Can US citizen who wasn't filing US taxes bring her son to the US

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

she needs US residency at time of the interview to sponsor him

US tax returns / she files form 2555 to exclude foreign income and as USC,  she has to file 

[PaulaCJohnny 713]

2 hours ago, pilot787 said:

Definitely! He is in his 30s. Just wants to move to the US from Canada. 

Does the Mom lives in the US?

[Mike E 11,739]

2 hours ago, pilot787 said:

She was born in the US, and lived there till she turned 3, and then moved to Canada and married a Canadian man, and they had my friend in Canada. 

Your friend was not born a U.S. citizen.

 

His mom could have easily (by comparison) given him U.S. citizenship if she had completed the N-600K process before he reached age 18 provided she had a U.S. citizen  parent with 5 years of physical presence in the U.S.

 

There was a law passed in the year 2000 that gave her this option.

[Redro 4,611]

17 hours ago, pilot787 said:

My friend's mom is a US citizen, who is also a Canadian citizen, and paid her taxes in Canada, but she didn't file them in US. Is there any way for her now to sponsor her son for a GC. I understand, she'll have to backfile the taxes in the US. But she is afraid she will owe a lot, however, I guess, since she was filing her taxes and was working in Canada, where it was her primary residence, it shouldn't be so bad, no? 

Would be grateful for all advice they can get!

Does mom want to live in the US or just sponsor her son for a GC?

Even if mom has decided it is too difficult to sponsor her son. She should still file her taxes. 

There is a special program that allows US citizens to back file taxes. Google "streamline filing".

This means she only has to file the last 6 years and not all the years she was supposed to file taxes. 

Additionally, mom will have to report any bank accounts she has if the TOTAL is over $10,000. 

This means if she has 3 bank accounts. 1 with $3000; 1 with $4000 and 1 with $5000. She has over $10 000 in foreign bank accounts and has to inform the US.

Mom's obligations to file taxes do not end once she has done this once. She needs to file taxes every single year going forward. 

If this is overwhelming, mom can hire a US tax accountant familiar with expat taxes. H&R Block or TurboTax consultants might not be helpful as sometimes they don't always know all the nuances of expat tax.

[pilot787 23]

1 hour ago, Redro said:

Does mom want to live in the US or just sponsor her son for a GC?

Even if mom has decided it is too difficult to sponsor her son. She should still file her taxes. 

There is a special program that allows US citizens to back file taxes. Google "streamline filing".

This means she only has to file the last 6 years and not all the years she was supposed to file taxes. 

Additionally, mom will have to report any bank accounts she has if the TOTAL is over $10,000. 

This means if she has 3 bank accounts. 1 with $3000; 1 with $4000 and 1 with $5000. She has over $10 000 in foreign bank accounts and has to inform the US.

Mom's obligations to file taxes do not end once she has done this once. She needs to file taxes every single year going forward. 

If this is overwhelming, mom can hire a US tax accountant familiar with expat taxes. H&R Block or TurboTax consultants might not be helpful as sometimes they don't always know all the nuances of expat tax.

Thank you so much for all this info!