AOS / I-864 / I-131 Form questions

[S_And_J 7]

Hi all,

 

It's finally so lovely to be able to move over from the K1 forums to the AOS forums. 

 

So my wife and I are filling out the forms and have been finding some conflicting answers about some questions, we were hoping someone may have some clearer ideas, especially as some of the discussion topics we were looking at were over ten years old for older versions of forms.

 

I-485: (Main AOS form)

 

Part 2, Question 4: "Priority Date from Underlying Petition (if any)"

• It seems that there's consensus that this should be the NOA1 from the K1/I-129F. But, is it meant to be the receipt date or the notice date on the NOA?

 

Part 5, Question 3: "How many times have you been married (including annulled marriages and marriages to the same person)?"

• Does this include our current marriage? If this is our first marriage for both of us, the answer would be one right?

 

I-864: (Affidavit of Support)

 

Part 6, Question 23a: "Have you filed Federal Income Tax return for each of the three most recent years?"

• Will our sponsorship application be invalid if we select no? My wife did not file Federal Income tax in 2015 as she earned well below the IRS when she was in University. She did however file for 2016 and 2017 (the two most recent tax years). 
  • Follow-on question: I assume that if it doesn't outright invalidate sponsorship, we would tick the box on question 25 which says, "I was not required to file a Federal income tax return as my income was below the IRS required level and I have attached evidence to support this." 
    • Would we tick this even though we will still be attaching the last 2/3 years of tax returns that we did file?
    • Also, what "evidence" is required? We requested proof of non-filing from the IRS, and have her only W2 for that year also. Would that be enough?

 

I-131: (Advanced Travel Parole)

 

This is the one we've found some really mixed responses on...

 

Part 3, Question 1: "Date of Intended Departure" and Question 2: "Expected Length of Trip"

• If we haven't got specific dates and length of departures yet can we just write "TBD" for both of these options? Do we risk it being declined if we do so?

 

Part 4, question 1a and 1b: "Purpose of trip" and "List the countries you intend to visit"

• Same question as above really, can we just leave this blank? Some websites say that if you're AOS from a K-1 you don't have to provide any explanation, but others say you should put something in or face the risk of being rejected for the Travel Parole document?

 

Barcodes:

 

The PDF reader we're using to fill in the forms doesn't seem to have the barcode that some people have at the bottom. Is that a deal breaker? Will it still be processed?

 

 

Thanks for the help! I don't know what we would have done without this community!

[K1visaHopeful 2,873]

1 minute ago, S_And_J said:

Hi all,

 

It's finally so lovely to be able to move over from the K1 forums to the AOS forums. 

 

So my wife and I are filling out the forms and have been finding some conflicting answers about some questions, we were hoping someone may have some clearer ideas, especially as some of the discussion topics we were looking at were over ten years old for older versions of forms.

 

I-485: (Main AOS form)

 

Part 2, Question 4: "Priority Date from Underlying Petition (if any)"

• It seems that there's consensus that this should be the NOA1 from the K1/I-129F. But, is it meant to be the receipt date or the notice date on the NOA?

Receipt

 

Part 5, Question 3: "How many times have you been married (including annulled marriages and marriages to the same person)?"

• Does this include our current marriage? If this is our first marriage for both of us, the answer would be one right?

Yes

 

I-864: (Affidavit of Support)

 

Part 6, Question 23a: "Have you filed Federal Income Tax return for each of the three most recent years?"

• Will our sponsorship application be invalid if we select no? My wife did not file Federal Income tax in 2015 as she earned well below the IRS when she was in University. She did however file for 2016 and 2017 (the two most recent tax years). You had to have filed for all three years UNLESS you were exempt because you didnt earn enough. In that case you must provide an explanation in writting why you did not.
  • Follow-on question: I assume that if it doesn't outright invalidate sponsorship, we would tick the box on question 25 which says, "I was not required to file a Federal income tax return as my income was below the IRS required level and I have attached evidence to support this." Yes 
    • Would we tick this even though we will still be attaching the last 2/3 years of tax returns that we did file? Yes
    • Also, what "evidence" is required? We requested proof of non-filing from the IRS, and have her only W2 for that year also. Would that be enough? Plus a letter of explanation. School admission documents / loan documents/ proof you were in school would be helpful too if you want to be picky.

 

I-131: (Advanced Travel Parole)

 

This is the one we've found some really mixed responses on...

 

Part 3, Question 1: "Date of Intended Departure" and Question 2: "Expected Length of Trip"

• If we haven't got specific dates and length of departures yet can we just write "TBD" for both of these options? Do we risk it being declined if we do so?

TBD and unknown are acceptable answers for an I485 applicant who would be routinely filing for AP concurrently. This question is for other types of filers.

Part 4, question 1a and 1b: "Purpose of trip" and "List the countries you intend to visit"

• Same question as above really, can we just leave this blank? Some websites say that if you're AOS from a K-1 you don't have to provide any explanation, but others say you should put something in or face the risk of being rejected for the Travel Parole document?

N/A is the correct answer for K1 filers.

Barcodes:

 

The PDF reader we're using to fill in the forms doesn't seem to have the barcode that some people have at the bottom. Is that a deal breaker? Have you printed it? Does it show then?

it still be processed?

 

 

Thanks for the help! I don't know what we would have done without this community!

 

[S_And_J 7]

Thank you! @K1visaHopeful your clarifications have really helped!

 

On your final question regarding the barcode, nope after we print it still doesn't show it. For the I-131 it just has a blank space where I imagine the barcode would go. Someone mentioned that the I-864 also has a barcode but it doesn't have the same space so I'm not sure if it still has a barcode in this most recent version? Will it be a problem with no barcode?

 

Thanks!