I-751 Evidence (Split)

[Nelly_M 7]

Hi everyone 🙂 I am putting together evidence that I need to mail with I-751. I have a couple of questions: 

 

For tax returns, I see that everyone is sending the last two years, but in our case we only have 2022 year filing together. For the previous year 2021, I was not working due to health issues and husband arrived in December and got the job a month later so we had no income to report and therefore didn’t file tax return for that year. I hope this is not going to be an issue. I was going to include a letter explaining this, and I hope that is going to be an issue. Any suggestions or insights on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also, for the year that we filed together I was going to send a tax transcript from IRS as I understand that these are more preferred. Are we required to send any tax forms with it or the tax transcript alone is sufficient? 
 

Thanks in advance. 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Nelly_M

[OldUser 6,633]

3 minutes ago, Nelly_M said:

Hi everyone 🙂 I am putting together evidence that I need to mail with I-751. I have a couple of questions: 

 

For tax returns, I see that everyone is sending the last two years, but in our case we only have 2022 year filing together. For the previous year 2021, I was not working due to health issues and husband arrived in December and got the job a month later so we had no income to report and therefore didn’t file tax return for that year. I hope this is not going to be an issue. I was going to include a letter explaining this, and I hope that is going to be an issue. Any suggestions or insights on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also, for the year that we filed together I was going to send a tax transcript from IRS as I understand that these are more preferred. Are we required to send any tax forms with it or the tax transcript alone is sufficient? 
 

Thanks in advance. 

 

 

For 2021 you could always file taxes still with 0 income. 

 

Tax return transcript is all you need.

Edited October 19, 2023 by OldUser

[Nelly_M 7]

5 minutes ago, OldUser said:

For 2021 you could always file taxes still with 0 income. 

 

Tax return transcript is all you need.

Thanks for your response. Is it necessary that we file it? My understanding is that we are not required to file taxes if we had no income. 

[OldUser 6,633]

39 minutes ago, Nelly_M said:

Thanks for your response. Is it necessary that we file it? My understanding is that we are not required to file taxes if we had no income. 

I personally don't have experience with this, maybe it's OK? Based on what I see, USCIS generally has higher standards for a lot of things that a regular US person has to deal with: tax filings, criminal records etc.

 

How can you prove to USCIS that you and your US spouse aren't evading taxes? Transcript from USCIS with 0 income is the best proof IMHO.

 

Also, AFAIK, GC holder is should have reported world wide taxes in 2021, even if they came to the US on December 31st, 2021 on CR-1 visa. Are you sure you didn't have to report your income from elsewhere?

 

I'm not a tax specialist or immigration lawyer, just throwing some ideas.

 

[Nelly_M 7]

9 minutes ago, OldUser said:

I personally don't have experience with this, maybe it's OK? Based on what I see, USCIS generally has higher standards for a lot of things that a regular US person has to deal with: tax filings, criminal records etc.

 

How can you prove to USCIS that you and your US spouse aren't evading taxes? Transcript from USCIS with 0 income is the best proof IMHO.

 

Also, AFAIK, GC holder is should have reported world wide taxes in 2021, even if they came to the US on December 31st, 2021 on CR-1 visa. Are you sure you didn't have to report your income from elsewhere?

 

I'm not a tax specialist or immigration lawyer, just throwing some ideas.

 

Well, he paid taxes in the country where he was living and working until he came to the United States. I am not aware that he had to report and get taxed for that income again here. Since he didn’t earn anything here for that year, we didn’t even think that we had to file a tax return. You seem to be very knowledgeable about this. I was not able to find anything on this online. Is there a link you can possibly provide on this topic that I can reference? 

[appleblossom 2,482]

9 minutes ago, Nelly_M said:

Well, he paid taxes in the country where he was living and working until he came to the United States. I am not aware that he had to report and get taxed for that income again here. Since he didn’t earn anything here for that year, we didn’t even think that we had to file a tax return. You seem to be very knowledgeable about this. I was not able to find anything on this online. Is there a link you can possibly provide on this topic that I can reference? 

 

He wouldn't usually have had to pay tax in the US, but all citizens and GC holders are required to submit a return every year. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/frequently-asked-questions-about-international-individual-tax-matters#green-card-holders

Edited October 19, 2023 by appleblossom

[Nelly_M 7]

21 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

He wouldn't usually have had to pay tax in the US, but all citizens and GC holders are required to submit a return every year. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/frequently-asked-questions-about-international-individual-tax-matters#green-card-holders

Yes, citizens and GC holders are required to file taxes every year if they make more than certain amount for the year per IRS website. They provide certain thresholds for income required to file taxes based on filing status. I could have posted a screenshot, but I am not sure if I am allowed to, so I’ll just include a link. The way I understand it, if you make below certain limit you are not required to file taxes. Even if my husband reports the income earned while he lived overseas, it is still below that income threshold required to file taxes. I am a bit confused when it comes to this. 
 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/who-needs-to-file-a-tax-return

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Nelly_M

[OldUser 6,633]

@Nelly_M IMHO it's easier to file and move forward. If you ever want to naturalize, there's a question on N-400:

 

" Have you EVER not filed a Federal, state, or local tax return since you became a lawful permanent resident?"

 

If you don't file it, you'd have to say "Yes" and explain why you didn't file.

My personal choice would be to pick the path of least resistance and file. That way you can say "No".

[Nelly_M 7]

19 minutes ago, OldUser said:

@Nelly_M IMHO it's easier to file and move forward. If you ever want to naturalize, there's a question on N-400:

 

" Have you EVER not filed a Federal, state, or local tax return since you became a lawful permanent resident?"

 

If you don't file it, you'd have to say "Yes" and explain why you didn't file.

My personal choice would be to pick the path of least resistance and file. That way you can say "No".

Got you, but would it be awkward to file now? We are talking about year 2021. Is it even possible to file at this point for that period? In the past, I would always file my taxes timely with exception to that year. 

[OldUser 6,633]

2 minutes ago, Nelly_M said:

Got you, but would it be awkward to file now? We are talking about year 2021. Is it even possible to file at this point for that period? In the past, I would always file my taxes timely with exception to that year. 

No, it's not awkward.

Yes, you can still file.

[Nelly_M 7]

1 hour ago, OldUser said:

No, it's not awkward.

Yes, you can still file.

Thank you. 

[Nelly_M 7]

For affidavit of support letters, is it necessary to include the USCIS address in the top portion of the letter? The reason I am asking is that the address where we mail the package is is different depending which carrier we use for delivery, and at this point I am not sure if I will go with FedEx, UPS or something else. 

Edited October 21, 2023 by Nelly_M

[OldUser 6,633]

2 hours ago, Nelly_M said:

For affidavit of support letters, is it necessary to include the USCIS address in the top portion of the letter? The reason I am asking is that the address where we mail the package is is different depending which carrier we use for delivery, and at this point I am not sure if I will go with FedEx, UPS or something else. 

I included those letters / statements in the ROC packet. No USCIS address was included.

[Nelly_M 7]

10 hours ago, OldUser said:

I included those letters / statements in the ROC packet. No USCIS address was included.

Ok. When I looked up some samples of affidavit letters, they all had USCIS address listed in the upper left corner of the letter, that’s why I wanted to check if that’s necessary to include. 

[powerpuff 6,697]

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