New to This..Questions regarding the affidavited of supoort

[Adrian+Mike 2]

My Boyfriend (Windsor, UK) and I (Washington State) are new to this.. we have just started going through the info and familiarizing are selves with all the steps...the one i am most worried about is the affidavit of support..see i work a part time job that reports taxes..but i also have other income that taxes are not taken out of.. if you go based on the taxed income i don't meet the requirements.. if you add the other form of income i do.. i guess what im asking is.. should i report all income.. and if i do will i get in trouble for not reporting the other jobs?

[Matt & Bing 56]

My Boyfriend (Windsor, UK) and I (Washington State) are new to this.. we have just started going through the info and familiarizing are selves with all the steps...the one i am most worried about is the affidavit of support..see i work a part time job that reports taxes..but i also have other income that taxes are not taken out of.. if you go based on the taxed income i don't meet the requirements.. if you add the other form of income i do.. i guess what im asking is.. should i report all income.. and if i do will i get in trouble for not reporting the other jobs?

So you are saying that you have unreported income on prior tax returns? Yes, that's a problem. Any reported income must be verified by a tax return. Unless you can show the minimum required amount of income as reported on a tax return you wouldn't qualify (unless you had a co-sponsor).

Edited February 28, 2009 by Matt & Bing

[Adrian+Mike 2]

Yes, i do some babysitting.. for one family its 15 hrs a week and for another is 9.. thats what i thought.. we will probably need a sponsor if i continue with the line of work im in now.. thanks i just wanted some clarification..

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My Boyfriend (Windsor, UK) and I (Washington State) are new to this.. we have just started going through the info and familiarizing are selves with all the steps...the one i am most worried about is the affidavit of support..see i work a part time job that reports taxes..but i also have other income that taxes are not taken out of.. if you go based on the taxed income i don't meet the requirements.. if you add the other form of income i do.. i guess what im asking is.. should i report all income.. and if i do will i get in trouble for not reporting the other jobs?

Yep, here is where that nifty cash income BITES you. If you did not report it and dd not pay tax you will not be able to report it as income. It is OK to be self-employed and even OK to be paid cash, but you have to claim it and pay tax on it for it to be counted as income.

Also, your "boyfriend" needs to be your "fiance" They do not give K-1 visas to boyfriends.

If you have not yet filed your 2008 return, best be prepared to report and pay tax (including the 15% self employment tax) in order to claim the income you make. You may also be subject to fines and penalties for not withholding tax during the year but they may let it slide for the first year such income is reported then require you to start making quarterly or monthly withholding deposits to an IRS account. You are about to learn exactly what the politicians mean when they say "tax the rich" and you didn't even know you were rich.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My Boyfriend (Windsor, UK) and I (Washington State) are new to this.. we have just started going through the info and familiarizing are selves with all the steps...the one i am most worried about is the affidavit of support..see i work a part time job that reports taxes..but i also have other income that taxes are not taken out of.. if you go based on the taxed income i don't meet the requirements.. if you add the other form of income i do.. i guess what im asking is.. should i report all income.. and if i do will i get in trouble for not reporting the other jobs?

Yep, here is where that nifty cash income BITES you. If you did not report it and dd not pay tax you will not be able to report it as income. It is OK to be self-employed and even OK to be paid cash, but you have to claim it and pay tax on it for it to be counted as income.

Also, your "boyfriend" needs to be your "fiance" They do not give K-1 visas to boyfriends.

If you have not yet filed your 2008 return, best be prepared to report and pay tax (including the 15% self employment tax) in order to claim the income you make. You may also be subject to fines and penalties for not withholding tax during the year but they may let it slide for the first year such income is reported then require you to start making quarterly or monthly withholding deposits to an IRS account. You are about to learn exactly what the politicians mean when they say "tax the rich" and you didn't even know you were rich.

Better discuss this with your cash employer as they could be in trouble for not witholding taxes from your pay or reporting your payments on a 1099 to the government which would obligate you to pay the tax. One of Obama's cabinet appointees just withdrew their nomination for exactly this reason, not paying taxes on "domestic employees". Clinton had TWO cabinet secretaries booted for the same reason. It is something the IRS is very keen about.

[rebeccajo 14]

Also, your "boyfriend" needs to be your "fiance" They do not give K-1 visas to boyfriends.

I think it's kind of silly to beat people up because they call their SO their boyfriend rather than their 'fiance'.

[Matt & Bing 56]

Also, your "boyfriend" needs to be your "fiance" They do not give K-1 visas to boyfriends.

I think it's kind of silly to beat people up because they call their SO their boyfriend rather than their 'fiance'.

The original poster was hardly "beat up" over it. It was good advise. Refer to your SO as your "boyfriend" at the embassy interview and you might just get denied.

[rebeccajo 14]

Also, your "boyfriend" needs to be your "fiance" They do not give K-1 visas to boyfriends.

I think it's kind of silly to beat people up because they call their SO their boyfriend rather than their 'fiance'.

The original poster was hardly "beat up" over it. It was good advise. Refer to your SO as your "boyfriend" at the embassy interview and you might just get denied.

I hardly think so.

And I only mention it because it's not the first time I've seen members get after a poster because they typed 'boyfriend' on the forums.

Seems like nit-picking to me.

Edited February 28, 2009 by rebeccajo

[Adrian+Mike 2]

Also, your "boyfriend" needs to be your "fiance" They do not give K-1 visas to boyfriends.

I think it's kind of silly to beat people up because they call their SO their boyfriend rather than their 'fiance'.

The original poster was hardly "beat up" over it. It was good advise. Refer to your SO as your "boyfriend" at the embassy interview and you might just get denied.

I hardly think so.

And I only mention it because it's not the first time I've seen members get after a poster because they typed 'boyfriend' on the forums.

Seems like nit-picking to me.

OKAY first off.. we aren't engaged yet.. if you re read my original post is says we are going through the guides and familiarizing with everything.. we understand that the k1 isn't for boyfriends..

thanks to everyone else who was helpful.. we wont worry about my other income..just go based on the part time job..

[skavenuk 0]

Hi,

Im the 'boyfriend' in question. As my soon to be fiancee say's we already knew that we needed to be engaged to file, we were just gathering information beforehand so we were all prepared when the time comes.

My stepdad who is American has been through the process of bringing him to here in the UK to be with my mother so we have *some* advice to go on, however obviously their situation was diffrent and they were dealing with the UK immigration services rather than us dealing with the US side of things. The more research we seem to do though just seems to keep on giving us more questions than answers, we start to go a bit crazy after a while looking at all the forms and such! Im glad there is websites such as these that clearly lists the guides and such as to what to do, they are a great help!

Just one question, on looking upon the the USCIS website I can't seem to find the i-134 form anywhere - is this because its been updated recently so they have not got it up there? Ive found a 30/10/08 version on Visapro but was curious as to if this was the latest version and why it wasn't showing on the main USCIS website.

Thanks again for all the replys so far, we both really appreciate it

[KimandRuss 0]

Terminology is important with this process but I have to agree that gets a bit exhausting. The OP clearly stated that they were simply familiarizing themselves with the process.

OP... Welcome to VJ.

You can find the updated affidavit of support here... K-1 Visa Forms

It was on the uscis website. Not sure why it's not anymore. They did have to update the instructions page most recently.

Be certain to read the GUIDES and pretty much everything in the links above. You are wise to educate yourself to the process before diving in and very lucky to have found VJ!

Oh, a co-sponsor is an option as well. The I-134 is asked for at the interview stage of this process (often 6-8+ months after filing the petition)

[Adrian+Mike 2]

Gotcha, and thanks for the welcome and the links

We have discussed the co-sponsor option but really want to use that as a last resort, we would rather try and do it without though it all depends on our situation nearer the time that the affidavit is needed to be filled out.

[Anh map 2,098]

The income requirements are non-negotiable. So if the USC's income is below the 125% of poverty amount you will need a co-sponsor for the I-134.

If your income situation changes by AOS time then perhaps you will not need a co-sponsor for the I-864. The I-134 is just for the K1 process. The I-864 is the biggie where the co-sponsor does commit themselves for a 10 year (40 quarters of employment) period of time. Read through the I-864 instructions to familiarize yourselves with the requirements.

Good luck on your journey!!

[Adrian+Mike 2]

The income requirements are non-negotiable. So if the USC's income is below the 125% of poverty amount you will need a co-sponsor for the I-134.

If your income situation changes by AOS time then perhaps you will not need a co-sponsor for the I-864. The I-134 is just for the K1 process. The I-864 is the biggie where the co-sponsor does commit themselves for a 10 year (40 quarters of employment) period of time. Read through the I-864 instructions to familiarize yourselves with the requirements.

Good luck on your journey!!

Hi,

So, from I understand - as we are both now slightly confused, For the I-134 for the initial K1 visa the USC needs 100% or above poverty line from what we've researched. However when it comes to the AOS and the I-864 form after we marry the USC needs 125% or more. Now, this to me sounds slightly crazy, why the diffrence in 25%? Why not 125% for both the I-134 and the I-864?

Thanks again

[limejello 0]

The income requirements are non-negotiable. So if the USC's income is below the 125% of poverty amount you will need a co-sponsor for the I-134.

If your income situation changes by AOS time then perhaps you will not need a co-sponsor for the I-864. The I-134 is just for the K1 process. The I-864 is the biggie where the co-sponsor does commit themselves for a 10 year (40 quarters of employment) period of time. Read through the I-864 instructions to familiarize yourselves with the requirements.

Good luck on your journey!!

Hi,

So, from I understand - as we are both now slightly confused, For the I-134 for the initial K1 visa the USC needs 100% or above poverty line from what we've researched. However when it comes to the AOS and the I-864 form after we marry the USC needs 125% or more. Now, this to me sounds slightly crazy, why the diffrence in 25%? Why not 125% for both the I-134 and the I-864?

Thanks again

I was doing a bit of research on this exact subject today and I came across this on apex visa (those who have more experience on the subject can verify whether this is true or not, I'm just sharing what I found):

Form I-134, used for nonimmigrant visas (K1 fiancés and K3 spouse visas), until the person arrives in the U.S. and applies for change of status from non-immigrant to immigrant visa.

The I-134 Affidavit of Support is a Paper Tiger without legal support, and is "requested" at the time of the K1 visa, or K3 visa interviews. This is basically a "Fishing" document to see if the sponsoring petitioner has the ability to supply an I-864 Affidavit of Support for adjustment or change of status after the K visa beneficiary arrives in the U.S.