Questions regarding new I-485 form on how to fill (I require some help since there is a new form starting from Feb 10th)

[Edward and Jaycel 834]

USCIS strongly prefers the Tax Return Transcript… and you do not send in W-2s or 1099s if you submit that transcript

[Edward and Jaycel 834]

And proof of current  income is king. What you are doing by submitting the payslips and letter from the employer satisfies that 

[Greenbeatles1 2]

Just to confirm regarding I-864, we can choose if we want to put all 3 years of annual income, or last two years, or just the most recent (2024)? I was wondering if my spouse can just do 2024, and 2023 only and leave 2022 as N/A even though he filed taxes? 
Because it is a little bit confusing, maybe the form suggest that you can write either the most recent or you can list down the last 3 years of income, but not two.

Also, regarding the name change. My spouse and I both want to have both of our surnames together, basically a double surname (which is common for Hispanic people). He didn't write the new surname he wanted to have when we applied for the marriage certificate in the probate court. Is it okay if I write his new surname and mine new surname in the forms?

Edited Saturday at 06:19 PM by Greenbeatles1

[Greenbeatles1 2]

On 2/4/2025 at 9:26 PM, Edward and Jaycel said:

Sorry, I thought the judge was the officiant. Your marriage date is the date the officiant performed the ceremony and signed the license

 

Yes you would write either "Employer" or "School" then put the name where it asks the name

 

Yes. Get one of the paystubs, take the gross pay and multiply that by howebver many paydays are in a year (52 if paid weekly, 26 if paid every other week, etc.) But that should match what the employment verification letter says. 

Sorry for so many questions and I appreciate your time and effort to help me. I just wasn't sure about employment/educational history part on I-485 part because I-485 instructions do not explain this part clearly. 
I have to list 5 years of employment/educational history as it says. However:
The most recent employment/educational history would be University but I graduated and I was unemployed all this time ever since I came to the US with a K1 visa. So should I list my unemployment first or should I first list the university where I graduated?

It says also to write the source of financial support for unemployment or retirement period. Does it apply if you were studying? Since you technically were "unemployed" you were also a student.
 

[Edward and Jaycel 834]

On 2/22/2025 at 11:17 AM, Greenbeatles1 said:

Also, regarding the name change. My spouse and I both want to have both of our surnames together, basically a double surname (which is common for Hispanic people). He didn't write the new surname he wanted to have when we applied for the marriage certificate in the probate court. Is it okay if I write his new surname and mine new surname in the forms?

 

You should be able to use any combinations of the names that appear on the marriage certificate - For example Jaycel took her maiden surname as her new, married middle name and took my surname as her new, married surname

 

26 minutes ago, Greenbeatles1 said:

The most recent employment/educational history would be University but I graduated and I was unemployed all this time ever since I came to the US with a K1 visa. So should I list my unemployment first or should I first list the university where I graduated?

 

So this section has changed since we filled out Jaycel's I-485. In reading that section's instructions on the form, my instinct says start with the "Unemployed" period since coming to the US and work backward from there. As for listing financial support for the time as a student, I would not  think you would have to list it as you were a full-time student not "Unemployed" despite the fact that you may not have been working. (That's my best advice based on reading the instructions on the form for that section ) 

[Greenbeatles1 2]

On 2/24/2025 at 12:04 AM, Edward and Jaycel said:

 

You should be able to use any combinations of the names that appear on the marriage certificate - For example Jaycel took her maiden surname as her new, married middle name and took my surname as her new, married surname

 

 

So this section has changed since we filled out Jaycel's I-485. In reading that section's instructions on the form, my instinct says start with the "Unemployed" period since coming to the US and work backward from there. As for listing financial support for the time as a student, I would not  think you would have to list it as you were a full-time student not "Unemployed" despite the fact that you may not have been working. (That's my best advice based on reading the instructions on the form for that section ) 

Thank you so much!
Did you pay the I-485 form fee with a money order? As far as I know, you can only do it up to 1000$, so did other people who filed for AOS put like two checks for I-485 and separate checks for I-765 also as well separate two G-1145 forms for I-485 and I-765?

[Edward and Jaycel 834]

1 minute ago, Greenbeatles1 said:

Thank you so much!
Did you pay the I-485 form fee with a money order? As far as I know, you can only do it up to 1000$, so did other people who filed for AOS put like two checks for I-485 and separate checks for I-765 also as well separate two G-1145 forms for I-485 and I-765?

 

We paid by personal checks - 1 for the I-485 and 1 for the I-765. (You should absolutely pay them separately) If you use money orders, then for the I-485 you would use 2. One for $1,000 and one for $440. Make sure you note in the memo section on each one that it is for the I-485 (I would write "Form I-485 - M.O. #1" and "Form I-485 - M.O. #2") and yes you include a G-1145 for each form you are filing

[Greenbeatles1 2]

7 minutes ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

 

We paid by personal checks - 1 for the I-485 and 1 for the I-765. (You should absolutely pay them separately) If you use money orders, then for the I-485 you would use 2. One for $1,000 and one for $440. Make sure you note in the memo section on each one that it is for the I-485 (I would write "Form I-485 - M.O. #1" and "Form I-485 - M.O. #2") and yes you include a G-1145 for each form you are filing

Thank you for the advice, it is a good idea to number the checks, just in case. I also regarding marriage certificate, people in other threads mentioned "A certified copy of marriage certificate". Do they mean a certified copy retrieved from the probate court or is it just a regular copy?

[MalloryCat 351]

i submitted the certified copies

 

but ive read people just make copies OF the certified copy and submit those and have been fine.

[Edward and Jaycel 834]

40 minutes ago, Greenbeatles1 said:

I also regarding marriage certificate, people in other threads mentioned "A certified copy of marriage certificate". Do they mean a certified copy retrieved from the probate court or is it just a regular copy?

 

As @MalloryCat indicated above, we also submitted Certified True Copies of our marriage certificate (When we recorded our marriage certificate with the county clerk, we got 10 CTC because they were only $1.25 ea.) The instructions say you can just include a photocopy but we did this because we read some accounts of people getting RFE'd for an official copy.