Financial Info and the I-864

[josh w. 0]

My wife and I are heading to the embassy in Kiev tomorrow for her interview. We've got all the paperwork in order, but have a question regarding whether I should submit my W-2 and tax return statement from 2007. Because it was going to be difficult for me to obtain all the documentation needed to prove my ability to meet the minimum financial requirements of the I-864, my father agreed to co-sponsor my wife's visa. His income alone is sufficient for our household size, so I'm claiming a $0 annual income and we're skating on his finances alone. Given this fact, do I still need to provide previous W-2's and give info about my tax returns for years past? If not, should I supplement the my affidavit of support w/ a statement to this effect? or will it be obvious to the immigrations officer what our situation is?

[MargotDarko 0]

My wife and I are heading to the embassy in Kiev tomorrow for her interview. We've got all the paperwork in order, but have a question regarding whether I should submit my W-2 and tax return statement from 2007. Because it was going to be difficult for me to obtain all the documentation needed to prove my ability to meet the minimum financial requirements of the I-864, my father agreed to co-sponsor my wife's visa. His income alone is sufficient for our household size, so I'm claiming a $0 annual income and we're skating on his finances alone. Given this fact, do I still need to provide previous W-2's and give info about my tax returns for years past? If not, should I supplement the my affidavit of support w/ a statement to this effect? or will it be obvious to the immigrations officer what our situation is?

You say you're putting $0 annual income for you, but is that true? If it's true, that's fine and you should just write a statement saying why didn't have to file taxes. It's only the most recent tax return or transcript that's required but if you didn't have to file they don't expect to see it.

If you did have to file last year, they'll want to see either your tax return and any related documents or a tax transcript from the IRS. If you earned more than the equivalent of a few thousand US dollars, you needed to file a tax return. And if you currently earn money, you shouldn't put $0 - you should put the US equivalent of your current income even though it doesn't count towards the required support.

[josh w. 0]

You say you're putting $0 annual income for you, but is that true? If it's true, that's fine and you should just write a statement saying why didn't have to file taxes. It's only the most recent tax return or transcript that's required but if you didn't have to file they don't expect to see it.

If you did have to file last year, they'll want to see either your tax return and any related documents or a tax transcript from the IRS. If you earned more than the equivalent of a few thousand US dollars, you needed to file a tax return. And if you currently earn money, you shouldn't put $0 - you should put the US equivalent of your current income even though it doesn't count towards the required support.

I have filed returns the past three years. As for this year, I am earning money, but for the first time in my life I'm self-employed. Being that that's the case, I don't have any documentation to corroborate the claimed YTD income. I play online poker professionally and could only show a screen shot of my account balance, which I doubt would go very far. Should I still claim it and just show the screenshot?

[MargotDarko 0]

You say you're putting $0 annual income for you, but is that true? If it's true, that's fine and you should just write a statement saying why didn't have to file taxes. It's only the most recent tax return or transcript that's required but if you didn't have to file they don't expect to see it.

If you did have to file last year, they'll want to see either your tax return and any related documents or a tax transcript from the IRS. If you earned more than the equivalent of a few thousand US dollars, you needed to file a tax return. And if you currently earn money, you shouldn't put $0 - you should put the US equivalent of your current income even though it doesn't count towards the required support.

I have filed returns the past three years. As for this year, I am earning money, but for the first time in my life I'm self-employed. Being that that's the case, I don't have any documentation to corroborate the claimed YTD income. I play online poker professionally and could only show a screen shot of my account balance, which I doubt would go very far. Should I still claim it and just show the screenshot?

Hmm... quite unusual! And sounds fun. In 2009, you'll need to file a 2008 tax return showing your earnings, right? If so, then yes, I would put it down as your current income and print off the screen shot. If they say anything weird about it, just point out that due to the unstable nature of the income, you have the joint sponsor and they should move on to looking at the joint sponsor's I-864 and documents. I hope that helps.