If Your Tax Filing Is MFJ, Learn From My Mistake

[Jason and May 79]

This is probably common knowledge to so many folks who have petitioned, but.... In the event you are about to make the mistake I did, here you go: 

 

I filed MFJ for 2022. When we hit the NVC stage, we were prepared, man. Ready to rock CEAC. I uploaded my tax return transcript and other required documents. We uploaded my wife's civil docs. 

 

10 days later, we get a message that says to please upload my W2(s) and any 1099s. 

 

Okay. We uploaded that. 

 

10 days later we get another message to please upload my tax schedules. 

 

I started getting irritated. If you provide your tax return transcript, you are not required to provide your tax returns or schedules. Right? Sort of. (I can see CCat, Mike E, etc., laughing about right now.)

 

Because I'm so busy during the week, I generally don't have time to make personal phone calls during the day. So, today, I was going to pop an inquiry off to NVC to ask some questions about why they keep asking for more documents, which is delaying the process for us. 

 

As I was looking up the exact USCIS language to quote, I realized.... Oops. My mistake.

 

AoS instructions state: "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." ....Which is our exact situation. 

 

Read. Everything. Carefully. And then maybe read it again. I read those I864 instructions a dozen times, but I glazed right over that last part. So far, due to my error, we will have wasted at least a month's time in this process. At least it's not COVID timeframes each time we get bumped back to the beginning of the queue, but it's frustrating nonetheless. 

 

I hope this helps someone else avoid this mistake.

 

:)

 

[Mike E 11,739]

This is the clearest  explanation of this land mine that I have ever read.

[Jason and May 79]

1 hour ago, Mike E said:

This is the clearest  explanation of this land mine that I have ever read.

Thanks, Mike! Landmine is a good analogy...need to look carefully at those instructions.

 

I hope maybe it will help a few people here and there. 

[intothelight2021 19]

On 8/19/2023 at 9:45 AM, Jason and May said:

This is probably common knowledge to so many folks who have petitioned, but.... In the event you are about to make the mistake I did, here you go: 

 

I filed MFJ for 2022. When we hit the NVC stage, we were prepared, man. Ready to rock CEAC. I uploaded my tax return transcript and other required documents. We uploaded my wife's civil docs. 

 

10 days later, we get a message that says to please upload my W2(s) and any 1099s. 

 

Okay. We uploaded that. 

 

10 days later we get another message to please upload my tax schedules. 

 

I started getting irritated. If you provide your tax return transcript, you are not required to provide your tax returns or schedules. Right? Sort of. (I can see CCat, Mike E, etc., laughing about right now.)

 

Because I'm so busy during the week, I generally don't have time to make personal phone calls during the day. So, today, I was going to pop an inquiry off to NVC to ask some questions about why they keep asking for more documents, which is delaying the process for us. 

 

As I was looking up the exact USCIS language to quote, I realized.... Oops. My mistake.

 

AoS instructions state: "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." ....Which is our exact situation. 

 

Read. Everything. Carefully. And then maybe read it again. I read those I864 instructions a dozen times, but I glazed right over that last part. So far, due to my error, we will have wasted at least a month's time in this process. At least it's not COVID timeframes each time we get bumped back to the beginning of the queue, but it's frustrating nonetheless. 

 

I hope this helps someone else avoid this mistake.

 

 

This is great info! Thanks so much, it is greatly appreciated!

 

I think we may be in the same boat. Do you mind listing all the 864 related documents you, as MFJ, had to submit to finally get the approval? 

1. Tax transcripts

2. All 1099s

3. All W2s

4. Tax schedules (which ones did you submit?)

5. Letter from employer/evidence of employment

6. Pay stubs

 

anything else? 

 

Just want to make sure we are not missing anything before we submit.

 

Thanks a million!

 

[Jason and May 79]

8 hours ago, intothelight2021 said:

This is great info! Thanks so much, it is greatly appreciated!

 

I think we may be in the same boat. Do you mind listing all the 864 related documents you, as MFJ, had to submit to finally get the approval? 

1. Tax transcripts

2. All 1099s

3. All W2s

4. Tax schedules (which ones did you submit?)

5. Letter from employer/evidence of employment

6. Pay stubs

 

anything else? 

 

Just want to make sure we are not missing anything before we submit.

 

Thanks a million!

 

For us, the documents I submitted for AoS were: 

1) The signed form I-864

2) My federal tax return transcript

3) All my 1099s (I labeled each upload as #1 of 2 and #2 of 2)

4) All my W2s (I only had one and labeled it as #1 of 1)

5) My entire federal income tax return

6) A letter from my employer as proof of current employment with salary noted and with a wet signature from my HR director

7) 6 months of my most recent bank statements

8. 6 months of my most recent paystubs

9) Affidavit of self-employment

10) My EIN letter from my state Department of Revenue (probably unnecessary but in case there are questions about my solo private practice)

11) My LLC registration and my annual renewal from my state's Department of Financial Institutions (again, probably unnecessary but in case there are any questions about whether my private practice income is legitimate even though it's noted in my tax return transcript and my income tax schedules)

 

I submitted my entire federal return, not just my self-employment schedules, hoping to avoid accidentally missing anything they would ask for later on. 

 

I sent every original document to my wife to take with her to her interview. 

 

I have a subscription to Adobe, and I used that to compress the larger PDF files (like the 6 months of bank statements, etc), because they were over the 4 MB limit. There are some good free online compression tools out there, but I wouldn't want my financial information compressed on a free website.... 

 

I hope this helps! 

 

Jason 
 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Jason and May

[intothelight2021 19]

13 minutes ago, Jason and May said:

For us, the documents I submitted for AoS were: 

1) The signed form I-864

2) My federal tax return transcript

3) All my 1099s (I labeled each upload as #1 of 2 and #2 of 2)

4) All my W2s (I only had one and labeled it as #1 of 1)

5) My entire federal income tax return

6) A letter from my employer as proof of current employment with salary noted and with a wet signature from my HR director

7) 6 months of my most recent bank statements

8. 6 months of my most recent paystubs

9) Affidavit of self-employment

10) My EIN letter from my state Department of Revenue (probably unnecessary but in case there are questions about my solo private practice)

11) My LLC registration and my annual renewal from my state's Department of Financial Institutions (again, probably unnecessary but in case there are any questions about whether my private practice income is legitimate even though it's noted in my tax return transcript and my income tax schedules)

 

I submitted my entire federal return, not just my self-employment schedules, hoping to avoid accidentally missing anything they would ask for later on. 

 

I sent every original document to my wife to take with her to her interview. 

 

I have a subscription to Adobe, and I used that to compress the larger PDF files (like the 6 months of bank statements, etc), because they were over the 4 MB limit. There are some good free online compression tools out there, but I wouldn't want my financial information compressed on a free website.... 

 

I hope this helps! 

 

Jason 
 

WOW, thanks so much, this is super helpful!!!

 

You are last point about the free online compression websites made me laugh, I have been tempted many times but have always ended up using a paid service for the same reason...!

 

I'll definitely follow your lead. Only thing I am not sure about yet is the full tax return. But if I can compress it enough I may do it. 

 

Thanks man, really appreciate your help!

[mapi 21]

Thank you! This was helpful.

 

So you also had to submit tax returns and schedules? Next to transcript, W2 and 1099?

 

Maybe I am misunderstanding the terminology. Could you elaborate?

[Jason and May 79]

4 hours ago, mapi said:

Thank you! This was helpful.

 

So you also had to submit tax returns and schedules? Next to transcript, W2 and 1099?

 

Maybe I am misunderstanding the terminology. Could you elaborate?

I originally submitted only the tax return transcript. The I-864 rules state to submit one or the other: either a tax return transcript, or full federal return, all W2s, and all 1099s. Unless you are married, filing MFJ, and relying solely on your income to qualify for AoS...which we are. 

 

If you are married, filed MFJ, and are relying solely on your income to qualify for AoS, you should submit your entire federal return, all W2s, and all 1099s. The tax return transcript in this case is insufficient as a standalone document, and, overall, superfluous. 

 

Caveat: I know nothing about joint sponsorship or how that affects required AoS documentation for the petitioner, if at all. 

 

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Jason and May
Grammar clarification

[mapi 21]

Thank you for elaborating.

 

This is the first case I see where you had to submit all of that. Many cases the transcript+W2+1099 is sufficient - specifically when we're talking about joint sponsor + joint sponsor spouse.

 

Also your quoted text actually says "you should send the W2 and 1099 when married and filed jointly", but not to send the copy of return (just the transcript). 

 

Anyways, good that things worked out.

[Jason and May 79]

11 minutes ago, mapi said:

Thank you for elaborating.

 

This is the first case I see where you had to submit all of that. Many cases the transcript+W2+1099 is sufficient - specifically when we're talking about joint sponsor + joint sponsor spouse.

 

Also your quoted text actually says "you should send the W2 and 1099 when married and filed jointly", but not to send the copy of return (just the transcript). 

 

Anyways, good that things worked out.

No, I don't think I stated one should send their W2s, 1099s, and tax return transcript but not their full federal return. 

 

Our delay was caused by the absence of a full federal tax return. 

 

I will restate it here, one more time, and try to be concise: If you are married, filed MFJ, and you are relying only on your income for AoS qualification, NVC requires the following: 

 

1) Full federal tax return

2) All your W2s

3) All your 1099s

 

I do not know whether or how this affects the petitioner's required documents in the event of joint sponsorship. 

[mapi 21]

Maybe good to specific the code name of that full federal tax return?

Many other users (like me) are beneficiaries and I have no experience with the US tax system. It's very easy to get terminology mixed up. 

 

My understanding is that a Tax Transcript is more detailed than a copy of Tax Return.

 You are talking about a Full Federal Tax Return. Is that a 1040?

[Jason and May 79]

1 minute ago, mapi said:

Maybe good to specific the code name of that full federal tax return?

Many other users (like me) are beneficiaries and I have no experience with the US tax system. It's very easy to get terminology mixed up. 

 

My understanding is that a Tax Transcript is more detailed than a copy of Tax Return.

 You are talking about a Full Federal Tax Return. Is that a 1040?

Ahhh! Okay. I'm sorry. I didn't realize you are the beneficiary and unfamiliar with United States taxes. 

 

A federal income tax return is a multipage document filed with the IRS that is used to determine an individual’s tax liability; this means how much a person might owe the federal government in taxes from their income or whether they are entitled to a refund from the government on taxes paid throughout the year. The forms might include a 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ. In addition, there are documents called schedules, which are tax forms some people need to prepare for certain income situations, like self-employment income or tax deductions; these would be things like income from interest on retirement accounts, sales of property, or maybe charitable contributions. 

 

The tax return transcript is a document tax filers can request from the IRS that includes the information submitted on the tax return. 

 

So, a federal tax return might be 5 to 15 pages in length, comprised of a Form 1040 and various schedules; this is prepared by the taxpayer and sent to the federal IRS.

 

The tax return transcript is a generally 2-page document the tax filer can get from the IRS, which details all of the information in their federal tax return. The tax return transcript essentially condenses all of the information in the federal tax return from, say, 5 to 15 pages, down to 2 pages. It's less paper and easier to read. 

 

I hope this explains it a little bit better. Sometimes I don't explain things very well...I get very wordy.

[mapi 21]

@Jason and May that's a great explanation. Thank you for that! I hope this also helps others.

This also exposes my misunderstanding: I thought the transcript had more detail to it than the return copy, but I was wrong!

 

[Mike E 11,739]

@Jason and May your patience explaining a complex issue while May and you are dealing with a major setback is a credit to your communal spirit.

[Jason and May 79]

15 hours ago, mapi said:

@Jason and May that's a great explanation. Thank you for that! I hope this also helps others.

This also exposes my misunderstanding: I thought the transcript had more detail to it than the return copy, but I was wrong!

 

Hey, @mapi. I'm really glad this was helpful. 

14 hours ago, Mike E said:

@Jason and May your patience explaining a complex issue while May and you are dealing with a major setback is a credit to your communal spirit.

Thank you, @Mike E. That's very thoughtful of you. We appreciate your kind words.