US outland applicants' thread :)

[tmm99]

nope, for us citizens, it's not necessary to sign or write anything on the back of the photos. i sent mine in blank, and had no requests for new ones.

Cool! Thank you!!

 

[IvanP]

Ivan do you know what kind of proof you might need to file the FBAR? Hubby is making a decent amount of money and while I don't think we'll hit the $10K this year, we might next year based on your example above. How do we prove that on X day of X month he had a total of over $10K in the accounts? Or do they just take your word for it?

You provide the bank names, addresses, account numbers and amounts. Canada and the US have standing agreements that make it easy for them to exchange information, so they'll verify the information you provide if they want to (just like they audit your tax returns if they want to).

 

[keesio]

I think what your referring to is FATCA that came into play this summer. From what I understand, it only applies to money earned on interest or investments overseas. If the money isn't producing anything, then it doesn't need to be reported.

FATCA form 8938 requires you to report all accounts not held in the US (if you exceed the threshold), regardless of if it earns interest. It is basically a duplicate of the FBAR except form 8938 goes to the IRS while FBAR goes to the US Treasury Dept. 8938 does have a much higher threshold in regards to requirement to file than the FBAR however. But why you have to file nearly the same information twice instead of just to one department and have the the other share the information is another example of why the whole overseas tax filing for Americans is so maddening.

Note that FATCA itself has been around for a few years... I think since 2010 or something like that. What came into play this summer is the new FATCA agreement between Canada and the US where the US strong-armed Canada into automatically disclosing all accounts held in Canada by US citizens to the IRS with the exception of RRSP and RESPs.

 

[keesio]

The FBAR really isn't the hardest thing in the world to file (until you have lots of accounts, or signing authority on business accounts), so it's not even close to the end of the world if you have to file it.

WIth the new electronic filing, it is pretty easy. The hardest part is just keeping track of your account balance and finding out the max value in each account for the year

 

[keesio]

I realized I somewhat hijacked this thread a bit when I started going on about taxes. For those interested, there is a thread from earlier this year on this topic in another subforum where some similar issues were already discussed and some other ones of interest:
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t184395.0.html

 

[keesio]

as mentioned by Ivan in numerous recent posts, FATCA and FBAR come into play anytime a US citizen accumulates assets or is a signing authority on any accounts that equal $10,000.

Note that the FBAR threshold is 10K. The FATCA Form 8938 threshold is much higher... especially if you live abroad (starting at like 200K and increases if filing joint with a US spouse)

 

[chala]

nope, for us citizens, it's not necessary to sign or write anything on the back of the photos. i sent mine in blank, and had no requests for new ones.

I received a request from LA VO for updated photos because, they said, my original ones had expired. And they would not release COPR without the updates. So maybe they date your photos when they receive your application.

 

[chala]

Ecas changed to "decision made " when I checked Saturday

 

[IvanP]

I received a request from LA VO for updated photos because, they said, my original ones had expired. And they would not release COPR without the updates. So maybe they date your photos when they receive your application.

I think they have a dart board that lists all of discretionary things they could theoretically request. Issue COPR is the bullseye.

 

[blueangel371115]

Ecas changed to "decision made " when I checked Saturday

Awesome. It's been a year almost for my outland application (my medicals expire tomorrow ) so I hope I get mine soon.

 

[notsopatient]

Awesome. It's been a year almost for my outland application (my medicals expire tomorrow ) so I hope I get mine soon.

They will likely just extend them. Ours were a year old in May of 2014 and they just extended them for another year to May 2015. Although the way things seem to be going that might not be long enough!

 

[chala]

They will likely just extend them. Ours were a year old in May of 2014 and they just extended them for another year to May 2015. Although the way things seem to be going that might not be long enough!

That seems to be the norm for US applicants, if so required, as they extended mine for a year last January as well.

 

[blueangel371115]

That's good. I was worried.

 

[natodincan]

I am really not sure on how to post something on here or where it ends up in the order lol!

Anyway, since it is cheaper here in Canada for medicals, I wanted my hubby and his dependent to come to Canada to get medicals done. (I am Canadian sponsor for US hubby applying outland)
But coordinating time to do that has been difficult and we need to submit the app.

My hubby's concern is where the medical will be sent if they are done separately (if his son gets his done in the US and my husband has his done in Canada). How are they sent to Immigration? Are they sent to the same place? I was thinking about doing them later and submitting the application now separately. Would both medicals be sent to the same place if they one is done in Canada and one in Buffalo? I would hate for there to be a delay because I wanted to save $70!

Also, my husband is visiting with me while we await PR with him returning home every couple of weeks to pick up his son for a visit. He lives with his parents when he is in the states. Can we put his current address on all PR forms as my Canadian address so everything comes to me?


What is a household registry? It states in the guidelines for US immigrants to include supporting documents to prove my hubby's relationship to his son...

"Provide birth certificates, baptismal certificates, national identity card or certificate (Cedula) where available, or other official document confirming relationship (including all pages of Household Registries) for you and each of your family members."

Are they referring only to family members applying for PR? My stepson is a dependent but will be remaining in US with his mother, only my husband is coming. Do we need all these docs above?

 

[missmatalini]

Hey ya'll! Stupid question here. . .

Since it seems PR card arrival times are high, how does that work if you have to leave Canada and you only have your copr?

I know it's not a travel document, but after I land in January I could possibly be turning right back around to head back into the states to attend a funeral (My Grandfather is dying of stomach cancer) Is having my COPR in my passport enough for them to just let me back in or no?