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Tax Status? Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separate

By mattmatt in Tax & Finances During US Immigration

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mattmatt Apprentice

mattmatt   1

Posted
Filed: AOS (pnd) Country: Netherlands
 Timeline
Posted

Hello everybody,

I am the US Citizen. My wife is the foreign non-US-citizen. My wife is unemployed and has made 0 income in the US. We got married in December 2015, so we have to choose one of the two "married" filing statuses.

My wife does not have a SSN. We went to the SSA office to apply for her SSN, but they could not give it because:

  1. Even though her K-1 visa had not yet expired, there was less than 2 weeks remaining on the visa until it expired. (We weren't aware of that limitation, or else we would have gone to the SSA earlier.)
  2. She did not have an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) yet.

We are currently filing for EAD concurrently with AOS, so we will go back and get an SSN once her EAD arrives. However, in the meantime, the tax filing deadline is coming up and we can't wait for that.

If I file as Married Filing Separate, and put down "NRA" for my wife's SSN, then does she need to file anything herself? I would prefer that she doesn't file anything this year (if that's allowed), because I don't want to report her foreign earnings because the Form 2555 looks ridiculously hard to fill out. I also don't want to get her an ITIN because it's a huge hassle since the only document she has is her foreign passport and they only accept originals or certified copies from the originating agency (which would require a drive to her embassy or a drive to an IRS local office).

I guess my concern is that if I choose Married Filing Separate, will that have any negative impact in the future, such as on her AOS or Naturalization. Fore example, would USCIS look poorley on my wife if she does not file for taxes in 2015?

Thank you

I am the U.S. citizen petitioner (male). My wife is the foreign beneficiary (female)

K-1 FIANCEE VISA (I-129F)
Day 000 - 2015-02-23 - Packet mailed (USPS) to Dallas P.O. Box
Day 002 - 2015-02-25 - Tracking information indicates delivered
Day 003 - 2015-02-26 - USCIS received packet (NOA1 date)
Day 007 - 2015-03-02 - USCIS sent NOA1
Day 008 - 2015-03-03 - USCIS check cleared ($340)
Day 008 - 2015-03-03 - USCIS sent acceptance confirmation email
Day 175 - 2015-08-17 - USCIS sent NOA2
Day 193 - 2015-09-04 - NVC sent notice of transfer of petition to consulate
Day 197 - 2015-09-08 - Consulate sent fiancee a letter confirming receipt of petition
Day 227 - 2015-10-08 - Consulate sent fiancee interview appointment date
Day 260 - 2015-11-10 - Interview. Visa approved!
Day 267 - 2015-11-17 - Fiancee received visa/passport in mail
Day 273 - 2015-11-23 - Fiancee entered USA (POE Newark Airport)
Day 292 - 2015-12-12 - Legal marriage (town hall)

AOS & EAD (I-485 & I-765)
Day 000 - 2016-02-10 - Packet mailed (USPS) to Chicago P.O. Box
Day 005 - 2016-02-15 - Tracking information indicates delivered
Day 006 - 2016-02-16 - USCIS received packet (NOA1 date)
Day 018 - 2016-02-28 - USCIS sent NOA1 for AOS
Day 018 - 2016-02-28 - USCIS sent NOA1 for EAD
Day 020 - 2016-03-01 - Check cleared ($1070)
Day 020 - 2016-03-01 - USCIS sent acceptance confirmation email for AOS
Day 020 - 2016-03-01 - USCIS sent acceptance confirmation email for EAD
Day 024 - 2016-03-05 - USCIS sent NOA2 for EAD (notice of biometrics appointment)
Day 044 - 2016-03-25 - Biometrics appointment for EAD
Day 073 - 2016-04-23 - USCIS sent NOA2 for AOS (notice of biometrics appointment)
Day 089 - 2016-05-09 - Biometrics appointment for AOS
Day 114 - 2016-06-03 - Phonecall to USCIS re: over 90 days without EAD
Day 124 - 2016-06-13 - Phonecall to USCIS re: over 5 days without return call
Day 134 - 2016-06-23 - USCIS sent NOA3 for EAD (notice of EAD approval)

Day 139 - 2016-06-28 - USCIS sent EAD card (I-765 process complete)

Day 216 - 2016-09-13 - USCIS sent NOA3 for AOS (notice of interview appointment)

Day 253 - 2016-10-20 - Interview appointment for AOS
Day 253 - 2016-10-20 - USCIS sent NOA4 for AOS (notice of Permanent Resident approval)

Day 258 - 2016-10-25 - USCIS sent green card in mail (I-485 process complete)

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sensuelle1985 Contributor

sensuelle1985   10

Posted
Filed: AOS (apr) Timeline
Posted

Hello mattmatt,

No it will not matter if you fill Married Filing Separate or Married Filing jointly. if she doesn't have a SSN you can go to a tax agency and they will apply for an ITIN for her. The only difference is that filling separately your income is not combine, so if she owns it will not affect you compare to filling jointly

AOS (from F-1 student visa)
09/21/2012 got married
03/29/2016 AOS package send (I-130, I-485, I-765) (day 0)
04/01/2016 Package delivered to USCIS ATTN:FBAS 131 South Dearborn-3rd Floor Chicago, IL 60603-5517 (day 0)
04/11/2016 emails and texts notification received. Case routed to NBC (day 10)

PD 04/04/2016 (official day: day 1)
04/14/2016 received NOA1's hard copies. (day 11)

04/29/2016 received biometrics letter (day 26)
05/09/2016 biometrics appointment at 10AM (day 36)

:dancing:05/05/2016 walk-in biometrics (success) at 2pm (day 32) :dancing:

06/20/2016 online service request for EAD (day 78)

06/24/2016 EAD is being produced (day 82)

06/28/2016 EAD mailed (day 86)

07/01/2016 EAD received (day 89)

08/26/2016 Interview scheduled for 09/29/2016 (day 145)

09/29/2016 Interview day (day 181)

Result:APPROVED

Useful Links
USCIS Account set up: https://egov.uscis.g...atus/landing.do
USCIS Process times: https://egov.uscis.g...sDisplayInit.do
USCIS Tel No: 1-800-375-5283
Lockbox support email: LockboxSupport@uscis.dhs.gov
Change of Address for live petitions: https://egov.uscis.g...ddressChange.do
Contact Congressman: http://www.house.gov...entatives/find/
Contact Senator: http://www.senate.go...nators/contact/
Social Security Info: https://www.ssa.gov/people/immigrants/
Civil Surgeon List: https://my.uscis.gov/findadoctor
IRS Transcripts: https://www.irs.gov/.../Get-Transcript

translation: worldaccesstrans.com

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Thozelle Enthusiast

Thozelle   16

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

Hello everybody,

I am the US Citizen. My wife is the foreign non-US-citizen. My wife is unemployed and has made 0 income in the US. We got married in December 2015, so we have to choose one of the two "married" filing statuses.

My wife does not have a SSN. We went to the SSA office to apply for her SSN, but they could not give it because:

  • Even though her K-1 visa had not yet expired, there was less than 2 weeks remaining on the visa until it expired. (We weren't aware of that limitation, or else we would have gone to the SSA earlier.)
  • She did not have an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) yet.
We are currently filing for EAD concurrently with AOS, so we will go back and get an SSN once her EAD arrives. However, in the meantime, the tax filing deadline is coming up and we can't wait for that.

If I file as Married Filing Separate, and put down "NRA" for my wife's SSN, then does she need to file anything herself? I would prefer that she doesn't file anything this year (if that's allowed), because I don't want to report her foreign earnings because the Form 2555 looks ridiculously hard to fill out. I also don't want to get her an ITIN because it's a huge hassle since the only document she has is her foreign passport and they only accept originals or certified copies from the originating agency (which would require a drive to her embassy or a drive to an IRS local office).

I guess my concern is that if I choose Married Filing Separate, will that have any negative impact in the future, such as on her AOS or Naturalization. Fore example, would USCIS look poorley on my wife if she does not file for taxes in 2015?

Thank you

You can file MFS. Then ammend the 2015 taxes after she gets her ssn if it's beneficial to you.

2013/05/03 Married

2013 CFO seminar to change name

2013 Passport issued in married name

USCIS

2015/06/27 Sent I-130

2015/06/29 Priority Date

2015/0701 NOA1

2015/08/05 NOA2

NVC

2015/08/17 Package received at NVC

2015/08/26 Received DS-261/AOS bill

2015/08/29 Sent AOS/IV

2015/08/31 AOS/IV scan date

2015/09/01 DS-260 submitted

2015/09/21 3 n/a (CC)

2015/09/28 Receive confirmation email of CC waiting interview date

2015/10/01 Interview date scheduled (P4)

Manila Embassy

2015/10/12 SLEC Medical, required to get doctor certificate and return the 30th.

2015/10/19 Went to hospital to get the doctors certificate for SLEC

2015/10/30 Appointment with doctor at SLEC for evaluation

2015/11/03 Completed medical

2015/11/05 Interview scheduled - APPROVED

2015/11/06 CEAC changed to issued

2015/11/11 Passport and visa delivered

2015/11/12 Passport stamped at CFO

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Nich-Nick Grand Master

Nich-Nick   3,354

Posted
Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: United Kingdom
 Timeline
Posted (edited)

If I file as Married Filing Separate, and put down "NRA" for my wife's SSN, then does she need to file anything herself? I would prefer that she doesn't file anything this year (if that's allowed), because I don't want to report her foreign earnings because the Form 2555 looks ridiculously hard to fill out. I also don't want to get her an ITIN because it's a huge hassle since the only document she has is her foreign passport and they only accept originals or certified copies from the originating agency (which would require a drive to her embassy or a drive to an IRS local office).

She does not need to file because she has no US income to report.

Form 2555ez is not that hard. Ask for help.

You would go to a local IRS center that certifies her passport and sends the tax return and ITIN documents on to be processed. If that's too far to drive, and not worth paying less taxes or bigger refund, then you don't have to.

I guess my concern is that if I choose Married Filing Separate, will that have any negative impact in the future, such as on her AOS or Naturalization. Fore example, would USCIS look poorley on my wife if she does not file for taxes in 2015?

Overthinking in my opinion. It will say MARRIED and will list your wife's name, right? Not like you are filing as single with no mention of a wife. Edited by Nich-Nick

England.gifENGLAND ---

K-1 Timeline 4 months, 19 days 03-10-08 VSC to 7-29-08 Interview London

10-05-08 Married

AOS Timeline 5 months, 14 days 10-9-08 to 3-23-09 No interview

Removing Conditions Timeline 5 months, 20 days12-27-10 to 06-10-11 No interview

Citizenship Timeline 3 months, 26 days 12-31-11 Dallas to 4-26-12 Interview Houston

05-16-12 Oath ceremony

The journey from Fiancé to US citizenship:

4 years, 2 months, 6 days

243 pages of forms/documents submitted

No RFEs

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newacct Experienced

newacct   688

Posted
Filed: Timeline
Posted

You will generally pay more taxes as Married Filing Separately than Married Filing Jointly. You could file MFS now and then amend it to MFJ later when she gets an SSN -- that will avoid the hassle of getting an ITIN. Note that if you guys files MFJ then she will need to be treated as resident for the whole year and you will need to report her worldwide income and then use the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.

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Fr8dog Rising Star

Fr8dog   312

Posted
Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Netherlands
 Timeline
Posted

May I also suggest that she looks into filing in the Netherlands for 2015 as well. Not having lived there for the whole year, could make for a decent chunk of changes coming her way (at least for dutch standards).

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mattmatt Apprentice

mattmatt   1

Posted
Filed: AOS (pnd) Country: Netherlands
 Timeline
  • Author
Posted

Thanks Sensuelle1985, Thozelle, Nich-Nick, Newacct, and Fr8dog. I really appreciate your advice.

I am the U.S. citizen petitioner (male). My wife is the foreign beneficiary (female)

K-1 FIANCEE VISA (I-129F)
Day 000 - 2015-02-23 - Packet mailed (USPS) to Dallas P.O. Box
Day 002 - 2015-02-25 - Tracking information indicates delivered
Day 003 - 2015-02-26 - USCIS received packet (NOA1 date)
Day 007 - 2015-03-02 - USCIS sent NOA1
Day 008 - 2015-03-03 - USCIS check cleared ($340)
Day 008 - 2015-03-03 - USCIS sent acceptance confirmation email
Day 175 - 2015-08-17 - USCIS sent NOA2
Day 193 - 2015-09-04 - NVC sent notice of transfer of petition to consulate
Day 197 - 2015-09-08 - Consulate sent fiancee a letter confirming receipt of petition
Day 227 - 2015-10-08 - Consulate sent fiancee interview appointment date
Day 260 - 2015-11-10 - Interview. Visa approved!
Day 267 - 2015-11-17 - Fiancee received visa/passport in mail
Day 273 - 2015-11-23 - Fiancee entered USA (POE Newark Airport)
Day 292 - 2015-12-12 - Legal marriage (town hall)

AOS & EAD (I-485 & I-765)
Day 000 - 2016-02-10 - Packet mailed (USPS) to Chicago P.O. Box
Day 005 - 2016-02-15 - Tracking information indicates delivered
Day 006 - 2016-02-16 - USCIS received packet (NOA1 date)
Day 018 - 2016-02-28 - USCIS sent NOA1 for AOS
Day 018 - 2016-02-28 - USCIS sent NOA1 for EAD
Day 020 - 2016-03-01 - Check cleared ($1070)
Day 020 - 2016-03-01 - USCIS sent acceptance confirmation email for AOS
Day 020 - 2016-03-01 - USCIS sent acceptance confirmation email for EAD
Day 024 - 2016-03-05 - USCIS sent NOA2 for EAD (notice of biometrics appointment)
Day 044 - 2016-03-25 - Biometrics appointment for EAD
Day 073 - 2016-04-23 - USCIS sent NOA2 for AOS (notice of biometrics appointment)
Day 089 - 2016-05-09 - Biometrics appointment for AOS
Day 114 - 2016-06-03 - Phonecall to USCIS re: over 90 days without EAD
Day 124 - 2016-06-13 - Phonecall to USCIS re: over 5 days without return call
Day 134 - 2016-06-23 - USCIS sent NOA3 for EAD (notice of EAD approval)

Day 139 - 2016-06-28 - USCIS sent EAD card (I-765 process complete)

Day 216 - 2016-09-13 - USCIS sent NOA3 for AOS (notice of interview appointment)

Day 253 - 2016-10-20 - Interview appointment for AOS
Day 253 - 2016-10-20 - USCIS sent NOA4 for AOS (notice of Permanent Resident approval)

Day 258 - 2016-10-25 - USCIS sent green card in mail (I-485 process complete)

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