Hey all, I have been married for over 2 yrs to my USC wife. First year we were married, we eloped and never told her mom we got married while she was still living with her mom while I was out of state working travelling job. When we filed our tax returns, her mom filed her as a DEPENDENT thus I could not file as married and filed as single. Last year however we filed together as married.

My questions are as following and am hoping one of you can answer in DETAIL:

1. Should we show to the INS interviewer just the one return where we filed TOGETHER?
2. What is considered a COPY of tax return? Is it the form that you print out from TURBO tax after you done submitting?
3. Does INS actualy check the tax returns with IRS to confirm you filed jointly, single etc. etc? I have been told IRS doesn NOT release that info. to ANYONE including INS.
4. What happens if INS finds out we filed one jointly but the year before as SINGLE even though we were married?

Any other information/suggestions yo could provide us with will be great help. Thank you somuch. Bye

You need to call IRS for the copy of married filing tax return.IRS will mail it to you for your tax return copy.
But you might need to explain to the INS officer why you didn;t filed married as 1st year, tell the truth to the officer who interviewed. In additional show as many documents as possible such as joint bank statement, joint credit card account, health insurance , life insurance etc.

Even though her mother claimed her as a dependent the first year you were married, you could have still claimed her for a portion of that year if she moved out and came to live with you. For example, If she lived with her mom from Jan-May, then moved out, then her mother could only claim her as a dependent for 5 months of that year....you could have claimed her for the remaining 7 months of that year. Just be truthful to the interviewer and you will be fine.
Show both of the tax returns to the interviewer to prove you are being truthful about the issue.
You can actually make a photo copy of your tax returns OR what we did is called the IRS and they sent us copies of the previous year's tax returns. (Have photo copies on hand just in case the IRS does not send them to you on time for your interview. These are acceptable).
Regarding your question if INS checks? YES they do if they have a reason to and the IRS must release info to the INS when requested.
You will be fine with the INS just as long as you bring copies of both tax returns. Did you live together after you got married or did your wife remain living with her mother for a little while afterward? If this was the case, they may be a little suspicious about it. If your wife moved in with you when you got married, then bring as much proof/documentation to the interview showing that you resided together and you will be fine with the "filing single" issue.
ALSO, I am not sure where you are from, but make sure that if you filed for any "foreign income" the first year you were married, bring that tax return as well.
Hope this helps.

Thanks citizen and Patti.

Well the most of the first year, she lived with her mom while I was travelling around the country for work so her mom claimed her as dependent and I ended up filing seperate. This year we used an accountant, she gave us two copies of tax return one we submitted to INS while the other I assume is a copy so we take that with us.

Should we take both tax returns? I been told just take one where we filed together and INS will simply glance over it or do they make copy and verity with INS? Do they keep the copy of the tax records or just look over it or keep the ones you show them? Thank you.

Hello Clemson

first....Ignore Patti's tax advice as it is straight up wrong!

Actually Ignore most of what she wrote as most of it is incorrect also.

Your mother in law should not have claimed your wife as the two of u were married. Two people cannot claim the same dependent PERIOD. no ifs ands or buts. She should not have claimed your wife as dependent, no matter how much she took care of her. Unfortunately, Its the "screww u Mom/Dad" when a child marries even though they lived with parents for entire year. You should have filed Married filing seperately that year. Not SINGLE! Actually the proper thing to do is to file an amended return as jointly married, and your motherinlaw amend her return to whatever status she would be without claiming her daughter. She of course will have to return any monies that she errouneously received from using your wife as a dependent.

Who is the sponser? If it is you, you will HAVE to show the last 2 to 3 years of returns to Immigration. IRS does not share info with INS, but INS is not stupid either. They know the date you married and can discern what returns should have been joint.

If u are not the sponser, then I would only offer the joint return that you filed.

BTW, Congratulations, When u get approved on your interview.. u will receive the permanent green card (10yrs) b/c u have been married 2yrs! Thats good news b/c u will not have to remove conditons which many have to wait another 2 to 3 yrs for.

4Now, My information may be wrong, but this is the path that we followed when filing our taxes. We had a similar situation such as what Clemson went through and at the interview, INS wanted to see all tax returns. I specifically asked them if INS can request to see info from IRS and they said YES and that they were one of the few agencies that could request and receive information from IRS. My Sponsor(my husband) was required to show 3 past year's returns at the interview. This was our experience with INS and everything went smoothly at our interview.

call IRS and ask for the official letter from IRS tell them for INS purpose , IRS know.
Bring as many proof as possible for joint accounts..Auto insurnace, health insurance,etc.