I-864 (Petitioner Sponsor has no tax history)

[cocacola1985 0]

I am a spouse (arrived on a B2 visa and subsequently became engaged and married a U.S. citizen) and my husband and I are having difficulty with the I-864 as he has no tax or work history.

He has been on 'Means-Tested Public Benefits' (SSI) for the last year, after being too sick to work for several years. We have two friends (also U.S. citizens) who are going to be our joint sponsors who more than cover the income requirements and have all of their tax history, but we're not entirely sure how we should fill out the form for my husband.

Questions 22 through 25 don't offer an option for someone with no work or tax history (even though he is required to complete an I-864 and has joint sponsors to cover the income requirements).

We are worried that if we don't answer these questions our I-130 / 1-485 / 1-864 will be denied. The problem is that we're not sure which options to select and what to list his income and tax information as!

Does anyone have any experience with this / suggestions?

We're on an extremely tight deadline as we'd like to submit the forms before my I-94 expires to avoid any complications and we're finding the above problems really difficult to figure out. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

If you don't answer them - you will probably get an RFE.

On the questions

22. Unemployed.

23. The total of his income. (benifits count as income)

24. Same as 23

25. He would not check this, put 0's and explain why he didn't file taxes for the last 3 years. (Why didn't he file taxes, he might of gotten money back?)

The only thing that could hang you up is if they don't agree with your reason on why you didn't pay taxes, not the lack of income (since you have a co-sponsor).

[cocacola1985 0]

22. Unemployed.

The option d. is actually "Unemployed since ______"

Would we then put the date as his date of birth? He has NO employment history.

23. The total of his income. (benifits count as income)

24. Same as 23

The instructions for Form I-864 specifically state on page 3:

Does Receipt of Means-Tested Public Benefits Disqualify me From being a Sponsor?

No. Receipt of means-tested public benefits does not disqualify anyone from being a sponsor. However, means-tested public benefits cannot be accepted as income for the purposes of meeting the income requirement.

[Anh map 2,098]

The "unemployment since" is date of birth

If all benefits are determined as excludable then zeros for current individual and household income.

The attached explanation of non filing will address the reason for SSI.

If one friend's income (even if married filing jointly) is sufficient then only that person needs to complete the affidavit.