Filing I-751 with a Waiver - Tax return Issues

[Danielb4643 0]

Hi everybody, thank you for the continued support!

I am gathering all my information to file solo for an I-751 and it appears my Ex-Wife filed her Tax Returns as 'single' for the time that we were together. I have asked her to amend the Filing Status to Married Filing Separately but she will not (her Dad will not let her), if this going to be a major concern for me?

I am not sure why she will not change, her whole Family and herself is very supportive of me staying and have written affidavits supporting the validity of the Marriage and the love we shared; I am just unsure of how this will look to an immigration official.

Any support and words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated. We do not have much supporting documentation in the way of co-mingling of finances because we were living with her parents whilst we were married to establish ourselves and build funds. We had a joint bank and CC but not much $ flowed through it.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thank you!

[Hypnos 6,578]

Yes, it could be an issue. Technically she committed a federal crime (perjury) if she intentionally used the wrong filing status.

[LBeachey 45]

To clarify, you have been a permanent resident since Aug 2012? And no tax return has been filed for you for either 2012 or 2013? Your ex-wife just filed single for 2012 and 2013.

I think the problem is you are required to file as a permanent resident. When were you officially divorced? At a minimum, you may have to file taxes for yourself for 2012 and 2013 before you submit the I-751.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

My understanding of removing conditions is proving "jointness" with documentation. A joint tax return is just another piece of evidence like a joint bank account, joint lease, etc. You don't have that joint tax return to beef up your pile of evidence of a good faith marriage. So send what you do have. A tax return is not a requirement. It is simply evidence most people have. You don't.

I have a few questions--

Did you earn no income since you have been here? You may need to file your own return if she did not include you. This a an IRS issue and not for the I-751. You will have issues if you file for citizenship in 3 more years because they want to know if you ever failed to pay Income Tax. So figure out if you earned enough to file.

Are you serious that her Dad "won't let her" file a proper tax return? Is she a captive slave or a grown woman?

[Pitaya 2,577]

~moved from k1 process to ROC forum~

~ROC inquiry, not k1 related ~

[Danielb4643 0]

To clarify, you have been a permanent resident since Aug 2012? And no tax return has been filed for you for either 2012 or 2013? Your ex-wife just filed single for 2012 and 2013.

Hi, thank you everyone. Permanent Resident since July 2012 (expires next month) Got my 1st job here in Feb 2013 and filed this year as Married filing separately for myself, and she hasn't done any 'Married' filings...

[NancyNguyen 1,658]

When was your divorce finalized? You are supposed to submit I-751 divorce waiver as soon as your divorce is finalized. You will have a hard time persuading USCIS that your marriage was in good faith. It looks like your ex family is not really happy to help you. You need at least their affidavits about your communal residence too.

[Danielb4643 0]

I Have the affidavits from Friends and Family, and from them stating our living situation which is good. They said they would do anything they could to help me so this seems a little strange. It appears their tax person dissuaded her also.

I just don't know what to do...

We filed for divorce on March 20th and it will be Final Sept 20th, which means I will have to send off the I-751 without the divorce decree, my second issue!

[Lainie B 465]

Hi everybody, thank you for the continued support!

I am gathering all my information to file solo for an I-751 and it appears my Ex-Wife filed her Tax Returns as 'single' for the time that we were together. I have asked her to amend the Filing Status to Married Filing Separately but she will not (her Dad will not let her), if this going to be a major concern for me?

I am not sure why she will not change, her whole Family and herself is very supportive of me staying and have written affidavits supporting the validity of the Marriage and the love we shared; I am just unsure of how this will look to an immigration official.

Any support and words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated. We do not have much supporting documentation in the way of co-mingling of finances because we were living with her parents whilst we were married to establish ourselves and build funds. We had a joint bank and CC but not much $ flowed through it.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thank you!

Don't worry about it, just send what you have. Obviously don't send tax transcripts if they're not joint. You don't need to worry about her filing single vs MFS - that's between her and the IRS. The only thing that would help you is if she changed her filing status to MFJ, but it sounds like that's not going to happen.

I've seen people here approved with divorce waivers with not much in the way of evidence.

[NickD 203]

A couple of my wife's friends just wanted to go back home after failed marriages, couldn't blame them, met their husbands, and both these guys were first class jerks. Said nothing for them here, and both had wealthy families back home.

But if the wanted to say, would be a different situation, proving their marriage was in good faith, abuse, or a severe hardship in returning back to their home country.

This just got me to thinking if our marriage didn't work out, it did, but you never know. Would do everything in my power to state the marriage was in good faith, certainly was no abuse, but she had a good job here, sold her apartment, quit her job, and no family to return to. So returning to her home country would indubitably be a problem for her.

Just saying, have to figure out your own situation if you want to stay here, and be ready to prove it. All that evidence we had to submit was to prove we had a valid marriage. And apparently the USCIS definition of a good marriage is having joint legal assets, and paying taxes and bills together. Not a darn thing about being madly in love.

[LBeachey 45]

I Have the affidavits from Friends and Family, and from them stating our living situation which is good. They said they would do anything they could to help me so this seems a little strange. It appears their tax person dissuaded her also.

I just don't know what to do...

We filed for divorce on March 20th and it will be Final Sept 20th, which means I will have to send off the I-751 without the divorce decree, my second issue!

I would just file and indicate in your cover letter that the divorce will be final Sept. 20. Do you have any documentation as to that date, i.e a court date or even a letter from your lawyer. They will send you a RFE for the final divorce documents, this is one case you hope your case goes a little slow.

A little off-topic but it is your responsibility as a Permanent Resident to file taxes every year, even if it doesn't prove the legitimacy of your marriage, I would think they would want evidence you filed. I could be wrong. Does anyone know for sure?

[NickD 203]

From the day we sent in our AOS forms, was 15 months before we had our interview, but from the advice of my attorney, applied for EAD cards for my wife and stepdaughter. Received those about a couple of months later, so at least we could do stuff. Was shocked to learn about ROC at our interview and downloaded both the I-751 and the N-400 given to us by our IO.

Learned, we really had our worked cut out for us, wife, still weak on English didn't have much of an understanding of all this. So I took care of everything, after all, she was and still is a keeper. How can you expect an immigrant to know all this stuff? We were born with it. Ha, the first time I told my wife she has to sign here, she glanced at the penalty charges, replied, maybe we will have a nice judge and would let us share a cell together.

Unfortunately, the OP married a spouse that wasn't very kind nor helpful and didn't join this board at an earlier time, but if he wants to stay here, still can apply for a hardship. May even need a good immigration attorney for guidance, but this is another issue, trying to find a good one.

See now immigration attorneys are available on this site, hope they are good.

Edited June 23, 2014 by NickD