Hi PK,
Thank you so much. The amount of time and effort you are spending to help others is phenomenal!
I agree, time is of the essence for me now and hence I think this time I will go with a tax professional. The fee quoted is a killer, but I will probably use the consultant this time and using the experience start early and work on it myself from next year onwards.
Just to clarify my situation in case it helps someone else following this post:
We have already in anticipation paid sufficient taxes to IRS in 2023 such that we do not owe anything. Hence hopefully penalty won’t be an issue. We took the extension till Oct to have our Indian tax situation clear and accordingly to file the US tax claiming credits for the tax paid in India.
We prefer to file jointly since that will be significantly more tax efficient for us since my spouse is not working and the standard deduction is way higher. SSN is not a problem since we both studied in the US a couple of decades ago and have SSNs. We have two kids, and for them we will be doing the W7 and associated procedure you suggested. I will make use of a local IRS office.
H4 can work in certain very limited conditions. The common one is if the H1 has an I-140 approved by USCIS. That is the case with us.
You have gone over and beyond answering my questions. In fact, your explanation has clarified many follow up questions I was planning to ask. I do not know how to express my gratitude.
Namaskaram!
