RFE for I-864 Tax transcript not enough?!

[calliope8 72]

  We received an RFE for our I-864 part of the I-485 application.  My mother is our joint sponsor and we sent in both my and her tax transcripts for 2017.  The RFE is saying that 'there is no supporting tax documentation' and want allll the schedules, W2s, etc for 2017 for my mother (even though online it said you could send a tax transcript so you wouldn't have to send all that paperwork.) Then it says based in Form I-864 my mother did not meet the 125% poverty guideline & I need a different qualifying joint sponsor.  Not sure if this is because they feel they are missing documentation?  What is the point of sending more 2017 documentation if I just have to get another joint sponsor?  

[ThomasNC1988 762]

Did she by chance file married filing jointly? That's the only thing I can think of that would require W2s with a transcript.

 

Also did it specifically say her's. If it didn't did you remember to submit yours as well even though you didn't qualify.

Edited February 5, 2019 by ThomasNC1988

[calliope8 72]

Yes she was married filing jointly.  But I wish they would specify that a transcript would not do in that case.  So we could have already sent in all the extra papers.

 

I sent mine in as well.  I kinda wondered if they got confused because the transcripts looked almost just alike and both have the first four letters of our last name (which of course mine was the still the same at the time as I was not yet married) then just the last four of the SSN.  Anyone not paying attention would think they were duplicates of the same document (though the details are different.) 

Edited February 5, 2019 by calliope8

[ThomasNC1988 762]

16 minutes ago, calliope8 said:

Yes she was married filing jointly.  But I wish they would specify that a transcript would not do in that case.  So we could have already sent in all the extra papers.

 

I sent mine in as well.  I kinda wondered if they got confused because the transcripts looked almost just alike and both have the first four letters of our last name (which of course mine was the still the same at the time as I was not yet married) then just the last four of the SSN.  Anyone not paying attention would think they were duplicates of the same document (though the details are different.) 

Unfortunately, they do. This is from the instructions provided with the I-184.

 

If you provide a photocopy of your Federal individual income tax returns, you must include a copy of each and every 
Form W-2 and Form 1099 that relates to your returns. Do not include copies of these forms if you provide an IRS 
transcript of your Federal individual income tax returns rather than a photocopy unless you filed a joint income tax return 
with your spouse and are qualifying using only your income.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

58 minutes ago, calliope8 said:

Yes she was married filing jointly. 

 

The transcript on a joint return shows the income of both spouses lumped together. There is no way to tell which spouse earned how much. Your mother has to show her separate income and that she qualifies all by herself. Her W2 would show it. It would be good to send an employer letter stating her income and six months of pay stubs as a supplement. Make sure whatever amount she puts on the form as her current income is backed up by something in writing, like the employer letter. 

 

When something is lacking on a tax return, USCIS just stops and doesn't look at anything else. They send that generic letter saying your joint sponsor does not qualify. If you will fix what's wrong with her submission (not proving her separate income) then you fix the RFE. 

 

 

[calliope8 72]

I guess it seemed to me that if one files jointly, the money is jointly owned. But I grew up in a generous household.  My mother is on disability retirement and has been for about 20 years.  Her income alone probably won't cut it. The cog in the wheels is my father, whose income was quite sufficient, passed away last August rather suddenly from pancreatic cancer. We would have just had him sign the paperwork. And now, since my mother gets a pension benefit from my father's work pension, her income would be sufficient but she has not filed 2018 taxes yet. 

 

We will be able to get my biological father to sign as a joint sponsor (the father who passed was technically my step-father) and my husband has sufficient assets now after the sale of his house but the money has only been in there a few months and he is not sure how easily he can get 12 months of bank statements from England. 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

5 hours ago, calliope8 said:

I guess it seemed to me that if one files jointly, the money is jointly owned. But I grew up in a generous household.  My mother is on disability retirement and has been for about 20 years.  Her income alone probably won't cut it. The cog in the wheels is my father, whose income was quite sufficient, passed away last August rather suddenly from pancreatic cancer. We would have just had him sign the paperwork. And now, since my mother gets a pension benefit from my father's work pension, her income would be sufficient but she has not filed 2018 taxes yet. 

 

We will be able to get my biological father to sign as a joint sponsor (the father who passed was technically my step-father) and my husband has sufficient assets now after the sale of his house but the money has only been in there a few months and he is not sure how easily he can get 12 months of bank statements from England. 

There is an option for sharing the household income, but it isn't assumed. It required paperwork. If Mum doesn't make enough, then she can add her husband's income to her I-864 as "Household Member 1".  He would give his "permission" by providing a signed I-864A to go with her I-864. That is no longer possible.  

 

At this point, does Mum currently have $20k income? Her household size is 2, her + immigrant. She would start over on a new form.  She would provide 2017 tax transcript, not for proving her income, but because it is a requirement. Until April 15 (filing deadline) the 2018 tax return is not required. Get the RFE back before then and 2017 is valid.  Then she provides statements from her disability retirement provider and the pension administrator for her husband's pension. That is just like providing employer letters to prove current income. The tax return income does not have to be the proof if circumstances have changed. The optional employer letter (disability/pension) show the current status. That's what people do who were in school during last year's taxes, but now have a full time job they can prove with a letter and/or pay stubs. 

 

Her 2018 tax return will still be joint because her husband was was alive in 2018. It is a regular joint return with "FINAL RETURN OF TAXPAYER" written in across the top of the form 1040.  So even if she had already done her 2018 taxes, she would still have to prove her separate income with the letter or statement from the pensions.

 

Option 2

You do a new I-864,  but this time include "assets of the intending immigrant" if his money is in a separate account.

See page 5-6 of the form> Part 7.  #1-4 is for you. #6-9 is for your husband. Don't forget to total up on #10. 

 

If you hold the money Jointly now in one US bank account, then you don't need part 6-9. It will be listed in #1, your assets. 

Include the latest bank statement with both names on it showing that amount in the account owned jointly. If he has a separate account, then you need his latest statement to prove #6-9. The instructions do not say he needs 12 statements. 

 

Do you understand how assets work.? You need 3 times as much in assets if you have no salary. 

 

[ThomasNC1988 762]

Edit: got all mixed up early in the morning.

Edited February 6, 2019 by ThomasNC1988