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~Alessa~

Filing taxes jointly vs. separately

By ~Alessa~ in Tax & Finances During US Immigration

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~Alessa~ Enthusiast

~Alessa~   26

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Russia
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Hello! I just got a job and about to fill out tax forms for employer, I am thinking about filing taxes separately, I  worry about USCIS because I still have my interview pending to schedule. My question is does it really matter for USCIS how we file taxes? My husband has enough income for our household, it just me being bored sitting home made me go to work.

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MariaR323 Proficient

MariaR323   199

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Mexico
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How you file the tax return is one of their "hot list" items. With that said though, there is nothing wrong with filing separately, just make sure you are using the correct filing status as Married Filing Separately (MFS) and that you both take either the standard deduction or itemized deductions.

 

And be prepared to probably answer that question for AOS as to why you two filed separately.

Maria ~ U.S. Citizen

 

K-1 & K-2 Process (Completed in 4 mos. 8 days)

 

1/19/16: I-129F Package recv'd by USCIS via FedEx overnight

4/1/16: NOA2 Approval :dancing:

5/17/16: Interview :star: - APPROVED :dance:

5/25/16 : Visas in hand! :thumbs: 

Aug 2016: Wedding (L)

AOS/EAD/AP Process, K-1 & K-2 (Completed in 4 mos. 15 days)

 

9/21/16: Package recv'd by USCIS via FedEx overnight [Day 1]

10/24/16: AOS Cases (I-864) RFIE recv'd hardcopy [Day 29]

12/23/16: AOS Case Status Updates - Interview Scheduled, text recv'd [Day 94] :dancing:

1/17/17: EAD/AP Combo Card recv'd via USPS Priority Mail [Day 119]

1/27/17: AOS Interview :star: - APPROVED!! :dance:  [Day 129 / 120 w/ 9day RFIE delay]

1/27/17: AOS Case status update - Approved | 1/31/17: New Card in Production | 2/1/17: Card Was Mailed

2/4/17: Green Cards Arrived :thumbs:

ROC Process, Spouse & 2 Step-Sons (Completed in 23 mos. 22 days)

 

1/25/19: Package recv'd by USCIS via FedEx overnight [Day 1]

1/29/19: NOA notice date, text & email recv'd, routed to CSC

2/1/19: NOA 18mo. Extension Letter arrived in the mail, for wife only [Day 7]

3/13/19: Filed SR for non-receipt of NOA for I-751A dependents [Day 48] | 3/21/19: Recv'd NOA for 2 stepsons [Day 56]

4/29/19: Biometrics (Scheduled) Appt Completed [Day 95]

8/28/20: Case Status Update - RFE [Day 582 ~ 19 mos. 4 days] | 11/20/20: Case Status Update - RFE response recv'd [Day 666 ~ 21 mos. 27 days]

1/7/21: Case Status Update - New Card in Production :dance: [Day 714 ~ 23 mos. 14 days] 

1/15/21: Green Cards Arrived :thumbs:[Day 722 ~ 23 mos. 22 days]

Naturalization Process for Spouse - in research stage (Completed in X mos. X days)

 

8/7/24: started research and prep for upcoming filing of N-400 Online

TBD: Filed N-400 Online

 :)

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~Alessa~ Enthusiast

~Alessa~   26

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Russia
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7 minutes ago, MariaR323 said:

How you file the tax return is one of their "hot list" items. With that said though, there is nothing wrong with filing separately, just make sure you are using the correct filing status as Married Filing Separately (MFS) and that you both take either the standard deduction or itemized deductions.

 

And be prepared to probably answer that question for AOS as to why you two filed separately.

 

Excuse me for silly question, but if I didn't work in 2016, so I had no income, but my husband did work, and he is going to file his taxes soon (he is self-employed), how he should file it?  married - head of household?

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AstroCanada Community Regular

AstroCanada   206

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Filed: Citizen (pnd) Country: Canada
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1 hour ago, ~Alessa~ said:

Excuse me for silly question, but if I didn't work in 2016, so I had no income, but my husband did work, and he is going to file his taxes soon (he is self-employed), how he should file it?  married - head of household?

If you can file together, that's probably financially more advantageous if you didn't work.  Then you're in the married tax brackets, so your marginal tax rate would definitely be lower!

I-130

May 14, 2016: Sent I-130 Package to Chicago Lockbox

Oct 21, 2016: NOA2 Notice by App (LIN)

 

NVC

Nov 8, 2016: NVC Received

Nov 16, 2016: Case Number Assigned

Nov 18, 2016: DS-261 submitted and AOS fee paid

Dec 5, 2016: NVC Scan Date

Dec 6, 2016: NVC 3 N/A and Case Complete on Phone [1 day later!]

Dec 13, 2016: NVC CC e-mail

Jan 23, 2017: Interview...Approved!

 

Removing Conditions

Nov 2, 2018: Sent I-751 to Arizona Lockbox 

March 3, 2020: Approved by CSC

 

N-400

Feb 2, 2020: File N-400 online

Feb 25, 2020: Biometrics

 

 

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MariaR323 Proficient

MariaR323   199

Posted
Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Mexico
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Exactly, the MFJ filing status is the most favorable.

Maria ~ U.S. Citizen

 

K-1 & K-2 Process (Completed in 4 mos. 8 days)

 

1/19/16: I-129F Package recv'd by USCIS via FedEx overnight

4/1/16: NOA2 Approval :dancing:

5/17/16: Interview :star: - APPROVED :dance:

5/25/16 : Visas in hand! :thumbs: 

Aug 2016: Wedding (L)

AOS/EAD/AP Process, K-1 & K-2 (Completed in 4 mos. 15 days)

 

9/21/16: Package recv'd by USCIS via FedEx overnight [Day 1]

10/24/16: AOS Cases (I-864) RFIE recv'd hardcopy [Day 29]

12/23/16: AOS Case Status Updates - Interview Scheduled, text recv'd [Day 94] :dancing:

1/17/17: EAD/AP Combo Card recv'd via USPS Priority Mail [Day 119]

1/27/17: AOS Interview :star: - APPROVED!! :dance:  [Day 129 / 120 w/ 9day RFIE delay]

1/27/17: AOS Case status update - Approved | 1/31/17: New Card in Production | 2/1/17: Card Was Mailed

2/4/17: Green Cards Arrived :thumbs:

ROC Process, Spouse & 2 Step-Sons (Completed in 23 mos. 22 days)

 

1/25/19: Package recv'd by USCIS via FedEx overnight [Day 1]

1/29/19: NOA notice date, text & email recv'd, routed to CSC

2/1/19: NOA 18mo. Extension Letter arrived in the mail, for wife only [Day 7]

3/13/19: Filed SR for non-receipt of NOA for I-751A dependents [Day 48] | 3/21/19: Recv'd NOA for 2 stepsons [Day 56]

4/29/19: Biometrics (Scheduled) Appt Completed [Day 95]

8/28/20: Case Status Update - RFE [Day 582 ~ 19 mos. 4 days] | 11/20/20: Case Status Update - RFE response recv'd [Day 666 ~ 21 mos. 27 days]

1/7/21: Case Status Update - New Card in Production :dance: [Day 714 ~ 23 mos. 14 days] 

1/15/21: Green Cards Arrived :thumbs:[Day 722 ~ 23 mos. 22 days]

Naturalization Process for Spouse - in research stage (Completed in X mos. X days)

 

8/7/24: started research and prep for upcoming filing of N-400 Online

TBD: Filed N-400 Online

 :)

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Suss&Camm Experienced

Suss&Camm   2,213

Posted
Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: Sweden
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Posted

Can't file head of household unless you have kids. A spouse can't be a dependent.

K1 Visa & AOS

Spoiler

2016-03-19         i-129F Sent
2016-03-24         i-129F NOA1
2016-06-14         i-129F NOA2
2016-07-08         NVC Rec'd
2016-07-12         Case #
2016-07-13         NVC Left
2016-07-14         Consulate Rec'd
2016-07-19         Medical
2016-08-11         Interview Date (approved)
2016-09-06         Issued
2016-09-09         Visa In Hand
2016-10-19         POE Dallas Fort-Worth
2016-10-30         Our Halloween Wedding

2016-11-16         AOS package sent (i-485, i-131, i-765, i-864, g-325a, DS-3025)
2016-11-17         AOS package delivered to Chicago lockbox
2016-11-23         NOA1's by e-mail and text (@ 10:30 pm CT)
2016-11-26         NOA1 hard copies
2016-12-03         Biometrics appointment in mail
2016-12-07         Biometrics (Early walk-in Desoto, appointment was for Dec 13th)

2017-02-17         Notice of card in production by email and text (@8:00 am CT, i-765) - Day 92

2017-02-22         Notice of approval by email and text (@1:00 pm CT, i-765 and i-131) - Day 97

2017-02-22         Notice of card being mailed by email and text (@7:00 pm CT, i-765) - Day 97

2017-02-25         EAD/AP combo card arrived in mail - Day 100

2017-03-03         Notice of green card in production by email and text (@4:00 pm CT, i-485) - Day 106

2017-03-03         Notice of approval by email and text (@6:00 pm CT, i-485) - Day 106

2017-03-11          Green card arrived in mail  - Day 113

2018-12-03          First day to file for ROC (i-751)

 

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