AOS i-864 RFE help. Not very specific.

[lambera 10]

1 hour ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Once they don’t accept the Affidavit of Support and supporting financial documents you submitted, they automatically tell you your income isn’t sufficient not because your income isn’t sufficient but because you haven’t proved it to their satisfaction because you either did not input the correct amounts into your Affidavit of Support based on your financial documents or you did not submit correct or complete supporting financial documents.
The error is likely not in the amount earned not meeting the guidelines (unless your current income wasnt stable or new employment) but moreso in the form or the financial documents you provided.

 

Amounts input in the form have to be backed up by exact amounts (or precise calculations of predicted 2019 income from 6 months of most current paystubs if you do not have an EVL and could not unput the predicted amount from that).

Did you input Part 6 Question 7 from the 2018 tax reported income amount or predicted 2019 income? Did you provide the correct documents depending on what you reported? 

Did you select the correct boxes in the tax info section?

Did you submit the 2018 tax return Transcript? Submitting W2s are not necessary nor recommended unless you filed as MFJ that year. The instructions specifically state that.

 

What exactly and specifically did you submit?

Do the amounts in the form match exactly to your documents?

Have you read through the instructions again prior to filling out your new I864?

The annual income amount entered was my wife's yearly amount just going off a standard working week without overtime etc and it was well over the guideline. Now I am sure we forgot to also provide a letter explaining everything, e.g why she only made x amount last year etc. We provided a letter from her employer stating all the relevant information they would want along with 6 months of pay stubs. I mean maybe there was one small error somewhere but I am sure everything was good. I mean clearly it was not otherwise I wouldn't be in this predicament. 

[K1visaHopeful 2,817]

It needs to be perfect, not sufficient.

If you submitted an EVL as you said in your last comment you should have input that predicted 2019 amount disclosed in that letter rather than doing any calculating from paystubs in Part 6 Qu 7.

If you did not, that could be your major error right there.

[Dynasty2019 27]

I have received the same letter with my RFIE. i definitely submitted the 3 latest tax transcripts during the initial filing and we make over the stipulated 125% threshold on each. I'm assuming there was maybe a mistake on the original application (which i did not copy) or they lost some of our paperwork, but we are filling everything out again carefully and preparing to resend

[Samfar 92 139]

20 hours ago, lambera said:

So I received a RFE yesterday regarding my i-864 for AOS. Now the letter does not really state clearly what they need from me and I am not sure if this is a generic response they send out. The letter states "Based on the documents submitted with the form i-864. The income did not meet 125% of the federal poverty guideline for the petitioning sponsors household size". On the next page it also says "You have submitted form i-864 from the petitioning sponsor. We are unable to process the I-864 because it has one or more deficiencies". 

 

 

My wife earns way over the guideline of which we submitted a letter from her employer stating her salary etc. Now I just thought I don't think we sent any of her tax transcripts for the other two years that we listed on (Part 6, 19a). We supplied tax papers for the most recent year which was 2018. So that might be problem right there. Sorry if this has been discussed somewhere, but I searched through the forum and could not find my specific answer. 

 

Thank you for any advice or help.

I received rfe and it was saying  exactly samething, and yeah I also make way more then the poverty guideline,in my packet I  sent every single required documents, and again I replied them with, tax return for most recent year,tax transcript, w2s,and income verification letter,and ofcourse I fill out affidavit forms again and sign it, so it's been almost 50 days I haven't received any response from them, I called uscis yesterday and talked with one of the officer she said I may get a response after 60 days,so let's see, 

 

[lambera 10]

9 hours ago, K1visaHopeful said:

It needs to be perfect, not sufficient.

If you submitted an EVL as you said in your last comment you should have input that predicted 2019 amount disclosed in that letter rather than doing any calculating from paystubs in Part 6 Qu 7.

If you did not, that could be your major error right there.

The Employment letter did state her current pay yearly pay.

[lambera 10]

What happens if they deny the i-864 ? Do you have to resubmit everything again ? 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

22 hours ago, lambera said:

Ah ok, yes you're correct. Seems like I just need to get a tax transcript then. Does the tax transcript cover pretty much everything tax related. I read that you do not need W2''s etc if you have a transcript. 

If you did not send a tax transcript, that is the missing documentation for the RFE.

They want:

1.  Clear documentation of last year’s income (tax transcript is best).  If you send a copy of the actual return which is also accepted then the W2, bank 1099’s that show interest income, and proof of all other sources of income has to be included with the copy of the return.

2.  Ongoing documentation of this year’s income (paystubs, employment letter, bank statements) and real paystubs (from employer) matched up with real deposits (from bank statements) is best.  The employment letter will support those two.

[PRC Rabbit 40]

We had 2 RFIE's like that 2018-19.  

USCIS' vague wording caused us much stress.

We had  no idea what the problem was and  could only improve  the quality of our qualification evidence. 

Beneficiary went & got a PT job to bolster our Income and we're now Interview Ready. 

Only had the new position a few weeks but it did the trick apparently.

  

[lambera 10]

40 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

If you did not send a tax transcript, that is the missing documentation for the RFE.

They want:

1.  Clear documentation of last year’s income (tax transcript is best).  If you send a copy of the actual return which is also accepted then the W2, bank 1099’s that show interest income, and proof of all other sources of income has to be included with the copy of the return.

2.  Ongoing documentation of this year’s income (paystubs, employment letter, bank statements) and real paystubs (from employer) matched up with real deposits (from bank statements) is best.  The employment letter will support those two.

We did send a tax transcript, I looked back through, I also remember downloading it from the IRS website.

[K1visaHopeful 2,817]

2 hours ago, lambera said:

The Employment letter did state her current pay yearly pay.

Then did you input that in the question or did you calculate from the paystubs like you explained?

Please answer my question directly as asked.

 

11 hours ago, K1visaHopeful said:

It needs to be perfect, not sufficient.

If you submitted an EVL as you said in your last comment you should have input that predicted 2019 amount disclosed in that letter rather than doing any calculating from paystubs in Part 6 Qu 7.

If you did not, that could be your major error right there.

 

[Villanelle 4,122]

As you may or may or not be aware the issue of public charge/aff of support is currently a hot topic. There is current legislation being held up in courts that would make the guidelines much harder. Now none of it has taken effect due to the court but still the general attitude at USCIS about the 864 is much more strict then it has been in the past. Ultimately the Officer has discretion so even if your numbers technically add up to over the guidelines you can still be denied or asked for a joint sponsor depending on your specifics... Again thats why these generic letters stink. Theres no way to know if there was an error with something or the Officer simply wasnt satisfied with your 864 overall..

 

If you reviewed your submission and it was all filled out correctly and you did infact submit transcripts then it becomes more likely that they were just not satisfied with the numbers. They like to see 1+ year of higher then guidelines income. I understand you technically sent this but you sent 1/2 a year on the last taxes and the other 1/2 to almost a full year in paystubs/employment letter. For self-employed people they MUST have 1 year of taxes, in the past it was never really an issue for a W2 employee to show partial year taxes and partial year paystubs but like I said things are changing. So your lack of a full year tax return showing the income could be a factor here. The only way to fix that is to file taxes asap in Jan and submit them with the RFE. (if timing allows for it). 

 

At this point I do not believe simply attaching a letter of explanation will do it. It might but its very low odds. Its very risky to simply send back the same info you already sent along with a letter trying to explain how it does qualify. If they didnt find your income sufficient its unlikely you will be able to sway them with an explanation but it is possible. Your best bet is to include a joint sponsor but you said thats probably not possible... So I suppose in this case you will have to attempt  to submit a letter of explanation AND if possible 19 taxes (if not at least wait until the last week of Dec and submit the final paystub showing YTD pay and highlight that in your letter along with wording that she has worked 1+ year now at this level with some being shown on 18 taxes and the rest being shown under YTD on the paystub however you were just unable to file the tax return before the RFE was due. Explain how the 19 tax return will show X income and no dependents or other write offs. And appeal to them to consider her situation as a student the previous years and this being her first job (include a copy of her degree and a summary of what she is now qualified to do). If you do get your EAD and obtain a job before the RFE is due back you will also want to include your income on it. 

 

Do you all have any assets you can add? Do you have any degrees or a strong work history? While technically if you are unemployed they cant count future work you could obtain it may help to point it out. For example if you are in a trained certified field and your credentials will transfer over to the US basically ensuring your ability to secure a job you will want to point that out in your letter. If her numbers technically qualify adding information like that can help them feel more comfortable approving it. If her numbers do not qualify themselves then no matter what you say it wont matter. But it seems like she does qualify so w/o adding a joint sponsor you are going to have to throw everything you can at them to sway them.  Here is a link to the 944 form that is being held up in court.  https://redbus2us.com/uscis-form-i-944-declaration-of-self-sufficiency-assess-public-charge/  YOU DO NOT NEED TO FILL THIS OUT. But look it over and see what kind of things they evaluate with it. Address as much of it as you can in your letter. 

 

If you do not include a joint sponsor in your RFE response as I said they will not ask for one again. You only have one shot to respond to the RFE. So if you can not get a joint sponsor try to submit the best response you can with what you have. If they are still not satisfied unfortunately it will be denied. You will have to reapply for the whole AOS packet from the start again including paying the fees and any EAD/AP you may have gotten from the first packet will be void. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lambera 10]

51 minutes ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Then did you input that in the question or did you calculate from the paystubs like you explained?

Please answer my question directly as asked.

 

 

Part 6 Q2 "My current individual annual income is"

 

 I entered what her yearly income would be, e.g a standard 40hr week for a year. Which was also stated in the employment letter. I did not calculate it from the pay stubs.

[K1visaHopeful 2,817]

21 minutes ago, lambera said:

Part 6 Q2 "My current individual annual income is"

 

 I entered what her yearly income would be, e.g a standard 40hr week for a year. Which was also stated in the employment letter. I did not calculate it from the pay stubs.

Part 6 Qu 7?

[lambera 10]

17 minutes ago, Villanelle said:

As you may or may or not be aware the issue of public charge/aff of support is currently a hot topic. There is current legislation being held up in courts that would make the guidelines much harder. Now none of it has taken effect due to the court but still the general attitude at USCIS about the 864 is much more strict then it has been in the past. Ultimately the Officer has discretion so even if your numbers technically add up to over the guidelines you can still be denied or asked for a joint sponsor depending on your specifics... Again thats why these generic letters stink. Theres no way to know if there was an error with something or the Officer simply wasnt satisfied with your 864 overall..

 

If you reviewed your submission and it was all filled out correctly and you did infact submit transcripts then it becomes more likely that they were just not satisfied with the numbers. They like to see 1+ year of higher then guidelines income. I understand you technically sent this but you sent 1/2 a year on the last taxes and the other 1/2 to almost a full year in paystubs/employment letter. For self-employed people they MUST have 1 year of taxes, in the past it was never really an issue for a W2 employee to show partial year taxes and partial year paystubs but like I said things are changing. So your lack of a full year tax return showing the income could be a factor here. The only way to fix that is to file taxes asap in Jan and submit them with the RFE. (if timing allows for it). 

 

At this point I do not believe simply attaching a letter of explanation will do it. It might but its very low odds. Its very risky to simply send back the same info you already sent along with a letter trying to explain how it does qualify. If they didnt find your income sufficient its unlikely you will be able to sway them with an explanation but it is possible. Your best bet is to include a joint sponsor but you said thats probably not possible... So I suppose in this case you will have to attempt  to submit a letter of explanation AND if possible 19 taxes (if not at least wait until the last week of Dec and submit the final paystub showing YTD pay and highlight that in your letter along with wording that she has worked 1+ year now at this level with some being shown on 18 taxes and the rest being shown under YTD on the paystub however you were just unable to file the tax return before the RFE was due. Explain how the 19 tax return will show X income and no dependents or other write offs. And appeal to them to consider her situation as a student the previous years and this being her first job (include a copy of her degree and a summary of what she is now qualified to do). If you do get your EAD and obtain a job before the RFE is due back you will also want to include your income on it. 

 

Do you all have any assets you can add? Do you have any degrees or a strong work history? While technically if you are unemployed they cant count future work you could obtain it may help to point it out. For example if you are in a trained certified field and your credentials will transfer over to the US basically ensuring your ability to secure a job you will want to point that out in your letter. If her numbers technically qualify adding information like that can help them feel more comfortable approving it. If her numbers do not qualify themselves then no matter what you say it wont matter. But it seems like she does qualify so w/o adding a joint sponsor you are going to have to throw everything you can at them to sway them.  Here is a link to the 944 form that is being held up in court.  https://redbus2us.com/uscis-form-i-944-declaration-of-self-sufficiency-assess-public-charge/  YOU DO NOT NEED TO FILL THIS OUT. But look it over and see what kind of things they evaluate with it. Address as much of it as you can in your letter. 

 

If you do not include a joint sponsor in your RFE response as I said they will not ask for one again. You only have one shot to respond to the RFE. So if you can not get a joint sponsor try to submit the best response you can with what you have. If they are still not satisfied unfortunately it will be denied. You will have to reapply for the whole AOS packet from the start again including paying the fees and any EAD/AP you may have gotten from the first packet will be void. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for that very informative response.

 

One of her parents may be able to be a joint sponsor, nothing definite yet but I will find out next week.

 

So my wife's pay has also changed since last year. When she started working after coming back from the UK, she started at a certain rate and then got a job promotion plus pay upgrade, she then got another pay upgrade. Then finally her new job is also another pay upgrade and a higher position. Even at the first rate she started at she was still well over the guideline. 

 

Unbelievable that you have to pay again. They literally set you up to get denied with this type of letter.

[lambera 10]

8 minutes ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Part 6 Qu 7?

As far as I can see, that question is regarding if you're using any income from anyone mentioned in the household size.