Affidavit of Support - Petitioner Laid Off

[leorguillemot02 0]

Hi,

 

I entered the US on the K-1 Visa on 05/26/2024 after having my application approved at the London Embassy. My wife (then fiancée) was employed at the time, however since then she has been laid off and has not been able to find new work.

We married on 06/07/2024 and I am now trying to file form I-485 and I-765 (Adjustment of Status and Employment Authorization). However, I am required to resubmit form I-864 for the adjustment of status.

 

I have two questions:

 

1) Should we/are we able to resubmit the same affidavit of support as I did at my interview?

2) If that is not possible, my parents-in-law are willing to co-sign on form I-864A. What sort of income will USCIS be looking for on their tax returns?

 

Thank you for your help.

[SalishSea 17,970]

12 minutes ago, leorguillemot02 said:

Hi,

 

I entered the US on the K-1 Visa on 05/26/2024 after having my application approved at the London Embassy. My wife (then fiancée) was employed at the time, however since then she has been laid off and has not been able to find new work.

We married on 06/07/2024 and I am now trying to file form I-485 and I-765 (Adjustment of Status and Employment Authorization). However, I am required to resubmit form I-864 for the adjustment of status.   Resubmit?  Would have been a different form for K-1 - the I-134.

 

I have two questions:

 

1) Should we/are we able to resubmit the same affidavit of support as I did at my interview?   Well, no.  Not only was that a different form, but wouldn't the info now be incorrect?  You don't want to deliberately falsify info to USCIS, right?

2) If that is not possible, my parents-in-law are willing to co-sign on form I-864A. What sort of income will USCIS be looking for on their tax returns?  They can't co-sign the I-864A.  If your spouse doesn't earn enough to qualify, they can be joint sponsors with a separate I-864 plus all supporting documentation, just like your spouse will submit.  I suggest you thoroughly read the guides as well as the instructions on the USCIS.gov website so you'll have a better understanding of this process.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

Edited June 13 by SalishSea

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

1.  You would/should not have submitted an I-864 at your interview.  That would have been an I-134. For Adjustment of Status, the petitioner will have to submit a current I-864.

2.  If the petitioner is not currently qualified, then you will need a well-qualified Joint Sponsor. The joint sponsor will also submit an I-864. If the joint sponsor files a joint tax return with a spouse, then the spouse should submit an I-864a. 

 

Tax returns are not relatively important, although they, among other things, are required to be submitted.  CURRENT annual income is king (paystubs, employment letters, etc.).  I suggest you and the sponsors become "A students" of the I-864.

Form I-864, Instructions Affidavit of Support Under Section 213 A of the I N A. (uscis.gov)

Edited June 13 by Crazy Cat

[leorguillemot02 0]

On 6/13/2024 at 12:34 PM, Crazy Cat said:

1.  You would/should not have submitted an I-864 at your interview.  That would have been an I-134. For Adjustment of Status, the petitioner will have to submit a current I-864.

2.  If the petitioner is not currently qualified, then you will need a well-qualified Joint Sponsor. The joint sponsor will also submit an I-864. If the joint sponsor files a joint tax return with a spouse, then the spouse should submit an I-864a. 

 

Tax returns are not relatively important, although they, among other things, are required to be submitted.  CURRENT annual income is king (paystubs, employment letters, etc.).  I suggest you and the sponsors become "A students" of the I-864.

Form I-864, Instructions Affidavit of Support Under Section 213 A of the I N A. (uscis.gov)

 

Thanks for your response.

 

Yes, my mistake, it was the I-134 I submitted at my interview.

 

The joint sponsor does indeed file taxes jointly with their spouse. They pay to have their taxes done for them so it's difficult to determine how much they earn individually, will this be an issue for filing I-864A? Should only one of them file the I-864A and write down their joint taxes, or should they both file I-864A after trying to determine their individual income?

 

Additionally, my wife and I are currently living with the joint sponsors. Does this have an effect on what we file and how?

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

1 minute ago, leorguillemot02 said:

 

Thanks for your response.

 

Yes, my mistake, it was the I-134 I submitted at my interview.

 

The joint sponsor does indeed file taxes jointly with their spouse. They pay to have their taxes done for them so it's difficult to determine how much they earn individually, will this be an issue for filing I-864A? Should only one of them file the I-864A and write down their joint taxes, or should they both file I-864A after trying to determine their individual income?

 

Additionally, my wife and I are currently living with the joint sponsors. Does this have an effect on what we file and how?

The joint sponsor MUST FILE AN I-864.  The spouse files an I-864a.

No, it does not affect the case.

[leorguillemot02 0]

13 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

The joint sponsor MUST FILE AN I-864.  The spouse files an I-864a.

No, it does not affect the case.

 

It says on the USEmbassy website that "a joint-sponsor is a third party individual who does not reside with the petitioner (my wife)".

It also says "a co-sponsor is a member of the petitioner's household".

 

For clarification, my petitioner (and therefore my sponsor) is my wife. We are currently staying at my parents-in-law's house while we look for an apartment.

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

16 minutes ago, leorguillemot02 said:

It also says "a co-sponsor is a member of the petitioner's household".

2 independent households can live under the same roof.  A JOINT sponsor can be any US citizen or Green card holder living in the US. 

As I said, the JOINT sponsor, as well as the primary sponsor, must submit an I-864.  The spouse of the JOINT sponsor submits an I-864a to combine income with the joint sponsor since they are filing taxes jointly. 

Edited June 16 by Crazy Cat

[leorguillemot02 0]

2 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

2 households can live under the same roof.  A JOINT sponsor can be any US citizen or Green card holder living in the US. 

 

Thank you for the info. So to clarify, for my understanding:

 

My sponsor my submit an I-864 as the petitioner (Part 1, 1.a).

My mother-in-law must also submit an I-864 as the only joint sponsor (I-864, Part 1, 1.d).

My father-in-law must submit an I-864A as the sponsor's parent (I-864A, Part 2, 1.c)

Mother-in-law and father-in-law's income must be filed separately.

 

Is this correct? Why not have my in-laws file as one of two joint-sponsors (I-864, Part 1, 1.e) each?

[leorguillemot02 0]

50 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

As I said, the JOINT sponsor, as well as the primary sponsor, must submit an I-864.  The spouse of the JOINT sponsor submits an I-864a to combine income with the joint sponsor since they are filing taxes jointly. 

 

So then, my father-in-law files as the joint-sponsor's spouse? Or the sponsor's parent?

Again, why not have them both file as joint-sponsors?

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

9 minutes ago, leorguillemot02 said:

my father-in-law files as the joint-sponsor's spouse?

That is correct.  You don't need 2 joint sponsors.  The I-864a signifies to USCIS and the joint sponsor's spouse that joint taxes and combined income are being used.

[leorguillemot02 0]

3 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

The I-864a signifies to USCIS and the joint sponsor's spouse that joint taxes and combined income are being used.

 

So they'll submit the same tax information on each form? Or will they need to figure out their individual income and taxes?

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

8 minutes ago, leorguillemot02 said:

 

So they'll submit the same tax information on each form? Or will they need to figure out their individual income and taxes?

Same info

[leorguillemot02 0]

Thank you so much for your help so far, your info has been very useful!

The forms are all filled out, there's just one more thing that I'd like to ask.

 

I'm sorry if this is incredibly obvious, but I'd just like to be sure.

 

My father-in-law (FiL) is filing I-864. My mother-in-law (MiL) is filing the I-864A.
I-864, Part 6 - 7. and 10., and I-864A, Part 3 - 7. specify individual income. Tax return info between the two forms are the same, but for these specific fields, I'm supposing their individual income is required as stated.

They own three businesses between them (MiL one, FiL two). MiL is self-employed and FiL is employed full-time.

Should FiL's individual income be the sum of his two businesses and his employment?
Should MiL's individual income be from her self-employment?

 

Again, I apologize if any of this is painfully obvious. I just want to be sure this is being done right.

Thank you for your patience.

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

10 minutes ago, leorguillemot02 said:

They own three businesses between them (MiL one, FiL two). MiL is self-employed and FiL is employed full-time.

Should FiL's individual income be the sum of his two businesses and his employment?
Should MiL's individual income be from her self-employment?

@pushbrk is an I-864 Guru.  

[pushbrk 12,994]

1 hour ago, leorguillemot02 said:

Thank you so much for your help so far, your info has been very useful!

The forms are all filled out, there's just one more thing that I'd like to ask.

 

I'm sorry if this is incredibly obvious, but I'd just like to be sure.

 

My father-in-law (FiL) is filing I-864. My mother-in-law (MiL) is filing the I-864A.
I-864, Part 6 - 7. and 10., and I-864A, Part 3 - 7. specify individual income. Tax return info between the two forms are the same, but for these specific fields, I'm supposing their individual income is required as stated.

They own three businesses between them (MiL one, FiL two). MiL is self-employed and FiL is employed full-time.

Should FiL's individual income be the sum of his two businesses and his employment?
Should MiL's individual income be from her self-employment?

 

Again, I apologize if any of this is painfully obvious. I just want to be sure this is being done right.

Thank you for your patience.

Reading through this, I want to clarify that one of the parents is the joint sponsor.  The other parent is the joint sponsor's household member.  That they are also the petitioner's parent has no impact.

 

Their individual income is their individual income.  It seems THEY know what that number is, but yes, if the joint sponsor is both employed and self employed, then their current income is what their business or businesses taxable income was last year, plus the employment income.  The household member being self employed, states their current income as whatever their portion of the total income was for 2023.  As long as those two individual numbers add up to the "total income" number on the 2023 tax return, it will be fine.