Financial Support Documents Still Necessary?

[LTUSTeam 0]

Hi, everyone!

 

I have a few questions about the necessary financial documents I will need to submit along with our AOS. I am a USC and we are doing an AOS from an H2B for my husband.

 

I am a bit confused as to the necessity of the I-944. I read a post on this forum that there was a federal court ruling that vacated the public charge requirement for filing of the I-944, but the USCIS website doesn't seem to be updated. I am assuming that I should still submit the I-944? I am hoping to submit our entire package within the next week.

 

If the I-944 is still required, I understand that there are a lot of documents that need to be provided, such as our credit reports, tax returns for last 3 years, bank statements for last 12 months, etc.

 

For our credit reports, is the Chase Credit Journey screenshot sufficient or do we need an official credit report from one of the credit agencies (e.g. Experian)? I ask because my Experian credit report doesn't show my credit score. I am also an authorized user on my parents' credit card, so even though all of my credit cards are paid off, their credit card account has a debt balance and this debt balance is listed on my Experian credit report. Does this mean I would need to get the credit card statement from my parents' credit card showing the outstanding balance? Would I need to submit an additional letter explaining that I am an authorized user and the reason for the outstanding debt?

 

As for the tax returns, are the tax return transcripts downloaded from IRS.gov sufficient or do I need to send the actual return that I filed through TurboTax?

 

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

 

 

[Chancy 6,241]

Please note that the I-944 form is not the financial support document.  It is the Declaration of Self-Sufficiency.  The I-864 is the Affidavit of Support form and it is not going away anytime soon.

 

1 hour ago, LTUSTeam said:

I am a bit confused as to the necessity of the I-944. I read a post on this forum that there was a federal court ruling that vacated the public charge requirement for filing of the I-944, but the USCIS website doesn't seem to be updated. I am assuming that I should still submit the I-944?

 

I-944 is still required until USCIS says otherwise.  The USCIS website is updated with the latest information on the ongoing appeal against the court ruling you mentioned -- https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/public-charge/inadmissibility-on-public-charge-grounds-final-rule-litigation

 

1 hour ago, LTUSTeam said:

If the I-944 is still required, I understand that there are a lot of documents that need to be provided, such as our credit reports, tax returns for last 3 years, bank statements for last 12 months, etc.

 

For the I-944, it is the immigrant's information that is required.  So only your husband's credit report must be submitted, yours is not required.  As for your tax filings, those are required for the I-864.  Submit the IRS tax transcripts.

 

[LTUSTeam 0]

21 hours ago, Chancy said:

Please note that the I-944 form is not the financial support document.  It is the Declaration of Self-Sufficiency.  The I-864 is the Affidavit of Support form and it is not going away anytime soon.

 

 

I-944 is still required until USCIS says otherwise.  The USCIS website is updated with the latest information on the ongoing appeal against the court ruling you mentioned -- https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/public-charge/inadmissibility-on-public-charge-grounds-final-rule-litigation

 

 

For the I-944, it is the immigrant's information that is required.  So only your husband's credit report must be submitted, yours is not required.  As for your tax filings, those are required for the I-864.  Submit the IRS tax transcripts.

 

Thank you so much for the clarification! Embarrassed by my oversight, I was working off of my checklist for the I-485 and realized I had mislabeled/confused the I-864 and I-944 support docs.

 

Could I trouble you with a few other questions?

 

1. Is the I-94 web record on its own enough evidence to show inspection and admission for Form I-485? My husband didn’t get his passport stamped by the CBP officer at his POE but we were able to get the I-94 electronically from the website.

2. He previously held a J-1 visa in 2014 and it specifically exempted him from 212(e) - the two year rule did not apply to him. We had previously consulted an immigration service here in Boston that said he would not need to disclose his old J-1 information because we’re adjusting from his H-2B but after re-reading the Form I-485 instructions, it sounds like we do need submit a picture of his old J-1 visa?

 

[Chancy 6,241]

8 hours ago, LTUSTeam said:

Thank you so much for the clarification! Embarrassed by my oversight, I was working off of my checklist for the I-485 and realized I had mislabeled/confused the I-864 and I-944 support docs.

 

No worries.  We researched for months about the USCIS forms we needed for our process, then realized after submitting that we still made a mistake in filling out an entry   It's good that you're catching errors now rather than later.

 

8 hours ago, LTUSTeam said:

1. Is the I-94 web record on its own enough evidence to show inspection and admission for Form I-485? My husband didn’t get his passport stamped by the CBP officer at his POE but we were able to get the I-94 electronically from the website.

 

Yes, a copy of his latest I-94 record (and H2B visa) is enough.

 

If your husband is bothered about not having a passport stamp for his recent entry, try contacting a CBP deferred inspection site to ask if they can stamp his passport -- https://www.cbp.gov/contact/ports/deferred-inspection-sites

 

8 hours ago, LTUSTeam said:

2. He previously held a J-1 visa in 2014 and it specifically exempted him from 212(e) - the two year rule did not apply to him. We had previously consulted an immigration service here in Boston that said he would not need to disclose his old J-1 information because we’re adjusting from his H-2B but after re-reading the Form I-485 instructions, it sounds like we do need submit a picture of his old J-1 visa?

 

Yes, submit a copy of his old J1 visa and all relevant forms (if available), as specified in the I-485 form instructions.