I-864 question (split topic)

[donanddonna 0]

I am trying to figure out how to ask a question on this forum. I am trying to bring my wife to the U.S. and I am new on a computer

[donanddonna 0]

I am trying to figure out how to ask a question on this forum. I am trying to bring my wife to the U.S. and I am new on a computer

I'm not sure I am doing this correctly... My question is, I am married to a woman in China. I am trying to bring her to the U.S. I am ready to send in the I-864. I own my own business but part of my income is SS disability. Will that count as income? Also how much do my assets help if my income is low? I do have sizable assets, mostly land and a house

[Ryan H 3,812]

Posts split from unrelated thread

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Disability can count as income. For your business, line 22 of your most recent tax return counts.

Assets must be easily liquidated within a year (so your home does not count, but a second/ holiday/ rental property would). You need three times the assets to cover missing income. So if you are $2000 short on income, you'd need $6000 in assets.

[pushbrk 12,812]

Calculating total income in this situation is not as simple as in most. If you only have business income, line 22 of the 2013 tax return is both your 2013 income and your current income. In a situation where there is also Social Security income, it gets a bit more complicated.

Start with line 22, then add the number from line 20a minus any number appearing on 20b. (20b might be zero.) That give you your "current income". Line 22 is still the number used in the section asking for all three past years.

The reason it's done this way, is because Social Security income that is NOT taxable is not counted in line 22, but it is included in total income.

Please download and read the I-864 instructions carefully. They are excellent and do explain how to use assets if needed. If income alone is comfortably over the minimum required, you simply skip the asset section and leave it blank. If you list assets they must be documented. Real Estate needs both a current appraisal and mortgage statement, if applicable, so don't use it unless absolutely necessary. Unless your primary residence is really high end, it's a waist of time to use it. (See the section describing liquid assets, with special attention to "without undue harm...")

For example, I did a resource analysis (not immigration related) just yesterday for a woman with a $140,000 house and $95,000 mortgage. Having to liquidate that primary residence to pay the government back would be an undue hardship. If it were a million dollar house with the same or no mortgage, it's liquidation would hurt, but not do "undue harm" if say, it were liquidated to pay the government $150,000, leaving several hundred thousand to buy another home.

Also, if you have that much equity in your primary residence and you are the PETITIONER, that's one story. If it's grandma's house, and she's the joint sponsor, that's a different story altogether, with regard to undue harm and who is harmed. It's all a judgment call but the liquid/undue harm issues weigh heavily in that judgment.

[teddy k 35]

Calculating total income in this situation is not as simple as in most. If you only have business income, line 22 of the 2013 tax return is both your 2013 income and your current income. In a situation where there is also Social Security income, it gets a bit more complicated.

Start with line 22, then add the number from line 20a minus any number appearing on 20b. (20b might be zero.) That give you your "current income". Line 22 is still the number used in the section asking for all three past years.

The reason it's done this way, is because Social Security income that is NOT taxable is not counted in line 22, but it is included in total income. Hi im kind of stuck with my taxes cuz i recieve ss diability too but thats not counted on my tax form but when my wife goes for her interview how should i explain it that with me working and recieving ss

Please download and read the I-864 instructions carefully. They are excellent and do explain how to use assets if needed. If income alone is comfortably over the minimum required, you simply skip the asset section and leave it blank. If you list assets they must be documented. Real Estate needs both a current appraisal and mortgage statement, if applicable, so don't use it unless absolutely necessary. Unless your primary residence is really high end, it's a waist of time to use it. (See the section describing liquid assets, with special attention to "without undue harm...")

For example, I did a resource analysis (not immigration related) just yesterday for a woman with a $140,000 house and $95,000 mortgage. Having to liquidate that primary residence to pay the government back would be an undue hardship. If it were a million dollar house with the same or no mortgage, it's liquidation would hurt, but not do "undue harm" if say, it were liquidated to pay the government $150,000, leaving several hundred thousand to buy another home.

Also, if you have that much equity in your primary residence and you are the PETITIONER, that's one story. If it's grandma's house, and she's the joint sponsor, that's a different story altogether, with regard to undue harm and who is harmed. It's all a judgment call but the liquid/undue harm issues weigh heavily in that judgment.

Hi this is where im at with my taxes,i work part time and collect ss disability but i cant claim it on my taxes so how do i explain it on the i -864 then at the interview at the embassy thanks in advance

Edited April 14, 2014 by Ryan H

[pushbrk 12,812]

Hi this is where im at with my taxes,i work part time and collect ss disability but i cant claim it on my taxes so how do i explain it on the i -864 then at the interview at the embassy thanks in advance

The past tax section needs information from tax returns. It has nothing to do with current income, except for the self employed. Your "current income" consists of your employment income annualized plus your disability income annualized. State it and document it with pay stub and disability declaration document.

Calculate income for the time period from now through the next twelve months. For example, if you make $10 an hour for 20 hours a week, that's 200X52 weeks = $10,400. If you have disability of 1,000/mo, that's 12,000 a year. In that example, your "current income" would be stated as $22,400. ($10,400 + $12,000 = $22,400)