Tax Transcript Question

[Master Semaj 2]

So my fiancée is putting together the I-134 collection of paperwork and we are having a co-sponsor, my mother in law. She says that when she went and put her mom's SSN in to the website to order the transcripts it "wouldn't work" and she thinks it has something to do with how both her mom and dad file their taxes together or jointly, whatever the term may be.

Is there something we are missing here? Or will we have to use her dads SSN to get the transcript? Will it contain her mom's contributions or will we have to have her dad fill out the form and be the co-sponsor instead?

[Leenie 15]

You may have figured it out by now, but I'll respond, anyway. When a married couple files their taxes jointly, there is a primary and secondary filer (I don't know how this is decided, maybe just whichever person's name the accountant designates? Who knows). Chances are that your fiancee's dad is the primary filer, and if your fiancee uses her dad's SSN, then it will work. I encountered this this situation when my husband (UKC) and I (USC) got to the removal of conditions stage. I couldn't order the transcripts using my SSN, because I wasn't the primary filer - he was! Once I used his SSN, all was well.

Anyway, I'm afraid I can't answer your second question definitely because I've never had a co-sponsor. Hopefully someone else will chime in

Edited August 23, 2013 by Leenie

[Master Semaj 2]

Thanks for that. Yeah I had a feeling it had something to do with them filing jointly. I would imagine that on a transcript like that, it should show both contributors, the primary and the secondary. I'd imagine as long as it shows her moms contributions then that should be valid enough evidence to go with her I-134 form.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Thanks for that. Yeah I had a feeling it had something to do with them filing jointly. I would imagine that on a transcript like that, it should show both contributors, the primary and the secondary. I'd imagine as long as it shows her moms contributions then that should be valid enough evidence to go with her I-134 form.

Whichever name happens to be listed first when filling out the tax return is the primary. The joint money is lumped together and does not say who earned what. You need something besides a tax transcript to show what Mom's separate earnings are like employer letter, pay stubs, W2. Mom can still sponsor but say the tax return line 22 says $100,000. How do they know if Mom's part was $10k or $75k unless you have something else from mom.

For an I-134, London will not be so bothered, but for AOS you will get an RFE if you don't clearly show Mom's portion.

[Master Semaj 2]

Whichever name happens to be listed first when filling out the tax return is the primary. The joint money is lumped together and does not say who earned what. You need something besides a tax transcript to show what Mom's separate earnings are like employer letter, pay stubs, W2. Mom can still sponsor but say the tax return line 22 says $100,000. How do they know if Mom's part was $10k or $75k unless you have something else from mom.

For an I-134, London will not be so bothered, but for AOS you will get an RFE if you don't clearly show Mom's portion.

Gotcha. We planned on getting her W2 to go along with the transcript for the I-134 documents anyway so we'll keep it for the AOS paperwork too. Cheers!

[Master Semaj 2]

I have one more question about these tax related paperworks: a lot of it is just printed on plain white paper and nothing with any sort of embossing or watermarking, is it okay that my fiancée scans these and emails them to me so I can print them off for use at the embassy interview? Also with things like a pay stub, will the embassy want to see the genuine article or will a print out of a scan suffice?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I think they will accept scans as they have for others. London is not so nit-picky. Of course some new officer could come along and want originals, so we never know for sure.

So you got the transcript using Dad's SSN? My first transcripts I ordered included one that was joint and I was the second name, but still got it. The form says either filer has full access. But that was before the online order so maybe an issue with that way. I faxed in the transcript order form. Later ordering online was for subsequent years when I was a widow and the only filer. I have ordered all the ways---fax the form, phone the hotline, phone and get an immediate fax back of the transcript, and online. Interesting that a joint return did not index on both SSNs.

[Master Semaj 2]

I think they will accept scans as they have for others. London is not so nit-picky. Of course some new officer could come along and want originals, so we never know for sure.

So you got the transcript using Dad's SSN? My first transcripts I ordered included one that was joint and I was the second name, but still got it. The form says either filer has full access. But that was before the online order so maybe an issue with that way. I faxed in the transcript order form. Later ordering online was for subsequent years when I was a widow and the only filer. I have ordered all the ways---fax the form, phone the hotline, phone and get an immediate fax back of the transcript, and online. Interesting that a joint return did not index on both SSNs.

Yeah, I don't know all the details of how she ordered them, just that she went to the official website and ordered both kinds of transcripts and because her parents file together, she had to input her fathers, the primary filer, SSN number into the application for them to be able to obtain the records and send them out. I guess it's just how they do things now. On their form, it lists a "taxpayer identification number" followed by a "spouse taxpayer identification number" and under the name section they are listed as "Mr and Mrs" and in general it just shows their combined earnings (we then have a pay stub from mom and her W2 to coincide with the transcripts).