I-864 Queries

[northusa44 4]

Help regarding a few questions pertaining to I-864 filing would be very much appreciated. The basic situation is that my wife and I are in the midst of (much Covid-delayed/extended) applications for green cards for her parents. We are now on the I-864 filing stage. My wife's income alone is not enough for the application (we have a young child, so family size with her parents is five), and so she will be filling out the I-864 and I am filling out the I-864a.

 

The questions are:

1. After reading through the I-864 and I-864a instructions and posts on this forum, I am still a bit confused about whether or not we need to submit W-2s with our IRS tax transcripts (we are submitting our last three years taxes). The I-864 makes it clear that you usually do if filing jointly (we file jointly) but seems to suggest this is not the case if the spouse is also filling out the I-864a. The I-864a's wording suggests that W2s need to be filed, but after reading posts here, it seems to me likely that this wording was crafted for the majority of filers who are not the spouse of the I-864 petitioner. So my conclusion is that we are probably OK filing the I-864 and I-864a with the IRS tax transcripts alone (i.e. without supporting W2s). What does everyone here think--are the tax transcripts alone OK? We are staying for the holidays with my parents quite far from our house, and will not return home (where the W2s are) for another two weeks--we want to file asap if possible, thus the question .

2. Our combined income clears the 125% for family of 5 threshold by more than 20,000; so on the face of things this should be enough. We also own a home--would you recommend also listing the house as an asset to bolster the case even more? The issue here is again that we will not be back home for 2 weeks, and so do not have access to our home tax documents (which would provide the town's estimate of home value) and/or the ability to schedule an assessment. So we would likely either use a Zillow estimate (our home value is up 40,000 or so in the last year), or if we wanted to be more conservative, simply use the price we bought it for 1.5 years ago. Thoughts on whether we should add the house or not to the application would be much appreciated.

3. Similarly, my parents-in-law own two homes in their country. But documenting their current values, especially in the next few days, is going to be even more problematic. Given this, would you list these or not? I suppose one advantage in listing these is that they could then work on getting a formal appraisal of value to bring with them to the consulate interview, thought this could also backfire if the appraisal is significantly different than their estimate. I will add that their low education (neither finished high school) and careers (they work as canteen chefs) do not make them 'great' candidates otherwise if the officer is really big on education and careers, and we are thus leaning toward including the properties in some form so as to bolster their case.

4. Finally, am I correct that neither of my parent-in-laws has a A number or USCIS account number at present? We just looked through what I could see online and could not find either.

 

(if wondering why we are in a rush, two main reasons: 1. the application has been delayed so much, made worse by a RFE for I-130s that took the fall to resolve, and my wife really wants to see her parents again, especially since her country's strict quarantine rules make it almost impossible to visit; 2. our income situation is a bit less certain for 2022 than it was for 2021. We should still clear the family of five threshold easily in the end, but we want to avoid having to update income with them if possible; some posts here suggested that the 'current annual income' line of the I-864 can be interpreted to mean 'through December 31', and we are thus thinking that since the application is more or less ready except for the above, it might make sense to file in 2021 rather than 2022. Any thoughts on this would also be appreciated.)

 

Many thanks for any and all replies! (and don't feel that you have to reply to all--even thoughts on a single one of the above would be much appreciated)

 

 

[SteveInBostonI130 3,483]

1. W2's are required if the sponsor is married and filed MFJ and wants to sponsor based on his/her income only.  

 

Per page 8 of the  I-864 instructions:  https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf

 

Quote

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.

 

2.  Your choice.  Per the instructions if your income qualifies then you do not need to complete Part 7, but you can if you want:

 

Quote

Part 7. Use of Assets to Supplement Income (Optional)
Only complete Part 7. if you need to use the value of assets to meet the income requirements. If your Current Annual
Household Income (indicated in Part 6., Item Number 15.) is equal to or more than needed to meet the income
requirement as shown by the current Federal Poverty Guidelines (Form I-864P) for your household size (indicated in Part
5., Item Number 8.), you do not need to complete Part 7. If your total household income does not meet the requirement,
you may submit evidence of the value of your assets, the sponsored immigrant’s assets, and/or assets of a household
member that can be used, if necessary, for the support of the intending immigrants. The value of assets of all of these
persons may be combined in order to meet the necessary requirement.
 

Only assets that can be converted into cash within one year and without considerable hardship or financial loss to the
owner may be included. The owner of the asset must include a description of the asset, proof of ownership, and the basis
for the owner’s claim of its net cash value.
 

You may include the net value of your home as an asset. The net value of the home is the appraised value of the home,
minus the sum of any and all loans secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other lien on the home. If you wish to include
the net value of your home, then you must include documentation demonstrating that you own it, a recent appraisal by a
licensed appraiser, and evidence of the amount of any and all loans secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other lien on the
home. You may not include the net value of an automobile unless you show that you have more than one automobile, and
at least one automobile is not included as an asset.

 

3.  You cannot list your In-laws' homes as assets, because they do not belong to you.

 

4.  Your In-laws may or may not have A- numbers.  If they only visited the US on tourist visas or VWP they would probably not have A- numbers.

 

Current income is current income.  It is what you are making right now, multiplied by the pay period for one year (monthly pay x 12, weekly pay x52, biweekly pay x26, etc).  It is not what you will make next year.

[northusa44 4]

10 minutes ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

1. W2's are required if the sponsor is married and filed MFJ and wants to sponsor based on his/her income only.  

 

Per page 8 of the  I-864 instructions:  https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf

 

 

2.  Your choice.  Per the instructions if your income qualifies then you do not need to complete Part 7, but you can if you want:

 

 

3.  You cannot list your In-laws' homes as assets, because they do not belong to you.

 

4.  Your In-laws may or may not have A- numbers.  If they only visited the US on tourist visas or VWP they would probably not have A- numbers.

 

Current income is current income.  It is what you are making right now, multiplied by the pay period for one year (monthly pay x 12, weekly pay x52, biweekly pay x26, etc).  It is not what you will make next year.

Many thanks! This is all very helpful. A couple of points of clarification, though:

 

1. I probably should have been clearer regarding #1. My question is about the wording (below) in the I-864a instructions, which does not include that last "unless" clause from the I-864. But my feeling is the same as yours--that the I-864A instructions were written that way because they were primarily thinking of co-sponsors who filed taxes with a spouse who was not the I-864 petitioner. So unless someone writes to say they have had a different experience, I agree with you that we should be OK both filing tax transcripts only. 

 

I-864a instructions: "If you provide a photocopy of your tax returns, you must include a copy of each and every FormW-2 and Form 1099 that relates to your returns. Do not include copies of these forms if you provide an IRS transcript of your returns rather than a photocopy unless you filed a joint Federal income tax return with your spouse."

 

2. In response to #3--Part 7, fields 6-8 allow for in-laws assets to be listed. Part 7, fields 9-10 allow for these assets to be utilized in total income calculation. As we clear the total income fairly comfortably, we are not really concerned about listing these for income calculation reasons, but I am instead wondering if listing them would be a good tactic to help overcome doubts regarding their education/careers. If we do not list the homes here, will my parents-in-law have an opportunity to provide evidence of these real estate assets during the consular interview? If so, perhaps it makes sense to leave them off of the I-864, especially given the fact that they only have records of ownership and not a recent appraisal available, and bring evidence to the interview?

 

3. Finally, thank you very much for the confirmation regarding the A number. Is the same true of the USCIS account number as well?

 

Again, many thanks!

[SteveInBostonI130 3,483]

22 minutes ago, northusa44 said:

2. In response to #3--Part 7, fields 6-8 allow for in-laws assets to be listed. Part 7, fields 9-10 allow for these assets to be utilized in total income calculation. As we clear the total income fairly comfortably, we are not really concerned about listing these for income calculation reasons, but I am instead wondering if listing them would be a good tactic to help overcome doubts regarding their education/careers. If we do not list the homes here, will my parents-in-law have an opportunity to provide evidence of these real estate assets during the consular interview? If so, perhaps it makes sense to leave them off of the I-864, especially given the fact that they only have records of ownership and not a recent appraisal available, and bring evidence to the interview?

 

3. Finally, thank you very much for the confirmation regarding the A number. Is the same true of the USCIS account number as well?

 

 

2.  You are correct.  I missed that part (6-8).

 

3.  I assume you are asking about the USCIS online account number?  That is created by the user.  That is, it is not something that USCIS or anyone else creates for you.  If you or your in-laws created an online account to keep track of petition statuses, then that account will have a 12 digit number associated with it.

[SteveInBostonI130 3,483]

P. S.

 

You mentioned you this is for both In-laws, correct?  I will have to defer to others here, but I believe your household size will be 4 for each parent.  That is, you do not list the other parent on each I-864.   The form is for calculating the household size at the current moment plus the immigrant for that form.  You do not count for others that have not immigrated yet.

 

So, for the household size for your MIL, it would be you, your spouse, your child and your MIL = 4.   For your FIL, it would be you, your spouse, your child and your FIL = 4.  Do not include your FIL for your MIL's I-864 and vice-versa.

 

Per https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/i-864-affidavit-faqs.html#aos6

 

Quote

I-864 Affidavit of Support (FAQs)

How do I calculate my household size?

The Form I-864 asks for the financial sponsor’s household size. When calculating their household size, sponsors must include:

• Their spouse,
   
• Any children by birth, marriage, or adoption living in the sponsor's residence,
   
• Anyone else claimed as a dependent on the sponsor's tax return for the most recent year, regardless of whether they are related to the sponsor or have the same principal address as the sponsor,
   
• The principal visa applicant,
   
• Any derivative applicants who plan to immigrate within six months,
   
• Any other people in the United States whom the sponsor is supporting on a different Form I-864, if the obligation has not terminated, and
   
• Any nondependent siblings, parents, or adult children who reside in the sponsor's household who are not dependents, if they complete a Form I-864A.

A sponsor does not have to include people on other I-864s who have not yet immigrated to the United States.

 

[northusa44 4]

SteveinBoston: Many thanks once again. I will double-check with my wife, but I am almost positive that they have not created an online account. That is really interesting regarding the family size. We have been working on this with a lawyer (though provided free through my workplace, so he is not 'our' lawyer or an immigration lawyer, though he does handle quite a few immigration cases) and he told us to write 5. But the description certainly seems clear that we should be writing 4 as you say. If anyone else has thoughts about this (and/or about whether it makes sense to list my parent-in-laws' homes), I would very much appreciate it.

 

[northusa44 4]

Another question: I am now a bit confused about whether I am filling out one I-864a with both parents listed OR two I-864as with one parent listed on each OR two I-864as with both parents listed on each. This question was asked in the two below links (under second paragraph), each with a seeming different answer.

 

As with yesterday, if anyone has thoughts on whether there is an advantage to listing my parent-in-laws assets on the I-864, that would be greatly appreciated as well. Or, put another way, if they do not list their assets on the I-864a, will they still have the opportunity to show the officer ownership of such assets at the consular interview?