Question about proof of gratuity on I-864

[maple transplant 0]

My wife works as a waitress and only got the job in October of last year. Her income for the past 3 tax years is below 125% of the poverty limit. Her job offers a tip compliance initiative where they include an average amount of gratuity on each pay stub and that is what is taxed. However, she opted out of that earlier in January. On base income she is under the limit but with her tips included she is considerably over the limit.

My question is how do we show proof of current income when she has opted out of the tip compliance (she just opted back in last week) and so her tips are not documented in her pay stubs from the last few months and the pay stubs that are documented from last year (in her most recent tax) still won't show sufficient income as she hadn't had the job for that long?

Thank you

[Darnell 8,479]

she is documenting her tips, somehow? if so, how?

[Ms Hogan 295]

Tips are tricky I'd guess. Most people in jobs making tips don't claim them all so they're not going to be on her tax transcript. It would be hard to show that she makes enough if the regular earnings aren't meeting the threshold you need them to meet. Have you got a joint sponsor lined up yet?

[AmberAnne 1]

she should change that, and opt IN for tips shown on her paystub. Otherwise there is no other way legally to show that she has made enough money. you need a paper trail. otherwise yes, try to line up a co sponsor.

I am a hair stylist and I am in the same place with tips. my boss does not report my tips, however i have taken this into consideration in the past 3 years as i have been preparing for the k-1 visa and considering the income requirements I have purposely reported basially all my tips to the best of my knowledge. I did not want there to be a shadow of doubt on my ability to be a sponsor.

oops i just saw that you did say you opted in... how's it going?


i also forgot to say that i used my income tax documents.

[maple transplant 0]

she should change that, and opt IN for tips shown on her paystub. Otherwise there is no other way legally to show that she has made enough money. you need a paper trail. otherwise yes, try to line up a co sponsor.

I am a hair stylist and I am in the same place with tips. my boss does not report my tips, however i have taken this into consideration in the past 3 years as i have been preparing for the k-1 visa and considering the income requirements I have purposely reported basially all my tips to the best of my knowledge. I did not want there to be a shadow of doubt on my ability to be a sponsor.

oops i just saw that you did say you opted in... how's it going?

i also forgot to say that i used my income tax documents.

Thanks a lot for your replies. Sorry about my late response but I've been busy moving that past week as well as other things.

To adjust my initial post, my wife actually opted out in March of this year and opted back in at the end of May. So we had paystubs from November last year until March which we submitted as part of the 864. Those documents prove what she makes in tips and since she just opted back in, we should have more paystubs ahead of an RFE or interview documentation. Like I said, based on previous years' income she doesn't qualify but the current documentation shows she makes enough.

As to those who asked if I have a sponsor, I do not have one and I'm hoping I won't need one because I'm currently in a situation where it's gonna be hard to get one.

Edited June 7, 2013 by maple transplant

[maple transplant 0]

she is documenting her tips, somehow? if so, how?

Her work has a tip compliance initiative where they basically report tips on her paystubs at the rate of $7.10 an hour for her position. They then get taxed accordingly. She opted out because she wanted to save more money which was being penny wise pound foolish in a sense because we need those tips on paper in order to qualify for the I-485.

[Darnell 8,479]

i'm sorry, it's the same question, even after your explanation..

she is documenting her tips, somehow? if so, how?

[maple transplant 0]

i'm sorry, it's the same question, even after your explanation..

she is documenting her tips, somehow? if so, how?

Here's a link to what the gaming tip compliance is:

http://www.americangaming.org/government-affairs/key-issues/gaming-tip-compliance-agreement

To answer your question: Yes, her tips are documented in her paystubs except for the months where she opted out.

Basically, your employer reports a basic rate of tips ($7.10 per hour in this instance) for all employees in a position and this is shown as income in the pay stub. This is reported based on the number of hours you work whether you end up making that much (or over/under). It's a collaborative effort with the IRS and is dependent on whether your work place offers it.

[Darnell 8,479]

ok - so she not even have a running log, a simple log book, of what she made daily.

IMO, if she had that, she could use a running log book and get in to a CPA to authenticate it.

But that's just my opinion. There are others..

[maple transplant 0]

Well this is way better than a log book. This is directly reported to the IRS in a format that is equivalent to base income.

The only issues we had are that she opted out for a few months, leaving a gap in available evidence. And that she only started the job at the end of last year so she is not over the poverty line on any of her tax years. But from my understanding, current income is what matters most.