I-864 Do I need to co-sponsor for my wife getting her mom?

[Dmack 1]

My wife is a naturalized citizen from the Philippines as of this year and her mom's paperwork is going along smoothly so far. However, my wife stays at home with our son and has no documented income. I make $55K a year and have filed jointly with her for the past 5 years. So does USCIS look at our household income or do they want to know her individual income? If they want her indivicual income then I know she would need a co-sponsor which I assume I could do, right?

Thanks in advance for your help. This site is amazing. It has helped me tremendously and probably saved me thousands of dollars in legal fees.

[Anh map 2,098]

My wife is a naturalized citizen from the Philippines as of this year and her mom's paperwork is going along smoothly so far. However, my wife stays at home with our son and has no documented income. I make $55K a year and have filed jointly with her for the past 5 years. So does USCIS look at our household income or do they want to know her individual income? If they want her indivicual income then I know she would need a co-sponsor which I assume I could do, right?

Thanks in advance for your help. This site is amazing. It has helped me tremendously and probably saved me thousands of dollars in legal fees.

She completes the form I-864, you complete the form I-864A.

[Boiler 45,581]

What are you doing about Medical Insurance bearing in mind you are on the hook for means tested benefits?

[Dmack 1]

She completes the form I-864, you complete the form I-864A.

That simple huh? Thanks

[Dmack 1]

What are you doing about Medical Insurance bearing in mind you are on the hook for means tested benefits?

Pardon my ignorance but what do you mean by "...on the hook for means tested benefits"? Me, my wife and our 2 year old have full medical and dental coverage from my employer and my salary is currently $55K. So is there further means testing other than the tables on the I-864P?

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

Pardon my ignorance but what do you mean by "...on the hook for means tested benefits"? Me, my wife and our 2 year old have full medical and dental coverage from my employer and my salary is currently $55K. So is there further means testing other than the tables on the I-864P?

There can be, yes. Assuming mom is elderly/ past retirement age or unlikely to work in the USA due to lack of English, the CO at interview is likely to want proof you can pay for her health expenses, which can be considerable for an older person, as she will not be elligible for Medicare.

[Dmack 1]

There can be, yes. Assuming mom is elderly/ past retirement age or unlikely to work in the USA due to lack of English, the CO at interview is likely to want proof you can pay for her health expenses, which can be considerable for an older person, as she will not be elligible for Medicare.

That is the first I have read that but in our case mom is 45 years old and quite capable of working. I would've thought that kind of informaton would appear on the I-864 or I-864A but I am missing it if its there.

But it sounds like the answer to my original question is my wife sends in an I-864 and I attach an I-864A as her co-sponsor (or joint sponsor, is there a difference?).

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

Yep, you are correct on the I-864/ I-864A. Considering she still has 20 years of a productive working life, the health insurance should not be an issue either (this is at the discretion of the CO, not a strict policy, hence not mentioned in the I-864).

[Dmack 1]

She completes the form I-864, you complete the form I-864A.

A follow up question - Where it lists her income, does she put $0.00 or put our the $55K per year that is on our tax returns? I give her money each pay day but its undocumented.

[Dmack 1]

She completes the form I-864, you complete the form I-864A.

A second follow up question - I did my taxes for the past 3 years using Turbo Tax. Does USCIS accept Turbo Tax copies sent to IRS? There are only electronic signautres and nothing written in pen. Or do I need a tax transcript?

[Anh map 2,098]

A follow up question - Where it lists her income, does she put $0.00 or put our the $55K per year that is on our tax returns? I give her money each pay day but its undocumented.

She does not earn an income (from what you state) so her amount would be zero.

Copies of the complete tax return (W2's, 1099's, all pages and schedules of tax return) are fine. Just print copies and sign them. The transcripts are free of charge and take the place of all the collected pages of the tax return.

[Dmack 1]

If the US citizen petitioner has zero income then the joint sponsor should use form I-864 no matter the relationship.

The petitioner also does an I-864.

I am a bit confused. I am a natural born US citizen, my wife a naturalized citizen from the Philippines as of this year. We want to get her mom here. My wife stays at home with our son so has no reportable income. HOwever, we file joint taxes and my $55K per year is enough to pay the bills.

She is the US petitioner for her mom and I understand she fills out an I-864 and puts income of $0.00 To make up for that, I thought I as the husband filled out the I-864A as her co-sponsor, not a second I-864 as your statement above leads me to believe.

I am trying to figure out the disconnect between what I have understood to this point and what I am reading in the above statement. Can you clarify which form I should fill out in my situation?

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

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