Can a Working U.S Citizen Claimed as Dependent Be a Sponsor Family Based Green Card?

[bbrown1987 0]

Hi everybody,

My wife is working and she makes enough money to sponsor me (150% of the poverty line). However, she has been claimed as dependent by her mom for her 2012 tax return. Also she didn't file for 2012 as she thought that being claimed as dependent was enough. Her parents and us are not part of the same household and we do not live or plan to live with them. We understand that she needs to file her tax and we are about the submit it. Nevertheless, since she's been claimed as dependent, when we will file the form 1040, we are going to indicate that she was a dependent for this year.

I would like to know if this detail would remove her eligibility to sponsor me given that she still makes enough to sponsor me?

Also, we do not know exactly how much she made year 2011 and 2010 and we would like to enter approximate amount on the Affidavit of Sponsor for these two years.

Does USCIS require us to enter exact amount for these years?

Thanks

[dutdutout 4]

She can still file her 2012. Just a question..how old is she? They can only legally claim her as a dependent if she is under the age of 19 or a full time student (up until the age of 24). If she makes enough, it shouldn't be a problem, but it wouldn't hurt to have a co-sponsor

[bbrown1987 0]

She was claimed as dependent when she was 24 just before turning 25. Now she's 26. So as of 2013, nobody can claim her as a dependent. However, I was really worrying about her becoming unqualified sponsor as a result of this detail.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

She can be a sponsor, but she needs to file her own taxes.

Being a dependent does not absolve her of her need to file her own taxes. Her mom didn't file the daughter's taxes on her form; she just claimed one of her exemptions. Different issues.

[newacct 688]

She needed to file taxes if her income exceeded the threshold for filing for that year. Whether she could be claimed as a dependent only affects the exemptions she can claim.

[bbrown1987 0]

Thanks everybody for your answers so far. There was a second part to my post. Do I need to indicate exact amount of the previous years in the Affidavit of Sponsor?

[newacct 688]

Thanks everybody for your answers so far. There was a second part to my post. Do I need to indicate exact amount of the previous years in the Affidavit of Sponsor?

For the question that asks for total income from those years, she needs to put the exact number from the "total income" line on her tax returns for those years, whatever that number is. You can order a tax return transcript from IRS if she forgot. If she did not file tax returns for those years because her income was too low, she should put "did not file" or something like that, and then she will need to attach a statement explaining why she was not required to file taxes.

[Darnell 8,479]

Regardless,

she is:

1. the petitioner and

2. your primary sponser

as to her tax 'mess' - she might want to get it sorted by the time the I-864 is due for intake.