Household size for I 864/I 864A?

[Frannyglass 10]

Well we saw our attorney on Monday and he convinced us we needed him and that we couldn't do it without him, and that any info we found online or in books or in this forums isn't accurate. We went there with a 200 pages application (I-130, I-485, etc.), neatly put together with cover letters and all that, expecting him to have a look at it and tell us if anything is missing or too much, and we'd sent it all immediately. He saw some things that needed to be corrected but didn't tell us what, he just took all our paperwork and said he would contact us. Now we are waiting to hear back from him on what to do next. He said we should use our friend as joint sponsor rather than my wife's parents since they are not cooperative and they lost their past years tax returns.

I know that's how lawyers operate but at the same time I am relieved to have his help, and I know we need it. We don't have to worry about making any mistakes and he specializes in cases like ours (binational same sex couples), and has filed over 100 applications in the past 3 weeks since it became legal. I'm just worried about time because we need advance parole by October 15, in order for us to visit my family (flights are booked, my grandfather is dying). Right now we're just waiting to hear back from our attorney who we trust about this issue, he said it would be there in time.

I just can't wait to get this process properly started...

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Sounds like you found a shark lawyer. Same sex is being treated the same as opposite sex. A "specialist" is someone who filed a mere 100 applications? Okay.

Good luck.

[Coleman21 6]

He said over 100 in the past 3 weeks though.

A lot of info you have found so far isn't necessarily accurate but if you go without an attorney you need to triple check on everything before you decide it's accurate, because anyone on the internet can say anything. I got a lot of help here and I checked with attorneys for free and checked what's written on attorneys' website, went to see an immigration officer on infopass, checked back on this website etc, etc... some people have really difficult cases and they need attornies and some people can go without one but have to do so much research. So I'm glad you found an attorney, it'll be a lot easier. But even an attorney can make a mistake, so make sure your attorney knows all of your information. There was one attorney I talked to a lot and he wanted to help my husband and me, but he didn't pay attention to our household size. I got worried when he said 30k is all we need as income, because I had checked I-864 instructions and I-864P. I told him again how many people were on my joint sponsor's most recent tax return and he then realized we needed more income.

My joint sponsor got a better job after that though so we had enough income at the time of application. Now our interview is coming up in less than 2 weeks and my joint sponsor isn't working as much as he did at the time of application. Here is a question for people who are reading this and already had an interview approved. How much does the immigration care about the past 2 months' paystubs? I explained to an immigration person on the phone (the national customer service number) that my joint sponsor had an injury and took a week off recently and asked if that'd affect his annual income and lead to denial. She thought it wouldn't be a problem, but if I'm worried I can bring more evidence that shows we have more money but he's the only person working at this point and I haven't got a job yet although I got an EAD this month, and my husband also hasn't got a job yet. But I saw some posts that said the immigration didn't even look at recent paystubs because they had already sent paystubs in the first package. We sent paystubs in our package too. What do you guys think? I have my forum open but don't get many replies so I thought I'd post it here too. Thanks guys.

[Jilly30 16]

Hi there, I know this is an old post, but everyone here seems pretty knowledgeable in this topic. My situation is very similar...My husband is the immigrant, living in India and I am the sponsor living with my parents in their home (unemployed because I am currently on short-term visa to india). I want to use my parents income as joint sponsor, but I'm getting stuck at the household size. When i fill the form for part, I should only include myself and my husband as household size (2)? Even though I live in my parents home, it is my legal residence and I haven't been claimed on their tax returns in over 10yrs. So my father will fill out the I-864 (not I-864a?) listing household size as 2 (himself & my mom) since that is what he files on his tax return? Is that process correct? I also have an adult brother that lives in the house but he has been filing tax returns for himself for the past 3yrs.

But as I understand from this discussion, you only put what is reflected on your tax returns. Correct?

Thanks for any help!

[Frannyglass 10]

Yes, I am pretty sure this is correct. As long as you or your brother aren't dependent on your parents' tax returns, then you are not counted on their houselhold size (and that's is better for you).

I was the topic starter and to update: we ended up using a joint sponsor because my parents in law weren't cooperative and lost some of their past tax returns. We are now waiting hoping that everything we sent (especially joint sponsor paperwork) is correct. Our joint sponsor is a friend who lives out of state.

[Coleman21 6]

Your household size will be 2, yes. Because even though you are not earning income now, you are the primary sponsor, which means you have the obligation to support your spouse and yourself. Your parent's household size will be 3, since they will have the joint obligation to support your spouse. Since your current income is 0, your parent will file I-864 instead of I-864A, since I-864A is used to "combine" their income with yours. I don't know if your brother counts or not though.. I will do a quick research and come back later. But you should be able to use your brother's income to increase your parent's income, if he agrees to sign I-864A.

[Coleman21 6]

Okay, according to the instruction, your parents would usually include your brother in the house hold size, if he is unmarried and under 21. But your parent can exclude him from the household size if he has "reached the majority under the law of their place of domicile" and your parents did not claim him on their tax return. I don't understand what that means myself, but you or other people may understand.

[Coleman21 6]

P.S. If your parent does combine their income with your brother's in order to meet the income requirement, they do have to count him in their household size.

[Coleman21 6]

Frannyglass: glad to hear you found a joint sponsor. I hope everything will go well for you. As for me, when I first replied to your topic, my interview was coming up, but now I am happy to say I got my permanent residency last August. My husband and I are trying to get our own apartment house at this point back in NY where my college is located. (I was in GA last summer)

[Jilly30 16]

Thanks for the replies and information! This helps me and my dad greatly in filing out these forms. Now I'll be ready the second they ask for them... thanks! :-)