doing it ourselves! Kinda nervous! Questions tho!!

[Jrozzler 17]

Hello VJ community! after reading the comments on my last thread and after a lot of prayer, My fiancée and I have decided to file for the K1 visa. And we are doing it without a lawyer! It's kind of scary but I believe a lawyer isn't really needed to file paperwork. Her parents however, are convinced we need one.

Brittany ( my fiancée) lives in Canada now. Her dad has a massive reality business and she collects monthly dividends. a few of the buildings that they own are in her name as well. Her dad is concerned about taxes and what it means for his business and what it means for us down the road. She will be receiving income from Canada. 

 

Has anyone delt  with a situation like this before? Do I really need to get a lawyer involved right now? The petition really does not pertain to all of that. I think we only need a lawyer down the road to deal with tax implications and what our finances  will look like.  But for now can't we just get the k1 and then when we gets approved and she comes here to get married, then we start to look at the financial aspect and get a lawyer involved? 

 

Thanks for for your help!!! 

 

 

[geowrian 22,337]

Congrats!

 

Yes, in most cases, the K-1 process (and AOS/ROC/naturalization later) is DIY. Lawyers don't make it go any faster, either.

 

You may need an accountant to deal with the tax ramifications down the road. I don't know Canada's tax system, sorry. The only potential concern would be exactly how the income is earned once your fiance enters the US but doesn't have her EAD or GC yet. She's not allowed to work until then. If she's only earning dividends and is not performing any actual work, then I don't see the issue there. If she's helping out with the business / getting compensation from it, then doing so without work authorization would be an issue.

[Jrozzler 17]

3 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Congrats!

 

Yes, in most cases, the K-1 process (and AOS/ROC/naturalization later) is DIY. Lawyers don't make it go any faster, either.

 

You may need an accountant to deal with the tax ramifications down the road. I don't know Canada's tax system, sorry. The only potential concern would be exactly how the income is earned once your fiance enters the US but doesn't have her EAD or GC yet. She's not allowed to work until then. If she's only earning dividends and is not performing any actual work, then I don't see the issue there. If she's helping out with the business / getting compensation from it, then doing so without work authorization would be an issue.

Thank you! We are very excited!

her parents think a lawyer/accountant needs to get involved right now. This isn't really needed until we figure out our taxes right? 

 

So  she would only be receiving dividends.  Basically it would be like a gift from her parents every so often. From what I've heard gifts from parents to children even internationally are nontaxable up to a certain amount.  I am probably in the wrong forum  for this but I really want to know what our taxes would look like if she continued to receive those dividends. Would we be taxed in both places. 

[Jrozzler 17]

You don't have to answer that lol. I'm just thinking out loud! 

[DelilahBrz 48]

You cannot work in the US without work authorization. Doing so could result in serious consequences. 

[Jrozzler 17]

29 minutes ago, DelilahBrz said:

You cannot work in the US without work authorization. Doing so could result in serious consequences. 

Sorry I'm not communicating my point properly. And I'm bouncing around on certain topics and questions! This would be after she receives her greencard. I guess what I'm really trying to know for sure is that's it's ok not to get a lawyer involved until after we are approved and she moves here. Basically we only need one when it's time to figure out our tax implications. Is ok to proceed with the k1 petition even though we don't really know what those implications are yet?

 

[b6543 25]

VJ members can provide responses to specific k1 visa process questions if you come across any... in many cases better than lawyers.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

Yes, you are kinda bouncing around alittle bit so that is throwing some people off. What you should have done is create two different topics because you have two different topics in this one post. So I will label them as such below:

 

1. You should not need a lawyer because everything is actually pretty simple and straight forward. I did a lawyer for the K1 visa for my fiance ONLY because I was working overseas at the time and did not have the time necessary to do everything. But we did it ourselves for both the AOS and the ROC, it is pretty simple as long as you follow the guides on here.

 

2. This is more complicated than a DIY site in dealing with real estate/rentals across countries. So I would think you need a tax attorney for this part next year when you do your taxes (if you do everything this year and get married). But this in regards to the K1 visa process is means next to nothing. 

[Mamed 18]

We did everything without lawyer, one and only help we received was from VJ members. I don't see any reason why would you need lawyer at any point of your "journey". Your case doesn't look complicated.

 

To my understanding, USCIS doesn't care how much money the beneficiary has (and bring to US with her), they want you, the petitioner, support her when she arrives (i-864 for AOS), and prior that submit evidence that you can support (bring i-134 to interview).

 

I really don't understanding why people are talking about work authorization if she's not going to receive dividends from work IN the US. As OP said, it's money (as gift) from her parents.

(OP, don't rely on this to much, I'm just saying what I think)

[geowrian 22,337]

36 minutes ago, Mamed said:

To my understanding, USCIS doesn't care how much money the beneficiary has (and bring to US with her), they want you, the petitioner, support her when she arrives (i-864 for AOS), and prior that submit evidence that you can support (bring i-134 to interview).

 

I really don't understanding why people are talking about work authorization if she's not going to receive dividends from work IN the US. As OP said, it's money (as gift) from her parents.

(OP, don't rely on this to much, I'm just saying what I think)

Right. They want somebody to be responsible for her if she becomes a public charge.

 

Agreed. Receiving a gift is not work, and therefore doesn't require work authorization. If she was doing anything to "earn" that like providing advice or customer service - even if it's not a straight wage or invoiced - would fall under "work" and need authorization if she is within the US.

Edited January 15, 2017 by geowrian

[Jrozzler 17]

2 hours ago, cyberfx1024 said:

Yes, you are kinda bouncing around alittle bit so that is throwing some people off. What you should have done is create two different topics because you have two different topics in this one post. So I will label them as such below:

 

1. You should not need a lawyer because everything is actually pretty simple and straight forward. I did a lawyer for the K1 visa for my fiance ONLY because I was working overseas at the time and did not have the time necessary to do everything. But we did it ourselves for both the AOS and the ROC, it is pretty simple as long as you follow the guides on here.

 

2. This is more complicated than a DIY site in dealing with real estate/rentals across countries. So I would think you need a tax attorney for this part next year when you do your taxes (if you do everything this year and get married). But this in regards to the K1 visa process is means next to nothing. 

My apologies!!!! Thanks your for your input tho!! 

[Brit1 54]

On 1/13/2017 at 8:08 PM, Jrozzler said:

Thank you! We are very excited!

her parents think a lawyer/accountant needs to get involved right now. This isn't really needed until we figure out our taxes right? 

 

So  she would only be receiving dividends.  Basically it would be like a gift from her parents every so often. From what I've heard gifts from parents to children even internationally are nontaxable up to a certain amount.  I am probably in the wrong forum  for this but I really want to know what our taxes would look like if she continued to receive those dividends. Would we be taxed in both places. 

I think you're probably right that you don't need to think about this immediately. But it might be prudent to get advice before she moves, so that if there is a potential problem it can be rectified in advance. Ideally, you'd like a US tax attorney that also understands the Canadian tax laws.

 

As I understand it, a gift to a US person (i.e. someone resident in the US for tax purposes, not necessarily a permanent resident) from a foreign person is exempt from US taxes. A gift from a foreign corporation, however, may not be tax exempt. This is why it might be a good idea to look into it in advance!

[ShanghaiSurfer 135]

On tax issues: Unfortunately if she decided to become a USC in future her Canadian income could possibly taxed by the IRS. However this should only affect your fiancé and not her father. America is one of the few countries that tax on worldwide income. As others have pointed out the tax rules can provide exemptions and deductions where it could result in no taxes. She will also have to report any of her ownership in foreign entities. Maybe this is what her Dad is concerned about. 

 

All of the the above requirements is when or if she becomes a USC. I don't know the tax requirement for green Card holders. Just something for her to discuss with professionals before deciding to become citizen or not.

 

Highly recommend getting a tax professional to help decide. It will save her $$$ in the long run. 

 

 

[geowrian 22,337]

30 minutes ago, ShanghaiSurfer said:

On tax issues: Unfortunately if she decided to become a USC in future her Canadian income could possibly taxed by the IRS. However this should only affect your fiancé and not her father. America is one of the few countries that tax on worldwide income. As others have pointed out the tax rules can provide exemptions and deductions where it could result in no taxes. She will also have to report any of her ownership in foreign entities. Maybe this is what her Dad is concerned about. 

 

All of the the above requirements is when or if she becomes a USC. I don't know the tax requirement for green Card holders. Just something for her to discuss with professionals before deciding to become citizen or not.

 

Highly recommend getting a tax professional to help decide. It will save her $$$ in the long run. 

 

 

Right. Generally, you have to file taxes for Canada and the US. You would claim the Canadian-based income in the US tax returns, but only be taxed the difference between what you paid on the Canadian taxes and US taxes. For instance, if you paid $1000 on Canada's tax forms, but would have owed $1,200 on the US system, then you would still owe $200 in taxes in the US. This is to try to prevent tax shelters - otherwise businesses would just use low tax countries. I'm not saying there aren't loopholes (there are!), but it's at least one layer of defense in stopping that.

 

The same tax rules apply to LPRs AFAIK. And it should apply even before you get the green card, too. But again...this only applies to income earned - not gifts.

 

Agreed. An accountant or tax attorney would help the OP/partner make the best financial decisions moving forward. An immigration attorney doesn't seem needed based on what has been stated.

[Jrozzler 17]

17 hours ago, cyberfx1024 said:

Yes, you are kinda bouncing around alittle bit so that is throwing some people off. What you should have done is create two different topics because you have two different topics in this one post. So I will label them as such below:

 

1. You should not need a lawyer because everything is actually pretty simple and straight forward. I did a lawyer for the K1 visa for my fiance ONLY because I was working overseas at the time and did not have the time necessary to do everything. But we did it ourselves for both the AOS and the ROC, it is pretty simple as long as you follow the guides on here.

 

2. This is more complicated than a DIY site in dealing with real estate/rentals across countries. So I would think you need a tax attorney for this part next year when you do your taxes (if you do everything this year and get married). But this in regards to the K1 visa process is means next to nothing. 

My apologies!!!! Thanks your for your input tho!!