Thoughts on RFE?

[Jules15 5]

Soooooo, I got the dreaded RFE today.... here are my thoughts...

 

So I make over the required 125% poverty guideline. When I submitted the Affidavit of Support, I included my 2019 tax transcript (2020 T.T not included because it’s not up on the IRS website but I have filled) W2, and  verification of employment (letter from HR). I couldn’t include pay-stubs because at the time I did not have access to my work’s online pay system. I wasn’t too worried because pay stubs aren’t “typically” required but I know they can only help my case. Now I am worried because I can no longer access my pay stubs because my company switched online pay systems that allow us to view/print paystubs and the site is inaccessible to me now. I was thinking of including bank statements as that’s all I have to prove that I’m getting consistently paid. The RFE I got was vague which is so frustrating because it gives me no direction to go in. So I feel like I’m only speculating at the mistake I made. Shouldn’t the tax transcript be enough to proof that I can support my husband? 

 

I also went back to check on my copy of the Affidavit of Support and noticed a potential error I made. Under part 5, where it asks for household size, my print out, which was directly from USCIS was auto-populated to “1” and I never manually fixed it to “2” because it is just my husband and I? I figured if it was already there, why change it? Has anyone encountered this? 

 

And to make matters worse, my husbands last name is still spelled incorrectly even though we’ve already sent a request online to have it fixed 3 weeks ago. 

 

Sorry for the wall of text. Anyone have any thoughts or advice? 

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

It will be easier for members of the forum to give advise if you post an image of the RFE text where it describes what they require from you. 

[Jules15 5]

1 hour ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

It will be easier for members of the forum to give advise if you post an image of the RFE text where it describes what they require from you. 

Oops I meant to add that, I’ll add it now! Thank you! 

[Jules15 5]

This is what they sent me...

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

The RFE says the form should be properly completed and signed. This might refer to the household size being wrong and maybe you forgot to sign the form? 

Regarding the evidence, as per the I-864 form instructions, you may submit the tax transcripts and W2's for the most recent three tax years -instead of just the most recent one-. In lack of pay stubs, the letter from HR should include information on your salary adding the bank statements for the previous 6 months as support. 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

8 hours ago, Jules15 said:

verification of employment (letter from HR).

Did it include your salary? 

 

8 hours ago, Jules15 said:

2020 T.T not included because it’s not up on the IRS website but I have filled) 

No you haven’t. The 2020 tax year isn’t over until Dec 31, 2020. Nobody will file that until next January. So what tax year did you send? 


Did you claim  on “my current annual income” something more than Line 7b on Form 1040 of your most recently filed  tax return? If you claimed more, the employer letter would have to state that higher amount. Did it?

 

[Jules15 5]

22 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

Did it include your salary? 

 

No you haven’t. The 2020 tax year isn’t over until Dec 31, 2020. Nobody will file that until next January. So what tax year did you send? 


Did you claim  on “my current annual income” something more than Line 7b on Form 1040 of your most recently filed  tax return? If you claimed more, the employer letter would have to state that higher amount. Did it?

 

Yes it did include my salary. I meant to say I included my 2019 tax transcript. 
 

I’ll have to look into the 1040 form because I don’t know much about it at all. Is that something I should include when I send back the RFE? 

[Jules15 5]

3 hours ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

The RFE says the form should be properly completed and signed. This might refer to the household size being wrong and maybe you forgot to sign the form? 

Regarding the evidence, as per the I-864 form instructions, you may submit the tax transcripts and W2's for the most recent three tax years -instead of just the most recent one-. In lack of pay stubs, the letter from HR should include information on your salary adding the bank statements for the previous 6 months as support. 

I’m thinking the household size was incorrect. I never changed it from “1” to “2” because when I looked back at my copy that I sent, I left the “1” that had originally been auto populated there. I did sign the form and it was the most current one. ill definitely be sending 6 months worth of bank statements as well, thanks for the advice. 

[Jules15 5]

11 minutes ago, Jules15 said:

Yes it did include my salary. I meant to say I included my 2019 tax transcript. 
 

I’ll have to look into the 1040 form because I don’t know much about it at all. Is that something I should include when I send back the RFE? 

What I claimed on “my current individual income” and my tax transcript are exactly the same, my employment verification also reflects that as well. This is so baffling. 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1 hour ago, Jules15 said:

What I claimed on “my current individual income” and my tax transcript are exactly the same, my employment verification also reflects that as well. This is so baffling. 

I thought you couldn’t get the 2019 transcript, so sent the previous one 2018. Did you make a copy of everything? What tax year does your transcript say? 
 

2 hours ago, Jules15 said:

I’m thinking the household size was incorrect. I never changed it from “1” to “2” because when I looked back at my copy that I sent, I left the “1” that had originally been auto populated there. I did sign the form and it was the most current one. ill definitely be sending 6 months worth of bank statements as well, thanks for the advice. 

Start over on the form and follow the written instructions carefully. If you don’t have 2019 this years transcript, then send a copy of the entire 2019 return with the W2 that shows your wages. 
 

Ask HR to provide you with 6 months of pay stubs if you can’t access them yourself. 
 

Bank statements do not prove your total current income. Withholding is taken out so the deposit is less than your gross income.

[Ayrton 965]

1 hour ago, Jules15 said:

What I claimed on “my current individual income” and my tax transcript are exactly the same, my employment verification also reflects that as well. This is so baffling. 

You became ineligible because you sent an incorrect affidavit. The household is incorrect so they can't say if you're eligible or not. It probably has nothing to do with the documents you sent.

[Loren Y 2,755]

If you are employed in the United States, the paycheck processing company is required by law to keep 3 years of your pay stub records on file for you to access. If you didn't work there 3 years, still doesn't matter, even if you only received 1 paycheck, they are required to have the record for 3 years. If your work won't help you, the paycheck processing company can ( ADP) is a example of one. You should be able to get your previous pay stubs.

[Jules15 5]

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

I thought you couldn’t get the 2019 transcript, so sent the previous one 2018. Did you make a copy of everything? What tax year does your transcript say? 
 

Start over on the form and follow the written instructions carefully. If you don’t have 2019 this years transcript, then send a copy of the entire 2019 return with the W2 that shows your wages. 
 

Ask HR to provide you with 6 months of pay stubs if you can’t access them yourself. 
 

Bank statements do not prove your total current income. Withholding is taken out so the deposit is less than your gross income.

I was confused, sorry. I actually did send the 2019 tax transcript. I’ll also send the 2018 transcript too if it helps and it does show I’m above the poverty line. 
 

I’m gonna email HR ASAP, I didn’t know that they would still have my pay stubs so thank you! 

[Jules15 5]

1 hour ago, Ayrton said:

You became ineligible because you sent an incorrect affidavit. The household is incorrect so they can't say if you're eligible or not. It probably has nothing to do with the documents you sent.

Oh man that didn’t occur to me? I printed out the    one that USCIS lead me to print. It’s titled “Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA”. Thanks for your advice. 

[Jules15 5]

I think I have realized my mistake when filing out the affidavit of support. I filed I-864 and under “part 1. basis for filing affidavit of support”, I, without thinking, selected item number 1a. After reading the instructions on how to fill out the affidavit of support, I believe I should have checked item  1.d because I am no the only one sponsoring my husband. Please correct me if I am wrong though but I’m assuming that’s where I went wrong. I’ll also have to correct the household size under part 5 and 2. So do I just cross out the “1” and put in a “2” because it is just my husband and I. 
 

I can’t thank everyone enough for their advice. Literally everyone has been so helpful. I worked over night last night and it’s been on my mind, I can’t rest until I can figure it out.