i864 (i864ez actually) question about total income and foreign income

[wxxyz 0]

I have a question about the i864EZ form.

For the total income section it says 'total income as reported on my Federal tax returns'

Since we are living and working in Canada, I claimed a Foreign Earned Income Exclusion last year so technically my 'total income' was $10.23 (interest on my US bank account). That is obviously not enough to show sufficient support for my husband.

Does that make sense? Should I provide my 'total income' to be my US interest PLUS my Canadian income?

Here's my 1040 details:

Line 7- Wages, salaries etc: $XX224.04

Line 8a - Taxable interest: $10.23

Line 21 - Other income (this is where I subtract my foreign earned income exclusion): -($XX224.04)

Line 22 - Add the amounts of line 7-21. This is your TOTAL INCOME: $10.23

Thanks in advance!

[trailmix 77]

Well I can only comment on how we stated on our I-864 (my Husband is the beneficiary - I am the sponsor - we were both living in Canada at the time).

- First I submitted the I-864 to the National Visa Center, stating my income as zero - like you have stated above, since I had used the 2555 to exclude my Canadian income.

- The NVC returned my I-864 to me and said that it was incorrect - they wanted me to state my Canadian income as they said my I-864 did not 'match' my IRS transcript (I only had Canadian income btw).

- I redid the I-864 and stated my gross income, before foreign income exclusion, converted to U.S. dollars with a note beside it as to what the Canadian amount was - they accepted that.

I don't know if you direct consular filed or if you are going to be dealing with NVC, however I would recommend that you state it like this:

Income for 2008 - $50,000.00 - then note on the side - $30,000.00 U.S. income, $20,000.00 Canadian income (converted to U.S. dollars).

Also, you cannot use the Canadian income in terms of the poverty guidelines to prove support for your Husband. They do not take foreign earned income in to account for the Affidavit of Support (unless it will continue from the same source after you move to the U.S.).

Edited June 30, 2009 by trailmix

[wxxyz 0]

Great thorough answer, thank you very much. That's exactly what I needed!