lvjeremylv

So I'm a US Citizen, I've lived in the UK since the end of 2017, and have worked/paid taxes here since April of 2018. We are nearing the end of the IR1 process (i-130 approved, ds-260 and Affidavit of Support from myself and joint sponsor submitted, been documentarily qualified), and my UK citizen and lifelong resident wife was given an interview date of December 20th which we had to cancel but we're in the process of checking many times a day to get a new one booked in.

I just read something in a different thread that made me worry. I have not filed US taxes in the years that I have lived here. I never knew that I had to. 2 questions - do I have to file them? And more importantly, is this going to be a problem?

Like I mentioned, we have a joint sponsor to meet the financial requirement, and we were documentarily qualified. When she has her interview, will they be looking at any of the financial information we provided as part of the Affidavit of Support?

Any guidance would be appreciated. If filing is something that I needed to be doing, is it going to be difficult to file for past years?

tht

If you did not file your tax’s you likely missed the FBAR as well, you might also want to look in to that as it can have significant penalties…

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small...-accounts-fbar

lvjeremylv

LOL oh great. So that'll be something else I need to do in addition to the back filing of taxes apparently.

In relation to the immigration process, will this be something that I need to address before we can proceed? In other words, when my wife goes for her interview, are they going to ask her for my tax stuff? Or is that something that isn't even looked at during that part of the process?

I have read that you don't need to take any of the paperwork used for the Affidavit of Support forms (W2s, 1099s, etc), whereas for all the other parts (the DS-260, i-130), you have to bring those original documents, or certified copies. Is this accurate information?

Rete

As noted a US Citizen must file taxes on active and passive income regardless of where in the world they live.

newacct

Assuming you were required to file US tax returns for those years (which you do if you had more than a minimal level of income, which is likely if you had been working), you must file those back taxes before completing the I-864 Affidavit of Support.

lvjeremylv

When I filled out my i-864, I was open and stated that I did not file taxes for the past 3 tax years (2022, 2021, 2020), and stated that I was under the assumption that I was not required to file income taxes in the US on income earned while working and living in the UK. I now know that was an incorrect assumption. However, my documents were approved and we were documentarily qualified. We were given an interview date at the Embassy in London, which we've had to cancel and are in the process of rescheduling.

I had a request for further evidence after submitting the i-864 for both myself and my joint sponsor (my USC sister). They asked for us to provide a hand-signed form (we both had done electronic signatures), and they wanted my sister's birth certificate (initially I had uploaded a copy of her drivers' license). But nothing in regards to my taxes or anything financial from my end. Could that be because my income/finances aren't being used to meet the financial requirement?

Have they made an error in shuffling us along to the next phase? If so and I'm going to need to get those taxes filed and whatever issue sorted, that's fine, I think we have time. But if it's something that won't hinder the immigration process I'd rather just deal with it when we move back. One less thing to worry about now and all that.

S Folinsky

Note filing of tax returns and payment of taxes owing are two different things.

MidAtlantic

I would strongly suggest that you get going with completing your taxes now. You have drawn attention to the fact that you have not completed them and therefore can no longer claim that you are not aware of the need. Additionally there are protections available to you living abroad that you will not have when you are in the US.

Start reading here: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/inte...-united-states

lvjeremylv

Well I had/have no intention of skirting my obligation in regard to the IRS or any other entity. If I did, I would not have posted this on a public forum under a registered account. And as I mentioned, I was open and honest on the i-864 when I stated that I have not filed taxes since moving and that I was not aware that I needed to. So certainly there's no malice nor illegality going on.

I do appreciate the link, I will start investigating.

In the meantime, if anyone has any insight as to the reason my wife's case would be approved (medical/interview pending) if my taxes not being in order was a deal-breaker, I would appreciate the feedback. The only possible explanation as I see it is, either 1) they made a mistake and at some point during the interview it will come up; or 2) it's not relevant to the process since I have a joint sponsor who is taking on 100% of the financial responsibility. If it's the latter, great, that's what I'm hoping for. If it's the former, my bad, I had no ill-will. Either way, I will get on it ASAP.

Noorah101

The interviewing officer has the right to ask for all documents. At the interview, it would be best for her to be able to provide proof that you have filed the most recent 3 years of tax returns.

If asked, and she doesn't have them, the visa won't outright be denied, but placed on hold until the proof is submitted. Best to have it in hand in case. Better safe than sorry.

Rene

S Folinsky

I’m following this thread with interest. I can’t say I know the answers but I would like to make two comments.

First, at every step in the process, the adjudicator has the right to review and perhaps countermand determinations made earlier in the process. In fact, there have been denaturalizations where there are facts that conclusively establish that immigrant was found to have been inadmissible in the first place. (The biggest body of case law involved WWII Nazi war criminals.) My point is that clearing document review is NOT a guarantee of approval by the Consular Officer.

Second, about 25 years ago, I handled an FB-2B application in Seoul for the widowed daughter of an elderly permanent resident. LPR mom had never worked in the US and had no income. We did prepare an I-864 with a lot of zeroes and none. The I-864 had an addendum explaining no income so no returns.

i hope OP advises what happens.

lvjeremylv

Thank you for the feedback and sharing your experience.

I plan to have it all sorted out in time for the interview - still searching for dates and so far nothing, but will be looking to book something for January. That way if they ask for it, my wife will have it. If not, well, at least it will be taken care of.

And yes, I definitely will advise.

tht

the penalties for FBAR can be a lot more extreme. Assuming you qualify for the FEIE you might find you owe little or no tax to the IRS anyway…

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/inte...fying%20person.

dahliadt

I just realized I'm in a similar situation to yourself and need to take action asap. I plan on ringing the IRS but so far I've got that I'll need to file forms 1040 & 2555 for each year and complete the FBARs separately. Are there any other forms or necessary actions that I've missed? Appreciate any advice on getting this sorted quickly, thx!

tht

it is very hard to get anyone on the phone from the IRS and even harder to get any useful information from them. Even when I was filing tax’s in both the US and UK for a few years the top tier of turbo tax had all the forms I needed, you can likely get a away with a lower tier. Also remember that US tax year is 1 Jan to 31 Dec, and UK is 6th April to the following 5th April, so you need to make sure to apportion UK income (on a cash basis) in the the right US tax years. So you need to keep really accurate records. Bank statements are important vs just pay slips, because payments can take time to credit.

The FBAR is filed directly and is very simple once you understand it, no calculation, the one point to note is that you have to file the highest balance in each account for the year, so for example if you have $20k in account A in March and transfer it to account B in April you have to report a high balance of $20k in both accounts (so it looks like you have $40k) even though you only have $20k.

the link to file with the US Treasury is here:

https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFBARFiler.html