RFE tax returns

[BokkieandGuapo 4]

Please somebody explain to me why I got an RFE on tax returns for a K-1 visa interview, I searched and no mention is made on the guides that tax information needs to be supplied with an I-134.

[trailmix 77]

They can ask for any supporting document as they please - so that's the answer.

What did you supply to prove the sponsor's income?

[BokkieandGuapo 4]

They can ask for any supporting document as they please - so that's the answer.

What did you supply to prove the sponsor's income?

3 years of bank statements, property values, stocks and bonds values, a letter from her employer stating rate of pay, length of time worked and position held.

[trailmix 77]

Well that does seem sufficient, however, as I mentioned, they can ask for anything they want whenever they want.

Is the income near the poverty level? That might be a reason to ask for history of earnings.

I know for us, I was not working at the time so we used assets (IR1) - sufficient, and sent in 1 tax return, which is all they need, however we were asked to produce 2 more years of tax returns at the interview, which we had there, so not a problem.

It just seems that sometimes they want to see the whole picture, which makes sense I suppose.

Edited June 4, 2010 by trailmix

[Audy_Rob 26]

3 years of bank statements, property values, stocks and bonds values, a letter from her employer stating rate of pay, length of time worked and position held.

I am not sure if you are trying to qualify based on current income flow or assets or a combination of both.

The letter from the employer is not as nearly as useful as say 6 months of recent pay stubs documenting that income flow.

Normally for income based qualification, you should submit the letter of employment, the pay stubs, three to six months and one to three years of tax returns.

The COs are granted a very wide latitude in accepting or rejecting the evidence provided to back up the I-134.

There is a DoS memo to three Embassies from 1997 shortly after the I-864 went into effect stating that if the CO believes there is a chance the foreign beneficiary will become a public charge, the CO does not even need to approve the Affidavit with 125% of the poverty level documented.

It is all up to the Embassy/Consulate and the Adjudicating Officers.

Good luck.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

To the OP, there are two main things the consulate wants to know when making the public charge determination:

1. What is the income and/or asset level of the sponsor?

2. What is the size of the household that must be supported on this income and/or asset level?

The evidence you provided answers the first question. It didn't answer the second. Of course, we could presume this was declared on the I-134, but if they believed everything that was written on the I-134 without question then the they wouldn't ask for any other financial evidence. They want to see the tax returns because they want to know if the stated income is enough to support the number of dependents being claimed.

Most consulates are pretty explicit about the minimum evidence they want with the I-134 in the packet 4 instructions. It is those instructions you must follow, and not the I-134 form instructions provided by USCIS.