying the relationship was over. You also have one very strong document from the IRS showing you were tied to spouse 1 contradicting all the above evidence.

Its going to be up to the person reviewing it to decide what weight to place on what evidence but they tend to place the greatest weight on tax documents because like I said, its a statement you made previously to the US government under penalty of law.

If youre not going to be attending the interview (since its a CR1 and it will be overseas) you should send a letter explaining what happened and why. The CO may be interested in it, they may not. It depends on the CO and how tough they are there with fraud.

Definitely include the legal provision that allowed you to file jointly even though you were separated. That will show that you didnt violate any laws and are trustworthy. (the CO isnt a tax expert and that will alleviate any concerns that you did something wrong) Include the reason why you were still co-mingling assets with spouse 1 even after you were separated. Perhaps you and spouse 1 had a friendly relationship even though you separated and took advantage of the tax code and benefits? that doesnt and shouldnt make you be viewed as non trustworthy.

There also going to wonder why you and spouse 1 waited so long to divorce. Is there any kind of mandatory separation period in your state before youre able to divorce? If it was truly all about the money and you submit a letter like above- it will backfire- because showing you got a favorable refund by filing with spouse 1 in one sentence and then in the next saying I was so broke I couldnt divorce makes no sense what so ever.

Im really not trying to give you a hard time. But theyre going to be looking for things that dont make sense. Its what they do to detect fraud. And someone who applies for a visa quickly off a divorce is a possible fraud. (it means they possibly divorced for the sole purpose of obtaining the visa) Someone who was separated yet was still filing joint returns with their spouse is a possible fraud indicator. (it means they might not have been separated like they claimed)

For your BF/future spouse to successfully obtain his visa youre going to have to prove that your old marriage was terminated on its own merits and was not a plan to divorce spouse 1 who was a legitimate marriage but you terminated it to marry a friend to obtain him a GC.

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

This is a personal opinion, but I think there is a big problem that you are letting your soon to be ex-husband tell you how you are going to file taxes especially when it could impact your current relationship.

You need to let go of this man's control over your life before you move on to someone else. Did you by chance wait to get divorced for financial aid at school purposes? If we are all wondering, then a CO will too...

How does your soon to be husband feel about all of this? Does he know?

[pushbrk 13,019]

The foreigner is coming from Germany. So, in my opinion all this discussion of relationship evidence, tax filing status is a non-issue. As long as the case is properly filed, the relationship is unlikely to be questions. It's GERMANY, not Morocco or Nigeria.

[erised1 0]

Thank you everyone for your replies.

I'm not picking up where the contradictory statment is. One of the reasons why I posted question here is because I was worried that filing taxes jointly with husband, since we have been seperated, was wrong or could cause problems. I hadn't ever thought about it and my ex was always the one taking care of the finances since he was the one working, not me. I'm glad you brought up the point of same address because it got me thinking and doing research and found it is legal, even to get tax benefits, to file jointly even while seperated. The W2s have his home address and mine have mine, which are seing by IRS no? So they know already, its on the W2s. He moved in with his mom and I lived in our house till I was able to find a job, pay for my own apartment (so he wouldn't have to keep paying crazy rent ammount) and that's how it was. We even saw a marriage counselor who helped us seperate in a civil way without us hating each other like other divorced couples do. It was expensive to file divorce so we waited til we could afford it (when we got married we were young and ignorant and paid by credit cards, I lost my job due to work injury and he became responsible for everything financially and so I went back to school so I could work after I recovered from my injuries). Like I said, I am not fortunate enough to have had all kinds of money so its made things more difficult. Over the past two years that I've actually had a job, we have been able to do things we couldn't afford to before (like me getting my own place in my own name- no one will rent to me without a job, and even pay for divorce).

So maybe a lawyer would be helpful because after thinking over everything that was said here I did think that someone interviweing or even looking at paperwork wouldn't know about taxes.

Yes, going through therapy actually helped both him and I see he was using money to control me. First was to help take care of me but it changed over time so once we started to see these things with help from therapist, it helped us start to let go of those kinds of things and find a balance between being helpful and being controlling. After doing the reseaarch online I asked him to file individually this year and he said he would so I'm hoping that will help when my german bf file for CR1.

My german bf is aware of everything. He thinks all of this is complicated and he wishes it didn't have to be like this just simply so we can be together. Its the hardest part, to know we will be under microscope someone looking for anything wrong as oppsed to just seeing the relationship. But like I said, it sucks that people have abused this process so much so that it is hard on everyone, especially people who genuinly want to be together. He doesn't care about the green card, he cares about us being together, but obviously knows its what is required in order for us to be together. We even considered me goingto germany instead but imy german is poor and it would be harder for me to get work out there. His english is great and without language skills, germany wouldn't give me citizenship without it. So we have all the crazy paper work here and the language thing there. All these barries and we are trying to find what would be best for us both. Him coming here seems like the best choice in the long run. We thought CR1 because that way he can work when he gets here and not have to sit around and wait. We've read all kinds of stories of people coming here and getting severe depression from one person having to work to support both while that person sits at home alone wacthing tv, etc. We don't want that for him.

Just trying to figure it all out and think of any possible thing we can to prepare ourlselves. we want to do the right thing because we are afraid of never being allowed to be together if rejected, especially after being married. That would be devistating. Wed even do DFC in germany if we could but we can't afford me going there for 6 months to live and then come back- id have no job so that just won't work. We wish there was an easier way and of K1 or CR1, the CR1 seems the best choice. Would be worse if we tried K1 were rejected for some god aweful reason the got married and tried for CR1, no? That would be an even bigger red flag??

So that's why I'm here asking for advice and resources. I don't regret being married before, I learned a lot about myself and life and would never change it now. We were young, we thought we knew it all, what love was, what healthy relationship was, and we were wrong and and wrong for each ther. With all that and all the growing and insight, I found now the right person and want nothing more than to live a normal life with him. Not a long distance relationship. I'm way over due on rambling and I'm sure many have read stories of aching for another and most of you have gone throuh it so I will stop now.

Again, thank you all for your responses and things to consider. We need all the help we can get.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

First, you'll get divorced. Thereafter you can get married to that German fella of yours. How you filed your taxes with your ex is of no concern for this. The consular officer may raise his eyebrows in light of the velocity you switch husbands, but that's about it.

Once you got married, you'll file an I-130 petition with the USCIS. It costs $420 and takes about 5 months to be processed. http://www.uscis.gov...00045f3d6a1RCRD

Thereafter the petition goes to the National Visa Center (NVC) in New Hampshire and they will contact you for the mandatory Affidavit of Support.

Since the US government needs to make sure that no foreigner becomes a public charge, every intending immigrant needs a sponsor. The form for this is I-864 and you'll need to make at least $18,912 after taxes, assuming you have no dependents, such as children and other ex-husbands, to qualify.

http://www.uscis.gov...form/i-864p.pdf

What they want to see is your latest US income tax return, filed jointly or alone doesn't matter. They may also want to see proof of your current income. If your income is not sufficient, you will need either a co-sponsor, or you can make up for it with assets at the rate of 1:3.

After that's been taken care of, the entire package goes to the US consulate in Frankfurt, and the American Frankfurters will ask your then husband for paperwork, a medical, police reports, and schedule an interview. If that goes well, he'll receive CR-1 visa (married less than 2 years) and has thereafter up to 6 months to "activate" it. He'll be a conditional resident the moment he meets you at the gate.

Edited March 3, 2013 by Brother Hesekiel

[Boiler 45,809]

The foreigner is coming from Germany. So, in my opinion all this discussion of relationship evidence, tax filing status is a non-issue. As long as the case is properly filed, the relationship is unlikely to be questions. It's GERMANY, not Morocco or Nigeria.

That was what I was thinking.

[Cathi 5,775]

Just so you know, I was legally separated from my ex husband when i met my current husband, and I married my now husband shortly after my divorce. I had joint tax returns with my ex husband that I submitted with the affidavit of support. I attended the interview with my husband in Jordan(a high fraud MENA country) and I was questioned by the CO about it, I was able to explain the circumstances, and my husband was granted his visa. This is why I brought it up in the first place. You can overcome it as long as you will be able to explain, we did.