RFE about I-864 Current Income Evidence - Advice Needed

[ShayrineC 43]

Dear all, unfortunately we have gotten an RFE about our i-485 application, and would like to solicit some advice on what to do next.

 

Basically, they are requesting more information about my husband's current income. Wording on the RFE letter reads "The petitioning sponsor lists their current income on Form I-864 as an amount to be considered as sufficient; however, no evidence has been submitted as proof of current income." They then proceeded to ask for evidence such as 6 months of payslips and a very detailed letter of employment which includes prospect of advancement etc.

 

Problem is, my husband had just switched jobs less than 2 months prior to our I-485 submission; we did not have 6 month's worth of payslips and provided only a month and a half's worth. We also provided a letter of employment from my husband's company, stating he has been employed since start of March 2020. We even added my father-in-law's income in an I-864A.

 

In addition, the COVID-19 situation has reduced my husband's work hours. We had entered a number on I-864 that was on his company's work portal, but since hours has been reduced, we are now quite certain the amount he will earn this year will not be the amount that we had entered on the i-864.

 

 I have some ideas/questions on what to do next, and was wondering whether they will be sufficient for the RFE:

 

     1) Asking husband's direct manager provide letter of employment and statement about loss of hours because COVID;

     2) Asking husband's HR manager to provide letter of employment (to make it two voices from company to back his claim;

     3) Going to husband's ex-workplace to retrieve payslips and letter of employment from them to make up for past 6 month's employment;

     4) Providing a detailed written statement and timeline showing his work for past 6 months

 

Also, if my husband's employers come back with a different amount now about his annual salary, should i resubmit his i-864 with the adjusted salary information?

 

So sorry for the long message, but I'm so afraid of making any missteps with the RFE. This whole adjustment has not been smooth at all.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Sandyl 128]

I’m sorry to hear you received an RFE. I got an RFE because we didn’t add in my husbands W2 and 1040. I forgot that and I just added the transcripts of the past 3 years what they also asked for the K1 interview. Did you add in those forms as well? 

[ShayrineC 43]

4 minutes ago, Sanella&Dylan said:

I’m sorry to hear you received an RFE. I got an RFE because we didn’t add in my husbands W2 and 1040. I forgot that and I just added the transcripts of the past 3 years what they also asked for the K1 interview. Did you add in those forms as well? 

Hi, thanks. Yes I did include the forms, 3 year's worth from 2017-2019, although it didnt meet the requirements those years, which is why he got a new job. They did not state that they had an issue with the tax documents, just that they required more evidence about current income. 

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

 

     1) Asking husband's direct manager provide letter of employment and statement about loss of hours because COVID; unsure if this would help or hurt him as they look at current income and currently his hours are cut and there is not guarantee of when or if his hours will increase (can't predict the future).

     2) Asking husband's HR manager to provide letter of employment (to make it two voices from company to back his claim; this would be helpful with an updated date

     3) Going to husband's ex-workplace to retrieve payslips and letter of employment from them to make up for past 6 month's employment; don't think this would be helpful because it is not income moving forward 

     4) Providing a detailed written statement and timeline showing his work for past 6 months may be helpful to show he has been consistently working

 

They are looking for current income so I think it will not help going back to your husbands previous job. I would suggest to submit a new I-864 with his new job, new income, all of his pay stubs from this job and an updated letter with date of employment, full/part time and salary. I'm unsure if reporting his hours are reduced due to COVID would really help because there is no GUARANTEE when or if his hours will pick up. I personally think it would be best to have a joint sponsor if what he is bringing home now won't meet the requirements- it would be less of a headache in my opinion and you wouldn't have to worry about another RFE or god forbid a denial. 

 

Good luck. It sucks that so many people are in this situation (had a good job but now lost it or decrease in hours)

 

[ShayrineC 43]

8 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

 

     1) Asking husband's direct manager provide letter of employment and statement about loss of hours because COVID; unsure if this would help or hurt him as they look at current income and currently his hours are cut and there is not guarantee of when or if his hours will increase (can't predict the future).

     2) Asking husband's HR manager to provide letter of employment (to make it two voices from company to back his claim; this would be helpful with an updated date

     3) Going to husband's ex-workplace to retrieve payslips and letter of employment from them to make up for past 6 month's employment; don't think this would be helpful because it is not income moving forward 

     4) Providing a detailed written statement and timeline showing his work for past 6 months may be helpful to show he has been consistently working

 

They are looking for current income so I think it will not help going back to your husbands previous job. I would suggest to submit a new I-864 with his new job, new income, all of his pay stubs from this job and an updated letter with date of employment, full/part time and salary. I'm unsure if reporting his hours are reduced due to COVID would really help because there is no GUARANTEE when or if his hours will pick up. I personally think it would be best to have a joint sponsor if what he is bringing home now won't meet the requirements- it would be less of a headache in my opinion and you wouldn't have to worry about another RFE or god forbid a denial. 

 

Good luck. It sucks that so many people are in this situation (had a good job but now lost it or decrease in hours)

 

Thanks for the detailed reply! His hours are slowly returning back to normal, so we are hoping his manager will explain in his letter that it will be better going forward.

 

the i-864 is of his current job, although what we have entered as the current income may not be what he will be earning come year's end, since work hours were lost. If we do get an employment letter showing us a different projected income, we should submit an updated i-864? and just to explain that this is an updated one due to recent circumstances?

 

We also had combined his father's income as an i-864a because we knew the situation going forward was uncertain. My FIL's income meets the requirement on his own. But they didn't address that in the RFE at all. I hoped they have not overlooked it, but I am thinking of including this in my written statement in my RFE reply just in case.  

[flfreddy 92]

You may need more co-sponsors to be sure no more RFE2.    But documentation is key.  DOCUMENTED income that meets min threshold is what you need. Ok lah?

Edited May 29, 2020 by flfreddy

[WorldCitizen1969 7]

One thing to consider could be to wait to get more pay stubs. They give you several months (3 or 4?) to reply with this additional information before they reject you. I had an RFE dated May 7 and I had until August XX to reply by. You might be cutting it close so you'll need to do the exact math to make a determination. But in the meantime you can still get the letter.

[ShayrineC 43]

1 hour ago, flfreddy said:

You may need more co-sponsors to be sure no more RFE2.    But documentation is key.  DOCUMENTED income that meets min threshold is what you need. Ok lah?

Thanks, am getting more employment letters from all possible sources.

 

I already have a co-sponsor, who is my father in law. He filled out an i-864a and we had submitted that with all the relevant documents. the RFE did not make any mention of that. 

 

 

[ShayrineC 43]

2 hours ago, WorldCitizen1969 said:

One thing to consider could be to wait to get more pay stubs. They give you several months (3 or 4?) to reply with this additional information before they reject you. I had an RFE dated May 7 and I had until August XX to reply by. You might be cutting it close so you'll need to do the exact math to make a determination. But in the meantime you can still get the letter.

Thanks! That's certainly something to consider. But I calculated the days (87 days) and even by then I would not have 6 month's worth of pay stubs.

 

The reason that is stopping me from waiting is because if my case is on hold due to an RFE, my EAD and AP will be on hold as well. I am both eager to travel back home and to get a job. Adding an extra 3-4 months on top of the already long processing times is not ideal.

 

Am thinking of waiting for a few more pay stubs to get in, and send at least 3 month's worth?

[Ayrton 965]

9 hours ago, ShayrineC said:

Thanks! That's certainly something to consider. But I calculated the days (87 days) and even by then I would not have 6 month's worth of pay stubs.

 

The reason that is stopping me from waiting is because if my case is on hold due to an RFE, my EAD and AP will be on hold as well. I am both eager to travel back home and to get a job. Adding an extra 3-4 months on top of the already long processing times is not ideal.

 

Am thinking of waiting for a few more pay stubs to get in, and send at least 3 month's worth?

I only sent 3 months of pay stubs, and the employment verification letter was not as detailed as they are asking you. No RFE.

 

Btw, that's the first time I see such a detailed RFE. They usually send generic letter.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

20 hours ago, ShayrineC said:

explain in his letter that it will be better going forward.

Hi there! Sorry that you got a RFE. I guess most of us have been there! However, bear in mind that they wanto see current income. Although the employment letter should say something about opportunities for future advancement, I would definitely focus on getting a joint sponsor, such as your father in law. So I would just send the I-864 signed by your husband, with the letter of employment and the pay stubs from his current job, and also send all the paperwork related to your joint sponsor. 

Also, don't quote me on this, but I think your father in law should send I-864 and not I-864A (unless you share a household with him).

[ShayrineC 43]

1 hour ago, ra0010 said:

Hi there! Sorry that you got a RFE. I guess most of us have been there! However, bear in mind that they wanto see current income. Although the employment letter should say something about opportunities for future advancement, I would definitely focus on getting a joint sponsor, such as your father in law. So I would just send the I-864 signed by your husband, with the letter of employment and the pay stubs from his current job, and also send all the paperwork related to your joint sponsor. 

Also, don't quote me on this, but I think your father in law should send I-864 and not I-864A (unless you share a household with him).

Heya. Yes, we share the same residence since we are waiting a year at least before moving out. But we have already sent the i-864a with our application, so probably going to include a statement that says that we have submitted that just in case they still deem my husband's income evidence insufficient.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

8 minutes ago, ShayrineC said:

Heya. Yes, we share the same residence since we are waiting a year at least before moving out. But we have already sent the i-864a with our application, so probably going to include a statement that says that we have submitted that just in case they still deem my husband's income evidence insufficient.

Cool, I just wanted to make sure that you knew about the I-864a. You should be fine, then. Plus, I can imagine that you are not the only one in that situation right now unfortunately due to COVID-19.