US citizen living abroad since last 18 years and didn't file my taxes.now I wat to sponsor my wife for spouse visa,how would I go about it?

[Alisyed 0]

Hi everyone. I am US citizen living abroad since last 18 years and I didn't file my US tax return (didn't knew I had to)now I want to sponsor my wife for spouse visa,how would I go about it.thanks for any help.

[Crazy Cat 41,836]

Three areas of focus:

 

1.  You must back pay 3 most recent tax years (if income met threshold).

2.  You must be able to show either sufficient annual income after re-locating to the US, sufficient assets, or a well-qualified joint sponsor.

3.  You must show proof of current US domicile or concrete plans to re-locate to the US.

[Alisyed 0]

2 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

Three areas of focus:

 

1.  You must back pay 3 most recent tax years (if income met threshold).

2.  You must be able to show either sufficient annual income after re-locating to the US, sufficient assets, or a well-qualified joint sponsor.

3.  You must show proof of current US domicile or concrete plans to re-locate to the US.

Thanks,I can get a sponsor but do I have to return to US or I can wait abroad while my wife's application gets processed?

[Alisyed 0]

2 minutes ago, Alisyed said:

Thanks,I can get a sponsor but do I have to return to US or I can wait abroad while my wife's application gets processed?

Also please do share if you know any good site to file taxes(expats)

[Crazy Cat 41,836]

37 minutes ago, Alisyed said:

or I can wait abroad while my wife's application gets processed?

Yes.  However, you will have to show proof of intent to re-locate to the US.  

[Dashinka 24,488]

1 hour ago, Alisyed said:

Thanks,I can get a sponsor but do I have to return to US or I can wait abroad while my wife's application gets processed?

Yes, you can wait outside the U.S. with your wife as the petition proceeds, but as the approved petition moves to NVC, you will have to show concrete plans for you to re-establish domicile such as a lease, U.S. bank account, U.S. based job etc.  if you meet the requirements of the consulate, you can then move with your wife or before her after she has her visa.

 

Good Luck!

[Alisyed 0]

3 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Yes, you can wait outside the U.S. with your wife as the petition proceeds, but as the approved petition moves to NVC, you will have to show concrete plans for you to re-establish domicile such as a lease, U.S. bank account, U.S. based job etc.  if you meet the requirements of the consulate, you can then move with your wife or before her after she has her visa.

 

Good Luck!

 

Just now, Alisyed said:

 

Thanks Dashinka,I guess it's better if I do move back and file her petition 

[Dashinka 24,488]

1 hour ago, Alisyed said:

 

Thanks Dashinka,I guess it's better if I do move back and file her petition 

That is entirely up to you.  Many couples stay together outside the U.S. while a spousal visa petition is processing, and are able to satisfy the consulate relative to the USC re-establishing domicile.  I am not an expert in what the consulate expects, and it may vary consulate to consulate, so you may want to search “re-establishing domicile” in the VJ search engine to get more information.

 

Good Luck!

[Boiler 45,467]

Which Consulate

[Tesco 70]

Take a look at the IRS link below so as to come back into compliance with your filing obligations. Hopefully you can avoid substantial penalties.  https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/us-taxpayers-residing-outside-the-united-states

[JKLSemicolon 411]

On 6/30/2024 at 9:04 AM, Alisyed said:

Also please do share if you know any good site to file taxes(expats)

I’m not sure how different things are for expats but as of a few years ago TaxAct allowed one to enter a spouse with no SSN as a non-resident alien if doing Married Filing Separately whereas some of the other software packages required printing out the return and mailing it in with “NRA” handwritten in the SSN field.

 

Note that filing jointly is possible in theory, but can’t be done online the first time around. I wouldn’t recommend it for someone still living abroad unless you’re prepared to do a lot of extra legwork.