You are not required by law to hire a specialized cross-border accountant. The IRS allows you to authorize a representative for foreign reporting only if you wish. Missing a foreign asset report does not automatically revoke your wife's green card, but as of April 1, 2026, immigration officials can weigh missed filings against her character for future applications.
“I am an American citizen living in Pennsylvania, and my wife is a French Green Card holder. She has funds in France. Do we need a specialized cross-border tax accountant for our filings, and what are the general rules for reporting her foreign funds so we don't risk her status?”
Summary
You can manage this without risking her status by filing the required forms on time and making sure she never files her taxes as a non-immigrant.
Next steps
Because your wife holds a green card, she passes the IRS green card test and is treated as a US resident for tax purposes. Here is how to handle her foreign accounts:
File the FBAR separately
If the combined value of all her foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year, she must file an . You do not attach this to your federal tax return. Instead, you must file it electronically through the FinCEN BSA E-Filing System.
Attach Form 8938 to your tax return
Because she is a resident alien, she must also file Form 8938 () if the total value of her specified foreign financial assets exceeds the reporting threshold. This threshold varies based on the fact that you are married and live in the United States.
File as a resident to keep her green card
To protect her permanent resident status, she must not state that she is a non-immigrant on your tax returns. Doing so can cause the US government to decide she has abandoned her green card.
Avoid severe tax evasion
While a simple missed form is not an automatic denial, tax evasion over $10,000 is classified as an . This permanently bars her from establishing for naturalization.
Legal sources
These are the governing rules for foreign asset reporting and immigration status.
IRS FBAR Guide
You are not required to hire an accountant, but you may authorize someone to represent you for FBAR matters if you choose to.
You can authorize someone to represent you for FBAR matters if you wish.
Greenback Expat Tax Services
A missed FBAR is not an automatic denial of status, but adjudicators can consider it when evaluating good moral character.
This does not mean a missed FBAR is an automatic denial. It means adjudicators can now consider your foreign account compliance history when deciding whether you meet the character standard required for U.S. citizenship or permanent residency.
Greenback Expat Tax Services
Starting April 1, 2026, USCIS can weigh FBAR and FATCA non-compliance in naturalization and permanent residency decisions.
As of April 1, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) can consider FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) and FATCA (Form 8938) non-compliance when evaluating “good moral character” in naturalization and permanent residency adjudications.
IRS FBAR Guide
An FBAR must be filed if the combined value of foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any point in the year.
A U.S. person, including a citizen, resident, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust and estate, must file an FBAR to report: a financial interest in or signature or other authority over at least one financial account located outside the United States if the aggregate value of those foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year reported.
IRS FBAR Guide
The FBAR is filed electronically with FinCEN, not with your federal tax return.
You must file the FBAR electronically through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System. You don’t file the FBAR with your federal tax return.
USCIS M-618
Filing taxes as a non-immigrant can lead the government to determine you have abandoned your permanent resident status.
If you do not file income tax returns while living outside of the United States for any length of time, or if you say that you are a non-immigrant on your tax returns, the U.S. government may decide that you have given up your permanent resident status.
USCIS Policy Manual
Tax evasion exceeding $10,000 is classified as an aggravated felony.
Fraud or Deceit Offenses or Tax Evasion (over $10,000) INA 101(a)(43)(M)(i), (ii)
USCIS Policy Manual
An aggravated felony conviction permanently bars an applicant from establishing good moral character.
An applicant who has been convicted of an “aggravated felony” on or after November 29, 1990, is permanently barred from establishing GMC for naturalization.
SettleKit is not a law firm and this is general information. Please confirm with a licensed immigration attorney or tax professional.
SettleKit is not a law firm and this is general information.
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