Rebuilt

Ok, so I believe that this is something I can help with. I will share what has been working for me, so far. Start with getting a credit card on your name. You will get very little credit at the beginning, but do not worry, patience is key here. And of course, paying your debt in time. The very first one I got was from JCPenney, with a credit line of $500.00. I used it just to buy a pair of boots. Paid the whole balance in time, 35 bucks. You should use it for small things, even if it is a pack of cigarettes, or occasional grocery shopping. Try to do small things, so you can pay the whole balance at once in order to not accrue any interest on balance owed. Eventually, ask for a credit raise. Say, from $500.00, you might be able to raise it to $1,000.00. Again, patience. Do not despair. In the meantime, it is important that you understand the three main perks of different credit cards. I am sharing this because I do not know if you are aware of it. I surely wasn't. You have mainly 3 perks: - Cash back: pretty self explanatory, you can get anything from 1% to 5% cash rewards on purchases, depending on the category. For example, one of my cards gives me a 5% cash back in gas, which is awesome! Anytime I fill up my tank, say, 50 bucks, I get 2.5 bucks back into my account. It seems little, but believe me, it adds up. - Travel points: again, self explanatory, they give you X amount of points for every dollar spent. In my opinion, this perk is almost useless, but if you travel frequently it may be useful for you. - Balance transfer: this perk has proven to be a life saver for me, and it was something completely unheard of in my country of origin. What this perk does is, it allows you to transfer a balance from another credit card to the balance transfer card for a very low price. In other words, you can pay the debt you have in another credit card for a relatively small fee, and not accrue any interest on it. Basically it buys you time to pay your debt without accruing interest on the principal owed (except for the small fee). With this, it's time to do some financial engineering. Say, you need to buy a computer that costs you $2,000.00. Well, the way you do it is this: you apply for a proper credit card. Most credit cards will give you also more perks during a promotional period, for example, 18 months at 0% interest. Also, many of them would give you X amount of money if you spend Y amount during the first 3 months (for example). So, you know you have to expend 2 grand in the computer anyway. You find a promotional offer for a cash back card that gives you, say, 2% cash back, lets you pay your debt in 18 months without interest, and on top of that gives you a rebate of $200 if you spend $1,500 in purchases during the first 3 months of account opening. Well, there you go, that's the card you want. Apply for it, hoping to get approved, and buy yourself that computer. Now, the purchased is charged to your new credit card, and you'll have 18 months to pay for it and $200 discount on said computer. And here comes the most important part of building credit: NEVER, and I repeat, NEVER be late on your monthly payments. And of course, NEVER, and I repeat, NEVER pay only the minimum amount. The faster you can pay your debt, the better off you are. If you can pay $200 a month, great; if you can pay $300 a month, even better. Make this a priority. Say, you get into a rough patch. In any case, make sure you pay at least the minimum amount required every month. But for whatever reason you still can't pay the whole amount in those 18 months you had in your promotional period. Having foreseen this, it is time to apply for a new credit card. This is where a balance transfer card will come in handy. Again, most balance transfer cards will offer you the possibility of "buying" your debt from another card for a small fee (usually 5% of the amount), and pay it off in a promotional period without accruing interest. So basically you are buying time with it and avoiding an outrageous 25%-30% interest. VERY IMPORTANT: - Of course, be mindful with your spending, and, like we say in my country, never stretch your feet longer than your blanket. - Always try to consolidate your debt. Try to avoid at all costs having many different cards with many balances, where you have to pay many amounts in many different dates. It is truly overwhelming. Try to keep your debts to 1 to 3 different credit cards at most. - Always pay in time, and try to get rid of the debt as quick as you can. - Always look for different cards in the market to take advantage of the perks during the promotional period. After that, just use them for small expenses in order to keep them open and not having your line of credit reduced due to lack of use. - Ask the credit card companies to raise your credit limit any time you can. This has no impact on your credit report, and will reduce your debt/credit line ratio. Try to keep this ratio as low as you possibly can. - Rinse and repeat. I hope this will be helpful to you. I don't have a penny on my name, but I have managed to get a credit line of about 70K in about 5 years. I can obtain a loan of about 20K for a car at the snap of my fingers (I just don't want to, lol). But I could if I wanted. I don't have idea about a personal loan, but thank God I don't need it either. My credit rating is currently quite over the 700s. Best of luck. You got this

Thank you so much to both of you for your help ❤️ And yes, the thing about filing taxes, albeit late, and no necessary, is precisely to avoid having to answer compromising questions

Thank you so much Mike, I truly appreciate your words. And you are completely right, I am dwelling on this too much, and I should stop because is truly driving me insane I'm just so afraid of everything. Thank you very much for all your input ❤️

You have given me so much peace of mind!!! This is a very important piece of information that never occurred to me before. Thank you so very much!!! ❤️

All I am asking is for some empathy, compassion, and understanding. Was I naive, and stupid? You take it to the bank I was. But in no moment did I have any ill intentions, in no moment had I stopped doing what I believed it was right, i.e: trusting and loving the man I married with all I had. Not even now, after years of the ordeal and betrayal. Nor will I ever, probably. The abandonment of residency issue has never come out, for whatever reason, which I can only attribute to divine intervention at this point. I have never lied, or otherwise misrepresented myself. I want to do things according to the law. But it is also fair to try to avoid uncomfortable questions, and should the issue come back during my interview, I want to be able to prove that it was never my intention to be in this situation, and that this country is home to me, as it has always been. Unfortunately the law doesn't care about situation and intent, only about bureaucracy. I want thus all that bureaucracy to be resolved.

Thank you very much. I can pull records only up to a certain time. The rest of them I will have to file the pertinent form. Like I said, I don't even know anymore which years were filed by him. This is truly a catch 22 situation. If I file as MFS, that can led to believe that my marriage wasn't in good faith, when in fact it's completely opposite. Had my marriage not been in good faith, I would have been aware of the situation, applied for citizenship after three years, and kick his ### to the curb. Alas I had bigger fish to fry, like figuring out how could we live, and support him at all times at the cost of humilliation and my very own sanity. This is one of those cases when the actual truth sounds more like a movie. Nobody would believe it :(

He is a disabled veteran; he came back from Iraq completely broken, and it broke me in the process; always led me to believe that my GC was some sort of "passport" for foreigners; abused me in ways not suitable to discuss in a public forum, though he never laid a hand on me. He worked for a grand total of maybe 7-8 months through the entire duration of our almost 12 years marriage. Lied to me about his post-discharge situation the entire time. We went to my country in order to get some medical help for him. Once there, all hell broke loose; death of my father, illness of my mother, death of our puppy (his service animal), and many more horrible things. My parents, the two most amazing people I've ever known, supported us at all times. At some point he gets in touch with one of his military buddies, who works for the VA, and sets him up with disability compensation. I was in my country waiting for him to settle, then I was supposed to join him and continue our live together. He led me on the entire time, all the while making me believe that everything was ok with my GC. Next thing I know, he stops all contact and move to his paramour's house. Basically the moment he got his compensation, he threw me out like yesterday's newspaper. I managed to come back to America, and got admitted without question. But by the rule of law, I had abandoned my residency, without even knowing it. That's the gist of it. Like I said, there are many more details, but I cannot discuss them in a public forum. Suffice to say, while he was my entire life, I was merely a living sex toy. And a crutch to lay on while he found something better. Traumatizing, and demeaning is the least I can say of it.

I totally want to file Mike, of course I do. I'm just looking for the best avenue to do so, and all the pros and cons. There are conflicting opinions, and it's very confusing. And like I said, I am probably also making a bigger issue than it actually is.

Like I said, I don't owe anything to the IRS, and I have been religiously filing ever since I got back. Every single year since 2016, when I had actually earned income

That's exactly what every tax preparer I have consulted have said. And exactly what the IRS have said. But again, having the issue I have (having been out of the country for so long, and having been readmitted without any hassle whatsoever, I don't want to tempt my luck, you know? Meaning, as I mentioned above, uncomfortable questions at the time of the interview. "Oh, so how did you lived without income?"

Thank you Mike. Which leads me to another question. I honestly have no idea what my ex-husband was doing about taxes while we were married, since he was in charge of it the whole time. I want to think that he always filed for both of us, but at this point I cannot even assure that. So, I have decided to ask the IRS for all the information they have on me ever since I became a PR. Assuming he filed jointly for both of us (except for the years when we didn't have income, which are the ones I know of), no problem. But what if he didn't? Would a status of MFS raise any suspicions of not having been in a good faith marriage? Which of course isn't true, otherwise I wouldn't be in this predicament, but one think is reality, another thing is what I can prove, and another what USCIS might think. This is seriously the worst ordeal of my life. On the other hand, how much trouble (USCIS wise) would be to simply list the years in which I didn't file (since I wasn't required to, anyway, so no harm done IRS wise) and explain why?

Hello everybody, it's me again. For background on my case, it is explained here Should I apply for citizenship? - US Citizenship General Discussion - VisaJourney Once again, I need your most kind advice and wisdom. I am seriously thinking of applying for citizenship, but for obvious reasons I am terrified of it. Maybe I am becoming a bit paranoid about the process and it's much simpler than I think it will be, but nevertheless I need to err with extreme caution. Previous to the statutory period (5 years) I have some unfiled returns. During those years, me and my ex-husband had no income to report, and I don't owe the IRS a penny. Nevertheless, in order to be 100% truthful to the question "have you ever not file a tax return since you became a PR?" I want to be able to say "NO", so I want to go ahead and file them anyway. It was my duty to do so anyway, even if I didn't know it at the time. I also want to avoid any uncomfortable questions that may arise during the naturalization interview due to not having filed said returns, such as how did I supported myself, or what was my livelihood during all those years. Plus, should a possible finding of abandonment arise, I can also have some leverage to counter such claim. I know there are forms available at the IRS website for each of those years, but the information I need is different, and I can't find the answer anywhere. At the time I was married to my husband, and I am currently divorced. So my question is: what should be my tax status??? I know at the present time is Single, but, what status should I put on a past tax return? Say, for example, 2012, when I was married to my husband and we were living together? Thanks in advance for your kindness and patience, I am really anxious over all of this.

At the very least I need to talk to one and explain my case, yes.

I am not sure I am prepared to relive everything. It seriously has been in my mind for years. And what actual palpable proof I can provide? The death of my father? A completely idle husband who kept lying to me over and over? The intimate details of our relationship and how things degenerated after he got out of the Army? His addiction? I am a mess right now just typing all of this. He used me and my parents in every sense of the word throughout pretty much the entirety of our marriage, and I got nothing to show for it, other than my word, and this continuous state of anxiety and hypervigilance over everything. Edit: and my obvious intent to return to this country and remain here.

I know, and I have no words to appreciate everything that the members of this forum have done. The US is my home, I have accomplished things I could have never thought possible, all of it on my own, without anybody abusing my trust and sucking the life out of me, as that individual did, not to mention other things. I just want to feel safe and secure here, but I am so afraid about taking this last step. It's all or nothing on this one you know.

And that's my biggest fear, those questions. We were outside for almost 5 years. That fact, and the danger that poses to my status here, is what has been and continues to give me sleepless nights, anxiety, and nightmares. I thought they would only inquire for the past 5 years

I most certainly do. Like I said, a couple trips of 2-3 weeks to visit my family, and that's it. And a work history that I can narrow down to the very day, and very extensive since I have done lots of different jobs. I just don't want the old issue to come up. Also, the passport I have still have that 2015 stamp of my otherwise seamless reentry after so long. It will expire soon. That's the year I found out about my husband's abandonment. I don't know if that matters much.

I just want to make sure I don't blow it, this is very important to me on a personal level, not only for the perks we all know. This is home to me, I came to this country full of hopes and illusions that turned into a perpetual anguish, abuse, and shattered dreams, but it's also the country that has allowed me to recover and make a truthful and worthy life, and to heal. I am trauma bonded here, but I am also immensely grateful for having been given this second chance. There seriously isn't any other place in the world I would fight for. This is my home.

To be totally honest with you, I truly believe in a miracle at this point. It just seems as if I had never left the country. Like that SB visa that was denied just vanished into thin air. On the other hand, in the divorce decree states very clearly the facts and grounds that led to the divorce, exactly as I'm doing here: we agreed that he'll go first, settle things down, and I will join him upon completion of my studies, keep the relationship going long distance, then all of a sudden he cuts everything off and I don't see him anymore. I feel like this nightmare is following me wherever I go. Doesn't mention any foreign country, but it mentions that separation. Where was him? Where was I? Wouldn't it raise this type of questions? Or the Officers just care about me showing proof of divorce, without going through the whole decree? This really scares me. The more reason to file all of those past returns I think, so I can truthfully answer NO, I have never ever failed to file.

Thank you very much Mike, it truly has been a journey! Several things though: I want to file all past tax returns (even if we weren't required to do so) to be compliant with the question: "have you EVER failed to file a tax return since becoming a PR?" I owe $0 as of right now, I called the IRS years ago explaining the situation, told them there wasn't any income to report, and they said that I didn't need to file them. So far I have reported every penny for the past years, and I am fully aware of not having ever "failed" to do so, but I also want to try to avoid uncomfortable questions and reply truthfully. Would this be a red flag to submit all of those past unfiled years now? And how do I go about it, since my husband and I were married at the time, but now we are divorced?

Hello everyone. It's been a minute since I came to this forum years ago at my darkest hour. I (LPR) was abandoned by my then husband (USC) in my country. Unbeknownst to me, I had all numbers to have my residence revoked after having been out of the States for a few years (again, due in part to my own ignorance and utmost naivety, and for the most part because the way my husband had always led me to believe that my GC, associated to our marriage, was some sort of "passport" for non citizens); he is also a veteran suffering from PTSD (which I also acquired, and his abandonment magnified 100x). So here's the timeline: PRC granted in 2005 2005-2010 we live here; the more I look back, the more mental abuse and manipulation I can identify from the get go. But he never laid a hand on me. I won't go into specifics, out of respect. 2010 we go to my country for several reasons, mainly to take a breath of fresh air, and see if he can get some help (I didn't even know that such a thing as the VA existed, and anytime I would ask him anything related to his service, separation, or any kind of pension after so many years of service, he'd just demand to stop nagging him about. I never knew a thing about military benefits) The man had never worked a single quarter upon his discharge, and we were living in abject poverty. 2010-2014 were catastrophic in every sense of the world: abject poverty never ended, living off the charity of my parents, husband cannot find any reason to live, several deaths and other disgraces, and I'm trying to cope with everything. But always trusted in him, in us. 2014 he gets in touch with one of his buddies who works at the VA, and offers to help him with his benefits. We agree he'll go first and get things settled (buddy lived in a one bedroom apartment, so husband has to sleep in the couch), get a job and a bigger apartment, and I would join him afterwards. So things go like that for an entire year, we had our chats like husband and wife, he tells me about his treatment, about his job, he shows me trucks that he wants to buy for me, sends me flowers for our 10th wedding anniversary. 2015 One day, he starts becoming more distant and at some point cuts communication all together. He had been involved with a mistress and is moving into her house. The mental trauma caused by this sudden shock is something that I haven't been able to overcome, and I don't know if I ever will. So there I am, in complete desperation, not knowing what to do, not being able to even tell friend from foe. Read something about the returning resident visa, and immediately went to the Embassy. Explained what happened, the officer looked at me with disdain, didn't even look at the papers, and immediately denied it. I felt the world crumbling at my feet at that moment. By the grace of God and the good people who encouraged me to not give up and board a plane, I did. Landed, entered without questions other than: "how did you get your GC?" By marriage to a Veteran. "Veteran of what? Army. "God bless you M'am". That was it. It happened. I have been living here since then; got several jobs, my DL, renewed my GC for another several years with no fuss, and have traveled outside 4 times for periods 2-4 weeks at most. Reentered each time with no problem, paid my taxes, have my own place. Divorce was final by 2017. I have really rebuilt myself, and keep doing so each day. What are your thoughts on prospective citizenship?