Travel on ESTA before and after issue of CR1/IR1

[Cindy and Matt 20]

So I am in the additional processing phase with an unknown end date.  Working in cybersecurity means I need additional background checks and nobody can tell me how long that will take.

 

We have been house hunting in the states and my wife found a place she absolutely loves.  We put in an offer and it was accepted.  We are on track to complete 15th November.  Even though the transaction is on my wife's credit etc, they ahve said I need to be there to sign the deeds at completion.  I have no idea if I will get my visa by then or not but assuming the embassy will give me my passport back temporarily I can travel on my ESTA if not.

 

However, if they issue the visa before this date I would still want to travel on my ESTA because I am selling property here in the UK and I do not want to be liable for US taxes (I'm in the foreign mortgage currency transaction trap).  I cannot become a US person until the property is sold or I wil have about 13k USD to pay to Uncle Sam.  Tbf, I am not bothered if my background checks take months because I am a little burnt out and I'll be taking a few months off before looking for work again anyway.

 

Does anyone know if:

 

a) I can travel on my ESTA after the IR1 visa has been issued?

b) the embassy will play ball and release my passport temporarily to allow me to travel?

[JeanneAdil 6,505]

give your wife POA to sign in  your behalf

My son signed for me when i refinanced and the closing came thru while i was in Morocco

[Crazy Cat 41,851]

I don't think you will have a choice of either entering via ESTA or entering via the spousal visa once the visa is issued.   I think I remember someone from Canada doing it, but that is a different situation.

Edited October 8, 2021 by Crazy Cat

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1 hour ago, Cindy and Matt said:

Does anyone know if:

 

a) I can travel on my ESTA after the IR1 visa has been issued?

b) the embassy will play ball and release my passport temporarily to allow me to travel?

a) I am almost certain this was done by someone in this forum some years back, but I wouldn’t count on it working out for you. They just talked their way in on ESTA and asked that the visa not be activated.
b) Yes they will. Happens often.

 

And the rest of this is random thoughts that may lead you to more ideas or research.

 

My wife had to miss the closing on our former house because she was in the hospital 60 miles away. She was able to do it via a fax machine at the nurses station and a notary from the business office to witness her signature. Check into remote possibilities with the title company where the closing will be if you don’t have your visa.

 

You still have over a month. I’m betting your visa will be issued by then. 
 

Income tax: Have you worked out the pros and cons of filing a joint return with your wife for 2021 tax year. Your earned income (salary) can be excluded and the extra standard deduction for having you on the return amounts to $12;550 extra off taxable income. so that basically reduces her taxable income by $25,100 since your earned income will be excluded and not taxed anyway. It’s more of a plus the higher her income is. To file jointly, you accomplish nothing by selling your property prior to POE. It will be reported on a joint return.  I don’t have an answer to what is best but you might want to investigate both options to pick the best one. Is your Uk property your home? Do you qualify for the exemption on selling a home? I guess not if you already know you will owe taxes.
 

 

Edited October 8, 2021 by Wuozopo

[Cindy and Matt 20]

19 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

a) I am almost certain this was done by someone in this forum some years back, but I wouldn’t count on it working out for you. 
b) Yes they will. Happens often.

 

And the rest of this is random thoughts that may lead you to more ideas or research.

 

My wife had to miss the closing on our former house because she was in the hospital 60 miles away. She was able to do it via a fax machine at the nurses station and a notary from the business office to witness her signature. Check into remote possibilities with the title company where the closing will be if you don’t have your visa.

 

You still have over a month. I’m betting your visa will be issued by then. 
 

Income tax: Have you worked out the pros and cons of filing a joint return with your wife for 2021 tax year. Your earned income (salary) can be excluded and the extra standard deduction for having you on the return amounts to $12;550 extra off taxable income. so that basically reduces her taxable income by $25,100 since your earned income will be excluded and not taxed anyway. It’s more of a plus the higher her income is. To file jointly, you accomplish nothing by selling your property prior to POE. It will be reported on a joint return.  I don’t have an answer to what is best but you might want to investigate both options to pick the best one. Is your Uk property your home? Do you qualify for the exemption on selling a home? I guess not if you already know you will owe taxes.
 

 

That's a really good point I hadn't considered.  I am not going to work at all in 2021 once I arrive stateside and I can opt to bring my entire global earnings in to purview of the IRs, right?  In which case Uncle Sam couldy owe us money. I pay a lot in the UK.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

35 minutes ago, Cindy and Matt said:

That's a really good point I hadn't considered.  I am not going to work at all in 2021 once I arrive stateside and I can opt to bring my entire global earnings in to purview of the IRs, right?  In which case Uncle Sam couldy owe us money. I pay a lot in the UK.

On a joint 2021 return you (the couple) will report worldwide earnings to the IRS. Your UK “earned Income” can be excluded using form 2555. That is only money from a job or self employment. Your UK “unearned income” would still be taxable by the IRS. That’s interest, dividends, capital gains. If you paid foreign taxes on any of that unearned income to the UK already, you get credit on the US return for the foreign taxes paid because of the tax treaty which protects you from double taxation on the same money. For your “earned income” you have to choose between the earned income exclusion or the foreign tax credit, whichever gives you the best deal. You can’t be excluded from US tax on your salary and get the US to give you money back for taxes already paid to the UK on your salary. That would be double dipping. ”I’m not going to pay you (IRS) any tax on my earnings and I expect you to reimburse me for what the UK taxed me” isn’t valid because one or the other gets to collect tax on your salary. Does that make sense?  You have many options you might need to examine. 

For 2021 you may file:

1) Married filing jointly reporting worldwide income, but getting the perks of a joint return like lower tax rate, foreign earned income exclusion, $25,100 standard deduction to reduce total taxable income.
2) Wife files Married Filing Separately at a higher tax rate and only $12,550 standard deduction to reduce her taxable income.. You file nothing because you won’t have any US income from a job. But if you get dividends, gains, etc paid to you between POE and Dec 31, those would be taxable income so you file. 

[Cindy and Matt 20]

I doubt my IR1 is going to come though before I travel in less than 2 weeks so I guess I'll have no visa conflict issue.  Even if the embassy does approve it I have my passport and they cannot issue the visa until they get it.