Filing U.S. Income Tax Returns for the First Time as a Married K-1 Couple

By Victoria

Boy, do I hate filing tax returns. Even filing as a single U.S. citizen in a relatively low tax bracket, which is probably the simplest filing form/status, for the past 9-or-so years has caused me annual angst and anxiety. So now imagine my sheer joy this year as I get to file a married joint tax return with a spouse who was a dual non-resident/resident alien of the U.S. in the tax year 2015!

The tax filing deadline is April 18, so I have very clearly procrastinated on this despite knowing it would be more complicated. As with any and all Government-related processes we have experienced over the past several years, there are several forms involved and myriad instructions across various sources that I need to cross-reference. I'm currently suffering regret about the procrastination, as a result, but I think I should still be okay for time.

Here's why it's complicated: 
Colin was a Non-Resident Alien (NRA) of the U.S. from January 1, 2015 to June 25, 2015 -- obviously because he was still living in the UK during that time. But once he moved to the U.S. on June 26, 2015, he was considered "establishing presence" in the U.S. and thus building his status as a Resident Alien (RA). By the end of the year on December 31, 2015, Colin was considered an RA based on something called the Substantial Presence Test, which has some complex requirements...but basically, he surpassed a threshold of being physically present in the U.S. for a certain number of days within the year 2015 and also the past 3-year period. (If an NRA receives their green card within a tax filing year, they automatically qualify for RA status. Colin didn't receives his green card until 2016.)

All of that means that for the tax year 2015, Colin was both an NRA and an RA. People like Colin who fall within both the NRA and RA categories in a single tax year are allowed to choose how they want to be considered for tax filing purposes in that year, which means Colin can either file as a NRA (i.e., not file at all) or as an RA. RAs can either file individually or file jointly with their spouse. Based on everything I've read, it's more advantageous for K-1 couples to file jointly with the foreign spouse as an RA. However, spouses filing jointly when one spouse is an RA cannot electronically file their forms and must submit them by mail.

Here's the breakdown of what we need to submit to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS):

• Form 1040 (U.S. Individual Income Tax Return)
• Form 2555/2555-EZ (Foreign Earned Income Exclusion)
• Signed Statement of Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident for Tax Filing Purposes

FORM 1040

I cannot be bothered to manually fill out the Form 1040, so I'm currently using H&R Block online tax filing software to input and calculate all our individual income information. Unless I realize along the way that the software will not cover the level of complexity I need for this submission -- I have some small, painful suspicions that this might be the case -- I'll just print the final PDF for the mailed submission.

An additional complication for this part of the submission is the new requirement this year to provide the IRS information on your health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I was covered for the full 12 months of 2015, but Colin obviously was not, and I have to include a filing exemption for him based on the fact he was a foreigner and not eligible for coverage from January to July.

FORM 2555-EZ

Colin was not self-employed and didn't have other complicated earnings in the year 2015 while he was still living in the UK, so we can use the EZ version of the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion form for him instead of the long-form, regular Form 2555. This form title is surprisingly self-explanatory: it allows us to exclude any income Colin earned in a foreign country (i.e., the UK) from our U.S. income tax return file. I haven't delved too deeply into why that's advantageous, because I once again can't be bothered anymore, but I assume it prevents double-taxing by multiple countries and also allows us to exclude his foreign income in order to put our U.S. income in a lower tax bracket (meaning we get more money back in our refund).

SIGNED STATEMENT

The IRS requires that the spouses submit a joint, signed statement explaining that we have chosen to have Colin considered as an RA for the entire 2015 tax year, rather than an NRA, and how he qualifies for this status. We have to write the signed statement ourselves and attach it to the Form 1040. The only requirements they give for the content of the statement are: 

1. A declaration that one spouse was a nonresident alien and the other spouse a U.S. citizen or resident alien on the last day of your tax year, and that you choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year
2. The name, address, and identification number of each spouse. (If one spouse died, include the name and address of the person making the choice for the deceased spouse.)

I'm still working through the forms and everything, but I have my fingers crossed that no new requirement pops out at me as I keep working.

The Biometrics Appointment

By Victoria

Well whoops, we forgot to post after the actual biometrics appointment. It took place on November 4th; we arrived at the place a little early expecting there to be a line for security at the door since it's an official USCIS Government outpost building, but security was actually a bit slack. It was just a couple people at a receiving desk who asked to see Colin's appointment notice, then gave him a 1-page form to fill out with his basic information. There was no metal detector walkthrough or X-ray scanner for bags. You're also supposedly not allowed to have cell phones inside the building, but no one asked us. The people at the desk barely even looked at me and didn't seem to care whether I would've had anything potentially prohibited. When we took a seat for Colin to fill out his form, I actually heard the desk person ask someone entering if they had a phone with them...neither Colin nor I were even asked that question. Oh well!

Once Colin was done with the form, we got into a line that takes you to another desk where a man was briefly looking over the information, checking IDs, handing out numbered tickets, then directing people to the waiting area. This place actually reminded me exactly of the DMV -- you get a number, then wait forever to get called for something that will take about 5 minutes. We waited for about an hour and a half, well past Colin's appointment time!

Anyway, once your number gets called, you go into a secondary waiting room that's walled off with glass from the larger waiting room. I could see that the employees' desks were in there and they had cameras mounted to take photos for ID cards, fingerprint scanners, etc. Colin was luckily first in this secondary line, so it didn't take long.
He told me afterward there was a snafu with recording his home country; the woman taking his information clearly didn't have a good grasp on geography, because she kept pointing to where he wrote "Northern Ireland" and said "You wrote you're from Ireland! You're from Ireland!" even after Colin tried to explain Northern Ireland is part of the UK and showed her his United Kingdom passport. Awkward. And then he said she wrote "UN" in the country code instead of "UK"! Guess he's a citizen of the United Nations now...

So that was our adventure just to get Colin's fingerprints scanned and another photo taken. We haven't heard anything at all from the government since then.

Biometrics Appointment Set

By Victoria

The Application Support Center in Alexandria sent over a notice with the date and time of Colin's biometrics appointment. The appointment is November 4 at 10:00 am. I'll take him over since obviously he can't drive here yet. We'll probably try to get there at least an hour before, as there will no doubt be security at the door and there might be a line to get through it. Cell phones, cameras, and other recording devices aren't permitted in the building.

The notice says all you have to bring is the notice itself and photo identification (we'll just use his passport). It doesn't have much in the way of specifics about what will happen at the appointment, but I know they'll at least be taking his fingerprints. I'm not aware if an interview is involved at all.

AOS Receipt Confirmation

By Victoria

Today we received confirmation in the mail from USCIS that they've received Colin's Adjustment of Status application, as well as a separate mail confirmation that they've received his Employment Authorization application. The received date is October 9, 2015 and the notice date is October 13, 2015.

Colin included a G-1145 form with the mailed packet to receive electronic notification of receipt, but he says he never got any emails or text messages. So much for that.

The notices came from the USCIS National Benefits Center in Missouri, even though the paperwork was sent to Illinois.

Permanent Residence Application: Requirements and Organization

By Victoria

Buckle up...this will be a long post. And complicated.

REQUIREMENTS

To jump right in, here is the full list of all the forms and documents we submitted with Colin's I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status -- Adjustment of Status (AOS) for short.

1. E-Notification Form G-1145
2. Adjustment of Status Form I-485
1. Copy of Foreign Birth Certificate
2. Copy of Passport Page with Nonimmigrant Visa
3. Vaccination Supplement (Letter)
4. Biographic Form G-325A
5. Two (2) Passport-Style Photos
6. Copy of Fiancé(e) Petition Approval
7. Certified Copy of Marriage Certificate
8. Arrival/Departure Form I-94
3. Affidavit of Support Form I-864
1. Proof of Sponsor's Citizenship (Letter)
2. Letter from Current Employer
3. Copy of IRS Individual Income Tax Return for Tax Year 2014
1. Copy of Form W-2
2. Copy of Form 1099-Misc 
4. Employment Authorization Form I-765
1. Government-Issued Identity Document (Passport Page with Nonimmigrant Visa)
2. (2) Passport-Style Photos

+ $985 Filing Fee

+ $  85 Biometrics Services Fee

Despite what appears to be an overwhelming list of required documentation, most of these files were easy to obtain or track down for the purposes of including in the application packet. Aided by the fact we had most of these already gathered, since we already anticipated needing them down the road, overall it took about 5 or 6 days to put the whole application together (which includes plenty of buffer time for me to obsessively review everything about 10 times).

ORGANIZATION

I still had two clear report covers left over from when I submitted the original petition application, so I used those to organize the AOS application. I divided the forms and documents into two packets: 1) Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status and 2) Additional Forms.

Packet 1: Main Application

This packet included main items 1 and 2 in the list I provided above -- so Form G-1145, Form I-485 (AOS), and the required evidence documents for AOS.

1. E-Notification Form G-1145
2. Adjustment of Status Form I-485
1. Copy of Foreign Birth Certificate
2. Copy of Passport Page with Nonimmigrant Visa
3. Vaccination Supplement (Letter)
4. Biographic Form G-325A
5. Two (2) Passport-Style Photos
6. Copy of Fiancé(e) Petition Approval
7. Certified Copy of Marriage Certificate
8. Arrival/Departure Form I-94

The AOS form itself wasn't too hard. Colin is the applicant, of course, so he had to fill it all in. There were questions about some biographical information and under what status he's registering for permanent residence (Box C, "I entered as a K-1 fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen whom I married within 90 days of entry ..."). After that was a lot of yes/no questions about having ever participated in terrorism, drug trafficking, and other things that were obvious "no"s!

As you can see in the list, there are a lot of supporting documents that need to be submitted with the AOS. Our only big hiccup was the requirement to provide evidence of vaccinations that are required to be a resident of the United States. Colin had a medical exam completed within the past year as part of the K-1 requirements, so he didn't have to do another one in the US to meet the AOS requirements. However, the AOS says you still need to prove you received all the vaccinations...the thing that we got worried about interpreting is the instruction in a different form, Form I-693 Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, that states:

If the vaccination record (DS 3025) was not properly completed and included aspart of the original overseas medical examination report, you will have to have the Part 7. Vaccination Record completed by a designated civil surgeon.

Colin's DS 3025 was completed at the time of his medical exam in London and was submitted to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as part of his visa packet when he was checked at his US Point of Entry...so we interpreted that statement to mean he doesn't need to fill out the Vaccination Record for the AOS. If we interpreted it incorrectly, though, this will result in a Request for Evidence (RFE) from USCIS and we'll have to find a civil surgeon to fill out that form and submit it. This would delay the overall AOS approval process, so...we'll see what happens.

Anyway -- the evidence requirements for the AOS also include Form I-864 Affidavit of Support, but I moved that into the second packet because there were already too many sub-components in the first packet, and I was struggling to include everything in there without it getting messy.

Packet 2: Additional Forms

This packet included main items 3 and 4 in the list I provided above -- so Form I-864, Form I-765, and the required evidence documents for both.

1. Affidavit of Support Form I-864
1. Proof of Sponsor's Citizenship (Letter)
2. Letter from Current Employer
3. Copy of IRS Individual Income Tax Return for Tax Year 2014
1. Copy of Form W-2
2. Copy of Form 1099-Misc 
2. Employment Authorization Form I-765
1. Government-Issued Identity Document (Passport Page with Nonimmigrant Visa)
2. (2) Passport-Style Photos

Form I-864 Affidavit of Support is a form the US sponsor has to fill out. I basically needed to provide employment and income information to prove I'm financially capable of supporting Colin so he doesn't become a burden on the country. The income requirement is 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for your household size. I had to fill out a similar affidavit when Colin was filing forms for his London visa interview, but apparently the US sponsor has to do it again...so there you go. Nothing was too complicated with this one except digging up my old IRS tax return files (always save your tax returns going back three years!!) to copy numbers off of them and also submit a copy of my 2014 return with W-2s and 1099s.

Form I-765 is only one page long, so that's no problem. The only particularly complicated part of it is flipping through pages and pages of category references and explanations to find the one that applies to you, which you then write down on the form. For K-1 fiancé(e)s, the category is (a)(6).

So that's the rundown! You'll notice the sub-tabs are on the bottom of the pages instead of the sides -- I found a guidelines page by USCIS that stated they prefer tabs on the bottom due to the way they file the documents.

We also wrote up a cover letter to go in the mailing packet, just to introduce the purpose of the mailing and everything that's included. We have tracking confirmation from the postal service that the packet already arrived in the Chicago lockbox, but we're waiting for USCIS' confirmation that it's in their hands.

APPLICATION FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE SUBMITTED

By Victoria

Colin's application to register permanent residence is now in the mail!

This application is headed off to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services lockbox in Chicago, Illinois. It also includes Colin's request for permission to work in the U.S. More details on the contents and requirements of this packet to come!

For anyone keeping track, it is now exactly one year and five months since we submitted the initial Petition for Alien Fiance(e) application. I didn't even realize until now that we also sent that one on day 7 of a month!

MARRIED

By Victoria

Sorry this post is so late -- we've been married nearly a month now! Whoops!

As mentioned before, we got married on August 7, 2015. We had a small, simple ring exchange ceremony in our apartment with just 3 friends and the officiant.

The following day, we drove down to Charleston where most of my family lives. We had a family get-together over the weekend to celebrate, plus took a moment to take some photos.

 

After that, we headed off to Lake Michigan for our honeymoon! It was a road trip -- we drove from SC up to MI, then over the next several days, we drove up the west coast to the top of the Michigan mitten. The big spots we hit were Grand Haven, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Old Mission Peninsula / Traverse City, and Mackinac Island.

We're settled in back at home and enjoying married life so far! On the paperwork side of things, we've sent to the courthouse the request to get copies our certified married license. Pretty soon we'll need to buckle down on submitting the application for Colin's green card, which requires quite a lot of evidence/documentation; although we've already met the 90-day requirement to get legally married, I'd still like to submit the paperwork around the time that 90 limit arrives on September 26. The sooner, the better.