# Living in Venezuela since I was 2 years old, do I need to fill my taxes?



## boommap (Feb 19, 2018)

Dear friends. 

Hope that you all are doing great.

I`d appreciate your valuable insight and help on my situation.

I was born in Austin, Texas then when I was 2 years old, my parents move back to Venezuela, I`m 40 now, I`ve been married for 15 years now and I have a 7 year old girl. Situation in Venezuela has gotten to a horrible point, so last year I filled an I-130 petitioning my husband and my daughter, it was approved but now I`m in the part of the visa processing. In some of the forms, it mentions about the last tax filled. I`ve never filled any US tax in my life, I`ve only filled taxes in Venezuela. 

My income in Venezuela was very decent around 1.600$ a year

Could some of you dear friends give me some pointers in when to start in order to normalize my situation?

Thank you in advance.

Marianela


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Generally the advice we give here for people in your situation is do not file US taxes, unless you want to move to the US. However, in your case, moving to the US might not be bad idea!

I'm no expert on this particular issue but I believe you need to have filed US tax returns for a number of years (five perhaps) before you can sponsor family members for a green card. Again, my knowledge of this is limited, so check carefully for what is required in your case, for your visa type. 

That's the bad news. The good news is, you could probably file very simply and quickly with your low by US standards income, and would certainly owe no taxes. One option is to use the streamlined program, submit five returns at once, zero taxes owing, done. (In other words, you don't need to wait five years, you can file the for the previous five all at once.)

But look carefully at what is required for the visas you need for your family. It could be quite easy for you to get caught up. It's possible that your income was below the level required for any filing at all, in which case you technically are compliant, as you would not have been expected to file, and you can truthfully answer you never filed returns because you never needed to.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I would first try the "yes, I am compliant" route - seeing as where your income was below the filing threshold (about $10,000 for filing single or married, joint; $3500 - $4000 if filing married, filing separately). I'm not sure if they'll accept that, and if they don't I'd just file the last five years without messing with the Streamlined program.

You could easily file 1040A (i.e. the "short" form) without having to bother with the FEIE or any FTC information. If your income is below the filing threshold, these are simply "informational" forms and you don't need to mark them as "streamlined" because you had no filing obligation in the first place. Also, you don't need to get ITINs for husband and children since you have no need of declaring them as dependents to have a 0 tax bill.

Just for form's sake, you might want to include a Schedule B to include the information about foreign bank accounts. 

If, by chance, the 1600$ is a typo (i.e. missing a zero) you'll need to go the FEIE route - but keep it all simple for this backfiling thing.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Moulard (Feb 3, 2017)

Here is a small personal anecdote from more than a decade ago ... closer to 2 decades ago actually.

While standing in the queue to submit the paperwork for a green-card for my spouse at the local consulate, there was another couple in front of us. The petitioner was a stay at home mother, who did not meet filing requirements. Her Australian husband was the primary breadwinner. They were not sympathetic to the fact that she did not need to file. The requirement was to attach however many years of returns to the application and that was the end of the interview... They basically sent her away with a come back once you can submit the required returns and another 2 month wait for another interview slot.

My own circumstances were not too different, except that I took the effort to file prior to the interview. My memory was hazy, but the return was basically just a 1040EZ and a 2555EZ and that is all. When called to the counter, all the basically did was count the returns and tick a box on the checklist that indicated that tax returns had been included in the application.

Moral of the story... follow the instructions to the letter, even if they might not technically be applicable. USCIS and IRS... two agencies.. two different set of rules... just ask any greencard holder who has to file tax returns even though they cannot enter the country anymore because the USCIS has deemed that they have abandoned permanent residency.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

One small caveat - in recent years I have heard that what they want may not be copies of the returns you claim to have filed, but rather the official transcript of returns that you get from the IRS website. Check what the requirements are from the Consulate. But as noted, short form 1040A (the 1040 EZ now requires that you have no dependents and if married are filing jointly) and the 2555EZ sort of depends on the source of your income these last 5 years.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Moulard (Feb 3, 2017)

As I said, it was an anecdote of my experience 20 years ago. Oddly enough, things may have changed.

The heart of the message was simply follow the instructions, even the ones that do not seem to make sense or may not even be relevant.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Moulard said:


> The heart of the message was simply follow the instructions, even the ones that do not seem to make sense or may not even be relevant.


This is sound advice. Fill in five years of 1040s with low income and zero owing, send them off, and keep copies. Ditto for FBARs, if needed (unlikely). Then bring the stack of paper to the consulate and say "here, I'm tax compliant".


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