Stack

Hello,

I am Irish and my wife is Irish with an american passport, SSN etc. We are applying for a marriage based visa ( I-130) and have sent this off already and received a letter asking us to send in the DS230 part 1 and DS2001 which is going in the post today. We have to get certain docs ready for the interview which we are waiting for a date.

My question is this. Will there be a problem because my wife has nver worked in the states and has not filed tax etc? We ill have to fill in the the affidavit of support document but it will be all based on salaries and assets here in Ireland? We are both well paid ( Total salaries of 130,000 Euro = 200,000 Dollars ) and own 2 properties in Ireland but I am concerned that we will have issues.

Does anyone know if there will be an issue here?

Thanks for your help/

ian-mstm

It shouldn't be an issue that she's never worked in the US. It *may* be an issue that she's never filed a tax return which, by law, she is required to do (unless, of course, her income is low enough to exempt her from filing). Someone smarter than me will probably be along shortly to help you more with this.

Ian

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Yes, there will be issues. I would suggest your wife take care of her US income tax returns. On first blush, your wife should be OK on the earned income exclusion but your fact pattern suggests that she may be on the hook for some capital gains if there were property sales or if she collects rental income.

You wife will have to do the I-864 and will have to demonstrate she will be establishing US "domicile" before or concurrently with you. You may be able to establish eligibility be value of assets -- 3 x 125% poverty income.

Your question shows that there are issues but the answers are up in the air.

abletsandtoast

She should file back taxes for the last 3 years asap. She will need the regular income tax form (1040) and the foreign earned income exclusion form (2555). The maximum foreign income exclusion for 2007 was $85,700 so they may expect your wife to pay US tax on her income over that amount. I'm not positive though (I could be totally wrong), her best bet is to talk to the tax people at your US embassy and find out where she stands.

Once the tax returns are filed, you can order transcripts from the IRS.

You can get by without a solicitor but I would recommend you talk to the tax people, especially if your wife isn't familiar with US tax returns.

Stack

Thanks to everyone for the help. I will get onto the Tax people in the Dublin US embassy on Monday.

Brian

BritishGuy36

I take it by you saying she is "Irish with an american passport" that she is a dual national? In other words holds both Irish and US passports? That's not really relevant for the requirements she will need to fulfil, just asking.

Yeah her biggest issue will be with not filing taxes, that is the absolute first thing you need to get sorted out. Get her last 3 years (2005-2007) filed and up to date ASAP. If you send an extra copy of page one of each year's 1040 to your local IRS office (is there one at the Embassy in Dublin?) along with an SAE they will stamp it "received" for you and send it back to you as proof of filing, for use with your visa application.

Your wife is liable for US Capital Gains Tax on profits on property she owns or part owns and that could be fiddly so I'd get a professional tax person with experience of US taxes to look into that for you. Unfortunately the IRS taxes on Citizenship, and not like most other countries on residence. Therefore there is potential for the IRS to get their mitts on some of your cash, so make sure this is done properly as you sound like you have a lot to lose.

As has been said if she earns more than the equivalent of $85,700 (circa €55,000) a year then she should have been paying tax to the IRS anyway as that's the most you can earn, even abroad, without paying tax to uncle sam. She may also be subject to a fine if she does owe tax which will be a proportion of the tax she owes.

As for fulfilling the requirements of the I-864, these are twofold:

1) She needs to show that she is either domiciled in the US or intends to establish or re-establish domicile there. To do this, she can show the following:

Any bank accounts or credit card accounts she has kept open
Maintaining a mailing address in the US
Owning or leasing property in the US
Filing taxes with the IRS (that one's a must)
You have your current primary residence on the market

2) You need to show that you can support your family at 125% of the poverty level for 3 years (that's not the wording of the requirement but that's effectively what it is). So presuming your family size is two (you don't mention kids) if you have savings, plus the value of any equity in your property, that total about $53,000 or equivalent (€34,000), then you are good to go.

If either of you will continue the same job you have now and continue to be paid by the same company after your arrival then you can also use that to satisfy the requirement (which in your case sounds like you wouldn't need to show any assets at all).