Taxes: Filing W7 if married and while spouse is overseas

[mchina34]

NOt sure where this goes, so I'll put it in the General section.

 

 

During the first week of February I filed my taxes, and since I was married (K3) I had to (law and additional evidence of bona fide relationship) file with my spouse who was still in China.

 

One piece of evidence to file with the W7 and your federal tax return, is your spouses passport (either notarized copy, or actual passport). So, someone on the visajourney.com said it's best to file with the actual one and so I did. The actual W7 says to do this as well, but also says notarized copy is fine later on in the document. Well, we knew we had at least 4 months before my wife's interview would occur, so we decided to not take any chances and mail in her actual passport.

 

4-6 weeks later I got my tax return check, but not her passport. We waited a while to see if it would come in and by March I asked my wife to consider getting a new one. She was pissed and didn't want to, so I put in an inquiry around late March with the IRS, and another one a month or so later, both with no response. I asked my wife to make certain (i'm paranoid, just ask everyone on the forum) that she could get one and go down to the passport issuing office. She told me they said it will take 2-3 weeks to get a new one. This ended up being a lie, as she thought I was just being overly paranoid like usual.

 

Well, sometime in late May we got packet3 and returned it immediately the same day. Now, I told her to give up on her passport and go get another one. She went down there (for real this time), but only to find out the law in China (seems to be the norm everywhere, except Beijing where the passport issuing office exists) states that a lost passport owner must first report this to the police and get their approval that it is in fact lost and they're not lying (who knows why), place an advertisement in a national newspaper and run it for 3.5 months stating it has been lost. Then, finally, going to the passport office and following the normal procedure (3-2) weeks to get a new one. This was all the first week of June, just after sending in packet3 a week or so prior.

 

Early June comes around (the 6th), and she gets an interview date of July 5, only one month away, clearly not enough time for the drawnout process the passport office wants us to follow. So with no way to get a passport, she contacts a cousin that contacts a manger, etc, etc, and they get her to approve her petition for a new passport. AKA Gaunxi, and my wife had to buy a few people (including police) gifts for this to happen.

 

15 days before her interview she gets her passport and 3 days after getting it hops on a plane to Guangzhou for her medical. She passes her interview and all is well.

 

 

 

Now, interestingly, I was flaming pissed of course and around June 17 I petitioned all state representative including my governor and for one of them I paid a $15 fee to expedite my case (long letter I typed up pleading for intervention so we could get her passport before her interview date) to have it hand delivered to my representative. Well, in Washington State, that Rep. is Jim Mcdermott. http://www.mcdermottforcongress.com/ Few weeks later I get a letter from my local Washington IRS office from a woman telling me she has been assigned to my case and will be investigating this. Mr Mcdermott and Co. contacted them and got the ball rolling to my surprise. Well, today, September 17, her passport was finally delivered after 2 months when I emailed my state representative.

 

I'm happy she got her passport back as is she, but also happy my representative took action for something that probably didn't seem so important.

 

Moral of the story: never send in the original anything with your W7, and if someone tells you to, smack 'em for me!

[david_dawei]

FYI: there's a section in the FAQ on this... no need to send the original pp...

[NewDay2006]

I did take the orginal to a IRS about 45 minutes away. I didn't have it right 2 times, so I had to go 3 times in August.... They made a copy and today I got the ITIN number and I hope to get a nice refund check soon from the amended return I submitted last month. I got good information from here on the subject.

[mchina34]

FYI: there's a section in the FAQ on this... no need to send the original pp...

 

 

yeah, i knew it wasn't required, but one person convinced me (and i think others) that you need to send the actual passport to make sure it gets approved without any speed bumps. i like things to work the first time, so there you have it...a twisted experience due to listening to bad advice.

 

my post was to inform people about taxes and what happens if you lose a passport, while telling our nasty little journey since february when i filed taxes.

[tywy_99]

NOt sure where this goes, so I'll put it in the General section.

 

 

During the first week of February I filed my taxes, and since I was married (K3) I had to (law and additional evidence of bona fide relationship) file with my spouse who was still in China.

 

One piece of evidence to file with the W7 and your federal tax return, is your spouses passport (either notarized copy, or actual passport). So, someone on the visajourney.com said it's best to file with the actual one and so I did. The actual W7 says to do this as well, but also says notarized copy is fine later on in the document. Well, we knew we had at least 4 months before my wife's interview would occur, so we decided to not take any chances and mail in her actual passport.

 

4-6 weeks later I got my tax return check, but not her passport. We waited a while to see if it would come in and by March I asked my wife to consider getting a new one. She was pissed and didn't want to, so I put in an inquiry around late March with the IRS, and another one a month or so later, both with no response. I asked my wife to make certain (i'm paranoid, just ask everyone on the forum) that she could get one and go down to the passport issuing office. She told me they said it will take 2-3 weeks to get a new one. This ended up being a lie, as she thought I was just being overly paranoid like usual.

 

Well, sometime in late May we got packet3 and returned it immediately the same day. Now, I told her to give up on her passport and go get another one. She went down there (for real this time), but only to find out the law in China (seems to be the norm everywhere, except Beijing where the passport issuing office exists) states that a lost passport owner must first report this to the police and get their approval that it is in fact lost and they're not lying (who knows why), place an advertisement in a national newspaper and run it for 3.5 months stating it has been lost. Then, finally, going to the passport office and following the normal procedure (3-2) weeks to get a new one. This was all the first week of June, just after sending in packet3 a week or so prior.

 

Early June comes around (the 6th), and she gets an interview date of July 5, only one month away, clearly not enough time for the drawnout process the passport office wants us to follow. So with no way to get a passport, she contacts a cousin that contacts a manger, etc, etc, and they get her to approve her petition for a new passport. AKA Gaunxi, and my wife had to buy a few people (including police) gifts for this to happen.

 

15 days before her interview she gets her passport and 3 days after getting it hops on a plane to Guangzhou for her medical. She passes her interview and all is well.

 

 

 

Now, interestingly, I was flaming pissed of course and around June 17 I petitioned all state representative including my governor and for one of them I paid a $15 fee to expedite my case (long letter I typed up pleading for intervention so we could get her passport before her interview date) to have it hand delivered to my representative. Well, in Washington State, that Rep. is Jim Mcdermott. http://www.mcdermottforcongress.com/ Few weeks later I get a letter from my local Washington IRS office from a woman telling me she has been assigned to my case and will be investigating this. Mr Mcdermott and Co. contacted them and got the ball rolling to my surprise. Well, today, September 17, her passport was finally delivered after 2 months when I emailed my state representative.

 

I'm happy she got her passport back as is she, but also happy my representative took action for something that probably didn't seem so important.

 

Moral of the story: never send in the original anything with your W7, and if someone tells you to, smack 'em for me!

Damn! That kinda breaks my heart to see a government agency like the IRS screw up on something as serious as a passport. I often recommended sending in the passport with the W7 application because I really believed that the government would take such a matter as someone's passport seriously and make damn sure it got back to the owner.

Well, this is a first for me. i'm not really surprised by your story but I do feel a little let-down by such carelessness as shown by the IRS. You should somehow get your story publlished in the newspaper to expose such negligence!

I'm glad everything worked out for you but again, I'm disappointed in our government. Something as serious as a passport and they screwed up!...damn!

[mchina34]

NOt sure where this goes, so I'll put it in the General section.

 

 

During the first week of February I filed my taxes, and since I was married (K3) I had to (law and additional evidence of bona fide relationship) file with my spouse who was still in China.

 

One piece of evidence to file with the W7 and your federal tax return, is your spouses passport (either notarized copy, or actual passport). So, someone on the visajourney.com said it's best to file with the actual one and so I did. The actual W7 says to do this as well, but also says notarized copy is fine later on in the document. Well, we knew we had at least 4 months before my wife's interview would occur, so we decided to not take any chances and mail in her actual passport.

 

4-6 weeks later I got my tax return check, but not her passport. We waited a while to see if it would come in and by March I asked my wife to consider getting a new one. She was pissed and didn't want to, so I put in an inquiry around late March with the IRS, and another one a month or so later, both with no response. I asked my wife to make certain (i'm paranoid, just ask everyone on the forum) that she could get one and go down to the passport issuing office. She told me they said it will take 2-3 weeks to get a new one. This ended up being a lie, as she thought I was just being overly paranoid like usual.

 

Well, sometime in late May we got packet3 and returned it immediately the same day. Now, I told her to give up on her passport and go get another one. She went down there (for real this time), but only to find out the law in China (seems to be the norm everywhere, except Beijing where the passport issuing office exists) states that a lost passport owner must first report this to the police and get their approval that it is in fact lost and they're not lying (who knows why), place an advertisement in a national newspaper and run it for 3.5 months stating it has been lost. Then, finally, going to the passport office and following the normal procedure (3-2) weeks to get a new one. This was all the first week of June, just after sending in packet3 a week or so prior.

 

Early June comes around (the 6th), and she gets an interview date of July 5, only one month away, clearly not enough time for the drawnout process the passport office wants us to follow. So with no way to get a passport, she contacts a cousin that contacts a manger, etc, etc, and they get her to approve her petition for a new passport. AKA Gaunxi, and my wife had to buy a few people (including police) gifts for this to happen.

 

15 days before her interview she gets her passport and 3 days after getting it hops on a plane to Guangzhou for her medical. She passes her interview and all is well.

 

 

 

Now, interestingly, I was flaming pissed of course and around June 17 I petitioned all state representative including my governor and for one of them I paid a $15 fee to expedite my case (long letter I typed up pleading for intervention so we could get her passport before her interview date) to have it hand delivered to my representative. Well, in Washington State, that Rep. is Jim Mcdermott. http://www.mcdermottforcongress.com/ Few weeks later I get a letter from my local Washington IRS office from a woman telling me she has been assigned to my case and will be investigating this. Mr Mcdermott and Co. contacted them and got the ball rolling to my surprise. Well, today, September 17, her passport was finally delivered after 2 months when I emailed my state representative.

 

I'm happy she got her passport back as is she, but also happy my representative took action for something that probably didn't seem so important.

 

Moral of the story: never send in the original anything with your W7, and if someone tells you to, smack 'em for me!

Damn! That kinda breaks my heart to see a government agency like the IRS screw up on something as serious as a passport. I often recommended sending in the passport with the W7 application because I really believed that the government would take such a matter as someone's passport seriously and make damn sure it got back to the owner.

Well, this is a first for me. i'm not really surprised by your story but I do feel a little let-down by such carelessness as shown by the IRS. You should somehow get your story publlished in the newspaper to expose such negligence!

I'm glad everything worked out for you but again, I'm disappointed in our government. Something as serious as a passport and they screwed up!...damn!

 

i thought the same thing, that they'd be responsible and i trusted them. but, i'm very happy my state government rep. responded to me iin a timely fashion and got my case resolved.

 

just imagine how angry you'd be once you find out your visa case might get thrown out for not having the passport. unbelievable stress man. but we got things done.