My dad and my mom are married in Vietnam. My aunt sponsored my dad (including his family, who are my mom, my brother, and me) to come to America, however, my mom decided not to go. My dad got his tax return 2021 filed as “head of the household” because the accountant said that my mom is undocumented and she does not live in the States. On FAFSA, I put my parents as “married”. Now my college asks why my parents are married, yet my dad is “head of the household”; my mom needs to do the “Non-Filing Status Form” (yet she is undocumented). Are there any solutions to this problem?
If your mom does not live here in the United States she cannot be undocumented under U.S. law. So I don’t get this part.
Anyway, calling @kelsmom for help with the rest of your question.
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Do they want a “Verification of Non-filing Letter” from the IRS? If so, see https://www.irs.gov/individuals/transcript-types-and-ways-to-order-them for how to get one.
Or do you mean a University of Houston form like https://www.uh.edu/financial/undergraduate/forms/22-23-forms/2020parnonfiler.pdf from Undergraduate Financial Forms - University of Houston ? That form seems straightforward to fill in.
Because she is not in the US, she would not be “undocumented” in terms of immigration or legal presence status in the US, which is the way the word is commonly used.
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As others have pointed out, it’s not that your mom is undocumented - she is just not living with your father in the U.S. For this reason, your father is eligible to file his taxes as Head of Household. You were asked the questions that typically would be asked when a FAFSA is completed with the information you submitted. Because it’s not a common situation, you will need to do the following:
Have your father write & sign a letter explaining that although he and your mother are married, she did not reside in the United States in 2021; therefore, he is eligible to file his taxes as Head of Household. The second step is to document your mother’s income. Your mom needs to complete the non filing status form, indicating no income if she didn’t have income. If she did earn money, she needs to indicate the net amount of money she earned in 2021, converted to U.S. dollars. She should also note that she lived and earned the money in Vietnam. The financial aid office will fix the income amounts based on the information submitted, if she did have income. Make sure all pages have your name and student number on the top (unless the school states that they want it on the bottom of the page). If you can upload directly into the school’s portal, that’s ideal, but a lot of schools don’t offer that option. Follow the school’s instructions for submitting your documents. Be sure to submit everything together so that all the relevant information is in one packet/place.
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sorry my sentences are wordy. I meant that my mom doesn’t have any documents in the States, such as social security number, ID,…
I should ask … did the school provide a non filing status form for your mom to complete, or did they tell her to get a non filing status letter from the IRS? If it’s a form, my advice above applies. If they asked her to get the IRS form, she obviously can’t … so have her put her information in letter form: She lived in Vietnam in 2021, she earned “x” dollars that year. If 0, say 0. If she did earn money, she needs to say that she earned “x” dollars, converted from the Vietnamese currency to USD. Have her sign the statement.
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Thank you for your help and sorry for my wordy sentences. My mom does not have a social security number nor ID, can she still file the “Verification of Non-filing Letter” from the IRS?
No, there is nothing to look up for her because she hasn’t been in the U.S. That’s why a letter is needed if the school didn’t provide a form. Her situation is unusual, so she can’t do what almost everyone else can do to satisfy the requirements.
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houston community college asked her to get a non-filing status from the IRS. And if possible, I was wondering if you could show me how to write the letter that you mentioned earlier, does it have to be in a specific form or there is a government form for it? I appreciate it!!
Contact the school to tell them that your mom doesn’t and has never lived in the U.S., so she is unable to provide a non filing letter from the IRS. Ask what they want you to do. They may have a form. If not, and if they just tell you to write a letter, post that here. I’ll tell you what to say.
Also, you can connect with the financial aid office via Zoom to ask questions, if that helps: Contact | Houston Community College - HCC.
Perhaps this form is the one you are looking at?
More information at About verification | Houston Community College - HCC
But it does not look like the specific case of parent not living in the US with no US income or SSN/TIN is mentioned. You may need to ask the financial aid office directly about what to do.
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Thank you so much!! You’re amazing!! I will definitely update what they say. Hope you have a good weekend
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thank you!!
hi!! they said I need to amend my father’s tax and write a letter saying my mom does not have social security number and does not live in America. I was just wondering if my father’s tax amend to “Married but filing separate”, does it require my mom’s social security number or tax id?
I’m not sure that your father has to amend his taxes. Is your dad a resident alien (green card?). I’m assuming he is … if not, what’s his status? Was he in the U.S. for all of 2021? Does he earn his own living, or is he a dependent on your relative’s tax return? @BelknapPoint, can a resident alien with a spouse not in the U.S. file as head of household?
The IRS wants the tax filer to choose filing status as described here:
How colleges treat parent marital status and related issues for financial aid may not necessarily be in sync with IRS filing status rules.
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he is a resident alien with a green card, we moved to the u.s in august 2020. He does earn his own living
and how should I write the letter about my mom’s situation
But the IRS filing status is dictated by the IRS, not the school. If the father amends his taxes, I assume he will owe money. If the father is eligible to file as H of H, the school needs to accept that. It’s possible that the financial aid officer needs to be shown the information about why the father’s filing status is correct.