Question

Filing Status After Married on K1/Fiance Visa

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
February 1, 2022
1 reply
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I married my husband in January 2022. He came here from the UK on a K1/Fiance Visa. Pretty soon, we're going to start the Adjustment of Status process to get him his Green Card/Work Authorization/SSN. As of right now, he has no SSN nor can he work (and if it matters, he's not on my health insurance just yet, if he's even allowed to be; still waiting to hear from my HR department).

I have to update my state/federal W4's at work since I am now married. Based on my current situation, should I select Married/Jointly or Married/Separately? It's now February 2022, and we're not sure when he can start working this year, or when he'll become a permanent resident.

I was actually told by a CPA to continue using my Single status for now, based on my situation; is that legal?

Sorry for all of the questions. Thank you!

R

RaifH

Yes, it is legal for you to continue with your W-4 showing you as single. The W-4 determines how much taxes are withheld from your paychecks. Since the withholdings for the single filing status are the highest, the worst-case scenario is that your job will withhold too much money from your paychecks and you will get that back when you file your 2022 tax return. They will never get mad at you for withholding too much money. If everything goes through this year, your most beneficial filing status will probably be married filing jointly.