working illegaly + taxes

G

gulo

Registered Users (C)
Hello
I am about to apply for citizenship based on 3 year permanent residency + marriage. Before I got married to US citizen I was working illegally, not paying taxes. I got my status adjusted and I am a regular permanent resident.

I stopped working right before we got married and only started again once I received employment authorization. I have been paying all taxes since then.

Will that cause any issues with my citizenship application and should this be disclosed in any way ?

thanks
 
Lets see... there is a question on the N-400 that asks if any Federal, state or local taxes are overdue. Unless you have repaid the tax you owed while you were illegal, I guess the answer is yes.

Then that other little gem... "have you ever try enter the United States illegally"

Seems to me you have a fair chance of a rough time at interview. Might I suggest you consult an immigration attorney?
 
boatbod said:
Lets see... there is a question on the N-400 that asks if any Federal, state or local taxes are overdue. Unless you have repaid the tax you owed while you were illegal, I guess the answer is yes.

Then that other little gem... "have you ever try enter the United States illegally"

Seems to me you have a fair chance of a rough time at interview. Might I suggest you consult an immigration attorney?
Click to expand...

Working illegally does not necessarily mean entering the United
States illegally. He could have been on valid tourist or dependent
visa.

But the illegal working bit is a big big issue. Its a tough conundrum.

Break it down to two questions you need to answer:

a) If you admit it and pay back taxes would pass the interview?

b) If you don't admit can the USCIS ever find out?

Buried in b) is the issue of explaining how you survived
for 3 years without any income.

I think you'll have to do some deep analysis of these two
questions. It could very well be that working illegally is an automatic
disqualification for citizenship (I don't know) so your only route
but then you'll be lying under oath which is not a good thing
at any time.

I suggest you begin by reading the field adjucidators manual.
Do a search on that term in this forum and you'll find the links.
 
When you were working illegally, were you receiving a W2? If the employer was witholding your taxes...then you were paying taxes...just not filing tax returns.
I suggest you gather all the W2 (or 1099, or pay stubs) you have and visit a CPA and ask them to file the back taxes for you. (You can do it youself if you if you feel comfortbale)
If your employer was holding enough taxes...then you should get away with not paying any penelty and have nothing to worry about...you might even get a refund if your employer witheld more taxes than necessary.
 
On a hook...

gulo said:
Hello
I am about to apply for citizenship based on 3 year permanent residency + marriage. Before I got married to US citizen I was working illegally, not paying taxes. I got my status adjusted and I am a regular permanent resident.

I stopped working right before we got married and only started again once I received employment authorization. I have been paying all taxes since then.

Will that cause any issues with my citizenship application and should this be disclosed in any way ?

thanks
Click to expand...


Gulo,

Couple of needles on your chair: When you were working illegally, where you issued a W2? If so, what did you do with them? If your employer withheld taxes from your salary, then you should found out that your employer did with this mulla....Also, how did you procure your employment? I hope you didn't claim US citizenship.

If you were issued a green card after your illegal workings, then you will be best served by consulting a tax attorney soon. Find out how you can settle this issue without being toasted by USCIS. Failure to pay taxes could results in a denial of your naturalization. Uncle Sam requires all who make enough income to pay taxes...

However, you could be fortunate and slip through the crack of USCIS's scrutiny, but don't bet your soul on it...
 
thanks for replies

First of all I did enter USA legally on valid tourist visa.

As far as my W2s - I was being paid by a work agency that had the actual contract with the employer (and took their cut before paying me). I never had any kind of actuall work contract and so obviously I never received any W2 forms.

So it's not as if I knew how much taxes I owe and didn't pay it - I have no idea how the taxes were handled by the actual employer and there is no record of how much money I actually made.

Now when I applied for adjustment of status I was obviously adjusting from illegal status and it was clear I was working illegaly and that was not an issue during the actual process and wasn't even mentions during interview, so I wonder if that would create a problem now.
 
gulo said:
thanks for replies

First of all I did enter USA legally on valid tourist visa.

As far as my W2s - I was being paid by a work agency that had the actual contract with the employer (and took their cut before paying me). I never had any kind of actuall work contract and so obviously I never received any W2 forms.

So it's not as if I knew how much taxes I owe and didn't pay it - I have no idea how the taxes were handled by the actual employer and there is no record of how much money I actually made.

Now when I applied for adjustment of status I was obviously adjusting from illegal status and it was clear I was working illegaly and that was not an issue during the actual process and wasn't even mentions during interview, so I wonder if that would create a problem now.
Click to expand...

Try ordering your transcripts from the IRS and see
what they show up. The number is on your interview letter.
 
DepressedGuy said:
Try ordering your transcripts from the IRS and see
what they show up. The number is on your interview letter.
Click to expand...

I actually did order them for last 3 years.

They are not going to have anything before that because I didn't have SSN back then and there really is no existing paper trail under my name. So even if I wanted to pay there is no way to figure out how much because there is no record of me ever working
 
gulo said:
I actually did order them for last 3 years.

They are not going to have anything before that because I didn't have SSN back then and there really is no existing paper trail under my name. So even if I wanted to pay there is no way to figure out how much because there is no record of me ever working
Click to expand...

Sounds like you completed the perfect crime. Like that immigration officer
that's playing around with my wife. So all you need to worry about is
how to explain how your supported yourself and what you did for those
three years. It has to be plausible and believable. I don't think anyone
would believe you if you said you just laid around the house.
 
DepressedGuy said:
Sounds like you completed the perfect crime. Like that immigration officer
that's playing around with my wife. So all you need to worry about is
how to explain how your supported yourself and what you did for those
three years. It has to be plausible and believable. I don't think anyone
would believe you if you said you just laid around the house.
Click to expand...

well that's just the thing - I don't want to lie to them, but at the same time there is no way for me to really pay those taxes unless they just make up some random number I owe.

Although I did lay around a house for almost a year - from the time I got married until I got my work permit :rolleyes:
 
gulo said:
well that's just the thing - I don't want to lie to them, but at the same time there is no way for me to really pay those taxes unless they just make up some random number I owe.

Although I did lay around a house for almost a year - from the time I got married until I got my work permit :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

But you can't pay back taxes, since you worked illegally. That's the catch.
You were effectively paid "under the counter" or "off the books" as they
say. Contact your agency and see if they ever reported their income
to the IRS. If they didn't then you can't pay tax on it.
It's like if I paid you out of my pocket to follow my wife and see if
she is playing up with my immigration officer. You could do that
for a year, but unless I tell the IRS they'll never know.

So I think your left with trying to come up with a convincing
arguement why you did not appear to get any money for years
on end.
 
DepressedGuy said:
But you can't pay back taxes, since you worked illegally. That's the catch.
You were effectively paid "under the counter" or "off the books" as they
say. Contact your agency and see if they ever reported their income
to the IRS. If they didn't then you can't pay tax on it.
It's like if I paid you out of my pocket to follow my wife and see if
she is playing up with my immigration officer. You could do that
for a year, but unless I tell the IRS they'll never know.

So I think your left with trying to come up with a convincing
arguement why you did not appear to get any money for years
on end.
Click to expand...


so I wonder what would happen if I told them that I did work but there is no way to figure out how much I owe. Are they even gonna ask me that ?

Also it's even possible that the agency WAS paying the taxes for me, like I said they did take a cut, but there is no way to contact them, they're all long gone
 
gulo said:
so I wonder what would happen if I told them that I did work but there is no way to figure out how much I owe. Are they even gonna ask me that ?

Also it's even possible that the agency WAS paying the taxes for me, like I said they did take a cut, but there is no way to contact them, they're all long gone
Click to expand...

The golden rule when dealing with the USCIS is "never tell them more
than they ask". So don't tell them anything unless they ask. I told them
I was so looking forward to getting citizenship so I can move to a new
job and start a family and look what happened to me. The immigration officer
is playing hanky panky with my wife.
 
DepressedGuy said:
The golden rule when dealing with the USCIS is "never tell them more
than they ask". So don't tell them anything unless they ask. I told them
I was so looking forward to getting citizenship so I can move to a new
job and start a family and look what happened to me. The immigration officer
is playing hanky panky with my wife.
Click to expand...

sorry to hear that. I definitely don't plan on telling them anything I don't have to obviously, I just wanted to be prepared just in case they ask.

Mainly I would think that if this was an issue it would come up during my green card interview since back then I was going directly from undocumented status
 
gulo, if during your GC process you told or even inferred with INS that you were worked illegally then they do have that on record and chances are it will come up even if they didnt do anything about it. Citizenship processing is a a lot more stringent than GC. i suggest u talk to an immigration lawyer.
 
I think Depressed Guy is exactly right. If there is no paper trail -- and it sounds like there is no paper trail -- then keep your mouth shut. Just have an explanation ready of how you made money all those years -- maybe your boyfriend or girlfriend took care of you, an inheritance, supported by parents or rich uncle... something. Chances are, they won't even ask you about that.

Look at the "lying" in this way: If you ever smoked pot in college or drank alcohol in this country when you were under 21, then those are technically crimes you committed but were not arrested for. There is, I believe, a question that requires you to disclose all crimes that you committed but were not arrested for. Would you really disclose in your N-400 application that on three occasions in your sophomore year at state university and on fourteen occasions in your freshman year you bought at least a case of beer and drank it with your buddies in clear violation of the law?

Basically, satisfy yourself that there is no paper trail for the illegal work and then keep your mouth shut. But be sure that the IRS does not know you worked coz it could come back to bite you in the ass pretty badly.

Good Luck
 
I'm not sure if I want to tell them that someone took care of me for 3 years while I was doing nothing, doesn't sound believable.

My question is - what is the worst that can happen ? They're not gonna take my green card away will they ? Will they make me pay those taxes ? But how much, based on what ?
 
I'm not sure if I want to tell them that someone took care of me for 3 years while I was doing nothing, doesn't sound believable.

Why not? I know plenty of foreigners in NYC who don't work. They just have money. I know that for most of us regular people it sounds crazy but there are lots of people who don't work and just sort of exist coz they don't have to work. And I'm talking about 30 and 40 year olds who have never had a real job. I'm not saying that you should use that excuse but think of something.

My question is - what is the worst that can happen ? They're not gonna take my green card away will they ? Will they make me pay those taxes ? But how much, based on what

The worst? Well I believe unauthorized employment is a deportable offence becasue you violated the terms of your entry to the US. Esp if it is for a long time like 3 years. Even minor offences like shoplifting are now deportable. In 1996 Congress broadened the number of deportable offences to include pretty much anything. They even tried to make the law retroactive (but the Supreme Court disagreed) such that if you shoplifted 20 years ago you could be deported for that. It doesn't mean that they will always, in every instance, deport you but do you want to take the risk of finding out especially in a clear cut case like yours? So yes, they do have the power to take away your green card if you have worked illegally. There is discretion built in to the system but I would not tempt fate because you would essentially be throwing yourself at the mercy of the Immigration Officials.

And it's not the fact that you didn't pay taxes -- not paying taxes are the least of your worries -- it's the fact that you broke the laws of the US by working illegally. Even if you paid the back taxes you'd still have broken the law. They could detain you until you paid the back taxes and then deport you. LPRs don't have as many rights as people think.

So not only can your Natz application be denied if they find out (and I think it will be denied if they find out you worked illegally for 3 years), it is well within their discretion to begin removal proceedings agaisnt you. And if you are removed then you could be banned from coming back to the US for either 3 or 10 years. If you got ur GC by marrying a USC then you might have more protection but the bottom line is that removal plus a ban on returning is the worst case scenario in my opinion.

You could lose it all, so tread very carefully. You should definitely hire an expereinced lawyer to walk you through the process.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
gulo said:
I'm not sure if I want to tell them that someone took care of me for 3 years while I was doing nothing, doesn't sound believable.

My question is - what is the worst that can happen ? They're not gonna take my green card away will they ? Will they make me pay those taxes ? But how much, based on what ?
Click to expand...

That depressed guy may write crazy poetry and be depressed but he
has it down in your case. I understand you want to do the right think
and pay your taxes, but you just can't it would seem.

Schedule a phone interview with a good lawyer it will cost about $300
but its worth it. I think they will tell you what depressedGuy was saying.
 
unauthorised employment

I have a somehow similar problem and would appreciate an advice. I entered US as F1 student and was granted an SSN with limited INS work authorisation. I finished the school and overstayed my visa for 2 years. During these 2 years I used my SSN in getting jobs. I worked mainly as an independent contractor. Some of my employers asked me about my immigration status, some only asked for my SSN. Those who asked for the status, I lied and said I have H1B or greencard, they did not request the actual copy of my visa. During 2 years I received W2s and never paid taxes because of the lack of legal immigration status. Now I am married to a US citizen and preparing to file for AOS of Permanent Resident. Should I disclose my unauthorised work to INS? If not, do you think they will check with IRS to see if my SSN got any "debts" on it? IRS hasnt contacted me yet for those 2 years. And what should I say if INS asks me at the interview how I survived these 2 years without working?

thanx in advance,
socalgirl
 
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