Joint Sponsor did not meet income requirement

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

1 minute ago, pdc29 said:

Thanks for replying.

 

I think she is making 22k and is filling taxes with her husband who makes over 50k.
I am working with an agent to process my visa, but I do not think they understand the difference between joint sponsor and household member. They keep saying that we should be okay because the joint sponsor is going to combine her income with the petitioner, but the joint sponsor is not a household member. With all the readings that I have done (which of course I did after we received the email, thinking the agent would know what to do), I understood that joint sponsor should be able to provide for her household (3) plus the intending immigrant (1) and should be making 125% above poverty line. With a household of 4 she did not meet the income requirement right? Only a household member can combine and make up for the deficit of the petitioner. Am I understanding it correctly? Let me know your thoughts. Thanks. 

You are correct - if she fills in i-864 and her husband fills in i-864a (as a combined household sponsor) - then the 55k would be enough to sponsor you though.

[pdc29 3]

34 minutes ago, Suss&Camm said:

You are correct - if she fills in i-864 and her husband fills in i-864a (as a combined household sponsor) - then the 55k would be enough to sponsor you though.

Right. Hopefully that is enough and we do everything correctly!

[pushbrk 12,898]

Lots of misuse of terms here.  Each person seeking a visa will have their own visa application.  Since this forum specifically discusses the spouses and potentially step children of US citizens, each person will also have a separate petition filed on their behalf by the US Citizen.  It is correct that different joint sponsors can be used for each visa applicant if there is more than one, however only one "joint sponsor" per applicant.  If the joint sponsor is married filing a joint tax return with a spouse, it is best practice to have the spouse provide an I-864a as a household member whether they have any income at all or whether their income is needed or not.  If needed, and only if needed, other qualifying household members with income can be used (providing I-864a for each household member).

 

Technically, there is no absolute limit to how many people's income can be used to qualify the one and only joint sponsor, but the other people must be qualifying household members, not additional joint sponsors.

 

An additional note would be that if somebody at NVC told you to bring a 2015 W2 form from any sponsor, joint or otherwise, this late in 2017, you should not only have a 2016 tax return from any sponsor, but also evidence of current income, such as a current pay stub, etc.  An employed sponsor qualifies based on current income, not past tax returns.  Only a self employed sponsor would qualify based on their most recent tax return and this late in the year, that should be the 2016 return, even if they CAN file an extension.  

[mrtravel 40]

"I also have savings and pension plan that I could withdraw "

If you can prove you have the assets, you don't need to withdraw them.

[pushbrk 12,898]

Correct but if withdrawn, then the evidence is no good.  They don't want to see a photo of a stack of cash.  Send multiple bank or account statements to show you've had the assets for a while instead of having somebody deposit them temporarily to help you qualify.

[millefleur 5,046]

2 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Correct but if withdrawn, then the evidence is no good.  They don't want to see a photo of a stack of cash.  Send multiple bank or account statements to show you've had the assets for a while instead of having somebody deposit them temporarily to help you qualify.

What @pushbrk said. My joint sponsor used assets and we sent 12 months worth of bank statements from each account. The Embassy took all of them. That's why our yellow POE folder/packet is bursting at the seams, haha. I would send 12 months worth just to be on the safe side.

[pushbrk 12,898]

Good idea but you only need to send one page of each statement if that one page shows both your name and the beginning and ending account balances.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

47 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

If the joint sponsor is married filing a joint tax return with a spouse, it is best practice to have the spouse provide an I-864a as a household member whether they have any income at all or whether their income is needed or not.

I would argue it's best practice to follow the instructions, which state clearly to include the i864a if the spouse's income is needed to meet the requirements. Not that it would make a difference to add it - just some extra un-needed work.

Edited June 2, 2017 by Suss&Camm

[pdc29 3]

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

Lots of misuse of terms here.  Each person seeking a visa will have their own visa application.  Since this forum specifically discusses the spouses and potentially step children of US citizens, each person will also have a separate petition filed on their behalf by the US Citizen.  It is correct that different joint sponsors can be used for each visa applicant if there is more than one, however only one "joint sponsor" per applicant.  If the joint sponsor is married filing a joint tax return with a spouse, it is best practice to have the spouse provide an I-864a as a household member whether they have any income at all or whether their income is needed or not.  If needed, and only if needed, other qualifying household members with income can be used (providing I-864a for each household member).

 

Technically, there is no absolute limit to how many people's income can be used to qualify the one and only joint sponsor, but the other people must be qualifying household members, not additional joint sponsors.

 

An additional note would be that if somebody at NVC told you to bring a 2015 W2 form from any sponsor, joint or otherwise, this late in 2017, you should not only have a 2016 tax return from any sponsor, but also evidence of current income, such as a current pay stub, etc.  An employed sponsor qualifies based on current income, not past tax returns.  Only a self employed sponsor would qualify based on their most recent tax return and this late in the year, that should be the 2016 return, even if they CAN file an extension.  

So you are also suggesting to have the joint sponsor's husband fill out a i864a to meet the income requirement? 
Thank you for your reply.

[pdc29 3]

1 hour ago, mrtravel said:

"I also have savings and pension plan that I could withdraw "

If you can prove you have the assets, you don't need to withdraw them.

Yes. I did not say that correctly. I don't mean to withdraw it a the time of the interview. What I meant is  it could be converted to cash within a year if needed. 

Do you know if I can use my owned vehicle as an asset as well?
Thank you for your reply.

Edited June 2, 2017 by pdc29

[pushbrk 12,898]

They will not count your only vehicle as an asset.

 

[pushbrk 12,898]

35 minutes ago, pdc29 said:

So you are also suggesting to have the joint sponsor's husband fill out a i864a to meet the income requirement? 
Thank you for your reply.

I'm suggesting that if the couple files a joint tax return it is best practice to provide an I-864 from one and an I-864a from the other, REGARDLESS of whether they both have income or both incomes are needed to qualify.

 

I am NOT saying this is in the instructions or to only do so if the second income is needed to qualify.  "Best Practice" and "Required" are not necessarily the same thing.  "Required" in this context, is defined as anything a Consular Officer insists on seeing, whether "required" in any USCIS instruction or not.  It is critical to understand that USCIS does not issue visas.  Consular Officers do, and they typically want to see both forms when the couple files joint tax returns.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

14 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

 Consular Officers do, and they typically want to see both forms when the couple files joint tax returns.

Do you have any information such as links etc to share showing that this is the case? It would be good to, in that case, be able to provide other vj members going through this processing in the future, since what I've seen up until now is ppl being asked only for the w2's of the spouses (and/or other forms and schedules filed with the tax form) for the joint return.

[pushbrk 12,898]

My experience is more comprehensive.  Maybe check out line three of my signature. 

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

1 minute ago, pushbrk said:

My experience is more comprehensive.  Maybe check out line three of my signature. 

Will do once I'm on a computer - sorry about that, can't see it on the phone version...