I filed 2019, 2018 as single but I was married in 2017

[rareshine 2]

Dear all,

 

i'm the petitioner for my spouse, I filed all taxes as single as my husband is not yet a US citizen and has no income tied to the states. Do I  ABSOLUTELY need  to make amendments to my taxes  to state married filing separately? if this is necessary, what do i need to make that happen?

[Crazy Cat 42,418]

1040X to amend filing status.  But it is an IRS issue...not an immigration issue.

[rareshine 2]

 

5 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

1040X to amend filing status.  But it is an IRS issue...not an immigration issue.

 i hear you, but If I don't  make this amendment  before the interview, will it be an immigration issue? must I do it now? and do make that amendment, do I need the  ITIN number?

 

my income has been foreign for the past 5 years 

Edited October 17, 2020 by rareshine

[Crazy Cat 42,418]

Just now, rareshine said:

 

 i hear you, but If I don't  make this amendment this before the interview, will it be an immigration issue? must I do it now? and do make that amendment, do I need the  ITIN number?

 

my income has been foreign for the past 5 years 

I have not seen anyone have an issue at the interview for filing single.

[Mike E 11,742]

At least two lawyers (ours, and one I found online) opine that tax returns with married filing status (joint or separate) are evidence of bonafide marriage. Bonafide marriage evidence can be thought as a bundle of documents. How much evidence is enough is going to vary by IO.

 

During the 11 days between AOS Interview and approval, I was cursing myself for not doing more to show bonafide marriage; other people at the same field office interviewing the same week were reporting here same day approvals. 

 

There will be a Mt Everest of evidence when we get to RoC.

Edited October 17, 2020 by Mike E

[rareshine 2]

1 minute ago, Mike E said:

At least two lawyers (ours, and one I found online) opine that tax returns with married filing status (joint or separate) are evidence of bonafide marriage. Bonafide marriage evidence can be thought as a bundle of documents. How much evidence is enough is going to vary by IO.

 

During the 11 days between AOS Interview and approval, I was cursing myself for not doing more to show bonafide marriage; other people at the same field office interviewing the same week were reporting here same day approvals. 

 

There will be a Mt Everest of evidence when we get to RoC.

fair enough, but i'm reading that ITIN # is a drag to get..... i'm trying to avoid that. 

[Ayrton 965]

6 minutes ago, rareshine said:

fair enough, but i'm reading that ITIN # is a drag to get..... i'm trying to avoid that. 

You don't need an ITIN to file as married. There are two options. Married Filing Separately and Married filing jointly. You only need ITIN/SSN for the second option.

[Mike E 11,742]

2 minutes ago, rareshine said:

fair enough, but i'm reading that ITIN # is a drag to get..... i'm trying to avoid that. 

According to https://proconnect.intuit.com/community/proseries-tax-discussions/discussion/married-filing-separately-with-non-resident-spouse-no-tin/00/44342 you can mail the tax return with NRA in the SSN field of your spouse. It apparently doesn't work for e-filing for some tax preparation software.

 

It can be a drag especially for the NRA spouse. Were I such a spouse, I wouldn't be inclined to get an ITIN if it required mailing my passport to the IRS.

[JeanneAdil 6,676]

You are in a European country and the ITIN is not as important for you as those who are from high fraud countries

Those countries use this as part of commingling of finances to prove a real relationship and marriage

but you should correct with a 1040x to amend taxes as you were not single / you were married

just do it without the ITIN as married in 2017 , he will have SS # (check the ds 260 for USCIS to process one) and his green card will be 10 years 

 

More important , you say your income has been foreign.   And will it continue when you come to the US?