Applying with no verifiable income or tax return forms - what are my options?

[Cole 0]

Hello to all,

I asked this question in less detail in the K3 forum, but thought I would ask here too.

I am married to a Japanese woman and have been living in Japan for little over a year. I have been unable to find suitable employment (age issues), living here. The previous three years, I worked on a cash basis in collectibles and taught English in Thailand for a year - lived irresponsibly for awhile. I never earned much and therefore, never filed taxes... thus, no tax returns. Now, I wish to return to the States and get back to reality... find a job... etc...

Here's our financial situation... the open book :

Together, we have approximately $60,000 USD in cash in a joint account (Japanese bank account). I also co-own a small house with no mortgage and privately own a separate plot of land worth around $35,000, along with some mutual funds with about $20,000 - $25,000. I have about about $7,000 in debt

Would the USCIS allow us to just use our assets in our visa application without any tax returns from me?

I have thought of submitting the I-130 here in Osaka and return to the U.S. alone to secure employment and then have my wife continue with the application process in Japan once I am employed again. Am I correct in my assumption that I could use the pay stubs (to show eventual annual earnings) from my new place of employment, plus a letter from the company to prove financial support? Is this wishful thinking on my part to believe I can do things this way?

Would a K3 visa be a better route for me? I am almost completely ignorant about this.

Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Cole

[MargotDarko 0]

Hello to all,

I asked this question in less detail in the K3 forum, but thought I would ask here too.

I am married to a Japanese woman and have been living in Japan for little over a year. I have been unable to find suitable employment (age issues), living here. The previous three years, I worked on a cash basis in collectibles and taught English in Thailand for a year - lived irresponsibly for awhile. I never earned much and therefore, never filed taxes... thus, no tax returns. Now, I wish to return to the States and get back to reality... find a job... etc...

Here's our financial situation... the open book :

Together, we have approximately $60,000 USD in cash in a joint account (Japanese bank account). I also co-own a small house with no mortgage and privately own a separate plot of land worth around $35,000, along with some mutual funds with about $20,000 - $25,000. I have about about $7,000 in debt

Would the USCIS allow us to just use our assets in our visa application without any tax returns from me?

I have thought of submitting the I-130 here in Osaka and return to the U.S. alone to secure employment and then have my wife continue with the application process in Japan once I am employed again. Am I correct in my assumption that I could use the pay stubs (to show eventual annual earnings) from my new place of employment, plus a letter from the company to prove financial support? Is this wishful thinking on my part to believe I can do things this way?

Would a K3 visa be a better route for me? I am almost completely ignorant about this.

Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Cole

You seem to be good on the assets front if it's just the two of you. About the tax returns, you have to file no matter where you live in the world whenever you make more than the minimum filing amount. If you haven't made more than the minimum filing amount in the past three years, then you'll need a statement saying so and citing the tax sections that say you didn't have to file (I'm sorry I don't know which section it is offhand).

I don't know about domicile issues when going through Japan. I imagine that filing the I-130 in Japan and then returning to the states before your wife (you wouldn't have to go asap as it seems like your assets should be fine), would solve any potential problems over domicile though.

If you have no dependents, you only need around $52,000 USD in assets. So, if you moved to the US, got all your cash into a US account in your name before her interview, and you even had a job by then in the states, I cannot see how they could say you didn't fulfill the financial requirements. There shouldn't be any need for you to go months ahead of her.