Advice needed : married to us national but seperated and never filed papers

S

socrates1

New Member
I'm trying to find information on a specific case, details in brief are as follows :

UK national entered the US in 1999 on a visa waiver.
He over stayed and didn't go back.
He was married in 2001 to a US citizen. Form I-485 to adjust status was filed but returned as the wife could not show enough income to be above the poverty line and no other person was available to co sponsor.
The forms were never resubmitted and a year later he split up with his wife.
No divorce was ever filed by him and he has not been in contact nor does he know where his spouse is.

What are the options available now?
Should he just file and pay back taxes with an ITIN number?
Or is there any options for getting a greencard or SSN?

Thanks for any help.
 
In most states, if a persons have been separated legal or otherwise for more than 18months, the other party can get a divorce. Like if you walk away from you marriage and never talk to your wife, after a period she can get a divorce and never inform you and move with her life. So this is a possibility here. I AM GUESSING. As far as I know, I do not think the UK person can do anything as far as adjusting status based on marriage, coz there is no way to prove the marriage was bona fide!!
 
For now, there's no way to get GC or SSN. He's been here illegally and his filing was never accepted. He needs to complete the divorce case (which is possible) AND marry someone else (bona fide) who has enough income - that's the fastest way to get GC. One thing to note is, if he leaves US now, he'll be subjected to a 10-year ban or so, because he overstayed.
He can get ITIN and pay tax if he wants, but that doesn't help his situation at all, in terms of getting GC or SSN.
 
Thanks for the response guys.

Now do you know anything about ITIN? I want him to be able to get into a house, get a car, etc. Don't want to get married to him just yet but maybe down the road :)
Just worried that when he applies for one they will ask him to leave.
 
ITIN is designed for people who are unable to get SSN (to be blunt, mostly the illegal immigrants). So no, he won't be asked to leave if he requests one. What it means is a company can hire him and he can pay tax, neither of them can be sued for tax evasion (Technically he's not allowed to work, but if he works and pay tax, it's not "too" illegal. I mean if he doesn't pay tax, the IRS may come after him and make a mess about it)

To my knowledge, there is no pathway from ITIN to SSN, which is required to build credit. I've been looking into that because I don't have SSN either. So far I've been unable to build credit, but what I can do is work and pay my spouse/friend to get car lease and stuff for me.
 
Thanks again for your thoughts f1study.

He is in the same boat as yourself. The main concern is building credit, I didn't know if an ITIN would enable him to do this, thanks for clearing that up.
So what is the ITIN for besides taxes, or is that it? Can he use it to get an apartment or house, bank account, lease, etc?
And how do you use one for work? I thought an emplyer needs a SSN instead or do you just use the ITIN number instead?
 
Employers require either SSN or ITIN, so that's fine. As far as I know, ITIN is just for tax purpose and has no effect on other things. He can open checking account at most banks if he has valid passport or other IDs. I found some apartments that don't require credit check or subleased from someone. That's as far as I could get. Everything else requires SSN.

My spouse had to think very hard before he married me. Even after we got married, we have been waiting for months for paperwork to go through. There's not much I could do without SSN, so my spouse had to sign car and house leases etc. for me. So I mean if you're considering marriage, think about all the responsibilities that you may have to take...
 
He has always lived in his own house, I presume since he entered the country. He says he cant get into apartments because of no SSN so he rents from private individuals and pays a larger deposit, first, last, etc.

I'm still a little confused with working and ITIN. So if he gets an ITIN he can then work for any company like a regular citizen?

I feel that's what he wants the most, just to work a regular job instead of cash in hand type jobs with no stability.

I understand about the marriage thing and those responsibilities. He is more hesitant than I am because of his last experience.
 
socrates1 said:
I'm still a little confused with working and ITIN. So if he gets an ITIN he can then work for any company like a regular citizen?
Click to expand...

No. Companies almost never accept ITIN for employment. But some companies will hire people illegally, pay them in cash, and then the individuals submit their own taxes using an ITIN so they won't be in trouble with the IRS.

Aside from illegal immigrants, the ITIN is normally used for legal noncitizens who don't have SSN but have passive income like dividends or bank interest or royalties.
 
I did find companies that accept ITIN if I'm unwilling to submit SSN. I agree it's just luck, ITIN doesn't mean you can work legally. But if you find employers who are willing to take you, both you and employer won't get in trouble in terms of tax. That's all it means.
 
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