Supporting Documentation of Income

[Nate & Dina 1]

Hello,

Me and my girlfriend have decided to bring her into the United States on a fiance visa. My question is about the Affidavit of support for form I-134, and the supporting evidence of income that you have to provide. I have google searched this over and over again, but always came away with different answers, so i'm not sure which answer is the right one. I just called the state department and they said i will basically just need my most recent years tax return, and show proof that i'm 100 percent of federal poverty guideline. Why then, after reading in the FAQ section of this site, does it say i only need to provide pay stubs, and a signed letter from employer stating my salary, etc?

Any clarity on this topic would be GREATLY appreciated. I want to submit all of the right forms, so that we do not have any delays in our processing. Thanks in advance.

[Otto 83]

Unless you are active-duty military, you must earn 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (for the current year you're filing the affidavit of support) for your household size.

Supporting document requirements depends on what you're listing on the form itself and your personal employment situation.

If qualifying solely on your work income alone (probably the most common method) - no assets, bank accounts etc. You'll need at least:

• Most recent income tax return and all supporting documents sent to the IRS (i.e., W-2's, 1099's etc) Some folks will submit 2 or 3 years worth of these, just to be safe but it's not required.
• As many pay-stubs as you see fit (couple of months worth would probably be fine)
• Letter of employment (if you can get one, don't worry if you can't since not all employers will do it)

That's really it. If you do list assets, bank accounts etc, you'll need supporting documents for each - however, if you income is sufficient, you do not need to list additional items.

[Nate & Dina 1]

Unless you are active-duty military, you must earn 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (for the current year you're filing the affidavit of support) for your household size.

Supporting document requirements depends on what you're listing on the form itself and your personal employment situation.

If qualifying solely on your work income alone (probably the most common method) - no assets, bank accounts etc. You'll need at least:

• Most recent income tax return and all supporting documents sent to the IRS (i.e., W-2's, 1099's etc) Some folks will submit 2 or 3 years worth of these, just to be safe but it's not required.
• As many pay-stubs as you see fit (couple of months worth would probably be fine)
• Letter of employment (if you can get one, don't worry if you can't since not all employers will do it)

That's really it. If you do list assets, bank accounts etc, you'll need supporting documents for each - however, if you income is sufficient, you do not need to list additional items.

Thank you greatly for your reply! I have one more question. Because i am a recent college graduate, and didn't make any real money last year, should i still submit the tax forms for that year? I am going solely on income, and not other assets, as you said. I haven't started making real money (125 percent of poverty line) until this year. I'm working a part time job right now, but i'm about to start working full-time shortly. I guess i was wondering, because i will only have a few months of working full-time this year, and earning 125 percent over the poverty line, will that be sufficient? My tax forms for 2010 probably will not show a whole years worth of sufficient income because of the fact that i'm just now about to start working full-time and earning enough money. I hope my question made sense.

[Otto 83]

Thank you greatly for your reply! I have one more question. Because i am a recent college graduate, and didn't make any real money last year, should i still submit the tax forms for that year? I am going solely on income, and not other assets, as you said. I haven't started making real money (125 percent of poverty line) until this year. I'm working a part time job right now, but i'm about to start working full-time shortly. I guess i was wondering, because i will only have a few months of working full-time this year, and earning 125 percent over the poverty line, will that be sufficient? My tax forms for 2010 probably will not show a whole years worth of sufficient income because of the fact that i'm just now about to start working full-time and earning enough money. I hope my question made sense.

I guess it will come down to how long you've been at the new position by the time you have to submit the affidavit of support - and there aren't any real set rules on 'how long is long enough.'

You'll still need to submit the tax return (and all its supporting documents) - the Embassy/Consulate will base your earnings on what you're earning now (in other words, the amount doesn't have to match what is on your previous year's tax return) - they will calculate it based on (presumably) your pay stubs.

How long - in your best guess - will you be working at this new full-time job and how long do you estimate it will be before you get an interview date?

[Nate & Dina 1]

Thank you greatly for your reply! I have one more question. Because i am a recent college graduate, and didn't make any real money last year, should i still submit the tax forms for that year? I am going solely on income, and not other assets, as you said. I haven't started making real money (125 percent of poverty line) until this year. I'm working a part time job right now, but i'm about to start working full-time shortly. I guess i was wondering, because i will only have a few months of working full-time this year, and earning 125 percent over the poverty line, will that be sufficient? My tax forms for 2010 probably will not show a whole years worth of sufficient income because of the fact that i'm just now about to start working full-time and earning enough money. I hope my question made sense.

I guess it will come down to how long you've been at the new position by the time you have to submit the affidavit of support - and there aren't any real set rules on 'how long is long enough.'

You'll still need to submit the tax return (and all its supporting documents) - the Embassy/Consulate will base your earnings on what you're earning now (in other words, the amount doesn't have to match what is on your previous year's tax return) - they will calculate it based on (presumably) your pay stubs.

How long - in your best guess - will you be working at this new full-time job and how long do you estimate it will be before you get an interview date?

I will be working at this full-time job for the foreseable future. So that will give me about 4 months of working full-time this year, before tax season. As far as interview date, i haven't filled out the I-134 yet, so i guess that's a good thing? Because it will give me a few more months to work full-time and have that on my taxes.

[Otto 83]

I will be working at this full-time job for the foreseable future. So that will give me about 4 months of working full-time this year, before tax season. As far as interview date, i haven't filled out the I-134 yet, so i guess that's a good thing? Because it will give me a few more months to work full-time and have that on my taxes.

I think you'd be fine on your own then (no co-sponsor) - am of course presuming you'll be over the minimum (from what you said, you will be). They'll see your history, understand you were a student and are starting a new life.

And since you haven't filed the petition yet (the I-129F), you're looking at 6-8 months of employment history before you'll even need to submit the affidavit of support (don't worry if your 2009 taxable income doesn't meet the requirement - they'll figure it out based on your stubs).