I-864 co-sponsor and interview questions

[Jaclyn K 9]

Hi, I’m new to the forum and can’t seem to find an answer to a couple of my questions. If anyone has experience with either of the following I would greatly appreciate the help!
 

1. Regarding the I-864, as I live in the UK with my husband (intending immigrant) my Dad is planning to co-sponsor him as I made only a very limited US income last year having moved to the UK in February 2019. If my father and mother filed their 2019 income tax jointly then do they both need to be co-sponsors for the I-864 as their tax return reflects both incomes?

 

2. We were able to get a medical exam scheduled right away, however, when trying to schedule an appointment at the embassy for the actual visa interview it says “No appointments available.” Is this normal and if so, do we have to keep logging on to try to grab an appointment cancellation or will they release more periodically?

[os306 103]

1 hour ago, Jaclyn K said:

Hi, I’m new to the forum and can’t seem to find an answer to a couple of my questions. If anyone has experience with either of the following I would greatly appreciate the help!
 

1. Regarding the I-864, as I live in the UK with my husband (intending immigrant) my Dad is planning to co-sponsor him as I made only a very limited US income last year having moved to the UK in February 2019. If my father and mother filed their 2019 income tax jointly then do they both need to be co-sponsors for the I-864 as their tax return reflects both incomes?

 

2. We were able to get a medical exam scheduled right away, however, when trying to schedule an appointment at the embassy for the actual visa interview it says “No appointments available.” Is this normal and if so, do we have to keep logging on to try to grab an appointment cancellation or will they release more periodically?

Hi and welcome.

 

1. So your husband would need the following:

- I-864 from you (primary sponsor)

- I-864 from your dad (joint sponsor) 

- I-864A from your mother (household member of joint sponsor) even if her income is zero.

 

Bear in mind that you would also need to provide supporting documentation to accompany the two I-864s and the I-864A. In your case, it would be proof of citizenship, your 2019 tax transcript or statement in lieu of this explaining that you were not required to file taxes (if this applies to you). In your dad's case it would be proof of citizenship/legal permanent resident status, 2019 tax transcript, proof of income (i.e. 6 months of pay-stubs and a letter from his employer confirming his income). To accompany your mother's I-864A you would also need her proof of citizenship/LPR status. These instructions actually explain things relatively well: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr-pc.pdf

 

2. You'll need to keep logging in to check for available interview slots. Currently, it looks like the Embassy is releasing slots two days a week. There were a couple of slots for the beginning of September a few days ago, but these were filled pretty quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2020 by os306

[Jaclyn K 9]

23 minutes ago, os306 said:

Hi and welcome.

 

1. So your husband would need the following:

- I-864 from you (primary sponsor)

- I-864 from your dad (joint sponsor) 

- I-864A from your mother (household member of joint sponsor) even if her income is zero.

 

Bear in mind that you would also need to provide supporting documentation to accompany the two I-864s and the I-864A. In your case, it would be proof of citizenship, your 2019 tax transcript or statement in lieu of this explaining that you were not required to file taxes (if this applies to you). In your dad's case it would be proof of citizenship/legal permanent resident status, 2019 tax transcript, proof of income (i.e. 6 months of pay-stubs and a letter from his employer confirming his income). To accompany your mother's I-864A you would also need her proof of citizenship/LPR status. These instructions actually explain things relatively well: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr-pc.pdf

 

2. You'll need to keep logging in to check for available interview slots. Currently, it looks like the Embassy is releasing slots two days a week. There were a couple of slots for the beginning of September a few days ago, but these were filled pretty quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, that is extremely helpful! Next question... my dad is retired and mom is self employed. I found a list of documents required for retirees including recent pension statements, social security documents, 2019 tax return, and previous six months bank statements. As a household member (I-864A), do we need to provide any documentation of my mom’s self-employment?

[os306 103]

10 minutes ago, Jaclyn K said:

Thank you, that is extremely helpful! Next question... my dad is retired and mom is self employed. I found a list of documents required for retirees including recent pension statements, social security documents, 2019 tax return, and previous six months bank statements. As a household member (I-864A), do we need to provide any documentation of my mom’s self-employment?

 

That's a good question - if the amount your dad makes from retirement is sufficient and he is not pooling your mother's income as a household member, then I don't think your mom needs to provide any information beyond the joint 2019 tax transcript. However, I'm not 100% sure on this - tagging @pushbrk who is the authority on this. Note: a tax transcript is preferable to a tax return as it provides a breakdown of the income reported by your mother and father separately.

 

 

[Jaclyn K 9]

2 minutes ago, os306 said:

 

That's a good question - if the amount your dad makes from retirement is sufficient and he is not pooling your mother's income as a household member, then I don't think your mom needs to provide any information beyond the joint 2019 tax transcript. However, I'm not 100% sure on this - tagging @pushbrk who is the authority on this. Note: a tax transcript is preferable to a tax return as it provides a breakdown of the income reported by your mother and father separately.

 

 

Okay, my dad makes enough to cover the income requirement alone, but we’re more than happy to provide her proof Of income if it’ll help. 

[pushbrk 12,998]

6 hours ago, os306 said:

 

That's a good question - if the amount your dad makes from retirement is sufficient and he is not pooling your mother's income as a household member, then I don't think your mom needs to provide any information beyond the joint 2019 tax transcript. However, I'm not 100% sure on this - tagging @pushbrk who is the authority on this. Note: a tax transcript is preferable to a tax return as it provides a breakdown of the income reported by your mother and father separately.

 

 

Thanks for tagging me, but mom needs to provide an I-864a and THAT is not the reason a tax RETURN transcript is preferred to a complete copy of a tax return.

[pushbrk 12,998]

6 hours ago, Jaclyn K said:

Thank you, that is extremely helpful! Next question... my dad is retired and mom is self employed. I found a list of documents required for retirees including recent pension statements, social security documents, 2019 tax return, and previous six months bank statements. As a household member (I-864A), do we need to provide any documentation of my mom’s self-employment?

If you found a iist somewhere other than the actual instructions, why trust it.  A current declaration letter from Social Security and any pension.  No need for bank statements unless using assets to help qualify.  The complete tax return or tax return transcript IS the evidence of a self employed person's current income.  Best for self employed to provide a complete tax return for 2019 along with the tax return transcript, because the schedule C is clearer on her income.

[Jaclyn K 9]

On 8/23/2020 at 11:13 PM, pushbrk said:

Thanks for tagging me, but mom needs to provide an I-864a and THAT is not the reason a tax RETURN transcript is preferred to a complete copy of a tax return.

Sorry, can I just confirm... if my dad’s income is sufficient to cover my husband, do I still need to fill out an I-864A for my mother? 

[Morgan5698 58]

3 hours ago, Jaclyn K said:

Sorry, can I just confirm... if my dad’s income is sufficient to cover my husband, do I still need to fill out an I-864A for my mother?

pushbrk is the go to guy on i-864 so he'll correct me if I'm wrong. But I believe if you are just using your fathers income and not your mothers, then she does not need to fill out an i-864a. However you will need to supply all W2's and 1099's etc that make up your fathers portion of the tax return (assuming they filed jointly) to prove his income alone is sufficient for the sponsor. 

[pushbrk 12,998]

6 hours ago, Morgan5698 said:

pushbrk is the go to guy on i-864 so he'll correct me if I'm wrong. But I believe if you are just using your fathers income and not your mothers, then she does not need to fill out an i-864a. However you will need to supply all W2's and 1099's etc that make up your fathers portion of the tax return (assuming they filed jointly) to prove his income alone is sufficient for the sponsor. 

You believe incorrectly.  I already advised the OP.  Yes, she needs to provide an I-864a regardless of ANYTHING.

[Morgan5698 58]

9 hours ago, pushbrk said:

You believe incorrectly.  I already advised the OP.  Yes, she needs to provide an I-864a regardless of ANYTHING.

I took it from the i-864 instructions based on the below. Happy to be wrong, but worth clarifying.

 

 

 

[pushbrk 12,998]

2 hours ago, Morgan5698 said:

I took it from the i-864 instructions based on the below. Happy to be wrong, but worth clarifying.

 

 

 

Those are USCIS instructions.  USCIS does not issue visas.  In actual practice, Consular Officers want to see an I-864a from any joint filing spouse, in joint sponsor situations.  The instructions do not cover every possible context, and they are not binding on Consular Officers.

[Jaclyn K 9]

3 hours ago, Morgan5698 said:

I took it from the i-864 instructions based on the below. Happy to be wrong, but worth clarifying.

 

 

 

That is actually the reason I came back to this post and asked for clarification. I was reading through the instructions above, when filling out the form a couple days ago, and it looked as though it wasn’t required. I will complete one anyway. 

Edited September 2, 2020 by Jaclyn K