Should I file now?

[zhie 0]

Hi all,

 

I am planning to file a K1 visa for my fiancé this month. I am a US Citizen(dual), but just moved to the United States June last year. I was in the Philippines for 22 years and there is where I met my fiancé.We've been together for more than 2 years. I've been working on my new job for 6 months and my Salary is more than the 125% Income requirement for CR-1 Spousal and 100% K-1 fiancé.

My question is, will there be a problem if I filed a K1 fiancé visa now though I haven't been here that long and also, no W-2 or Income Tax Return to show yet? I didn't file my income taxes last year from my previous job since it was below the required amount to file taxes. Just in case someone had experienced this. Thank you in advance for your help.

[geowrian 22,338]

If you filed for a K-1 now, the interview would probably be in about 6-8 months. By then, your employment shouldn't be any issue at all (6 months in itself should be fine) and you may even have your 2017 taxes completed.

 

For AOS after entering on the K-1 and marrying, or for the CR-1 visa if you marry abroad, you will need to provide the most recent year's tax return + information from the 2 years prior to that. If you did not file for a year and were required to do so, then you need to fix that first. If you weren't required to file for a year, then you can provide a statement explaining why you were not required to file.

Note that USCs are taxed on worldwide income (but can claim the Foreign Income Exclusion so they don't owe taxes on it up to ~$100k). But say, for instance, you made the equivalent of $10,000 overseas. That's above the minimum required to file taxes. You were still required to file taxes that year, despite not owing anything due to the Foreign Income Exclusion.