Affidavit of Support Questions

[HUGOC9999 2]

So I have a question regarding the affidavit of support. Backstory I am a US citizen filing CR1 for my wife, filed Feb 10th of this year. I’ve lived in Ecuador for the last ten years. I moved back in April to the US and have been working since then. My question is, would my income be sufficient enough or would I need a cosponsor. I’ll be making well over the poverty line but won’t be filing taxes until next year. Let’s say my wife gets approved soon, maybe October or November of this year, and we move on to the NVC stage, what document would I need as a tax return or as a supporting document. Would I be obligated to have a cosponsor ? 

[Letspaintcookies 2,310]

They don't determine your eligibility to be a sponsor on base of the tax returns ( well it can help to show a solid steady income ), they want to see that you filed your taxes and that's what you hopefully did while living abroad.

For the income part, current income is king and you can show how much you make by sending in your paystubs and an employer letter.

[TBoneTX 45,287]

Thread is moved from the K-3 Process forum to the CR-1 Process forum.

[Mike E 11,739]

1 hour ago, HUGOC9999 said:

My question is, would my income be sufficient enough or would I need a cosponsor. I’ll be making well over the poverty line

Most likely then you won’t need a joint sponsor. 

 

Properly communicating  current  income to a federal officer is what often trips up petitioners and leads to denials.  Some petitioners think current income is what their most recent tax return says. Others think it is what the expect to gross for the year I-864 is filed. Both are wrong.  
 

Your current income = number pay periods in a full year * gross pay per pay period. So if started in April 1 being paid twice per month at the rate of $1500 gross pay each time, and the job normally employs people January 1 to December 1, then current income is 12 * 2  * 1500 = 36000 not 8 * 2 * 1500 = 24,000 (even though that would be your expected gross US-based income for 2022).  
 

36,000 is significantly more likely to be approved than 24,000.  
 

 

Edited June 23, 2022 by Mike E

[Alex&Nayden 91]

16 hours ago, Mike E said:

Most likely then you won’t need a joint sponsor. 

 

Properly communicating  current  income to a federal officer is what often trips up petitioners and leads to denials.  Some petitioners think current income is what their most recent tax return says. Others think it is what the expect to gross for the year I-864 is filed. Both are wrong.  
 

Your current income = number pay periods in a full year * gross pay per pay period. So if started in April 1 being paid twice per month at the rate of $1500 gross pay each time, and the job normally employs people January 1 to December 1, then current income is 12 * 2  * 1500 = 36000 not 8 * 2 * 1500 = 24,000 (even though that would be your expected gross US-based income for 2022).  
 

36,000 is significantly more likely to be approved than 24,000.  
 

 

 

Is there a reason you calculate pay period based on the full year even though not working at the company for a full year? Do you happen to have any sources on this? I'm asking because I am in a similar situation and I'd love to get more concrete information. Thanks

 

I found a site of a lawyer who explained the current income like this and it goes against what you said so I'm just curious about your source:

 

Example: Mike is immigrating his wife and is filing an I-864. It is Oct. 31, 2016 and you are assisting him in calculating his current income for Part 6. Mike was unemployed for the first six months of 2016, but started working at a job on July 1 that pays an annual salary of $48,000. He is not anticipating earning any additional income and he is planning on working for this employer indefinitely. Mike’s current individual annual income is $24,000 (not $48,000) because that is the amount of income he is anticipating earning in 2016.

 

Source: https://cliniclegal.org/resources/ground-inadmissibility-and-deportability/calculating-income-affidavit-support

Edited June 23, 2022 by Alex&Nayden

[Mike E 11,739]

3 hours ago, Alex&Nayden said:

 

Is there a reason you calculate pay period based on the full year even though not working at the company for a full year?

Yes. If you got a job offer to start July 1, paying you $2000 twice a month do you think the job offer would say your annual pay is $48,000 or $24,000?

 

 

3 hours ago, Alex&Nayden said:

Do you happen to have any sources on this?

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf

“Item Number 7. Current Individual Annual Income. Type or print your current, individual, earned or retirement, annual income that you are using to meet the requirements of this affidavit and indicate the total in the space provided.”

 

And

 

”For example, you may include a recent letter from your employer, showing your employer’s address and telephone number, and indicating your annual salary.”

 

So if you think the answer to my earlier question to you is $48,000, this letter is going to say $48,000. Not $24,000 or less. 

 

3 hours ago, Alex&Nayden said:

I'm asking because I am in a similar situation and I'd love to get more concrete information. Thanks

 

I found a site of a lawyer who explained the current income like this and it goes against what you said so I'm just curious about your source:

 

Example: Mike is immigrating his wife and is filing an I-864. It is Oct. 31, 2016 and you are assisting him in calculating his current income for Part 6. Mike was unemployed for the first six months of 2016, but started working at a job on July 1 that pays an annual salary of $48,000. He is not anticipating earning any additional income and he is planning on working for this employer indefinitely. Mike’s current individual annual income is $24,000 (not $48,000) because that is the amount of income he is anticipating earning in 2016.

 

Source: https://cliniclegal.org/resources/ground-inadmissibility-and-deportability/calculating-income-affidavit-support

The lawyer is wrong.  My wife had her I-485 interview the middle of January 2020. I had exactly one pay stub year to date.   I’m paid a lot but my base pay is substantially less than 24,000 * 24 = $576,000. Whereas the letter from employer stating my current annual income quoted an annual income substantially higher than $24,000 and it was in line with the gross pay listed on the pay stub.  
 

Obviously my I-864 was approved and her I-485 was approved.  
 

There is lots of bad legal advice out there.

[pushbrk 12,882]

22 hours ago, Letspaintcookies said:

They don't determine your eligibility to be a sponsor on base of the tax returns ( well it can help to show a solid steady income ), they want to see that you filed your taxes and that's what you hopefully did while living abroad.

For the income part, current income is king and you can show how much you make by sending in your paystubs and an employer letter.

This is correct only as it relates to calculating current income for the self employed.  The public charge decision is based on the totality of circumstances.  Generally, current income is king, but not always.  For an employed person, current income comes from a pay stub or employer letter, not a tax return.  Tax returns are about the past.

 

Current income is the question, not "current year" income.  If you made 50k last year and lost your job yesterday, then your current income would be zero.  If you got a new job yesterday making 1k a week, your current income is 52k, no matter when "yesterday" falls on the calendar.

 

The OP has been living abroad for 10 years and will only have their new job in the US a few months be the time the actual decision is made by a Consular Officer.  The officer is likely to consider ALL the circumstances including the work history while living abroad.  For example, if he worked in a career position the vast majority of his time abroad, and simply went back to the US, and continued the same career, there's probably no need for a joint sponsor.  That's what "totality of circumstances" means.

Edited June 23, 2022 by pushbrk

[pushbrk 12,882]

4 hours ago, Alex&Nayden said:

 

Is there a reason you calculate pay period based on the full year even though not working at the company for a full year? Do you happen to have any sources on this? I'm asking because I am in a similar situation and I'd love to get more concrete information. Thanks

 

I found a site of a lawyer who explained the current income like this and it goes against what you said so I'm just curious about your source:

 

Example: Mike is immigrating his wife and is filing an I-864. It is Oct. 31, 2016 and you are assisting him in calculating his current income for Part 6. Mike was unemployed for the first six months of 2016, but started working at a job on July 1 that pays an annual salary of $48,000. He is not anticipating earning any additional income and he is planning on working for this employer indefinitely. Mike’s current individual annual income is $24,000 (not $48,000) because that is the amount of income he is anticipating earning in 2016.

 

Source: https://cliniclegal.org/resources/ground-inadmissibility-and-deportability/calculating-income-affidavit-support

In...MY....opinion, that lawyer's opinion is WRONG.

[Mike E 11,739]

4 hours ago, Alex&Nayden said:

Mike is immigrating his wife and is filing an I-864. 

I have trouble imagining a licensed attorney with a practice in immigration law would write “immigrating his wife”

 

The correct phrasing is “petitioning his wife”

[pushbrk 12,882]

3 minutes ago, Mike E said:

I have trouble imagining a licensed attorney with a practice in immigration law would write “immigrating his wife”

 

The correct phrasing is “petitioning his wife”

Perhaps English is the second language.  It would also explain his misinterpretation of how current income is calculated.  The KEY piece of evidence here is that USCIS clearly states you can use an Employer Letter.  Employer letters will properly state annual income as the/ income the new employee will earn in a full year going forward, from the start date.  Using that principle, WORKS EVERY TIME IT IS TRIED.

 

There are SOME exceptions to the X * gross * number of pay periods in a full year.  One would be when the employee is paid salary PLUS commissions.  In that example, you would take YTD gross income / number of pay periods so far in the year * the number of pay periods in a full year.  Effectively you are using the average gross pay for a full pay period.

Edited June 23, 2022 by pushbrk

[HUGOC9999 2]

Thanks all of you for answering. I honestly didn’t  file taxes the whole time I was abroad. I went there after high school and later on attended university and graduated as a dentist. I have a year of experience working as a dentist abroad and right after started working as a dental assistant in the US. 

[pushbrk 12,882]

13 minutes ago, HUGOC9999 said:

Thanks all of you for answering. I honestly didn’t  file taxes the whole time I was abroad. I went there after high school and later on attended university and graduated as a dentist. I have a year of experience working as a dentist abroad and right after started working as a dental assistant in the US. 

If you were not REQUIRED to file a tax return due to "income below the filing threshold" fine.  However if you WERE required to file for 2021, you should do so.  Based on your circumstances, I would not worry about a joint sponsor. Any Consular Officer will understand a currently working "Dentist's wife" is NOT  a public charge concern.   (As long as she's not coming from India.  Weirdness abounds.)

[powerpuff 6,697]

~~ Duplicate thread removed. Please Do not start multiple threads asking same or related questions (in this case sufficient income/co-sponsor needed) as that’s considered spamming ~~
 

9 hours ago, HUGOC9999 said:

Hello everyone, my petition just got approved at USCIS.  My total income for 2022 is 28300, I didn’t work all year since I was living abroad and started working on April. I changed jobs on January of this year and would be making above the necessary income. Would I need a cosponsor ? I don’t have 3 years of income tax returns. Would my family count as 3 people even if my daughter is not included in the petition since she’s already a US citizen? My dad lives with me and made 30k in 2022 but he was also living abroad and doesn’t have 3 years of tax returns either, can he qualify as a cosponsor ? How would my case be handled? 

 

[pushbrk 12,882]

  20 hours ago, HUGOC9999 said:

Hello everyone, my petition just got approved at USCIS.  My total income for 2022 is 28300, I didn’t work all year since I was living abroad and started working on April. I changed jobs on January of this year and would be making above the necessary income. Would I need a cosponsor ? I don’t have 3 years of income tax returns. Would my family count as 3 people even if my daughter is not included in the petition since she’s already a US citizen? My dad lives with me and made 30k in 2022 but he was also living abroad and doesn’t have 3 years of tax returns either, can he qualify as a cosponsor ? How would my case be handled? 

 

Sounds like you have only one tax return.  Enter the total income from the 2022 tax return only in the tax section.  Check the box indicating you were not required to file.  You started a new job, so your "current income" for that answer will be your gross pay for a full pay period times the number of pay periods in a full year.  (Example: Every two weeks is X 26)  Current income is KING in this context, so no, you should not need a Joint Sponsor.  Of course your child counts in your household.