Help! K-1 wife almost 3 years in USA, haven't filed AOS

[Dashinka 24,264]

28 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

First thing you should do is amend your past tax returns to married. 

The OP never clarified if they filed taxes as "Single", or "Married - Filing Separately". 

[debbiedoo 2,339]

4 hours ago, jpr836 said:

I also don't have her on any of my bills (Electric, Water etc) and we don't have a joint bank account. 

Im going to try and make a joint account in a few days. 

 

Im not sure how to do any of that, Im going to try soon.

She is on the lease though, so thats good

why have you waited for 3 years to do all this? you can do all that in an afternoon. utilities are done with a phone call. go in bank and add her on. good grief.

 

and your tax returns? lordy. didnt you check the box for a SS number when you were filling out visa stuff? you have to amend all that. Whoever filed your taxes is an idiot, you could have applied for an ITIN. you would not have been able to file electronically the first year, but after that you could have (im pretty sure)

 

my concern, due to all your procrastination, is that being able to prove an ongoing bonafide relationship for the past 3 years she has been out of status. the out of status itself isnt a big issue but when combined with the fact you are waiting to the last minute to prove the relationship, might raise a few eyebrows. Wouldnt have been such a big deal if you had filed for AOS right after getting married, as to some extent its not uncommon to not have a whole bunch at that point. but 3 years after the fact, i dont know how normal that is. how does she drive? how does she run errands/ pay for stuff?

 

we married dec 24 1018, green card rec nov 7 2019, and at this point my husband is on everything except the house (which is in my name) and one bank account (in his name). other than that, we are together on everything, whether jointly or as authorized users. taxes were married filing separate for tax year 2018 and will be married filing jointly this year. none of this is hard or complicated.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

39 minutes ago, debbiedoo said:

why have you waited for 3 years to do all this? you can do all that in an afternoon. utilities are done with a phone call. go in bank and add her on. good grief.

 

and your tax returns? lordy. didnt you check the box for a SS number when you were filling out visa stuff? you have to amend all that. Whoever filed your taxes is an idiot, you could have applied for an ITIN. you would not have been able to file electronically the first year, but after that you could have (im pretty sure)

 

my concern, due to all your procrastination, is that being able to prove an ongoing bonafide relationship for the past 3 years she has been out of status. the out of status itself isnt a big issue but when combined with the fact you are waiting to the last minute to prove the relationship, might raise a few eyebrows. Wouldnt have been such a big deal if you had filed for AOS right after getting married, as to some extent its not uncommon to not have a whole bunch at that point. but 3 years after the fact, i dont know how normal that is. how does she drive? how does she run errands/ pay for stuff?

 

we married dec 24 1018, green card rec nov 7 2019, and at this point my husband is on everything except the house (which is in my name) and one bank account (in his name). other than that, we are together on everything, whether jointly or as authorized users. taxes were married filing separate for tax year 2018 and will be married filing jointly this year. none of this is hard or complicated.

They came in on a K1 visa and have not filed for AOS yet. So there is no way for someone coming in on a K1 visa just to automatically receive a SSN when they come into the country. 

[Scandi 4,129]

5 hours ago, jpr836 said:

@K1visaHopeful I used a woman from H&R block.

I thought she would know what she was doing. 

Paid over $300. 

 

@Scandi Im guessing you filed form W-7, for a ITIN# to give in order to file jointly on taxes?

If so, do you know how long it took to get your information, (her passport in this case) mailed back from the IRS place?

 

If it takes too long, I may just drive the 10 hours to the office to file in person. That way we don't need to wait for it back.

No, like the majority of K-1ers here on VJ I was smart enough to get my SSN a few days after I entered the US. Very important, and obviously makes your life so much easier. 

[Scandi 4,129]

19 minutes ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

They came in on a K1 visa and have not filed for AOS yet. So there is no way for someone coming in on a K1 visa just to automatically receive a SSN when they come into the country. 

True, you have to actually go to the SSA and apply for one in person, it's not an automatic process. I hope other people see this and can learn from OPs mistakes, it's so important to get a SSN right after entry on a K-1.

[Lemonslice 4,768]

Could you get a better job, or a second one? Is there any way to improve your current income? 

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

2 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

The OP never clarified if they filed taxes as "Single", or "Married - Filing Separately". 

Yes OP stated:

Last year we tried "married filing jointly" but the IRS said they refiled it as single. I guess because she didn't have a SSN or Tax ID #

[Dashinka 24,264]

36 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

Yes OP stated:

Last year we tried "married filing jointly" but the IRS said they refiled it as single. I guess because she didn't have a SSN or Tax ID #

Oops, missed that.  Yes, this needs to be corrected before tackling the AOS in my opinion.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

1 hour ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

They came in on a K1 visa and have not filed for AOS yet. So there is no way for someone coming in on a K1 visa just to automatically receive a SSN when they come into the country. 

Of course there is. Well, not automatic, you have to go to the social security office. I came to the US almost 3 years ago and I was in the social security office after a few days, before we even got married and I got my SSN less than a week later. 

[Boiler 45,165]

SSN is the first thing you get, think I got mine in about 10 days.

[Beth & Achraf 328]

9 hours ago, jpr836 said:

I haven't had the means to file until now. 

This last year I finally made JUST enough to be her sponsor (a little over 26k) and we have the money for her documents.

Anything I should know, problems I may have?

 

All Im waiting on now is to file taxes for this year...

I heard I need to file taxes jointly??

I didn't do that the last 2 years, my tax agent didn't think I could since my wife is not a citizen.

How can I file jointly this year?

 

Any help or advice would be MUCH appreciated

Get her a ITIN number,  then amend your past  2 returns single returns  , you will also get a refund adjustment from the amended filings.    We did this on 3 tax returns when my husband got his ITIN #   we used that money to file his AOS from a expired visitors visa. 

[carmel34 3,605]

The officer will want to see evidence of a bona fide relationship, such as detailed joint bank account records, for the three years since marriage.  Sending joint stuff from today on will not fix this.  Dig deeper into your records and send evidence since the marriage, to show that it is real.  This looks like a difficult case if you are just now starting to compile records.  Good luck, and file AOS today so your spouse is not at risk of deportation anymore.

[debbiedoo 2,339]

2 hours ago, Scandi said:

True, you have to actually go to the SSA and apply for one in person, it's not an automatic process. I hope other people see this and can learn from OPs mistakes, it's so important to get a SSN right after entry on a K-1.

yeah, i knew there was a way. was wrong about the exacts of it though.

[Sweetdreaming 394]

37 minutes ago, carmel34 said:

Good luck, and file AOS today so your spouse is not at risk of deportation anymore.

i have a feeling filing for AOS today will end up in rejection anyway.....

[Orangesapples 1,954]

13 minutes ago, skjourney said:

i have a feeling filing for AOS today will end up in rejection anyway.....

You don't need evidence of relationship when filing AOS from a K1 and if I remember correctly, you can bring an updated affidavit of support at the interview. So filing today might be the best move.