Dear Friends,

I am in a similar scenario that many of the foreign employees in the USA are in. I did not know that I had to file a FBAR form, or I had to declare the foreign interest income in my 1040. From what I had read through some of the posts, I think the following procedure/steps are ones I need to follow. Please guide me if I am wrong.

1. I have NRE accounts from 2007-2011. And in these years, only in the years 2009 and 2010, I had a balance of over USD 10k, and I had interest paid in the order of USD 500 for both these years - As a first step, I would amend these returns for 2009 and 2010.

2. File the FBAR forms for the years 2009 and 2010. Attach a cover letter stating my problem, and asking the IRS to waive any penalty with my situation.

3. After doing all this, do I still need to do the OVDI?

I would greatly appreciate your replies.

If you submit the FBAR for 2009 and 2010 with the cover letter, you ARE using the OVDI.

However, no penalties should be assessed because you are NOT the target of the FBAR. Wealthy Americans who are hiding assets overseas are the target. You are barely a blip on the radar, so the IRS should accept the late filing without penalty.

Just make sure you keep up with it in future years.