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Taxes: Filing jointly while still abroad

By Wingnutfish in Bringing Family Members of US Citizens to America

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Wingnutfish Enthusiast

Wingnutfish   18

Posted
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Taiwan
 Timeline
Posted

Hi there,

I'm a USC living with my non-USC, non-US resident spouse in Taiwan. We're about to start the CR-1 visa process, but haven't yet.

I know that it's possible for a USC and a non-resident spouse to file taxes jointly with the IRS - but is there any reason we would actually want to?

Both of us have very low incomes by US standards, and haven't had anything withheld in the US this year. I think my income from employment will be cancelled out by my standard deduction, though I also have some income that I'll probably have to pay self-employment tax on. My spouse's income is, of course, not taxable unless we elect to file jointly and treat her as a US resident for tax purposes.

Cheers!

Removal of Conditions:

2016-09-27: I-751 removal of conditions petition sent (with fee waiver request)

2016-09-30: I-751 petition delivered to California Service Center

2016-11-01: Informed in USCIS customer service call that they had no record of receiving our petition, but that it might still be languishing somewhere in fee waiver limbo

2016-11-01: Filed I-751 again, this time with payment check instead of fee waiver request (sent Priority Express)

2016-11-03: Date on I-797 Notice of Action (received 11/7)

2016-11-09: USCIS mailed out denial of our original fee waiver request, with denial letter dated 2016-11-02

2016-11-19: Biometrics appointment notice issued, for 2016-12-07 appointment

2016-11-26: Second biometrics appointment notice issue, for 2016-12-16 appointment (see this thread)

2016-12-07: Biometrics appointment. Allowed to complete biometrics despite mix-up on their end (again see this thread), but some people had to come back for second appointment date.

2018-05-01: Notice that our case was transferred to National Benefits Center in Lee's Summit, MO

2018-06-11: Approved after N-400 interview in Portland, OR (they seemed to be waiting for that before bothering with it)

 

Citizenship:

2017-12-11: N-400 Application for Naturalization submitted online while still waiting to hear back on I-751, received same day

2017-12-15: Biometrics notice

2018-01-04: Biometrics completed, on appointment date (Portland, OR)

2018-02-28: Interview scheduled for April 12 in Portland, OR

2018-03-01 (approximate): We sent in a letter requesting that the interview be rescheduled to after June 8, due to combination of work and family travel plans

2018-03-07: Notice that our April 12 interviewed had been "canceled" (pending rescheduling, but the letter didn't actually say that; officer at InfoPass later explained that interviews aren't scheduled until five or six weeks before the interview date, so they were waiting until closer to our requested rescheduling window)

2018-05-03: New interview scheduled for June 11.

2018-06-11: Citizenship interview - approved!

 

  • 10 months later...
Dfibus Explorer

Dfibus   16

Posted
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Morocco
 Timeline
Posted

Did you come up with a solution...

I-130 Sent : AUG22-2013

I-130 NOA1 : Aug 26-2013

Transfer Feb 19-2014

NOA 2: April-16 - 2014

NVC:

Case received: May - 02 - 2014

Case number & IIN: June 06-2014

DS-261 available & completed: June 18-2014

AOS fee invoiced and paid: June 18-2014

AOS packet sent: July - 23 - 2014

AOS scanned: July - 28 - 2014

IV fee invoiced AUG 4-2014

IV fee shows as paid: Aug 8-2014

IV packet sent: AUG - 1 - 2014

iv packet recieved AUG 4-2014

IV packet scanned Aug 6,2014

DS-260 Completed: Aug 8 2014

Case Complete Aug 22 2014

CEAC Status update Ready AUG 25 2014

Contacted by Embassy September 12 2014

Returned all paperwork and given an interview date Sept 18

Interview date Sept 30 2014

Approved Sept 30 2014


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Wingnutfish Enthusiast

Wingnutfish   18

Posted
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Taiwan
 Timeline
  • Author
Posted

I ended up concluding that there was no good reason to file jointly. We still wouldn't have qualified for the Earned Income Credit, and we would have had to pay extra self-employment tax on her income (normally not taxable, since she's not a citizen and it wasn't earned in the U.S.). We also would have had to get her an ITIN (since she doesn't have a social security number yet).

I guess we could have used it as evidence of our bona fide marriage in the CR-1 application, but it didn't seem worth paying more taxes and going through the trouble of getting the ITIN.

Removal of Conditions:

2016-09-27: I-751 removal of conditions petition sent (with fee waiver request)

2016-09-30: I-751 petition delivered to California Service Center

2016-11-01: Informed in USCIS customer service call that they had no record of receiving our petition, but that it might still be languishing somewhere in fee waiver limbo

2016-11-01: Filed I-751 again, this time with payment check instead of fee waiver request (sent Priority Express)

2016-11-03: Date on I-797 Notice of Action (received 11/7)

2016-11-09: USCIS mailed out denial of our original fee waiver request, with denial letter dated 2016-11-02

2016-11-19: Biometrics appointment notice issued, for 2016-12-07 appointment

2016-11-26: Second biometrics appointment notice issue, for 2016-12-16 appointment (see this thread)

2016-12-07: Biometrics appointment. Allowed to complete biometrics despite mix-up on their end (again see this thread), but some people had to come back for second appointment date.

2018-05-01: Notice that our case was transferred to National Benefits Center in Lee's Summit, MO

2018-06-11: Approved after N-400 interview in Portland, OR (they seemed to be waiting for that before bothering with it)

 

Citizenship:

2017-12-11: N-400 Application for Naturalization submitted online while still waiting to hear back on I-751, received same day

2017-12-15: Biometrics notice

2018-01-04: Biometrics completed, on appointment date (Portland, OR)

2018-02-28: Interview scheduled for April 12 in Portland, OR

2018-03-01 (approximate): We sent in a letter requesting that the interview be rescheduled to after June 8, due to combination of work and family travel plans

2018-03-07: Notice that our April 12 interviewed had been "canceled" (pending rescheduling, but the letter didn't actually say that; officer at InfoPass later explained that interviews aren't scheduled until five or six weeks before the interview date, so they were waiting until closer to our requested rescheduling window)

2018-05-03: New interview scheduled for June 11.

2018-06-11: Citizenship interview - approved!

 

 
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