I-864 (Sponsor Form) Confusion & Questions

[tuesday03 0]

Hello --

My wife and I are sitting down to fill out this form ...

And as of now I make significantly more per year than 125% of the poverty requirement (which is $16,000 per year) . . . however I just got this job this year . . .

and i see i have to include my last tax return stating my annual income, and also to write down my annual income reported on my tax return for the last THREE years ...

this worries me because . . . i was a student the last 3 years, and wasn't working (well, at least i didn't report it ... i had a quite a successful ebay business, and didn't report that income since it wasn't required ... and i was a student . . . )

do i have to pick a co-sponsor ? will this look suspicious ?

if i do get a cosponsor (a mutual friend comes to mind who would do this for us both -- she knows theres no way i would not have the money to support my wife), do i have to fill out the sponsor form for myself anyway AND have our friend fill out the form ??

What a mess !!!!!!!!!!! i hope this isn't going to be a strike against us !!!!! is it quite common to have a co-sponsor who is a friend ?

[Ladylethal 12]

Me and my husband are the same situation and are using his dad as a co-sponsor. If they say "you were fine, why a co-sponsor?" I'll just explain that it was a safety measure. But I believe it's necessary as they've sent out RFEs for tax returns for those that didn't submitt 3 years of it.

I might even add an attachment saying there's only one tax return for my husband 'cus it was the first time he filed.

[wife 0]

Hi guys, we are in a similar situation, I'm a student so we're using a friend as a joint sponsor for the I-864... My question is, our co-sponsor was a student herself last year, so her reported income is much smaller on the past two years. Is that going to be a problem? I don't see anywhere that they need to have met the income requirements for the last three years, just this present year... or am I missing something?

She didn't file a tax return last year because she didn't have to, so I'm going to have her sign a written explanation saying that her income was too low. Is this ok?

Please help!!! I really don't want to get an RFE!!

Thanks,

wife

[Yodrak 7]

tuesday,

If the amount you earned from your e-bay business was more than $8,450 (the 2006 figure, might have been a bit different in previous years), you did have to report it. Being a student does not exempt a USC from having to file an income tax return, not having sufficient income exempts a USC from having to file an income tax return.

Even illegally gotten income must be reported (that's how they got Al Capone).

Yodrak

..... i was a student the last 3 years, and wasn't working (well, at least i didn't report it ... i had a quite a successful ebay business, and didn't report that income since it wasn't required ... and i was a student . . . )

....

[1HappyGuy 45]

Tuesday03,

Yodrak is basically correct. You do not have to file a tax return in 2005 if your income was less than $8,200 ($5,000 standard deduction + $3,200 personal exemption). However, if your ebay business was making a profit and that profit was more than $400 you would be required to file a tax return since the ebay sales would be considered a self employed business. You might not have had to pay any income tax but you could have been subject to social security & medicare taxes called Self Employment Tax.

Now, concerning your current situation and assuming you don't want to file past tax returns, then you should obtain a letter from your employer describing your position with the company and expected earnings for the year. If your employer includes a paragraph emphasizing your continued employment that would also be helpful. If you had prior years that you were not required to file a tax return, then state that on the form and in an accompanying letter. It is also possible that someone could have nontaxable income for which they are not required to file a tax return also. All of this can be explained, but if you have nontaxable income, then the government will want to see other documentation proving the existence of such. Copies of bank statements for the past two years works well in this case.

[Dr_LHA 3]

But I believe it's necessary as they've sent out RFEs for tax returns for those that didn't submitt 3 years of it.

Not everyone who followed the instructions and only sent last year's 1040 got an RFE for it though. Only some did.