Immigration Reform efforts continue
Our Immigration Reform advocate and volunteer co-coordinator Sean Conroy has been in touch with many people who attended the recent Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform meeting in St. Brendan’s.  Sean has been briefed by Geri Garvey, our Irish Apostolate Administrator on the ground in Washington DC, and another phone bank was held this week.  Many volunteers have come forward to participate.  Sean and his group of activists are now concentrating efforts on members of the House of Representatives. A list of the representatives we need to call has now been compiled and readers can email us at the address below for it.
Anyone interested in becoming involved in the immigration reform campaign can contact Sean at [email protected]
Our thanks go out to all those who have responded and are participating in these advocacy efforts.
 

Immigration Hotline calls this week.

This week one of my calls was from Patrick in Ireland.  He went back to live there five years ago and now would like to sponsor his wife and return to the USA.  When he goes to sponsor his wife, attorney Chris Lavery pointed out he will have to produce tax returns in connection with the Form I-864 Affidavit of Support.  It was also pointed out that there are new family petition filing rules for those residing abroad and the information on this is on the US Embassy website Dublin:  http://dublin.usembassy.gov

Citizens living abroad and taxes

If you are a United States citizen or a resident alien who lives and works abroad, you may qualify to exclude all or part of your foreign earnings from your income.  If you would like more information on who qualifies for the exclusion, refer to the IRS website at www.irs.gov 
You may want to consult a certified public accountant on your tax returns.

Help is available abroad.

The IRS has a full-time permanent staff in some U.S. Embassies. These offices have tax forms and publications, can help you with account problems, and answer your questions about notices and bills. For more information about these offices, please refer to International Services at the IRS website. For other information about IRS assistance, go to the IRS website at www.irs.gov
U.S. citizens are taxed on their worldwide income, no matter where they work. Some taxpayers may qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion, foreign housing exclusion, or foreign housing deduction, if their tax home is in a foreign country. If the taxpayer is temporarily away from his or her tax home (less than a year), the taxpayer may qualify to deduct away from home expenses.


The complexity of many tax questions requires the expertise of an accountant.  The Irish Pastoral Center ( IPC ) advises all immigrants and US citizens to file tax returns in a timely fashion.  Over the years I’ve spoken to many people who ran into major financial difficulties as a result of tax related matters.  Some who had failed to disclose income were later caught for same and faced huge fines and penalties. 

Tax returns are frequently requested by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service(CIS) in connection with filings for legal permanent residency status and US citizenship. 

Legal Clinic

 

We will be having a legal clinic on Aug. 6th at 6:30 PM in The Banshee,

934 Dorchester Avenue
. 

Immigrants get to have a free one to one confidential consultation with experienced attorneys at our clinics. Meantime email me with any questions on immigration and citizenship related topics.
 
Disclaimer: Please note that the information contained in it is provided to inform generally, and is not intended as a substitute for individual advice. Immigration law is subject to frequent changes and individual circumstances can affect the application of certain legal provisions. For individual legal advice, please contact the Irish Pastoral Centre directly regarding upcoming legal clinics or consultation with an immigration attorney.