NVC says I do not meet the income requirements, but I do. I'm confused.

[Cndn 98]

9 minutes ago, JFH said:

We have seen it here before that even if the person is over the pre-set level, it is still rejected. That’s why I asked which state. I think they look at that and see if the income could adequately support the number of people based on average cost of living in that state. Here is western Washington $41,000 would be very difficult to stretch to 5 people. Presumably the wife will be looking for work when she arrives so that will help. 
 

Looks like the OP has a good head for business if he can turn $320 in goods into $74,000 in sales with no refunds or returns. 

It makes sense that they would look at the cost of living for each particular area, I just find it really cruel for some families to think they qualify to be reunited only to be told no, through no fault of their own. They list Alaska and Hawaii as states where residents applying need to earn more, so maybe they should do the same for some of the other states, instead of just lumping all the 48 contiguous together. Then people can get a real sense of whether or not they should actually bother applying before wasting time and money.  
 

I’m in Western Washington too with a household of 6 (4 kids - 2 are my stepkids that reside with us 50% of the time). My husband is self employed and his taxes will reflect about $12k over the 125% line for the household size. They don’t take into consideration that there is another person 50% financially responsible for 2 of the kids in the house as well, I’m assuming. Would we be told to find a joint sponsor? How borderline are we talking here? Have there been cases You’ve seen where people made over $5k of their minimum requirement and been told to find a joint sponsor? I’m getting a little worried here. 

Edited August 27, 2020 by Cndn

[vincentlina 74]

5 minutes ago, JFH said:

We have seen it here before that even if the person is over the pre-set level, it is still rejected. That’s why I asked which state. I think they look at that and see if the income could adequately support the number of people based on average cost of living in that state. Here is western Washington $41,000 would be very difficult to stretch to 5 people. Presumably the wife will be looking for work when she arrives so that will help. 
 

Looks like the OP has a good head for business if he can turn $320 in goods into $74,000 in sales with no refunds or returns. 

I have very little COG because my business is entirely that of IT consultancy (programming, web development, remote VMWare, Exchange support, etc.). COGs are simply small software utilities and other minor purchases I make in support of the software or support services I provide.

 

This why I am puzzled they do not take income trajectory into consideration giving that I've only relocated to the US in 2017, and my income has increased steadily year over year.

[JFH 12,190]

31 minutes ago, Cndn said:

It makes sense that they would look at the cost of living for each particular area, I just find it really cruel for some families to think they qualify to be reunited only to be told no, through no fault of their own. They list Alaska and Hawaii as states where residents applying need to earn more, so maybe they should do the same for some of the other states, instead of just lumping all the 48 contiguous together. Then people can get a real sense of whether or not they should actually bother applying before wasting time and money.  
 

I’m in Western Washington too with a household of 6 (4 kids - 2 are my stepkids that reside with us 50% of the time). My husband is self employed and his taxes will reflect about $12k over the 125% line for the household size. They don’t take into consideration that there is another person 50% financially responsible for 2 of the kids in the house as well, I’m assuming. Would we be told to find a joint sponsor? How borderline are we talking here? Have there been cases You’ve seen where people made over $5k of their minimum requirement and been told to find a joint sponsor? I’m getting a little worried here. 

$12k over in steady employment should be fine. 
 

But I agree that if COs are going to use discretion and include such things as regional cost of living variations then the whole I-864P is pretty pointless. Obviously here in western Washington our costs are considerably higher than people in rural North Dakota, for example. Yet we are on the same measuring scale. I do believe that 125% of the federal poverty line is too low to comfortably support people coming into the country but each circumstance is different. Our joint sponsor makes over $180,000 a year (my in-laws are all miners and mining is good money but horrible work). On paper it looks fantastic. But they don’t take into consideration your outgoings. Mortgage, car payments, property taxes, etc. They vary hugely. Someone could be making $40,000 a year but living rent and mortgage free. Someone else could be making $160,000 but paying over $7k a month in rent (I have seen places that rent for that much in Microsoftland in Bellevue). 

[Cndn 98]

7 minutes ago, JFH said:

$12k over in steady employment should be fine. 
 

But I agree that if COs are going to use discretion and include such things as regional cost of living variations then the whole I-864P is pretty pointless. Obviously here in western Washington our costs are considerably higher than people in rural North Dakota, for example. Yet we are on the same measuring scale. I do believe that 125% of the federal poverty line is too low to comfortably support people coming into the country but each circumstance is different. Our joint sponsor makes over $180,000 a year (my in-laws are all miners and mining is good money but horrible work). On paper it looks fantastic. But they don’t take into consideration your outgoings. Mortgage, car payments, property taxes, etc. They vary hugely. Someone could be making $40,000 a year but living rent and mortgage free. Someone else could be making $160,000 but paying over $7k a month in rent (I have seen places that rent for that much in Microsoftland in Bellevue). 

We live an hour north of Seattle and somewhat rurally. The cost of living here is nowhere near somewhere like Bellevue. While we are on one income until our youngest kids are elementary age there is no way we could afford to live in Seattle. We live within our means here and we are pretty comfortable. I agree it’s all pretty moot when they’re not looking at the outgoing. 
 

Thanks for the reassurance. 

[JeanneAdil 6,510]

13 hours ago, Cndn said:

I’ve always wondered why some officers do the whole borderline thing. Isn’t that why the minimum income level met must be 125% instead of just having to meet the actual poverty level? They’ve already made it so that no one who is borderline on the poverty level can apply, and then they’re arbitrarily deciding that 125% is not enough either?

They look at 3 years in his case to establish consistency as he is claiming self employed 

previous year he claimed  (9,575 and now 2019 42,032)

In these financially difficult times a self employed person can loose business easy and income can reverse

he offers to redo his 2019 taxes to bring AIG up? bad idea/ you can't change income documents just to meet standards/ not only for immigration purposes but probably would spark an IRS audit

He does need to go back and file the 2018 correctly and pay back taxes he will owe but it will not do much to help immigration at this point

 

at this point USCIS is saying not enough income so he needs a joint sponsor (one with consistent income)

[vincentlina 74]

15 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

They look at 3 years in his case to establish consistency as he is claiming self employed 

previous year he claimed  (9,575 and now 2019 42,032)

In these financially difficult times a self employed person can loose business easy and income can reverse

he offers to redo his 2019 taxes to bring AIG up? bad idea/ you can't change income documents just to meet standards/ not only for immigration purposes but probably would spark an IRS audit

He does need to go back and file the 2018 correctly and pay back taxes he will owe but it will not do much to help immigration at this point

 

at this point USCIS is saying not enough income so he needs a joint sponsor (one with consistent income)

Hi JeanneAdill, when I filed my 2017 taxes, I had just relocated to the US in October 2017 and was finishing my masters at Boston University, so my level of income was based on consultation work for October to December 2017 -- 3 months of income.

 

In refiling my 2018 taxes to correct the inaccuracy of allocating my profit/loss to wages (hence my AGI would be much higher for my 2018 taxes) and then resubmit that...you're saying they would not look at that? That would not have any effects or bearing on my 3 year average salary? 

 

Do you think if I submit evidence of my bank account statements/balance as well as submitting foreign property assets fully cleared and title in my name would not help provide a better picture of my financial stability? Thanks.

[JeanneAdil 6,510]

28 minutes ago, vincentlina said:

Hi JeanneAdill, when I filed my 2017 taxes, I had just relocated to the US in October 2017 and was finishing my masters at Boston University, so my level of income was based on consultation work for October to December 2017 -- 3 months of income.

 

In refiling my 2018 taxes to correct the inaccuracy of allocating my profit/loss to wages (hence my AGI would be much higher for my 2018 taxes) and then resubmit that...you're saying they would not look at that? That would not have any effects or bearing on my 3 year average salary? 

 

Do you think if I submit evidence of my bank account statements/balance as well as submitting foreign property assets fully cleared and title in my name would not help provide a better picture of my financial stability? Thanks.

No idea really as it is up to the officer reviewing the packet but it can't hurt to send those and a letter of explanation / worth a try

NVC kept refusing my income as i am living on an annunity provided for me by my late husband and only the interest is taxable / they didn't look at untaxable income at all until i paid $300 to a lawyer in atlanta to help me

[MissMikaJesus 2]

On 8/26/2020 at 5:53 PM, vincentlina said:

Hello VJ Community,

 

My case is currently at NVC and every 2+ months since I submitted all my documents, NVC keeps asking me for additional documents (usually under a different category heading and often times, the very "same" documents I have already submitted). 

 

In addition, one of the notes from my last Case FE Review note also made note about my case not meeting the minimum income requirements, despite my AGI meeting the income requirements for my family size (5). Can anyone please provide any guidance or assistance or analysis on what might be happening here? Honestly, I suspect these may be generated "generic" responses, but I really have no way to know with any certainty.

 

 

For this FE Note, I have summitted 3 years of Transcripts with the following years and AGI:

2017: $3,875 (I migrated to the US in October of this year, so I didn't really start earning much income)

2018: $9,575.00 (I filed incorrectly, but my AGI should have been: $38,200, but never refiled)

2019: $41,032

 

NVC's calculator (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition/affidavit-of-support.html) says 125% of poverty guideline is $38,350. So I'm puzzled why I would get this note/warning. Any ideas?

 

 

One of the other FE Review note states: "Please submit proof of Vincent's current employment. For more information, visit https://nvc.state.gov/fin." What I don't understand is, I'm self-employed and have filed my taxes as such for the last 3 years, so why are they asking me to provide proof of my "current employment"? How can a self-employed person provide proof of employment when the very category of employment is "self-employment"? Can someone please explain what exactly they are asking of me?

 

Lastly, here is a screen shot of one of the "Incomplete" section from one of my applicants that the system is asking for additional documents, that were already provided:

 

You can see they previously "accepted" my applicant's photograph in Feb 13, and now they are saying photograph is missing, but under a different label or category. Has anyone experienced this before, what's the meaning of this? Why do they keep asking for documents (in this case, a photo) which one can clearly see they already have received? It's very puzzling and frustrating.

 

Any help I can receive from anyone who may have a better understanding on what's going on would be greatly appreciated? Thanks in advance.

 

 

You will have to refile and the 2017 you have to have a house hold member or a joint sponsor  all 3 years need to reflect  the guidelines. 

[vincentlina 74]

5 hours ago, MissMikaJesus said:

You will have to refile and the 2017 you have to have a house hold member or a joint sponsor  all 3 years need to reflect  the guidelines. 

Wow. There is no way I can accommodate having my 2017 and 2018  tax years reflect the 125% PG. It is frustrating that they are using those prior years when they make an emphasis for your "current" tax year. I'm flat out not going to find a joint sponsor, so my only recourse would be to submit bank statements showing I have a healthy savings and submit documentation of foreign property/assets I currently own. If these additional documents doesn't work, then it doesn't. I have no other recourse. Please note I also did not include my Schedules (C, etc.) in my 2018 &  2019 tax transcripts, I thought once you send in tax transcripts that was all you needed to provide. Perhaps, this is what triggered the "provide proof of employment", in addition, to not providing a complete picture of my income, hence, it is just as if I have not provided any transcripts at all (proof of income)? 

[SalishSea 17,836]

12 hours ago, CurtNJRD said:

Again, must my children still be included in the i134 calculation?

Yes.

[CurtNJRD 0]

Ok thank you for your answer!