Lena

Hi,
My best friend is having his AOS interview in a few weeks and he and
his wife have been living in separate states since they got married
almost 2 years ago. She travels most of the time for work while he
works and lives in L.A. She was supposed to move to LA after they got
married but changed her mind when she started this new job which
requires her to be in different places for weeks at a time.

My friend pays for most if not all of the household bills, even her
rent in the other state and everything else. He visits her often and
she comes over as well when she's not traveling. Lately though with
the interview nearing she's been pretty uncooperative and almost
hostile. We're thinking that maybe she's just nervous (she's the USC
spouse btw) but she doesn't want to move the interview or get separated
(my friend has told her that maybe they need to abandon it) from him.

She hasn't filed her income taxes for 2005 and doesn't think it's a big
deal. She said that she lost her W-2, and just requested IRS to mail
her copies of it so she can file it - but we don't know if she can file
it in time for the interview. She didn't even file her taxes the last
3 years until after she got married to him and realized that it was
required if she were to petition him.

How important are 2005 income taxes for the interview? Is it better if
they move the interview till they figure things out?

Thanks so much,
Lena

Noorah101

Hi Lena,

To my knowledge, it is required to bring 2005 tax returns to the interview *if you have them*. Of course if you don't have them, you can't bring them. You can tell the officer at the interview why the taxes weren't filed, and go from there. The officer might require them to file the taxes and return proof to her that they've done so. But no way to know, really, what an officer will say at that point.

Whatever they do, DON'T move the interview date. That's a real hassle and can cause lots of miscommunication problems between them and USCIS, and can result in a no-show and cancellation of their AOS if USCIS doesn't get the notice that they want to change the interview date. Better not to even attempt it.

They should just go to the interview as scheduled, present whatever they have, and let the officer handle it from there.

Best Wishes,
Rene