Proof of Income Issues

[slimbolina 48]

Sorry if I'm repeating a question that has already been answered in the forum, I cannot find the specific answer to my question,

My fiance (US petitioner) currently works 2 jobs, one of his employers has provided him with a letter stating that he works there permanently, hourly rate of pay, date he started and position. However, he is a contractor for another firm (his second job) and they are refusing to provide him with a letter confirming his contract, rates etc., stating that if we need it then they will provide one if the UK government ask for it, which we know they won't as do they know it too. He has pay stubs as proof, he has no W2, would pay stubs be sufficient evidence? When the consular asks for employer letter, they may not be expecting me to hand over 2 anyway, but handing over just one may not be enough (although his contracted hours are not shown on the employer letter that he does have).

[Tricked 33]

Is this to evidence for the interview for K1, or the support for ROS?

Reason I ask is the differing requirements for showing support at the two stages, one requiring the completed support form, the other only requiring sufficient evidence as determined by the CO that you would not become a state charge.

Also, why would it be the UK government asking, or is your fiance employed in the UK?

At any rate, for sufficient evidence at interview stage, all you need to do is show you have sufficient means of covering the poverty line +25% for your household size, 2 person is approx $25k.

What we intend to provide is bank statements showing savings, asset documents, house (which is in the UK and being sold), cars (which are in uk and being sold), savings, and a letter of employment for my fiancee's new job state side. (which is theoretically not acceptable, but from what I understand of the UK check, it will be taken into consideration for not becoming a public charge.)

So, in your case, assuming you can evidence the $25k, through various means, pay stubs, bank accounts, liquid assets, you should be fine, even without the letter from the contractor, as you say, they have provided pay stubs previously, could even include a cover letter for them stating it is a zero hour contract with x rate of pay, which hopefully the pay stub supports in its itemised breakdown.

Or failing that, you can contact HMRC for a work history transcript, which should list the current employers if NI/Income tax is paid, as well as total tax paid from each.

[gradtaai 8]

Being a contractor he has to show that he paid taxes for the last 3 years. Besides showing proof of continuing employment, he has to show his 1040 schedule C for the most current year (which is now 2014, but may ask for 2015 since Apr 15th is the deadline.)

Edited April 6, 2016 by gradtaai

[Tricked 33]

Or failing that, you can contact HMRC for a work history transcript, which should list the current employers if NI/Income tax is paid, as well as total tax paid from each.

That was assuming he worked in the UK

[slimbolina 48]

Ok, so this is for the K1 visa interview when I go to the embassy. He has never worked in the UK so this is solely based on his employment in the States.

His total income covers the required amount but with having the 2 jobs and only one employer letter makes me nervous. We can provide proof with pay stubs, deposits and such like but I think that's more for when it comes to the AOS? If the embassy don't ask for further paperwork from me then they won't know I have it.

His latest W2 looks pretty dire (he was previously a student) so I don't see how that would help, he also has untaxable income (veterans) which isn't included on the W2.

Basically, is this just a bridge we need to worry about at AOS stage rather than flapping about now? I'm thinking so.

Being a contractor he has to show that he paid taxes for the last 3 years. Besides showing proof of continuing employment, he has to show his 1040 schedule C for the most current year (which is now 2014, but may ask for 2015 since Apr 15th is the deadline.)

I don't even know what a 1040 is! I'll look it up.

[Tricked 33]

I think it varies by embassy. The uk one doesn't seem to be very demanding, at least from what I can tell.

Have you looked at the support form? I-134 (from memory) that has parts where you list the income and assets, and while not required it does lay it out in an easy to follow way for the CO, and it also gives a good guide on what to evidence and how.

We had a look at ours, and just intend to fill it out, then provide documentation for the various assets which add up to the $25k.

Seems simple enough... I hope anyway, otherwise I might be in a predicament if they don't accept our combined assets that are being liquidated.

But yea, at this stage I don't think it's too big an issue, AOS seems to be when they actually care about it.

[slimbolina 48]

Thanks Tricked, appreciate your help.

Yeh I've looked at the I-134 and we can provide all of the details so no worries there. He has property but it's jointly owned (not with me boo hiss) but he needs to put it down as an asset anyway as it has equity.

I can see now reading the annual income bit that he will need to supply a copy of his last tax return or report seeing as he is a contractor, although employed, hmm. Ok, this may not be something that can be definitively answered here so I'll dig a little deeper as I'm going to confuse everyone else here too.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Sorry if I'm repeating a question that has already been answered in the forum, I cannot find the specific answer to my question,

My fiance (US petitioner) currently works 2 jobs, one of his employers has provided him with a letter stating that he works there permanently, hourly rate of pay, date he started and position. However, he is a contractor for another firm (his second job) and they are refusing to provide him with a letter confirming his contract, rates etc., stating that if we need it then they will provide one if the UK government ask for it, which we know they won't as do they know it too. He has pay stubs as proof, he has no W2, would pay stubs be sufficient evidence? When the consular asks for employer letter, they may not be expecting me to hand over 2 anyway, but handing over just one may not be enough (although his contracted hours are not shown on the employer letter that he does have).

For a London K1 interview, they will accept anything that will show them his current income. It does not have to be specifically a tax return, an employer letter, etc. Your difficulty is he has two jobs and he did not work all of 2015.

Had he worked all of 2015, his income would be nicely shown on his 2015 tax return and that would be a good choice to use as proof. If both employers would write an employer letter saying his anticipated yearly earnings now are a certain amount, that would be a good proof. But you are kinda stuck with some pieces that don't perfectly show the whole picture.

Some general information just to help you understand --

The income he makes as an employee gets reported to him on a W2.

The income he makes as a contractor is supposed to be reported on a 1099-Misc.

He uses those forms/amounts to fill out a tax return. The main tax return form is called Form 1040. BUT the.contractor portion of his income means he is "self-employed" and so it's like he has his own small business which requires another tax form called Schedule C.

When you have a business there are deductions you can take for "business expenses". He may not take any of them. It Schedule C is where that happens. So imagine he made $10,000 as a self employed contractor, but he took $1000 in business deductions. His actual income to the tax people (and the immigration people) is only $9000. That's why his pay stubs from contracting are not really a good proof. They don't show what he might reduce his income by using business expenses. When self-employment is part of the picture, a tax return tends to be the needed proof because it would be the one place the shows his

[Earnings] - [Expenses] = Income

Nobody knows if he is going to reduce his income figure with expenses until he completes a tax return. Somebody could make $10,000 and come up with $8,000 expenses for the year and the real contract income is only $2000. That's why self employed really need a tax return where a regular employee can show pay stubs, employer letters knowing all that income is counted.

Going to leave you with that now so you can ask the fiancé if he did a 2015 tax return and if he did a Schedule C showing his contractor (1099-MISC) income on a schedule C. His Line 22 on his main tax return is what Immigration will look at to determine he makes enough. It probably doesn't show enough, but see how how much short it is.

[slimbolina 48]

Wow, thank you.

Okay, so fortunately we are video chatting as you replied which helps with my reply back.

2015 he had one part time job which he has an employer's letter for, he was a student during the first half of the year working part time to bring in some income. When we decided to do the K1 process we knew he wouldn't be earning enough with that job alone, so in November he took on this second job (contracting). He has already done his tax return for 2015 but this does not include the recent job he took in November, so this would be a poor piece of evidence, but not dismissing it could be used, although pointless if we have pay stubs and letter?

I'm not sure how to properly evidence this new job, it's a pity as he gets paid through the company as a regular employee would but is classed as a contractor. His contract is useless too which really puts a spanner in the works as it only states that he contracts for them..... the end. Nothing else.

Are we worrying needlessly at the moment or is this justifiable at K1 interview stage?