Affidavit of Support and i944

[Mchole 1]

Hi everyone ! My wife and I are going through the AOS process now filling up all the paperwork. When we filled for her K-1 in 2019, my mother was the sponsor and filled out the affidavit of support papers. I was unemployed at the time and live with my parents. I started a new job in March 2020 however and just received my W-2. 
 

Do I still need a sponsor or can I include my W-2, paystubs, and employment verification letter as proof of income without any recent tax history? I will be filing taxes before the deadline this year but won’t be able to in time as her visa expires in a few weeks. Also, will I still need to fill out an affidavit of support even though I am her husband? 
 

Likewise, I do live with my parents but they don’t include me as a dependent on taxes. Do we need to include them on the i944? 

[Ayrton 965]

8 minutes ago, Mchole said:

Hi everyone ! My wife and I are going through the AOS process now filling up all the paperwork. When we filled for her K-1 in 2019, my mother was the sponsor and filled out the affidavit of support papers. I was unemployed at the time and live with my parents. I started a new job in March 2020 however and just received my W-2. 
 

Do I still need a sponsor or can I include my W-2, paystubs, and employment verification letter as proof of income without any recent tax history? I will be filing taxes before the deadline this year but won’t be able to in time as her visa expires in a few weeks. Also, will I still need to fill out an affidavit of support even though I am her husband? 
 

Likewise, I do live with my parents but they don’t include me as a dependent on taxes. Do we need to include them on the i944? 

The US spouse is always the main sponsor, so they must fill out the main 864.

 

If your current salary/hourly rate is higher than the poverty line, you don't need a joint sponsor. Since you didn't file tax the past years, you will have to write down a statement explaining why you were not required to do so.

 

Your parents are not part of your spouse's household. i-944 is mainly about the immigrant, not the USC spouse.

[Mchole 1]

3 minutes ago, Ayrton said:

The US spouse is always the main sponsor, so they must fill out the main 864.

 

If your current salary/hourly rate is higher than the poverty line, you don't need a joint sponsor. Since you didn't file tax the past years, you will have to write down a statement explaining why you were not required to do so.

 

Your parents are not part of your spouse's household. i-944 is mainly about the immigrant, not the USC spouse.

Thank you so much for the response ! I would still count as part of the household however, correct? 
 

Also, on our marriage certificate it only lists her maiden name. Females in our country in Europe have their last names end in ska and male ends in ski. She wants to use ska with my last name as well (mine ends in ski). When we applied for a SSN a few weeks back, they allowed her to write in my last name with the ska variation. Would this cause issues when filling out the forms for AOS? Can we write her new last name on them or do we need to write her maiden? We are worried about potential RFE’s about it but we already did the change on her SSN application. 

[Ayrton 965]

2 minutes ago, Mchole said:

Thank you so much for the response ! I would still count as part of the household however, correct? 
 

Also, on our marriage certificate it only lists her maiden name. Females in our country in Europe have their last names end in ska and male ends in ski. She wants to use ska with my last name as well (mine ends in ski). When we applied for a SSN a few weeks back, they allowed her to write in my last name with the ska variation. Would this cause issues when filling out the forms for AOS? Can we write her new last name on them or do we need to write her maiden? We are worried about potential RFE’s about it but we already did the change on her SSN application. 

Marriage certificate allows for last name change. Not sure about the ska/ski. She must fill out the forms with her new legal name, whichever one she decides to have after marriage and the state she lives allows to.

 

Yes, you are part of the household.

[Joyoussinger 1,425]

10 hours ago, Ayrton said:

The US spouse is always the main sponsor, so they must fill out the main 864.

 

If your current salary/hourly rate is higher than the poverty line, you don't need a joint sponsor. Since you didn't file tax the past years, you will have to write down a statement explaining why you were not required to do so.

 

Your parents are not part of your spouse's household. i-944 is mainly about the immigrant, not the USC spouse.

Your current income needs to be at least 125% of the HHS poverty level. Here is a guide on the USCIS website. It's dated 2020, but it seems to be the most current at the moment.  https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p

[Ayrton 965]

24 minutes ago, Joyoussinger said:

Your current income needs to be at least 125% of the HHS poverty level. Here is a guide on the USCIS website. It's dated 2020, but it seems to be the most current at the moment.  https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p

I assumed OP knows that it needs to be 125%. When I mention poverty line, I'm already taking into consideration it's 125%, since only very few cases it's 100%.

[Joyoussinger 1,425]

13 minutes ago, Ayrton said:

I assumed OP knows that it needs to be 125%. When I mention poverty line, I'm already taking into consideration it's 125%, since only very few cases it's 100%.

Just being safe and assuming nothing! ☺️

[Mchole 1]

Thank you to everyone - yeah I am well above the 125% but just wasn't sure as I just started this job 10 months ago and haven't filed taxes yet for 2020 as I received my W-2 this week. I appreciate the answers to the questions !

[carmel34 3,626]

2 hours ago, Mchole said:

I just started this job 10 months ago and haven't filed taxes yet for 2020 as I received my W-2 this week.

You can file taxes now.  I just did mine over the weekend, using Turbo Tax.  The federal return is "pending" as the IRS will not start processing them until Feb. 12, but I can print or download a copy of the 1040 and all supporting schedules.  I recommend that you do your 2020 tax return now as married filing jointly, either by paper or online, and include a copy of your full return and all schedules/W2, with your AOS package.  Good luck!

[Mchole 1]

On 1/26/2021 at 2:11 PM, carmel34 said:

You can file taxes now.  I just did mine over the weekend, using Turbo Tax.  The federal return is "pending" as the IRS will not start processing them until Feb. 12, but I can print or download a copy of the 1040 and all supporting schedules.  I recommend that you do your 2020 tax return now as married filing jointly, either by paper or online, and include a copy of your full return and all schedules/W2, with your AOS package.  Good luck!

I filed with turbo tax as well, filing married separately,  but due to my wife not having a SSN I can't e-file the return. I must send it in through mail. I was able to print out the 1040 however all filled out. Can I still submit this 1040 along with my W2 for our AOS prior to mailing it in? I know that the mail in processing takes longer now (according to IRS site) and we need to send in our AOS by next week as her 90 day ends next Friday. We have submitted an application for her SSN but we were told by the office that that our case requires additional checks so it will take over 4 weeks to process. We are sort of on a time crunch and freaking out that we might do something wrong with our documentation for the AOS although we have everything else. 

[Ayrton 965]

1 hour ago, Mchole said:

I filed with turbo tax as well, filing married separately,  but due to my wife not having a SSN I can't e-file the return. I must send it in through mail. I was able to print out the 1040 however all filled out. Can I still submit this 1040 along with my W2 for our AOS prior to mailing it in? I know that the mail in processing takes longer now (according to IRS site) and we need to send in our AOS by next week as her 90 day ends next Friday. We have submitted an application for her SSN but we were told by the office that that our case requires additional checks so it will take over 4 weeks to process. We are sort of on a time crunch and freaking out that we might do something wrong with our documentation for the AOS although we have everything else. 

2020 taxes are not required until April 15th. Don't delay filing for AOS because of taxes.

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,092]

On 1/30/2021 at 8:21 AM, Ayrton said:

2020 taxes are not required until April 15th. Don't delay filing for AOS because of taxes.

In fact, don't delay filing for AOS for any reason other than changing your mind about wanting to stay in the US.