Interview for AoS coming up in a few days -- need advice about financial issue

[Blenderwasher 0]

I'm a US citizen and my wife is from South Korea. She entered the country on a student visa. We were going over possible interview questions earlier, and we came to some about our finances. We have a shared checking account which was originally (before we got married) mine alone. On the advice of her younger sister, who is also married to a US citizen, we didn't add my name to her pre-existing bank accounts. We wanted to avoid any suspicion that my wife was paying me to get married.

It was then that she reminded me of something she told me a few months ago. Her mom transferred a large sum of money to her account a few months after we got married. The purpose was for my wife to invest it somehow in the US. Apparently there are laws, either in the US or Korea, that prevent large transfers like that, but there's a "loop hole" when the transfer is between a parent and a child who is enrolled in university.

I don't know why I didn't quiz her more about this at the time (for instance.. what are the tax implications of this going to be?), but I didn't, and that ship has sailed. I'm terrified now that the transfer will look like a "bribe" from her family.

What should we do?

[Shiobhan 235]

I do believe students here are allowed to receive money

from parents back home...don't know if there's a maximum

amount but I'd call the bank and get answers on these banking

laws transfers, If you have a bonafied marriage quit the

un-necessary worry.

[CC90 90]

It's the Korean laws that prevent large outbound sums like the ones you describe. Suffice to say I just know.

On the US side, depending on the amount and when it occurred, you may have US tax obligations. If it was over $10K, it was already reported to the IRS. Talk to a tax expert on this.

There's nothing you can do to "hide" the transfer. If it's in her account without your name, I'm not sure what you're worried about. Just explain the truth and you'll be fine. They have responsibility over immigration laws, not taxes.

[hmh33 117]

It's irrelevant to immigration.

[Dave&Roza 748]

What should we do?

The first thing to do is relax. The second thing to do is relax. The money transfer is between a parent and her child who is not a LPR yet, but is married to a USC so I would see what the tax consquences are if she claims LPR status for tax purposes and what that does when you file your taxes as a married couple--i.e. married filing jointly or married filing seperately and whether she becaomes a LPR or decided to be a LPR for TAX purposes. I would make sure you do this correctly so it does not bite you in the future. The money was sent to the daughter and not to you, so it does not look like a bribe to get married. As the others have stated, just tell the truth. For our AOS the questions were on the application form--i.e. What is your name? What is your DOB? What is your mother's name? What is your mother's DOB? etc.

Good luck,

Dave

Edited September 9, 2013 by Dave&Roza