Immigration Site

Hi

I am(USC) planning to apply for GC for my Parents this year. I have a chance to claim them as dependents(since they stayed with me in one of the last three years) while filing taxes.

Since at the time of application of the GC, we have to give 2007 tax years return, should I avoid claiming them as dependents when I file for my Taxes shortly?

Any adverse impact on the GC processing because they show up as dependent on the sponsors(my) Tax-return?

I was on H1 when my parents first visited. I claimed them as dependents while filing taxes. I have many friends who are on various statuses (H1, GC, USC) and everyone claims their parents as dependents. There is no reason or advantage to not claiming them such.

To be clear, I am no expert on this issue, but I highly doubt if it will have any effect on GC processing.

Of course, to be able to claim someone as dependent you should have got them an ITIN. And also there are some minimum requirements before you can claim them as dependent. Please ask someone who is familiar with tax matters or research online to make sure they qualify.

If they do not meet the residency requirements, you should NOT claim them as dependents. Just because many H1Bs fraudulently claim visiting and non-resident parents as dependents makes it neither legally nor morally correct. Tax fraud is a crime.

If they do not meet the residency requirements, you should NOT claim them as dependents. Just because many H1Bs fraudulently claim visiting and non-resident parents as dependents makes it neither legally nor morally correct. Tax fraud is a crime. This question was not intended to be a tax question. The dependents are decided by my Tax consultant who knows the area.

My question was, when I(USC) claim parents as dependent, will it affect their GC applications for which I think Vidhi thinks there is no adverse impact. Please let me know if anyone else has any opinion on this.