Is my Tax Return above the 125% poverty rate requirement?

[HulkySun 4]

1 hour ago, Henry357 said:

Okay fine. Leave it as is and write a note for the CO/IO to read outlining why the income on the  tax return is understated...... what more can you do?

Hey Henry, I believe I already stated several times I'm not 'leaving it as is' and never said anything about "8k expenses", quite the contrary. This means I don't need any notes to "write to the c/o".  And I don't need cake as well.  Thanks for your help

[nykolos 711]

If you have 2 in your household and you exceed the $21,550 PG + show you have assets, I don't see what basis they would have for denial. 

 

 

[carmel34 3,626]

5 minutes ago, nykolos said:

If you have 2 in your household and you exceed the $21,550 PG + show you have assets, I don't see what basis they would have for denial. 

 

 

Depends on the real value of the assets.  We see many cases here on VJ every week of borderline income that barely exceeds the minimum required and they are denied or asked for a co-sponsor.  It's a judgment call by the officer deciding the case, based on a "totality of the circumstances," and the public charge rule is being enforced more strictly these days.  Barely meeting the minimum is often not enough for approval.

[Cndn 98]

3 minutes ago, carmel34 said:

Depends on the real value of the assets.  We see many cases here on VJ every week of borderline income that barely exceeds the minimum required and they are denied or asked for a co-sponsor.  It's a judgment call by the officer deciding the case, based on a "totality of the circumstances," and the public charge rule is being enforced more strictly these days.  Barely meeting the minimum is often not enough for approval.

Can you link some examples? I’m curious to see some of these. 

[Henry357 70]

1 hour ago, HulkySun said:

Hey Henry, I believe I already stated several times I'm not 'leaving it as is' and never said anything about "8k expenses", quite the contrary. This means I don't need any notes to "write to the c/o".  And I don't need cake as well.  Thanks for your help

You said 3k in taxes.  Sounds like 8k to me because that’s my marginal rate. (Around 40 pct)  I had to go reread the comment. 

But at your income might be way more as you noted because of the lower tax bracket.   (15 pct)

Edited July 15, 2020 by Henry357

[HulkySun 4]

38 minutes ago, Henry357 said:

You said 3k in taxes.  Sounds like 8k to me because that’s my marginal rate. (Around 40 pct)  I had to go reread the comment. 

But at your income might be way more as you noted because of the lower tax bracket.   (15 pct)

Hey again, I said " 3k more in taxes than I thought I would"

 

Which means if I was already prepared to pay 6k in owed taxes, now its 9k  = 3k I wasn't prepared for

 

Something like that

[JeanneAdil 6,498]

3 hours ago, Cndn said:

No. I was simply wondering out loud (probably not a good idea to do that here) about whether or not IO’s view self employed income differently. I was absolutely not making an assertion that they SHOULD view it differently. Another user pointed out that all self employed deductions are for money used toward business expenses, and therefore cannot logically be also viewed as money that can support the immigrant spouse, which I accept as making perfect sense. I think that’s possibly what you’re getting at. I don’t disagree, I’m just still curious if self employed income is viewed differently by some IO’s. I’m sure it’s not. 

No as most businesses here in the USA are small privately owned (i think i saw 55%)  and that is all self employment 

work is work 

if the person just started a business and was not established,  then maybe that would be considered a little shaky but my friend owns a fast food franchise for 13 years now (and that is self employment )  He sponsored his wife from South America  with no issues

 

[RUJEN 140]

I am also self employed, have been for 25 years as a grading contractor, I gross well over $100,000 a year but after expenses, my AGI is around $15,000-$20,000. I was just planning on using my business assets and stocks to show stability and not becoming a public charge. most of my tax deductions is depreciation on heavy equipment and new trucks, over $35,000 a year I am depreciating now. from what I am reading here, could this cause red flags??

[nykolos 711]

7 hours ago, carmel34 said:

Depends on the real value of the assets.  We see many cases here on VJ every week of borderline income that barely exceeds the minimum required and they are denied or asked for a co-sponsor.  It's a judgment call by the officer deciding the case, based on a "totality of the circumstances," and the public charge rule is being enforced more strictly these days.  Barely meeting the minimum is often not enough for approval.

I agree the filers income is way too close to what's required, My next question would be;  what is a safe amount over the poverty guidelines?, would it be $1000? $2000? $5000?  If for example $1000 is safe, then all the filer needs to show is 5 times the asset(s),  For $1000, he would need at least a $5,000 asset.. I think I got that right 

 

 

[geowrian 22,337]

17 hours ago, RUJEN said:

I am also self employed, have been for 25 years as a grading contractor, I gross well over $100,000 a year but after expenses, my AGI is around $15,000-$20,000. I was just planning on using my business assets and stocks to show stability and not becoming a public charge. most of my tax deductions is depreciation on heavy equipment and new trucks, over $35,000 a year I am depreciating now. from what I am reading here, could this cause red flags??

It's really the total income line, not AGI (unless you use the 1040EZ, which I doubt applies here).

If you personally own an asset, that's fine to use alongside or in lieu of income, with sufficient documentation + showing that selling them would not impose a hardship. If an asset is in the name of the business, then it would not qualify - the business cannot be a financial sponsor.

 

17 hours ago, nykolos said:

I agree the filers income is way too close to what's required, My next question would be;  what is a safe amount over the poverty guidelines?, would it be $1000? $2000? $5000?  If for example $1000 is safe, then all the filer needs to show is 5 times the asset(s),  For $1000, he would need at least a $5,000 asset.. I think I got that right 

There's no amount I would call "safe" because it all depends on the circumstances. I have seen more than 1 public charge refusal (including before the updated rule that was generally more strict) with a sponsor making over $100k/year. But they also had heavily weighted negative factors ("recent" bankruptcy and use of multiple public benefits). I've seen new student grads making under $30k/year be successful without any issue.

Manila, as noted, tends to be more lenient on this IMHO...many times not even asking for the I-134 (although USCIS absolutely will need an I-864 for the AOS process later). The UK is pretty lenient IMO, even letting the sponsor self-sponsor with assets suitable to cover their stay pre-AOS. India, on the other hands, tends to be quite strict.

 

You really need to look at the totality of the circumstances, including the factors mentioned in the FAM: https://fam.state.gov/FAM/09FAM/09FAM030208.html#M302_8_2_B_2) to get an idea of what to expect.

 

If you really want some sort of number, in general 250% or more of the FPL is considered a heavily weighted positive factor. That doesn't mean under between 125% and 250% is likely to be a refusal, just that it doesn't tick the "heavily weighted positive factor" mental box when looking at all the positive and negative factors.

Something like $1000/year over the minimum would likely be trivial in the big picture, IMO. $5000/year may or may not be trivial.

[Cheburashka34 228]

43 minutes ago, geowrian said:

It's really the total income line, not AGI (unless you use the 1040EZ, which I doubt applies here).

If you personally own an asset, that's fine to use alongside or in lieu of income, with sufficient documentation + showing that selling them would not impose a hardship. If an asset is in the name of the business, then it would not qualify - the business cannot be a financial sponsor.

 

There's no amount I would call "safe" because it all depends on the circumstances. I have seen more than 1 public charge refusal (including before the updated rule that was generally more strict) with a sponsor making over $100k/year. But they also had heavily weighted negative factors ("recent" bankruptcy and use of multiple public benefits). I've seen new student grads making under $30k/year be successful without any issue.

Manila, as noted, tends to be more lenient on this IMHO...many times not even asking for the I-134 (although USCIS absolutely will need an I-864 for the AOS process later). The UK is pretty lenient IMO, even letting the sponsor self-sponsor with assets suitable to cover their stay pre-AOS. India, on the other hands, tends to be quite strict.

 

You really need to look at the totality of the circumstances, including the factors mentioned in the FAM: https://fam.state.gov/FAM/09FAM/09FAM030208.html#M302_8_2_B_2) to get an idea of what to expect.

 

If you really want some sort of number, in general 250% or more of the FPL is considered a heavily weighted positive factor. That doesn't mean under between 125% and 250% is likely to be a refusal, just that it doesn't tick the "heavily weighted positive factor" mental box when looking at all the positive and negative factors.

Something like $1000/year over the minimum would likely be trivial in the big picture, IMO. $5000/year may or may not be trivial.

That's unsettling 😕 I'm currently working and going to school full time so I can't really help that I don't have a huge salary yet. But I could definitely still support both of us on my current job 

[RUJEN 140]

@geowrian Thank you very much for the insight about NOT being able to use business equipment as assets, it saves me a lot of paperwork, I do have plenty in the stock market which is much more than FPL, so I guess I can just use that alone, thank you.......

[Darlyn25 2]

On 7/14/2020 at 2:35 PM, HulkySun said:

Tax day is cracking down. I want to have this years taxes in order. Self Employed. I am sponsoring k1 visa fiancee.  Does this this example 1040 Self Employed document satisfy the 125% poverty rate requirement for 2 household size for Fiancee in the interview?

 

You would be amazed what conflicting information I found for what they look for.  Adjusted Gross income line 8b vs Total income line 7a.  thank you so much and looking forward to filing. 

 

Also since there is conflicting info would it be safer to concentrate on the AGI to be above 125% ?

 

 

 

 

Look at what assets you have also look at getting a part time job or increasing your income. 

Since you are going from the Philippines, you can not get a joint sponsor for a K1 visa. 

Many US embassies accept joint sponsors for fiance visas. However, unfortunately, the most popular country for the K1 visa, the Philippines, doesn't allow them. They do allow joint sponsors for married couples applying for CR1 visas, but not the fiance visa.May 13, 2019

This could be something to check the website and get the I-134 and 1-864 . Might not need both, but good reference point. 

[Redheadguy03 505]

On 7/14/2020 at 3:57 PM, geowrian said:

Depends a lot on the circumstances. For instance, $30k/year a year is reasonable to live in my area, but would be woefully inadequate in a city nearby (Philadelphia or NYC).

Also, the age, health, education, work experience, etc. will matter.

See here: https://fam.state.gov/FAM/09FAM/09FAM030208.html#M302_8_2_B_2

 

Refusal, yes. But a refusal does not mean you start all over...it can be overcome, such as by presenting a suitable I-134 from a co sponsor.

You can live on 30k where you are? Where the heck do you live?!? 

[geowrian 22,337]

4 hours ago, Redheadguy03 said:

You can live on 30k where you are? Where the heck do you live?!? 

Yup. I lived on $30k/year for a little while in a starter home (I paid $70k....2 bedroom/2 bath, decent size kitchen...house was in good shape, just dated). The monthly payments (including PITI) was around $550/month, and utilities were $200-$300/month, depending on the month. I actually built up my savings pretty decently the years I lived there.

Two of my closest friends earned in the $30k-$40k range when they got their own places a few years ago, too. Same sort of story.

 

According to https://www.bestplaces.net, the COL in our area is 30% below the US average. The median home cost is barely over $50k.

let me know if you want to know the area detail...I don't want to post it in the forum. My Inbox is always full, but I can make some room if I have a heads up.