Employment history on I-130/I-485

[T-n-L 0]

I'm filling out the I-130 for my spouse (me: US citizen, her: Chinese national).  We moved back to the US a few months ago, and I took a job in late July; I'm currently employed and am above the threshold to support her and my daughter.

 

In filling out the I-130, it asks for employment history for 5 years.  I wasn't employed legally in China as I was on a family reunion (Q1) visa there, and in China, family/spouse visas don't allow you to work.  We had a business in China, which I worked at, but it was in my wife's name due to their business legal structure.  I'm not sure whether I should put down that I spent 5 years unemployed since that was my legal status and I didn't pay any taxes in China or the US, or I should put that I was involved in the business.

 

My wife will be putting down that she was the owner of the business on her I-485.

[Crazy Cat 41,898]

You tell the truth......Never lie to immigration.

Edited September 20, 2021 by Crazy Cat

[T-n-L 0]

1 minute ago, Crazy Cat said:

You tell the truth.......you might also have a tax issue to resolve.  All US citizens are required to report world-wide income. 

As I mentioned in another thread, I contacted multiple expat tax professionals  when doing my taxes while I was abroad and actually wanted to claim something because I didn't want the person looking at our application to think I'm a bum, but was told that there was no way for me to do so because I didn't have any tax documents showing income for China.

 

My tax return for all but one of those years is $0, and the year where I show income, it's from US capital gains.  I'm just concerned that if I put I made $XX,XXX per year on there and have to also furnish tax documents showing I made nothing, that will create a problem.

[Crazy Cat 41,898]

1 minute ago, T-n-L said:

As I mentioned in another thread, I contacted multiple expat tax professionals  when doing my taxes while I was abroad and actually wanted to claim something because I didn't want the person looking at our application to think I'm a bum, but was told that there was no way for me to do so because I didn't have any tax documents showing income for China.

 

My tax return for all but one of those years is $0, and the year where I show income, it's from US capital gains.  I'm just concerned that if I put I made $XX,XXX per year on there and have to also furnish tax documents showing I made nothing, that will create a problem.

There are 2 parts of the I-864 to consider:

1.  You will list what was reflected on your last 3 tax forms or you will list why you were not required to file taxes for those 3 years.  If you filed a tax return for those years, I think you are in good shape. 

2.  Your current annual income will be calculated by the following formula:

Gross income for most recent pay period X number of pay periods per 12 months = CURRENT annual income

 

What you list on your I-130 for employment history is a different requirement. 

[T-n-L 0]

7 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

There are 2 parts of the I-864 to consider:

1.  You will list what was reflected on your last 3 tax forms or you will list why you were not required to file taxes for those 3 years.  If you filed a tax return for those years, I think you are in good shape. 

2.  Your current annual income will be calculated by the following formula:

Gross income for most recent pay period X number of pay periods per 12 months = CURRENT annual income

 

What you list on your I-130 for employment history is a different requirement. 

1. Yes; the I-864 is more clear because it's just a reflection of my taxes.  Additionally, (unfortunately) what I made unofficially was within the $107,xxx foreign income exemption, so even if I did have a legal income, I would have been exempt from US.

2. My current annual income per my most recent pay stubs exceeds the criteria for USCIS guidelines for supporting a family of 3.

 

My family are willing to sign an I-864A, regardless.

 

So, to reiterate, my main conundrum is that in this situation, it's true that I was both unemployed or employed... one is true from a legal/tax standpoint, and the other is true from a literal, body-in-the-shop standpoint.  I don't want my saying that I was "employed" by my wife's business, taken against my tax situation, to screw up the application.

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved to Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, & Tourist Visas forum.

Edited October 4, 2021 by Ryan H

[T-n-L 0]

Just wanted to bump this to see if anyone has any insight.  Should I write a letter explaining our situation more in depth, or is that a bad idea?