Married couple who are AT hikers - we need your help!

[PD230SOI]

Hi,

I would recommend NOT lying. Many folks working the visa line have seen it all and are very good sniffing out a lie. One little lie would encourage them to dig very deep or just deny you if they are busy.

document everything you can and be honest.

Good luck.

[dkcombs2]

This may sound like an odd request but please bear withme... If you are part of a married couple, or a couple who have been livingtogether, and you have hiked the trail in whole or part (at least halfway) Iwould be grateful if you would contact me on the following matter if you feelyou could help.
My partner and I met while thru hiking the trail lastyear (2012 - we are Button and Loops), we met just a couple weeks into thetrail and not long after were inseparable. We are still going strong as acouple a year and a half later but unfortunately come from different sides ofthe pond!
We are now trying to apply for a 2 year visa for Loops tocome to live in the UK, but one of our qualifying criteria is to show evidenceof a long term, sustainable relationship akin to marriage for 2 years.Our application will be sent in April 2014, but we are counting our 8 months onthe trail as part of this time.
We are now concerned that someone with no knowledge oftrial life will find it hard to believe that living together in a double tent,being together 24 hours a day and hiking the trail with all of its trials andtribulations constitutes a situation like marriage - which is obviously viewedvery conventionally in a house with bills in joint names etc.
We are hoping to enlist a little help from empatheticmarried or coupled AT hikers who might feel they could write a short statementshowing that they have done the same as us and that it counts very much as anactivity for married people to sling a pack on their back and stroll into thewilderness for months on end!
If anyone feels they might be able to help us out, pleasefeel free to contact me. Thank you and happy trails everyone :-)

[email protected]. Just finishing thru hike with wife. You may contact us.

[HikerMom58]

[email protected]. Just finishing thru hike with wife. You may contact us.

Wow.... You just finished a thru hike and your married at age 3? LOL!!

Seriously, that's nice of you to offer your help. :>)

[stranger]

Hi,

I would recommend NOT lying. Many folks working the visa line have seen it all and are very good sniffing out a lie. One little lie would encourage them to dig very deep or just deny you if they are busy.

document everything you can and be honest.

Good luck.

Yes, what they said.

[Another Kevin]

Renouncing US citizenship requires you to pay your exit tax. US has the deepest tax tentacles of any country in the world.

US expatration tax applies only to taxpayers with $2 million net worth or who paid average net income tax of $155,000 per annum in the last five years, or who fail to certify that they have been in compliance with the tax code for the 5 years prior to loss of citizenship. How many "hiker trash" are that rich?

[Astro]

US expatration tax applies only to taxpayers with $2 million net worth or who paid average net income tax of $155,000 per annum in the last five years, or who fail to certify that they have been in compliance with the tax code for the 5 years prior to loss of citizenship. How many "hiker trash" are that rich?

Don't know, but if I was that rich, I know I sure would do a lot more hiking!

[Rain Man]

You can easily say you met 6 months before the trail, then decided to hike the AT together, etc... There would be no way for them to question that.

It's possible you might want to review the WhiteBlaze User Agreement before publicly posting that someone commit a felony?

4. Discussions involving how to commit illegal acts ... are forbidden.

Rain Man

.

[MuddyWaters]

US expatration tax applies only to taxpayers with $2 million net worth or who paid average net income tax of $155,000 per annum in the last five years, or who fail to certify that they have been in compliance with the tax code for the 5 years prior to loss of citizenship. How many "hiker trash" are that rich?

Not many 25 yr olds

Quite a few 55+

2MM isnt rich. Not even close. One might be able to retire at 55 with that if they lived conservatively though, thanks to near zero interest rates.

[Malto]

Hey Button,
good to hear everything is going well. Good luck on your Visa. I can be a witness that you two weren't killing each other in PA if that would help!

[Another Kevin]

Not many 25 yr olds

Quite a few 55+

2MM isnt rich. Not even close. One might be able to retire at 55 with that if they lived conservatively though, thanks to near zero interest rates.

In the US these days, being able to retire, at any age, is beyond the means of most people. But we digress.

[stranger]

US expatration tax applies only to taxpayers with $2 million net worth or who paid average net income tax of $155,000 per annum in the last five years, or who fail to certify that they have been in compliance with the tax code for the 5 years prior to loss of citizenship. How many "hiker trash" are that rich?

Yes, learn about US expat tax requirements...it's important to know what your responsibilities are...cause no one will tell you. Keep in mind that the tax free threshold is US $96,000, meaning if you early less than that you still have to file a return, but you pay no tax. You also must declare any foreign bank account (which mean any bank an US citizen has outside the US) that exceeds $10,000, it's called FBAR.

It's not a big deal to do this once you get in a swing of it, it's just a little annoying and costs a few hundred bucks

[stranger]

It's possible you might want to review the WhiteBlaze User Agreement before publicly posting that someone commit a felony?


Rain Man

.

Fair point, it was a stupid thing to say...it wasn't my intention to break the terms of service, upset anyone or encourage someone break the law...in my mind I was passing along information, rather than giving advice. When you travel around the world you meet others who do the same, everyone tells their story, visa's often come up...I've heard a hundred different ways people have gotten visa's, and I was sharing what I've heard. I regret the statement and removed it.

[HockeyGirl]

Hey Malto - thanks for the good wishes - we are still quite happily trekking along together in life and I'm glad I've convinced Loops to make the leap over the pond - just wishing it were easier for him to do.

Thanks for the general positive comments from people - to clarify, we're not quite ready for marriage yet! We would just like to be a normal couple living together full time - Loops has used up his visitor visa time over 5 visits this year.

And we've got an offer of help so whiteblaze to the rescue again!
Happy Trails!