Joint sponsor is “married filed jointly” on taxes . Can the joint sponsor’s spouse be excluded?

[Beegee24 0]

My joint sponsor is married and file taxes jointly.My joint sponsor makes well over the minimum income to sponsor my husband. I have heard from a couple lawyers saying that the joint sponsor’s wife is not required to be a sponsor household member.

 

Have any of you tried using one spouse as a joint sponsor and not the other? And what was your response from NVC when you tried?

[EKT 117]

9 hours ago, Beegee24 said:

My joint sponsor is married and file taxes jointly.My joint sponsor makes well over the minimum income to sponsor my husband. I have heard from a couple lawyers saying that the joint sponsor’s wife is not required to be a sponsor household member.

 

Have any of you tried using one spouse as a joint sponsor and not the other? And what was your response from NVC when you tried?

According the instructions, yes. It says if individual income is enough to meet 125% FPL (remember to include beneficiary in JS household size) then you do not need to list or include any other household member’s income. Just provide JS’s W-2s and recent pay stubs with the tax transcript as the value will differ from the household income when married filing jointly. We are going this route with our JS.

Edited August 8, 2021 by EKT

[EKT 117]

From the I-864 instructions on p.8:

 

Item Numbers 8. - 22. Current Annual Household Income. This section is used to determine the sponsor’s household income. If your individual annual income listed in Item Number 7. is greater than 125 percent (or 100 percent if you are on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces or U.S. Coast Guard and sponsoring your spouse or child) of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for your household size from Part 5., Item Number 8., you do not need to include any other household member’s income. See Form I-864P for information on the Federal Poverty Guidelines.

 

and a bit further down...

 

If you provide a photocopy of your Federal individual income tax returns, you must include a copy of each and every Form W-2 and Form 1099 that relates to your returns. Do not include copies of these forms if you provide an IRS transcript of your Federal individual income tax returns rather than a photocopy unless you filed a joint income tax return with your spouse and are qualifying using only your income.

[Chancy 6,241]

On 8/7/2021 at 10:15 PM, Beegee24 said:

My joint sponsor is married and file taxes jointly.My joint sponsor makes well over the minimum income to sponsor my husband. I have heard from a couple lawyers saying that the joint sponsor’s wife is not required to be a sponsor household member.

 

Based on the I-864 instructions, it's true that if the sponsor's income alone is enough to qualify, their spouse is not required to sign as a household member.  But, some consul officers ask for an I-1864A from the sponsor's spouse anyway, especially if they file taxes MFJ.

 

In your case, you can wait to see if the CO will ask for an I-864A from your joint sponsor's spouse.  To avoid delay, I recommend preparing a signed I-864A from the spouse in time for the visa interview.  If the CO doesn't ask, no need to bring it up.

 

Here's a recent case that was delayed because a CO asked for an I-864A even if the sponsor's income alone was more than sufficient --

 

 

[Chancy 6,241]

*** Moved from IR1/CR1 Progress Reports to IR1/CR1 Process & Procedures ***

 

[pushbrk 12,884]

7 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

Based on the I-864 instructions, it's true that if the sponsor's income alone is enough to qualify, their spouse is not required to sign as a household member.  But, some consul officers ask for an I-1864A from the sponsor's spouse anyway, especially if they file taxes MFJ.

 

In your case, you can wait to see if the CO will ask for an I-864A from your joint sponsor's spouse.  To avoid delay, I recommend preparing a signed I-864A from the spouse in time for the visa interview.  If the CO doesn't ask, no need to bring it up.

 

Here's a recent case that was delayed because a CO asked for an I-864A even if the sponsor's income alone was more than sufficient --

 

 

This is the correct and complete answer.  I would simply elaborate further.  If the spouse insists on being excluded, you may well be in for a big disappointment when the Consular Officer insists on an affidavit from them.  You'll then be looking for a new joint sponsor.

 

The "best practice" is to include an I-864a from the joint filing spouse.