Financial Questions (Confused about I-864 and I-864a)

[Mozilla 0]

My wife (petitioner) does not make enough money to sponsor me. So we are using her mom as a joint sponsor.

Both of them have filed a I-864. I'm confused when it comes to the I-864A. Who files that one?
We all live in the same house if that makes any difference. I'm starting to fill a bit overwhelmed with all this paper work.

While on the same topic, I have another question:

My wife did not work in 2010, and did not make enough money in 2011 and 2012.

We are not sure if she filed her taxes for 2011, or was just listed as depended on her parents for those 3 years. (However, she knows she did file for 2012.)

We decided to only send her parent's Tax for 2012. Is it a good idea to send her parents 2011 Tax return where she is listed as a depended, and say she was not required to file? (We can't find if she filed or not her 2011.)

Her parents only want to send the most recent one, because her dad was laid off in 2011. We would only send 2011 to show my wife was also a dependent of her parents.

I'm sorry if this is confusing, I've been a bit stressed lately and considering hiring an attorney to take care of everything.

Thank you very much.

[Coleman21 6]

I-864A is used when your wife wants to combine her income with someone's living in the same household when she fills out her I-864. Her mother would fill out I-864A to show the USCIS that she agreed with your wife combining their income. This way you would have only one sponsor.

Does your wife make no money or is she earning some money? If no income, she isn't "combining" income, so she has to fill out I-864 and write 0 as her income and your mother in law has to fill out another I-864 as a joint sponsor. I'm sure about this.

If your wife does earn money but just not enough to support two of you, (your wife and you) then I assume your wife would be the only one to fill out I-864, add your mother in law's income on there, and your mother in law fills out I-864A. But I can't say I'm sure about this one, so let's see what other people say here. Or you could ask an immigration officer by scheduling an infopass. If you hire an attorney like you said, you can ask this questioin to the lawyer for sure.

For tax, you can send just the most recent tax return, but you still have to send your wife's tax return because she's the primary sponsor. But your wife still has to write on I-864 how much she made this past 3 years, so I think you have to look at past tax returns.. for 2010 she can just write 0. for 2011 I think you can find out what she did with the tax return by contacting IRS. Someone, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Does your wife have to prove that she has filed taxes for the past 3 years or was not supposed to file tax? I forgot if your wife needs to prove for the most recent tax year only or all 3 years. If the USCIS doesn't require her to prove about the year 2010 and 2011, you don't have to worry about it. If they do, sending her parents' tax return that show that your wife was listed as their dependent is good, I think. Just attach a written explanation as well. In my husband's case, he was listed as his parents' dependent for the tax year 2012, so we wrote something like " I did not earn much income and I was listed as a dependent on my parent, our joint sponsor's tax return, therefore I was not requried to file tax for 2012. My parent's tax return serves as proof." we used better wording, of course, but that's the idea. Then we highlighted my husband's social security number on his father's tax return. We might have to explain about this more at the interview in two weeks (!) but we got no RFE (request for evidence) for our package, so I think it's okay.

Good luck on everything! We were very frustrated too when we applied for green card and we still are stressed about the interview. But preparing the package was the most frustrating part and once you get this one you will feel much better.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Being a dependent on someone's tax return does not absolve you of the requirement to file your own if you made money. If she worked and made enough money to be required to file taxes in 2011, then she needs to file those taxes. She can check if she filed with the IRS. No need to show she was a dependent on another tax return.

[Mozilla 0]

I-864A is used when your wife wants to combine her income with someone's living in the same household when she fills out her I-864. Her mother would fill out I-864A to show the USCIS that she agreed with your wife combining their income. This way you would have only one sponsor.

Does your wife make no money or is she earning some money? If no income, she isn't "combining" income, so she has to fill out I-864 and write 0 as her income and your mother in law has to fill out another I-864 as a joint sponsor. I'm sure about this.

If your wife does earn money but just not enough to support two of you, (your wife and you) then I assume your wife would be the only one to fill out I-864, add your mother in law's income on there, and your mother in law fills out I-864A. But I can't say I'm sure about this one, so let's see what other people say here. Or you could ask an immigration officer by scheduling an infopass. If you hire an attorney like you said, you can ask this questioin to the lawyer for sure.

For tax, you can send just the most recent tax return, but you still have to send your wife's tax return because she's the primary sponsor. But your wife still has to write on I-864 how much she made this past 3 years, so I think you have to look at past tax returns.. for 2010 she can just write 0. for 2011 I think you can find out what she did with the tax return by contacting IRS. Someone, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Does your wife have to prove that she has filed taxes for the past 3 years or was not supposed to file tax? I forgot if your wife needs to prove for the most recent tax year only or all 3 years. If the USCIS doesn't require her to prove about the year 2010 and 2011, you don't have to worry about it. If they do, sending her parents' tax return that show that your wife was listed as their dependent is good, I think. Just attach a written explanation as well. In my husband's case, he was listed as his parents' dependent for the tax year 2012, so we wrote something like " I did not earn much income and I was listed as a dependent on my parent, our joint sponsor's tax return, therefore I was not requried to file tax for 2012. My parent's tax return serves as proof." we used better wording, of course, but that's the idea. Then we highlighted my husband's social security number on his father's tax return. We might have to explain about this more at the interview in two weeks (!) but we got no RFE (request for evidence) for our package, so I think it's okay.

Good luck on everything! We were very frustrated too when we applied for green card and we still are stressed about the interview. But preparing the package was the most frustrating part and once you get this one you will feel much better.

Thank you very much for your reply.

We are planning on sending two I-864, one for my wife and one for her mom. Also, I will have her mom prepare the I-864A.

I'm having her call the 1-800 number later today and ask them if they have her return and ask to send a copy of it if that's the case.

There is a box that we can check say she has filled on the last 3 years, and is attaching her most recent return with the application. However, she has not filled in 2010, but we are attaching her most recent return. It's confusing.

I think I will check the box and attach her last 2 returns she has filled and explain she didnt file in 2010 because she didn't work.

Yes, all of this is confusing and I'm getting pretty stressed.

Good luck at your interview!

Being a dependent on someone's tax return does not absolve you of the requirement to file your own if you made money. If she worked and made enough money to be required to file taxes in 2011, then she needs to file those taxes. She can check if she filed with the IRS. No need to show she was a dependent on another tax return.

She didn't make enough money in 2012 and she did file it to get some money back. Same way in 2011, but we can't find her return. That's why I thought about sending her parents to show she was a dependent, since she was not required to file her own.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

But I just explained that being a dependent does NOT show you were not required to file on your own. One thing doesn't have to do with the other.

And you don't need I-864A. That's not for your situation so the mom should just skip it

Edited July 23, 2013 by Harpa Timsah

[Coleman21 6]

In our case we were told that my husband cannot file his tax because he is listed as a dependent on his stepfather. H&R Block and a tax lawyer and an immigration officer said that. If my husband had made a lot of money he had to file the tax and he wouldn't have been listed on his parent's tax.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

In our case we were told that my husband cannot file his tax because he is listed as a dependent on his stepfather. H&R Block and a tax lawyer and an immigration officer said that. If my husband had made a lot of money he had to file the tax and he wouldn't have been listed on his parent's tax.

Nope; that's wrong.

Read over the 1040. It's about exemptions, that's all. H&R Block are not tax professionals, btw.

Edited July 24, 2013 by Harpa Timsah

[Coleman21 6]

ugh. we sumbitted everything anyway. we had no RFE and have our interview in two weeks. a tax lawyer didn't think my husband can file his tax though because his mother had put him as his stepfather's dependent. and she kept saying if he filed his tax his stepfather's tax return would be messed up and i kept asking everyone but nobody really had an answer. i assume our interviewer wouldn't know much about tax filing either. lol

[KayDeeCee 4,896]

Thank you very much for your reply.

We are planning on sending two I-864, one for my wife and one for her mom. Also, I will have her mom prepare the I-864A.

I'm having her call the 1-800 number later today and ask them if they have her return and ask to send a copy of it if that's the case.

There is a box that we can check say she has filled on the last 3 years, and is attaching her most recent return with the application. However, she has not filled in 2010, but we are attaching her most recent return. It's confusing.

I think I will check the box and attach her last 2 returns she has filled and explain she didnt file in 2010 because she didn't work.

Yes, all of this is confusing and I'm getting pretty stressed.

Good luck at your interview!

She didn't make enough money in 2012 and she did file it to get some money back. Same way in 2011, but we can't find her return. That's why I thought about sending her parents to show she was a dependent, since she was not required to file her own.

No I-864A at all. No one needs or fills out 2 different kinds of forms. Your wife fills out an I-864 and provides her supporting documents and her mom fills out her own separate I-864 and provides her supporting documentation plus proof of being USC or LPR.

You do not need to find her returns. You can order free IRS transcripts, which are preferred by the USCIS, online, on the phone or at your local IRS office. http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Order-a-Transcript

If she was required to file in any of the last 3 years, then she needs to file her back taxes. If she was not required to file in any of the last 3 years due to low income, then she provides a statement explaining such.

By the way, you only have to send the most recent year's tax transcript, but you have to fill out the income from the last 3 years, so it would not matter if the mom sent other years that showed lower income. That amount will be listed on the form anyway. Most important thing for the mom to send is proof of her current annual income, not past.

Edited July 24, 2013 by Jay-Kay