I-864 and RFE

[docct 0]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I have a question that I am sure someone can help answer.

My wife and I submitted our documents 12/04/13, we received a RFE dated on 12/24/13 for 3 things.

1. Federal Tax Return from the sponsor for most recent tax year.

2. Petitioners/sponser's income on the Federal income tax return does meet or exceed 125% of the poverty guideline. The petitioner/sponsor lists their current income on form i-864 as an amount considered as sufficient: however, no evidence has been submitted as proof of current income

3. Base on the documents submitted with i-864 for the petitioner/sponsor, the income did not meet 125% of the federal poverty line for the peitioner/sponsor's household size. Submit evidence of assets.

In retrospect I should have included more documents in the original application. I now have some questions about remedying this

1. I did not have to file Federal Tax Returns for the past 3 years as I was a student with no income. I plan to submit proof of student status from my university for the last 3 years. I also plan on enclosing a notarized letter signed by me attesting to the fact that I was a full time student and did not work, and as such did not have to file tax returns. Will proof of student status letters + a notarized letter by me be enough as written explanation for not filing tax returns?

2. I submitted a contract from my current place of employment which began 06/28/2013 which listed my contract period as well as salary ($54,700). I did not submitt pay stubs. In retrospect that was my error with this. I have pay stubs for each pay check from 07/2013 until 12/24/13 that list my 2013 income as been over $26,000. I will receive my first check for this year on 1/8/14. I am also obtaining a fresh new letter of proof of employment and salary from my place of work. Based on experiences, will my Contract + Last 6 months of pay stubs + new letter of proof of employment suffice for proving income?

My work also places me in a certain situation in that I have yearly contract extensions as I am in a medical residency. Each contract ends at the end of June, and each year a new one begins then. Next years salary will be higher ($58,000). And with this years (2013-2014) salary I will earn $26,000 by the time my contract runs out (so over the povery level) in June 2014. In other words is it enough proof of income?

3. Do I need to submit assets if I have earnings for 2013 that were above 125% of poverty line, and that will also be for 2014? Is it best to just get a co-sponsor?

Thank you in advance for any help. Reading this forum has been extremely helpful!

[Zedayn 485]

1. Since you were not required to file taxes, you still needed to submit a statement explaining why you were not required to file.

2. I think if you include the pay stubs it should be good enough evidence. Basically they want to see proof you are actually earning the money that is stated in your contract.

3. You do not need to submit assets, your income is plenty. The only reason they suggested to submit assets (and why they said "...based on the documents submitted...the income did not meet 125%...") is because you did not submit sufficient evidence of your income.

[Laura. 90]

With regards to not including a tax return, my husband wasn't required to file for 2012 either, we just included this statement in place of the tax return:

STATEMENT CONCERNING 2012 U.S TAX RETURN

In tax year 2012, I spent x months abroad in the United Kingdom and was working x days a week while there. My total earnings for 2012 were xx. That falls below the threshold of $9750 for an unmarried person to file a tax return. I was not married until xx/xx/xx so was single for tax year 2012.

I cannot submit a 2012 tax return because I did not file one, nor was I required to file by the Internal Revenue Service.

I certify, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America, that the foregoing is true and correct.

It's still early in our application so I can't say if it's worked for us, but I've read about other people using the same template and having no problems. I would think something similar (worded to your situation) would be enough.

Edited January 2, 2014 by Laura.

[KayDeeCee 4,896]

The I-864 instructions state that if you did not file, you need to include an explanation as to why. You do not need a notarized letter and supporting documentation for this. You just need to make a statement explaining that you were a student and did not earn enough to meet the income threshold requirement for 2012, so you were not legally obligated to file.

Yes, you need to include proof of your income. A letter from your employer and most recent pay recent pay stubs is what proves current income.

You do not need to use assets because your current annual income of $54k more than meets the requirement. You just need to prove your income to them. They had no way of knowing that, since you did not send the documents to prove it to them to begin with. It is a standard letter to ask for proof of income, a joint sponsor or assets when no proof of income was provided with the I-864.