I-864 Petitioner is not Sponsor (Joint Sponsor)

[d2477 2]

Hi All -
Couple of questions I'm not too sure about. I'm sorry, I've read the guides and these don't really ask. Why do they guides say to include certain documents that the USCIS Instruction Forms do not say to include (I-130 Guide says to include birth certificate of beneficiary but I didnt see instructions of that with the USCIS form anywhere?

1) My husband is my petitioner, however, his mother is our joint sponsor as we fall slightly below the poverty line.
She has filled out the I-864 however, we were wondering with his I-864, do we have to put his income and include all tax returns (3 years) and W2's even though his income won't be used? If I have income, do I have to do the same even though it won't be used to meet the sponsor's requirements?

1a) If my joint sponsor is sending a tax return transcript that has been filed jointly with her husband (my father in law) do I put total income on the 3 lines asking for "My Total Income for the Most Recent 3 years" and then attach individual W2's for her to show her individual income? Wanted to check that was the correct thing to do - does anyone have experience with that?

2) Are you really suppose to send 4 copies of the G325A and if so, where do you attach them?

3) As an F1 student who is now married, do I have to attach my I20's at any stage in this process?

4) Is one copy of my marriage certificate enough? If more are needed, where to attach?

Sorry for the questions - just wanted to ask all at once

[NikLR 13,232]

Are you adjusting status or are you filing for a CR1/IR1 visa with the interview in your home country?

[d2477 2]

Are you adjusting status or are you filing for a CR1/IR1 visa with the interview in your home country?

Adjusting status from F1, USC and me live together in US.

[milimelo 4,568]

Actually, petitioner is always the first sponsor - no matter how much he makes. So yes, all documents are required - 3 yrs of tax transcripts, letter of employer, completed I-864.

Edited July 13, 2013 by milimelo

[Franciscus 32]

Hi All -

Couple of questions I'm not too sure about. I'm sorry, I've read the guides and these don't really ask. Why do they guides say to include certain documents that the USCIS Instruction Forms do not say to include (I-130 Guide says to include birth certificate of beneficiary but I didnt see instructions of that with the USCIS form anywhere?

1) My husband is my petitioner, however, his mother is our joint sponsor as we fall slightly below the poverty line.

She has filled out the I-864 however, we were wondering with his I-864, do we have to put his income and include all tax returns (3 years) and W2's even though his income won't be used? If I have income, do I have to do the same even though it won't be used to meet the sponsor's requirements?

1a) If my joint sponsor is sending a tax return transcript that has been filed jointly with her husband (my father in law) do I put total income on the 3 lines asking for "My Total Income for the Most Recent 3 years" and then attach individual W2's for her to show her individual income? Wanted to check that was the correct thing to do - does anyone have experience with that?

2) Are you really suppose to send 4 copies of the G325A and if so, where do you attach them?

3) As an F1 student who is now married, do I have to attach my I20's at any stage in this process?

4) Is one copy of my marriage certificate enough? If more are needed, where to attach?

Sorry for the questions - just wanted to ask all at once

Hi, maybe this post I did helps you with that issue that the guide has more things than actually needed if you are going the F1/AOS route: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/425035-aos-from-student-through-marriage-check-list-cover-letter/?p=6154925

1) You do have to include the income and tax returns for the main sponsor (your husband) even if it is not going to be used (you can include 1 or 3 years, whatever you want if i recall correctly). You do not need to include his assets if they are not going to be used. You do not need to include your income, or tax info, or assets if they are not going to be used.

1a) Here's the deal: if your mother in law's income is enough to cover the poverty line for the relevant number of people (ie her, her husband, any young kids they have at home, etc, + you!), that's the easiest. You would just put in the income part the income that she got (ie if he made 5 and her husband made 4, you put 5 and not 9, even though the tax return will show that "9" if they filed jointly). Her w2 will just show what she is earning alone.

If her income alone does not meet the requirement, then it's another deal, i think her husband needs to fill an I-864a to add his income too.

2) and 3) You will see this in the post

4) Yes. But there is a minor exception i can think of. If you changed your name after marriage and are sending the stuff close after it, the marriage certificate might be the only document that proves that name change. As such, and since I have a feeling that the 130 and 485 might be separated to be processed at some stage (not sure about this though), you might feel better including a copy of the marriage certificate in the 485 application just to prove the name change.

Good luck with everything. Best

Franciscus

[d2477 2]

Hi, maybe this post I did helps you with that issue that the guide has more things than actually needed if you are going the F1/AOS route: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/425035-aos-from-student-through-marriage-check-list-cover-letter/?p=6154925

1) You do have to include the income and tax returns for the main sponsor (your husband) even if it is not going to be used (you can include 1 or 3 years, whatever you want if i recall correctly). You do not need to include his assets if they are not going to be used. You do not need to include your income, or tax info, or assets if they are not going to be used.

1a) Here's the deal: if your mother in law's income is enough to cover the poverty line for the relevant number of people (ie her, her husband, any young kids they have at home, etc, + you!), that's the easiest. You would just put in the income part the income that she got (ie if he made 5 and her husband made 4, you put 5 and not 9, even though the tax return will show that "9" if they filed jointly). Her w2 will just show what she is earning alone.

If her income alone does not meet the requirement, then it's another deal, i think her husband needs to fill an I-864a to add his income too.

2) and 3) You will see this in the post

4) Yes. But there is a minor exception i can think of. If you changed your name after marriage and are sending the stuff close after it, the marriage certificate might be the only document that proves that name change. As such, and since I have a feeling that the 130 and 485 might be separated to be processed at some stage (not sure about this though), you might feel better including a copy of the marriage certificate in the 485 application just to prove the name change.

Good luck with everything. Best

Franciscus

Thanks everyone! This is really helpful. Just to make sure: I put the amount that was on her joint tax return as the Total Income for the last 3 years? Right now I just have the total income listed on her joint taxes in those three boxes. Are you saying I should reprint the forms and put the amount on her W2's instead? Because if I just do that, then it wouldn't include other income she had like things from SS benefits for being senior etc., (I'm sorry I'm not sure what they're entirely called but I know that she made more than just what was on W2)

[ceadsearc 516]

If you are only using her income, and not her spouses, you list her total income - so the amount on her W-2s, plus if she has any other source of income, but only what is HER income. You don't list the total income if it includes her spouse's income and he is not filling out an I-864A.

So, it's usually broken down on the tax return, but you may have to do some math if she is getting income from multiple sources.