Received a "request for initial evidence(I-485)" :( :( :(

[Mrs.Bale 1]

This is very long, thank you for reading and helping.

In 2008, my husband was employed at the first few months, then he became self-employed.

We submitted the tax return of 2008, which shows his income from employment was 14K, and his income from self-employment was 26K.

So his income was over $40K in total, our household size is 2, and the federal poverty line for us is $14,570.

And today we received a "Request for Initial Evidence(I-485)", says:

Based on the documents submitted with Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, for the petitioner/sponser, the income did not meet 125%(100% if military) of the federal poverty line for the petitioner/sponser's household size.

In order t oprocess your application further, obtain a joint sponsor or submit evidence of assets that meet the federal poverty line. Such evidence of assets should include:

blah blah blah..

So my questions are:

How could this happen? my husband made $40k, how can he not meet 125% of the $14,570 federal poverty line?

Did they make a mistake?

Because the tax returns of employed pages and self-employed pages were separated, they might only looked on the $14k income from employment.

How long will this request for initial evidence delay my case? Is there anything I can do to speed it up?

I'm so upset. I followed the I-864 instructions, I don't think I did anything wrong, and this happened.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

This is very long, thank you for reading and helping.

In 2008, my husband was employed at the first few months, then he became self-employed.

We submitted the tax return of 2008, which shows his income from employment was 14K, and his income from self-employment was 26K.

So his income was over $40K in total, our household size is 2, and the federal poverty line for us is $14,570.

And today we received a "Request for Initial Evidence(I-485)", says:

Based on the documents submitted with Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, for the petitioner/sponser, the income did not meet 125%(100% if military) of the federal poverty line for the petitioner/sponser's household size.

In order t oprocess your application further, obtain a joint sponsor or submit evidence of assets that meet the federal poverty line. Such evidence of assets should include:

blah blah blah..

So my questions are:

How could this happen? my husband made $40k, how can he not meet 125% of the $14,570 federal poverty line?

Did they make a mistake?

Because the tax returns of employed pages and self-employed pages were separated, they might only looked on the $14k income from employment.

How long will this request for initial evidence delay my case? Is there anything I can do to speed it up?

I'm so upset. I followed the I-864 instructions, I don't think I did anything wrong, and this happened.

I doubt they made a mistake. What evidence did he submit to support his self employment? They use line 22 of the tax return OR the current income. My guess is he did not support his self employment income sufficiently or miscalcualted it. You can claim as income ONLY the amount which is reported as personal income, NOT the gross business income which is then expensed or costed out to establish personal income. If the supporting evidence of self employment is not sufficient it will be discounted and they will rely only on the documented income, which is not enough.

I am not sure what you mean by separated tax returns. ALL income is reported on the 1040. There would be a separate schedule C for the self employment (or 1099) but that is part and parcel of the 1040 and reported on the 1040. Sounds to me like someone does not know how to report income and that is the root of the problem.

[Mrs.Bale 1]

I doubt they made a mistake. What evidence did he submit to support his self employment? They use line 22 of the tax return OR the current income. My guess is he did not support his self employment income sufficiently or miscalcualted it. You can claim as income ONLY the amount which is reported as personal income, NOT the gross business income which is then expensed or costed out to establish personal income. If the supporting evidence of self employment is not sufficient it will be discounted and they will rely only on the documented income, which is not enough.

I am not sure what you mean by separated tax returns. ALL income is reported on the 1040. There would be a separate schedule C for the self employment (or 1099) but that is part and parcel of the 1040 and reported on the 1040. Sounds to me like someone does not know how to report income and that is the root of the problem.

Hi Gary and Alla,

Thank you so much for you reply.

I have 2 more questions for you.

1.about I-864 25. my total income (adjusted gross income on IRS Form 1040EZ) as reported on my Federal tax return for the most recent three years was:

For 2008, I put the adjusted income in there as it requested. Was it correct?

2.about I-864 23. My current individual annual income _______

What amount should I put in there?

The estimated income of 2009, adjusted gross income of last year's tax returns, or line 22 of last year's tax return?

[Mike and Karol 0]

I doubt they made a mistake. What evidence did he submit to support his self employment? They use line 22 of the tax return OR the current income. My guess is he did not support his self employment income sufficiently or miscalcualted it. You can claim as income ONLY the amount which is reported as personal income, NOT the gross business income which is then expensed or costed out to establish personal income. If the supporting evidence of self employment is not sufficient it will be discounted and they will rely only on the documented income, which is not enough.

I am not sure what you mean by separated tax returns. ALL income is reported on the 1040. There would be a separate schedule C for the self employment (or 1099) but that is part and parcel of the 1040 and reported on the 1040. Sounds to me like someone does not know how to report income and that is the root of the problem.

Hi Gary and Alla,

Thank you so much for you reply.

I have 2 more questions for you.

1.about I-864 25. my total income (adjusted gross income on IRS Form 1040EZ) as reported on my Federal tax return for the most recent three years was:

For 2008, I put the adjusted income in there as it requested. Was it correct?

2.about I-864 23. My current individual annual income _______

What amount should I put in there?

The estimated income of 2009, adjusted gross income of last year's tax returns, or line 22 of last year's tax return?

Hi! You should compute your income this year not the previous year (not from the last year tax return) it's like you need to derive your income. For example you're earning $15/hour x 40 (if you are working 40 hours/full time weekly) X 52 (# of weeks in a year)

15 x 40 = 600 x 52 = $31,200/year

but you need also supporting documents for that like employment letter and pay stub

if you are below poverty line you will joint sponsor.