I-134 Co-Sponsor Question

[myjourney229 30]

Hey there, 

I have been searching the forum but can't find the exact answer to fit my situation. 

I currently do not meet the income requirements, so I will have my mom be my co-sponsor. The situation at hand is that her and my dad file taxes jointly and they run their own business together. The issue is that business has gone way down and my mom's income at this point is pretty much non-existent. 

She has all of her tax paperwork for the past four years which is nearly double the 100% mark of the poverty guideline. Do you think this will be sufficient as well as bank statements even though she doesn't have current income? I am definitely worried. 

[Crazy Cat 41,881]

Past income is in the past.  Current annual income of the sponsor/joint sponsor is more important than past income, imo.   I would consider finding another joint sponsor with stable, sufficient current/future income or assets.....

Edited June 26, 2019 by missileman

[LaBeach 29]

On 6/26/2019 at 4:51 PM, myjourney229 said:

Hey there, 

I have been searching the forum but can't find the exact answer to fit my situation. 

I currently do not meet the income requirements, so I will have my mom be my co-sponsor. The situation at hand is that her and my dad file taxes jointly and they run their own business together. The issue is that business has gone way down and my mom's income at this point is pretty much non-existent. 

She has all of her tax paperwork for the past four years which is nearly double the 100% mark of the poverty guideline. Do you think this will be sufficient as well as bank statements even though she doesn't have current income? I am definitely worried. 

Did she make more than the requirement for 2018? because it may still work if she is self-employed since you only have to present tax-returns for those and not paystubs. If she has enough readily deployable assets (i.e. liquid), she can still sponsor.

[Peot 161]

I agree with @missileman in this case - they usually hold the most recent tax year (2018 in this case) with a lot more weight than any of the past tax years. In fact, I remember ONLY including the most recent tax year with my documents. 

 

If she met 125% in 2018, that's great, and that's all you need! If she doesn't meet that in 2019 - you're not including those documents since that tax year hasn't ended yet.

 

For those mentioning assets - I'm sure the business has SOME liquid assets, however it needs to meet 3x the minimum in value (some sources say 5x), and the documentation couldn't come from a first-party, it would need to come from a bank, accountant, or verifiable third-party source. The people working at consulates / embassy aren't accountants and need to be able to verify it with a glance, otherwise expect long administrative processing, a 221g, or denial. It's MUCH easier to use a tax return.

 

When I needed a co-sponsor I hit up all of my family and friends living in the US - it can be a bit embarrassing to ask for someone to put their trust in you, and it's a huge level of trust required, but I would look at other options if I were you. Don't feel bad about asking the people you love about supporting your journey! 

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.