Confusion over i864 income levels - lot of difference advices from different lawyers - Please advice!

[pulsarvisa 0]

First of all I want to apologize if this question is asked a lot of times. I am new to this forum, and also confused how USCIS estimates our income - so please be nice.

I got married the previous year before Christmas. I was a permanent resident then and I recently became a US citizen. I applied for my wife's i130 (currently she is in India) a month ago. After I became a citizen the i130 changed from 'application received' to 'actively reviewing'. The case is at Cali Service Center and I know I have to apply for i864 soon. Well, the problem is I did not make a lot of money in the previous years(2018,2019 & 2020). I am single - no dependents (except of course my recently married wife) and live in Florida. So according to the Federal rules, I should be making at least $21775) to sponsor her. Unfortunately, my income was only $28000(2018),  $12500(2019), $21667(2020) for these years.

But to be honest I was a student in 2018 and 2019 and Corona screwed my job opportunities in 2020. Thankfully, this year I have a stable income - I could end up making $33000 by the end of the year. And here is where the confusion starts.

Some people say, that during the interview, the consular sees only my 'current income' and since I will be making $33000 this year - I will be OK. Some people say the consular will look at my previous year's tax returns and conclude that my income was not enough. So they advice to definitely get a sponsor. Who is correct? I prefer not to have a sponsor, because I don't know anyone that will risk it for me.

 

If the consular looks only at the current income, how does he/she actually know I am making the current amount of money. Since I have not submitted taxes for the current year, cant I just lie(or in this case anyone) and say that I am making more than 100k a year? How would they know I am not lying? So part of me thinks that the consular will look at my previous tax returns and believe them more. 

So great people of this community advice me who is correct - and what should I do? Should I get a sponsor or my current income is sufficient? 

If I want to show my current income how can I 'prove' that I will make $33000 this year? Can I attach my paystubs as proof? A letter from my employer stating that I am expected to make $33000 this year will work?

 

 

[GMvietnam 28]

33 minutes ago, pulsarvisa said:

First of all I want to apologize if this question is asked a lot of times. I am new to this forum, and also confused how USCIS estimates our income - so please be nice.

I got married the previous year before Christmas. I was a permanent resident then and I recently became a US citizen. I applied for my wife's i130 (currently she is in India) a month ago. After I became a citizen the i130 changed from 'application received' to 'actively reviewing'. The case is at Cali Service Center and I know I have to apply for i864 soon. Well, the problem is I did not make a lot of money in the previous years(2018,2019 & 2020). I am single - no dependents (except of course my recently married wife) and live in Florida. So according to the Federal rules, I should be making at least $21775) to sponsor her. Unfortunately, my income was only $28000(2018),  $12500(2019), $21667(2020) for these years.

But to be honest I was a student in 2018 and 2019 and Corona screwed my job opportunities in 2020. Thankfully, this year I have a stable income - I could end up making $33000 by the end of the year. And here is where the confusion starts.

Some people say, that during the interview, the consular sees only my 'current income' and since I will be making $33000 this year - I will be OK. Some people say the consular will look at my previous year's tax returns and conclude that my income was not enough. So they advice to definitely get a sponsor. Who is correct? I prefer not to have a sponsor, because I don't know anyone that will risk it for me.

 

If the consular looks only at the current income, how does he/she actually know I am making the current amount of money. Since I have not submitted taxes for the current year, cant I just lie(or in this case anyone) and say that I am making more than 100k a year? How would they know I am not lying? So part of me thinks that the consular will look at my previous tax returns and believe them more. 

So great people of this community advice me who is correct - and what should I do? Should I get a sponsor or my current income is sufficient? 

If I want to show my current income how can I 'prove' that I will make $33000 this year? Can I attach my paystubs as proof? A letter from my employer stating that I am expected to make $33000 this year will work?

 

 

Current income is KING....$33k is suffice and I don't previous years' income would hurt your case.  Good luck!

[Letspaintcookies 2,310]

Evidence of your current income can be paystubs and a letter from your employer stating your position and what you're making.

[Marieke H 2,512]

Pay stubs and a letter from your employer are proof of current income. To calculate your current annual income, you simply multiply the income per pay period by the number of pay periods a year.

 

However, the officer will look at the totality of circumstances, so even if your current annual income is sufficient they may or may not ask for a joint sponsor. Having someone lined up to be a joint sponsor in case they ask is always a good idea.

[pulsarvisa 0]

4 minutes ago, Letspaintcookies said:

Evidence of your current income can be paystubs and a letter from your employer stating your position and what you're making.

Thanks for the reply! So far from the answers here, it seems like current income is the king and the officer may or may not consider my previous years' income. If asked why my income was low during the previous year, my wife could just say, "the previous year was due to covid and the other two years was he was a student. However he found a great job now and making good money - he is a data scientist at a fortune 500 - so he expected to earn more in the coming years" - would suffice I think.
But just in case I will look for a sponsor - it's hard to find one for me, but I will keep looking. Thanks for the replies guys!

[Chancy 6,241]

53 minutes ago, pulsarvisa said:

Some people say, that during the interview, the consular sees only my 'current income' and since I will be making $33000 this year - I will be OK. Some people say the consular will look at my previous year's tax returns and conclude that my income was not enough. So they advice to definitely get a sponsor. Who is correct?

 

It depends.  For most consulates, current income would be what matters most.  Unfortunately for you, your wife will be interviewing in Mumbai, and consul officers there have been known to require that the sponsor's income for the past 3 years be above the minimum requirement.  It's possible that they won't in your wife's case.  But to avoid delay, I highly recommend you search for a joint sponsor that meets the criteria.

 

1 hour ago, pulsarvisa said:

Since I have not submitted taxes for the current year, cant I just lie(or in this case anyone) and say that I am making more than 100k a year? How would they know I am not lying?

 

Don't even consider lying to US immigration agencies.  If they ever wanted to verify your info, they could.  And there is no statute of limitations for immigration fraud.

 

1 hour ago, pulsarvisa said:

If I want to show my current income how can I 'prove' that I will make $33000 this year? Can I attach my paystubs as proof? A letter from my employer stating that I am expected to make $33000 this year will work?

 

Either will work.  I suggest you read through the I-864 form instructions.  Page 8 lists examples of evidence of current income -- https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf

 

[pulsarvisa 0]

Thanks for the reply, especially about the Mumbai consulate - that's why I posted here to get local perspective. 
I absolutely wont lie to the immigration officer - trust me I have been an immigrant to USA and I know what all info they know and what all they can do. I was just asking how do the officer will verify my income if I can write whatever I want on i864.

How will they know my current income is what it actually says when they don't have my tax returns for that year yet - but that question was answered. 

Good luck!

[Marieke H 2,512]

18 minutes ago, pulsarvisa said:

I was just asking how do the officer will verify my income if I can write whatever I want on i864.

While you can write whatever you want, they will not just take your word for it. USCIS always wants to see evidence. Starting on page 16 of the form instructions (linked by @Chancy above), there is a list of evidence to submit. The first item is:

Quote

A copy of your individual Federal income tax return, including W-2s for the most recent tax year, or a statement and/or evidence describing why you were not required to file. Also include a copy of each and every Form 1099, Schedule, and any other evidence of reported income. You may submit this information for the most recent three tax years, pay stubs from the most recent six months, and/or a letter from your employer if you believe any of these items will help you qualify.

Based on just your most recent tax return, you would not qualify, so you would definitely have to provide the pay stubs and letter from your employer because, in your case, those would help you qualify.

 

By the way, these instructions also say that you ONLY need to submit your tax return for the most recent tax year. You may submit them for the last 3 years if you believe they would help you qualify, but in your case I don't think they would because your income was insufficient during those years. I am just mentioning this because it looks like you are planning to include all 3 years.

 

However, since you only submitted the I-130 last month, with the current backlog, you may not need to worry about this anytime soon. You might end up being able to file your 2021 taxes before you have to submit the I-864, and then your 2021 tax return will show your higher income.

[pulsarvisa 0]

Oops sorry thanks for the clarification! I was of the view that we need to submit 3 years of tax returns - but it seems like the previous year would be sufficient 
But from @Chancy post it seems like Mumbai Consulate usually checks for 3 years tax returns. In any case, while it seems like my current income would be more than enough - It would be advisable for me to get a joint sponsor. Thanks!

[Chancy 6,241]

21 minutes ago, pulsarvisa said:

I was of the view that we need to submit 3 years of tax returns - but it seems like the previous year would be sufficient 

 

Only the tax returns or transcript from the most recent tax year is required.  But, you are required to list in the I-864 your reported income for the 3 most recent tax years, whether or not you submit the returns/transcript for the 2nd and 3rd most recent year.  So the consulate will still be able to quickly see on the I-864 your income for the past 3 years.

 

[pushbrk 12,897]

Don't even consider lying.

 

You document current income with a pay stub, not a tax return.  Current income is not what you will make in 2021.  It's your gross pay for a full pay period times the number of pay periods in a full 12 months going forward.  If you make a thousand a week, your current income is $52,000, no matter when that income started in relation to calendar year end.

 

Yes, Mumbai tends to be strict about 3 years of qualifying tax returns but if they would make an exception, it would tend to be for a young person who just started a good career.  The safe bet is a joint sponsor, but you may well get by without one.

[SalishSea 17,836]

13 hours ago, pulsarvisa said:

I am single

No.  You are married, and you are married for tax purposes as well.

[SalishSea 17,836]

12 hours ago, pulsarvisa said:

"the previous year was due to covid and the other two years was he was a student. However he found a great job now and making good money - he is a data scientist at a fortune 500 - so he expected to earn more in the coming years" - would suffice I think.

Unfortunately, not.  Such statements must be backed up with actual documents.  So many have lied in the past, that a person's word is no longer good.

[Crazy Cat 41,886]

20 hours ago, pulsarvisa said:

it seems like current income is the king and the officer may or may not consider my previous years' income

How do you support a new immigrant on last year's income?  CURRENT ANNUAL income is king.

CURRENT pay period gross income X number of pay periods per year = CURRENT annual income (unless you are self employed).  

 

Lying to immigration is a very, very poor decision.

Edited August 14, 2021 by Crazy Cat

[carmel34 3,633]

21 hours ago, pulsarvisa said:

 

If the consular looks only at the current income, how does he/she actually know I am making the current amount of money. Since I have not submitted taxes for the current year, cant I just lie(or in this case anyone) and say that I am making more than 100k a year? How would they know I am not lying?

A couple of words of advice here.  First, they can take whatever steps they judge necessary to verify income or any other information you or your wife submitted "under penalty of perjury," and that would include calling your current employer if they want to.  Past IRS tax transcripts for three years are helpful to show a strong, stable, income and this is considered along with evidence of current income (employer letter, 6 months of pay stubs) in the totality of the circumstances.  Current income evidence is more important than the past but they also like to see income stability.  My current income is way over the minimum, and has been for many years, yet they asked me in the CR-1 visa interview (I flew to Brazil to be there with my husband) how long I had been working in that job and industry.  Second, your wife has a long time to wait until the visa interview because of the COVID situation in India, so you will likely be able to send her a completed 1040 and W-2 for 2021 taxes, filed as married jointly with a W-7 to request an ITIN for your wife.  This will help convince the officer that your income is more stable and increase the probability that the visa will be approved without a joint sponsor.  It would also be more good evidence of financial co-mingling which is important to show that the marriage relationship is bona fide.  Good luck!

Edited August 14, 2021 by carmel34