(RFIE) I-864 Affidavit of Support Help

[benjii 3]

Hey guys,

 

Just when you think you're done with this tedious process, you're hit with a "Request for Initial Evidence" in the mail. It is regarding the I-864 (Affidavit of Support).

 

As advised here, I-864 Questions regarding meeting 125% poverty guideline, since my U.S. wife only made $13k in 2018, I filled out the form I-864a and included a letter from my employer including my personal information, employment status, salary (around $40k), and that I will continue to work for them pending my AOS status. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to have been good enough.

 

I now have a few questions in regards to responding to the RFIE and including my U.S. wife's mother as a joint sponsor (who makes more than 125% of the poverty limit).

In the letter, there are a few bullet points, which makes me think there have been a couple of errors.

 

The first bullet point says:

• Submit all supporting tax documentation (W-2s, 1099s, Form 2555, and all supporting tax schedules) submitted to the Internal Revenue Service for the most recent tax year. The petitioning sponsor must submit all supporting documents tax documents for the most recent tax year.

 

In that case, my U.S. wife is still the petitioning sponsor right? Or would that now be her mother (joint sponsor)? In the original package, we included my wife's 2018's W-2 and 1040 as well as my own W-2 and 1099s and 1040.

 

The second bullet point says:

· Based on the documents submitted with Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, for the petitioning sponsor, the income did not meet 125 percent of the federal poverty guideline for the petitioning sponsor’s household size. See Form I-864P for information on the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Obtain a qualifying joint sponsor who demonstrates the ability to support you or submit evidence of assets. See Form I-864 Instructions for more information. If you decide to obtain a joint sponsor, you will need to:

-      Submit a completed and signed Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, from the joint sponsor. All pages must be present andof the latest edition date.

-      Provide the joint sponsor’s Social Security Number on Form I-864.

-      Provide a complete and correctly calculated household size on Form I-864.

-      Submit a complete copy of the joint sponsor’s Federal income tax return and all supporting tax documents (W-2s, 1099s, Form 2555, and tax schedules) for the most recent tax year.

-      Submit evidence of the joint sponsor’s status as a United States citizen.

 

This seems pretty straight forward, my wife's mother will fill out the I-864. Would she be the (Part 1) "only joint sponsor", or the "[ ] first [ ] second of two joint sponsors"? Basically, would my wife's mother replace my wife's I-864 with her $13k or would that just be an addition?

Regarding the household size: how does that work for the section under "Persons NOT sponsored in this affidavit:"?

 

Thank you guys so much!

 

Edited April 27, 2019 by benjii

[Villanelle 4,122]

You got some bad advice in your last post....

 

First, you should not have submitted an 864a. You are the intending immigrant. Your wife is the primary sponsor. She would fill out an 864 and on it there is a place for you to enter your income as the immigrant. However- people have gotten RFEs trying to use F1 OPT income. Their RFEs lists what kind of income can be used : (E-1,2,3, H-1B, H1B1, H-1C, H-2A, H-2B, H-3, I, J-1, L-1, O-1, O-1A, O-1B, O2, P-1A, P-1B, P-2, P-3, Q-1, Q-2, R-1, TC or TN.) As you can see F1 OPT is not on the list as acceptable so it is up to their discretion if they want to count it or not.

 

RFEs are computer generated from a list of responses and are not tailor made- so often they are generic sounding and its hard to know what you did wrong. The first bullet point says your wife did not submit her complete tax documents. If you had 1099 income you probably filled out a sched C right? Did you include all the schedules or just the 1040 form? You need all the schedules and w2s, 1099 etc. 

 

1099 income is considered self employment and will only count if you have been doing it for 1yr or more to show its stable.

 

Did you ensure you calculated household size correctly of 2 if it is just you and your spouse and not 3? Many people make that error. If you decide to go with a co-sponsor- if mother in law does not live in the same house she would fill out an 864 as the co-sponsor.. If MIL is married and you are using FIL income as well FIL will fill out an 864a. Many people send in the 864a for the other parent even if it is not required because often it is asked for to be sure the spouse knows the obligations being undertaken by the other spouse. 

 

You can also attempt to send in the same stuff you sent before and qualify with out a co-sponsor if you calculated household size wrong or did not provide a complete tax return or transcript. However if they decide to not count your F1 income you wont qualify and you often do not get a second chance RFE. The safe move is to submit complete tax documents as well as a joint sponsor 864 (proof of citizenship, tax documents etc). 

[benjii 3]

On 4/27/2019 at 8:48 PM, username_taken said:

Did you ensure you calculated household size correctly of 2 if it is just you and your spouse and not 3? Many people make that error. If you decide to go with a co-sponsor- if mother in law does not live in the same house she would fill out an 864 as the co-sponsor.. If MIL is married and you are using FIL income as well FIL will fill out an 864a. Many people send in the 864a for the other parent even if it is not required because often it is asked for to be sure the spouse knows the obligations being undertaken by the other spouse. 

 

Yes, the calculated household size was 2. 

 

We have decided to go with MIL as a co-sponsor. She does not live in the same house. MIL is married, but her income exceeds the 125%. They do, however, file taxes jointly - that doesn't matter though right? So it is not necessary for FIL to also fill out a I864 - only a I864A correct?

 

I have two more specific questions regarding the I864:

• Regarding the household size:
  • Yourself: 1
  • If currently married: 1
  • Dependent children: 2 (there are 3 children. My wife and 2 young kids) 
  • Other dependents: 1 (My wife, who was claimed as a dependent on 2018's tax return)
  • Household Size: 6 (including me, the immigrant)

Does that look correct?

 

• Regarding the first Part of the form:
  • Is MIL now the only joint sponsor (1.d), or one of two (1.e) since we have already sent in a I864 filled out by my wife (which was rejected, thus RFIE)? 

 

Thank you so much, again!

Edited May 1, 2019 by benjii

[Villanelle 4,122]

Sorry it took me a while to get back to this.  

 

MIL needs to fill out the 864 and if they file joint taxes make sure you only enter MIL income and show their tax return with w2s clearly showing which part of the joint income tax return is hers. FIL does not need the 864a - however they can ask for it. MIL is the only joint sponsor UNLESS you want to add FIL (he would be second sponsor and use the 864a.  Your list looks fine. Have you discussed with the family about how the taxes will be done next year? (If your wife -and even if you- are going to still be listed as their dependents /they file head of household. It would be a big tax break for them but you will end up paying significantly more. 

[benjii 3]

On 5/7/2019 at 4:02 PM, Villanelle said:

Sorry it took me a while to get back to this.  

 

MIL needs to fill out the 864 and if they file joint taxes make sure you only enter MIL income and show their tax return with w2s clearly showing which part of the joint income tax return is hers. FIL does not need the 864a - however they can ask for it. MIL is the only joint sponsor UNLESS you want to add FIL (he would be second sponsor and use the 864a.  Your list looks fine. Have you discussed with the family about how the taxes will be done next year? (If your wife -and even if you- are going to still be listed as their dependents /they file head of household. It would be a big tax break for them but you will end up paying significantly more. 

No worries, thank you so much for you help again! My interview has been scheduled in the meantime, so everything seemed to have been correct

 

I did end up including a 864a filled out by FIL. Yes, I indicated MIL as the only joint sponsor on the form. 

Regarding the taxes, as it turned out, my wife actually wasn't listed as a dependent on her parents tax return for 2018. 

 

// I answered the questions in case someone faces the same problem in the future and comes across this thread. 

Edited May 30, 2019 by benjii
update