Affidavit of support with no tax returns

[ValentinB 1]

 Hello! My wife will be filing an Affidavit of Support for my adjustment of status. She has never filed her taxes before, because she was a student and had almost no income so she thought she didn't need to. We just sent all of her tax returns for the previous years but we won't have the transcript on time to include it in the AOS package. 

She now has a job and makes roughly $41k a year, but since she just started working in October we are going to use a joint sponsor who has been working his whole life and has enough financial resources. 

I have two questions: 

1. I know that my wife HAS to file an affidavit of support for me, I don't think that it will be approved since she just started her job and we won't be including her tax return transcripts. Would my AOS still go through if my wife's affidavit is declined but our joint sponsor's is approved?   

2. Can the joint sponsor be the person my wife is contracting for in one of her jobs? He's a family friend and we live with him. 

 

Thank you guys for your time, and have a nice day! 

Valentin 

[Crazy Cat 42,317]

1.  Yes.  That is the purpose of having a joint sponsor.  

2.  A joint sponsor can be any qualified US citizen or qualified Legal Resident living in the US.

Edited December 21, 2020 by Lucky Cat

[Ayrton 965]

25 minutes ago, ValentinB said:

 Hello! My wife will be filing an Affidavit of Support for my adjustment of status. She has never filed her taxes before, because she was a student and had almost no income so she thought she didn't need to. We just sent all of her tax returns for the previous years but we won't have the transcript on time to include it in the AOS package. 

She now has a job and makes roughly $41k a year, but since she just started working in October we are going to use a joint sponsor who has been working his whole life and has enough financial resources. 

I have two questions: 

1. I know that my wife HAS to file an affidavit of support for me, I don't think that it will be approved since she just started her job and we won't be including her tax return transcripts. Would my AOS still go through if my wife's affidavit is declined but our joint sponsor's is approved?   

2. Can the joint sponsor be the person my wife is contracting for in one of her jobs? He's a family friend and we live with him. 

 

Thank you guys for your time, and have a nice day! 

Valentin 

Affidavits of Support aren't petitions to be approved or denied. They are contracts between the sponsor and the government to support you, and they are in effect the moment you become a PR.

 

She's not required to send tax returns to USCIS if she was not required to file them with the IRS. That's why the instructions are pretty clear and tell you to give them the reason why a tax return wasn't filed. In her case, not enough income to be required to file.

 

What should matter to the IO is her Current Annual Income, not what it says on her previous taxes (even though they can still check the whole scenario). If her income now is above the poverty line, you guys are good to go and no joint sponsor is required. Send employment letter and paystubs to support that.

 

I understand that since it's a new job, you might think you need a joint sponsor, which is fine and will eliminate the trouble a misinformed officer can cause. But a joint sponsor in your case is not required.

[HRQX 4,145]

1 hour ago, ValentinB said:

I don't think that it will be approved since she just started her job

It's a judgment call by the IO but current income is KING. Recent paystubs and a letter from employer are usually used in this scenario.

1 hour ago, ValentinB said:

and we won't be including her tax return transcripts.

She'll still have to write a letter saying that for previous tax years her income was below the IRS filing threshold.

[ValentinB 1]

Thank you guys for all of your answers! It helped us a lot, we are filing all of the paperwork.