AOS Self Employed.

[JANETandLYLE 11]

So we have a immigration attorney doing our paperwork. I had my Brother being a sponsor, and he had initially filled out the paper work. We had to wait to submit, due to issues with obtaning clear copy etc of Wife's birth certificate, now brother and his wife have decided they can't be a sponsor (His Wife apparently is not on board with doing it now for some reason and re-filling out the pawer work). I did not have enough income at the time to do it myself. I now do have enough income, but being self employed its hard to prove all that income because many of my jobs are for customers who don't issue 1099's or W2. Some of my work is insurance company work, so yes, they do the 1099's. I have a auto repair shop and have had this for decades.  

 

So out of a report on taxes 77K and then deductions leave me at 27K profit. While this is enough and meets the threshold of 25,500 for two, how do I prove the rest of my income? I can show about 29K on 1099's, but the rest was checks or cash. What I did do is print off bank deposits of my business account for the year 2023, and that is enough to show my gross sales in my business. I have cash and check deposts each month. Will Immigration accept those deposts as income since I can't show them all 1099's? If they have my tax returns for 2023 and about 1/3 of my gross income in 1099's, will they generally accept the bank depost statements as proof of my income? My Attorney says at times they don't want to go through bank statements, but how do us self employed people get this approved?  Do we always have to a sponsor or co-sponsor?  My concern is I don't know that I can come up with another sponsor/co-sponsor. I also have several collector cars that maybe I could use to make up what they say I would be short if I need to. Any advice? Attorney says lets just run with it, and see if it gets approved. If not, we get one chance to get it right, then I don't know what after that. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN AFTER THAT? 

Edited October 18 by JANETandLYLE

[Boiler 45,507]

Your income is shown in your tax filing.

[Lemonslice 4,841]

You really need to read the instructions for the affidavit of support:
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf

 

Do you have an accountant to handle the taxes for your business?

 

Maybe @pushbrk could help you understand better, and you could then submit your adjustment of status, it has been long overdue now. 

[pushbrk 12,883]

You are confusing revenue with income.  A 1099 is evidence of business revenue, not income.  What you mention as "profit" is most likely your "income" and the tax return is the proof of income.  Your current income is the amount shown as "total income" on your 2023 federal income tax return.  If you declared all your revenue on your tax return, then that's all you need to do.  The Consular Officer will accept that you earned any income you are willing to declare and be taxed on.

[JANETandLYLE 11]

Yes, I have an accountant doing the taxes, Yes. I guess I was understanding being self employed i would need to prove every last penny I am claiming on my taxes. My Attorney was making it sound like USCIS doesn't necessarily beleiv eus self employed people and what we show on taxes, as we might be trying to inflate our income to get approced as sponser's. Even if so, i have even three of my vehicles that show a value of over 150k through JD Powers if I had to go that route. This attorney scares me at times. I appreciate all the feedback. Yes, I guess I am getting confused. I show gross sales, labor profit, and totasl profit after all deductions. I am sure when the accountant is done it will show different. TY 

 

Does anyone know what line item it is that USCIS will be looking at for me to be approved as a sponsor? schedule C if it matters.  I beleive it is line 9, Total Income.  

Edited October 18 by JANETandLYLE

[JANETandLYLE 11]

pushbrk, I appreciate that. That's how I thought it would work. If I was willing to pay all the taxes on what I claimed, but this attorney seemed to say they don't always believe you self employed people, as you could of inflated your income on your tax return. So, I would need to show all my 1099's along with the return. Since not all my business is insurance companies where i get a 1099 at the end of the year, it would be hard to prove what I actually take in fund wise, except through bank deposits. That is what has had me upset. 

[JANETandLYLE 11]

Lemonslice, I read all that, ty. My Attorney talks a bit different though, that's why I wanted to ask here. Being SELF EMPLOYED seems to create a few more issues for us that are self employed. 

[Boiler 45,507]

The usual issue is that after deductions the income is too low.

 

i would go with a well qualified joint sponsor before getting involved in trucks. Are they owned by you or the business?

[Lemonslice 4,841]

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

You are confusing revenue with income.  A 1099 is evidence of business revenue, not income.  What you mention as "profit" is most likely your "income" and the tax return is the proof of income.  Your current income is the amount shown as "total income" on your 2023 federal income tax return.  If you declared all your revenue on your tax return, then that's all you need to do.  The Consular Officer will accept that you earned any income you are willing to declare and be taxed on.

Thank you.  I think @JANETandLYLE is adjustment of status after a K1 (entry was done 15ish years ago), but it is my understanding that it is the same requirements.  Am I correct?

[JANETandLYLE 11]

boiler, no Trucks. I have Mopar Collector Cars. I can not come up with a sponsor, I doubt, hence the post. Yes, even after deduction, I am above the 125 percent above poverty level. I should be ok, ty.   

[pushbrk 12,883]

2 hours ago, JANETandLYLE said:

boiler, no Trucks. I have Mopar Collector Cars. I can not come up with a sponsor, I doubt, hence the post. Yes, even after deduction, I am above the 125 percent above poverty level. I should be ok, ty.   

No reason to think your income is overstated, unless it appears your deductions are unusually low.  You can use bank statements to support the income stream, but if  you do, I would add a letter of explanation and highlight which deposits are business revenue.

[Scandi 4,166]

7 hours ago, JANETandLYLE said:

Lemonslice, I read all that, ty. My Attorney talks a bit different though, that's why I wanted to ask here. Being SELF EMPLOYED seems to create a few more issues for us that are self employed. 

My husband sponsored me and he has always been self-employed. It was zero issues, actually easier than being employed by someone else, since all we needed were tax return transcripts (no pay stubs, no bank statements, no letter from employer etc). Super easy.