RFE, joint sponsor doesn’t qualify can I use my petitioner (husband) [merged topics]

[Villanelle 4,122]

@Sara & Kevin

 

well what is it that you are planning on doing right now? fixing the joint sponsor issue? Or are you going to drop the joint sponsor and attempt to use just your husband?

 

Not to repeat too much of what was already said- but you understand your husband needs to submit the 864 regardless of whether or not he qualifies. If he doesnt qualify you need a joint sponsor. And when something is wrong with your paperwork you get a generic RFE stating they dont make enough because its a computer system. So if you send wrong paperwork the computer enters it as 0 and 0 = you do not have enough income. I dont know why they dont revise the RFE system for the 864. Ideally they should give you the exact reason its being rejected but if anything they could come up with a few generic most specific issues to list. Cause its just ridiculous how the current system leaves people to guess... Anyway....

 

Your main issue with this is USCIS does not send RFEs twice for the same issue. It seems like you sent (originally) your husbands 864 and a joint sponsors 864. You got an RFE for joint sponsor. (which means your husbands form was done properly but didnt qualify). So your RFE is for joint sponsor with enough income. You can send anything youd like as a response to the RFE. If they are not satisfied with what you sent though you will NOT get another RFE/chance to fix this. So this is your ONLY chance to respond. If you respond wrong you will be denied and need to send in a new AOS packet and pay all the fees again.

 

If you want to try to drop the joint sponsor thats fine, you can do that but I would advise against it. Theres a chance they will say your husband doesnt qualify based on his situation (its discretionary approval). And if he doesnt qualify they will not ask you a second time for a joint sponsor with sufficient income. So I would send husbands updated income and hopefully its approved but if not then at least they have the correct paperwork for the joint sponsor. So it becomes more of a question of why the joint sponsor was deemed insufficient. But Im not going to get into speculating about what the issue may be with that if you are only going to respond to the RFE with your husbands updated 864. 

 

You can search for threads on VJ about self employed 864. There are a few of them. Basically self employed people have to prove their income is stable and consistent. So you will want to send at least 3 years of tax returns. Many also send a letter in addition to current profit/loss statements. For your situation specifically how was his income prior to the year he showed 8k? If it was consistent and that was the only odd year you will want to show that - maybe include more years. Depending on what you send your husband may qualify but it could really go either way its going to be up to the Officer who reviews it. 

[Sara & Kevin 14]

Hello! I hope someone can help me! 

Does anyone have wxperience or info about retired joint sponsors? What documents do they need to submit besides Tax Returns for the most recent year? 

Thank you!

[Greenbaum 12,259]

1 minute ago, Sara & Kevin said:

Hello! I hope someone can help me! 

Does anyone have experience or info about retired joint sponsors? What documents do they need to submit besides Tax Returns for the most recent year? 

Thank you!

Of course current pay stubs are not available for a retired individual but assets can be used in lieu of pay stubs.  Also, most embassies have gone to the requirement of Tax Transcripts easily available from IRS.gov as a download.

 

EVIDENCE OF SUPPORT: You must submit any evidence which will show that you and members of your family who will accompany you are not likely to become public charges while in the United States. Visa petitioner (US Citizen) will have to complete form I-134. If the petitioner does not qualify as a sponsor, a Joint-Sponsor should ALSO be presented (any US Citizen living in the US or Legal Permanent Resident), who will also have to complete form I-134. Both, the Sponsor (Petitioner) as well as the Joint-Sponsor, will have to present last year's income tax return transcripts. W2 form and proof of current and sustainable income (e.g letter of employment on letterhead including salary and start date, most recent salary receipts, bank accounts, the value of properties, etc.). You may download the I-134 affidavit at https://www.uscis.gov/i-134 Get the IRS transcript in place of the actual 1040 here: https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript Use this link to determine the income levels needed https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p.

Edited February 25, 2020 by Greenbaum

[payxibka 10,045]

28 minutes ago, Sara & Kevin said:

Hello! I hope someone can help me! 

Does anyone have wxperience or info about retired joint sponsors? What documents do they need to submit besides Tax Returns for the most recent year? 

Thank you!

SSA benefits letter 

[Pmta1 39]

A joint sponsor has virtually the same requirements as a primary sponsor in terms of paperwork. if you follow the I-134 instructions and the helpful guide from this site, you will be able to gather up documents. If retired, where is the source of income (if any)? disability? social security? rental income? stocks? dividends? 

[Sara & Kevin 14]

5 minutes ago, Pmta1 said:

A joint sponsor has virtually the same requirements as a primary sponsor in terms of paperwork. if you follow the I-134 instructions and the helpful guide from this site, you will be able to gather up documents. If retired, where is the source of income (if any)? disability? social security? rental income? stocks? dividends? 

Amm idk what are you referring  to but I am a person married to an usa citizen and have already been in the U.S when filling so that form doesn’t apply to me.

But thanks 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Sara & Kevin

[JFH 12,190]

1 hour ago, Sara & Kevin said:

Amm idk what are you referring  to but I am a person married to an usa citizen and have already been in the U.S when filling so that form doesn’t apply to me.

But thanks 

Since you posted in the K-1 section, the respondents assumed you are still at the stage of applying for a K-1 visa and answered accordingly.

I have helpfully moved your post to the correct section for your circumstances, “Adjustment Of Status from K visas”. Posting in the correct section is the best way to get the most accurate response to your question. 

[Sara & Kevin 14]

8 hours ago, JFH said:

Since you posted in the K-1 section, the respondents assumed you are still at the stage of applying for a K-1 visa and answered accordingly.

I have helpfully moved your post to the correct section for your circumstances, “Adjustment Of Status from K visas”. Posting in the correct section is the best way to get the most accurate response to your question. 

Thank you so much! 

[Sara & Kevin 14]

Hello everyone!

I hope I can get some help

So on page (Form I-864) 4 /part 6/ item7 it asks for your “current individual annual income”

My husband is self-employed and his icome is so different ever year and hard to predict, he says it’s usually $10-20,000 change every year but he has no proof as he is self employe. What kind of proof can a self employed person show for the current income in present year? 

Thank you!

Edited March 9, 2020 by Sara & Kevin

[geowrian 22,337]

Since he is self-employed, his current income is that as claimed on the most recent year's federal tax return. In particular, it's the "total income" line on the 1040.

[Sara & Kevin 14]

10 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Since he is self-employed, his current income is that as claimed on the most recent year's federal tax return. In particular, it's the "total income" line on the 1040.

Okey so he just need to put for the current income what he made the most recent year (2019)? He does not need to guess or show what he will make this year?

and it will be okey bc he is self employed? 

 

Do you know do retired people need to put what they expect to make in the current year? or no? 

 

Edited March 9, 2020 by Sara & Kevin

[geowrian 22,337]

19 minutes ago, Sara & Kevin said:

Okey so he just need to put for the current income what he made the most recent year (2019)? He does not need to guess or show what he will make this year?

and it will be okey bc he is self employed? 

If he has already filed his 2019 taxes, then yes, he should list the total income line from that.

What he makes this year is revenue until he actually claims it on his tax return.

For instance, if I sign a $1 million contract today, that doesn't mean I earned $1 million in income this year. To fulfill that contract, it may cost me $900k, $1 million, or even more (resulting in a negative income if that is my only source of revenue that year).

 

19 minutes ago, Sara & Kevin said:

Do you know do retired people need to put what they expect to make in the current year? or no?

Depends on their source of income. Age is not the determining factor.

There's Social Security, pensions, investments, etc.

[Sara & Kevin 14]

2 minutes ago, geowrian said:

If he has already filed his 2019 taxes, then yes, he should list the total income line from that.

What he makes this year is revenue until he actually claims it on his tax return.

For instance, if I sign a $1 million contract today, that doesn't mean I earned $1 million in income this year. To fulfill that contract, it may cost me $900k, $1 million, or even more (resulting in a negative income if that is my only source of revenue that year).

 

Depends on their source of income. Age is not the determining factor.

There's Social Security, pensions, investments, etc.

Okey thanks for that... so is it true that people who are employed for someone or a company need to put current individual income for the year they are in now? Bc this is so confusing.... some people are saying on that question you have to put what you think you will make in the current year and some other... 

So self-employed people get to do it differently is that what you are saying? 

 

2 minutes ago, geowrian said:

If he has already filed his 2019 taxes, then yes, he should list the total income line from that.

What he makes this year is revenue until he actually claims it on his tax return.

For instance, if I sign a $1 million contract today, that doesn't mean I earned $1 million in income this year. To fulfill that contract, it may cost me $900k, $1 million, or even more (resulting in a negative income if that is my only source of revenue that year).

 

Depends on their source of income. Age is not the determining factor.

There's Social Security, pensions, investments, etc.

He has pension and social security income and investments but his social and pension is well enough to sponsor.. so should he write what he is gonna make now in the current year or what he mad the previous year, 2019?

[geowrian 22,337]

1 minute ago, Sara & Kevin said:

Okey thanks for that... so is it true that people who are employed for someone or a company need to put current individual income for the year they are in now? Bc this is so confusing.... some people are saying on that question you have to put what you think you will make in the current year and some other... 

So self-employed people get to do it differently is that what you are saying? 

If you are a W-2 earner, then your current income is what you earn in a 12 month period. So if I was unemployed since Jan 1st and got hired today making $50k/year, my annual income is still $50k year. Conversely, if I earned $50k this year so far and got laid off today, my current income is now $0.

Self-employed individuals don't earn income through the year. They earn revenue. When they do their taxes, they take into account their revenue and expenses, and income can be determined from that - which is what you see on the tax return.

 

1 minute ago, Sara & Kevin said:

He has pension and social security income and investments but his social and pension is well enough to sponsor.. so should he write what he is gonna make now in the current year or what he mad the previous year, 2019?

I can tell you my understanding, but I will admit that I am less confident in this as my personal experience has not covered these yet.

SS and pensions are income now, not when you claim them on your taxes.

Investments themselves are assets. You can claim assets on the I-864 as well as income. For the spouse of a USC, these are counted at a 1:3 ratio ($3 assets = $1 income). Assets are optional if income is sufficient. What exactly is "sufficient" is a judgement call based upon a totality of the circumstances.

For AOS, there's a worksheet that can give you a general idea of the positive and negative factors: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/policymanual/resources/Appendix-TotalityoftheCircumstancesFramework.pdf

 

Income earned from investments may qualify as income. Basically, if it is counted in the total income on the tax return, then it's income.

 

(If any of the above is incorrect, please correct me - this is second-hand information on my part).

[Sara & Kevin 14]

7 minutes ago, geowrian said:

If you are a W-2 earner, then your current income is what you earn in a 12 month period. So if I was unemployed since Jan 1st and got hired today making $50k/year, my annual income is still $50k year. Conversely, if I earned $50k this year so far and got laid off today, my current income is now $0.

Self-employed individuals don't earn income through the year. They earn revenue. When they do their taxes, they take into account their revenue and expenses, and income can be determined from that - which is what you see on the tax return.

 

I can tell you my understanding, but I will admit that I am less confident in this as my personal experience has not covered these yet.

SS and pensions are income now, not when you claim them on your taxes.

Investments themselves are assets. You can claim assets on the I-864 as well as income. For the spouse of a USC, these are counted at a 1:3 ratio ($3 assets = $1 income). Assets are optional if income is sufficient. What exactly is "sufficient" is a judgement call based upon a totality of the circumstances.

For AOS, there's a worksheet that can give you a general idea of the positive and negative factors: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/policymanual/resources/Appendix-TotalityoftheCircumstancesFramework.pdf

 

Income earned from investments may qualify as income. Basically, if it is counted in the total income on the tax return, then it's income.

 

(If any of the above is incorrect, please correct me - this is second-hand information on my part).

Okey then my husband has to fille the form with his 2019 income 

thanks!! 

 

So you are saying that the social security benefits and pensions need to be changed on the question where it asks for the current annual income?