Hamster X

Update after meeting with consulting attorney:

The attorney basically suggested the same things that most people here have been telling me, which is a good sign:

Submit only the 2021 tax return and W-2s + 1099s. *No* recent employment record, other two years' taxes or other unrequested documents needed. Can add the tax transcript for 2021 to prove that tax was in fact filed. File via mail to get proof of submission.

And the most important thing he said was to add a cover letter listing every single bullet point on the RFE followed by my response to it, as detailed as which page which item. He also said do mention at the end that the information requested was included in the original filing.

The attorney also said that because the USCIS recently had a lot of new hires who might or might not be familiar with the process, a lot of people are getting this type of very general no specific reason RFE.

1 minute ago, Ontarkie said:

The other forum is for ppl adjusting from a K1 Fiancé Visas. This forum is still family based it's just what they entered on a Work, Student or Tourist Visas. The K1 Process is not the same process as yours. This forum is. 

I see. Thank you.

4 hours ago, Ontarkie said:

~~Thread also moved to AS from W, S and Tourist Visas, form AOS Family K1/K3 - The OP is adjusting from O-1~~

Hi, I'm worried that most people in the work/student visa AOS forum have an employment based petition, which means fewer would be able to answer family based petition related questions.

8 minutes ago, OldUser said:

@Hamster X it's perfectly normal to want to speed up the process from your side, but please prioritize accuracy and detail over quick response.

 

USCIS by default want to deny your case (not just you, any petitioner). They'll send RFEs and denials for wrongly checked boxes, typos, incomplete forms or missing evidence. I'm not even 100% sure all the reviews are done by humans. It's quite possible some of initial checks are done by software before officers even take a look at your case.

 

Secondly, USCIS take forever to review your application and any replys to RFEs. They also give you a lot of time to prepare your answer, with help of attorney if needed.  Think to yourself: would you rather reply quickly and have 50% chance of being denied or speak to multiple people, and reply in 3 weeks or so and be approved? If you have to wait for 6-18 months, do these 3 weeks make much difference?

Good luck !

Thanks. You're right.

Also given how fast that RFE was sent out (case received 08/22, RFE 09/06), it honestly does look like it's not processed by human..

11 minutes ago, OldUser said:

You can go to appointment and then see another attorney to get second opinion. You have a lot of time to reply to RFE. If you rush and make another mistake, you can get I-485 denied. It's up to you, but in your circumstances, I would start taking immigration process more seriously.

Tbh this wasn't really the attorney's fault. Because it's a free consulting attorney provided by the city college system, they don't usually reply in a timely fashion. So while I was waiting for his reply to my final question "should I really submit all hundreds of pages of 1040s?", instead of spending hours trying to call his office and waiting in line, I thought: well, the tax transcript is the most formal tax document, so I'll just submit all 3 years of that plus only the 1040 and W-2s from 2021, and did it myself.

9 minutes ago, boy2aman said:

Why can't you once you possess a pdf version? I have used the online upload to submit RFE's and it has worked quite fine and with quick and favorable responses.  So I'm curious to know why uploading a pdf version of the I-864 would be any different. 

The only difference I can think of is that the I-864 form itself requires a handwritten signature. Whereas other documents are scanned copies anyway.

9 minutes ago, Mike E said:

If he helped you first time you shouldn’t use him the second time.  

Umm too bad already booked an appointment this afternoon.

Let's see what he says.

4 minutes ago, powerpuff said:

If you read threads in this sub section you can see many people being issued RFEs for I-864 & supporting docs, even if they submitted them already. It seems like a frequent RFE.
 

Also, to clear up the confusion you mentioned,  @NikoTaino is going through consular processing overseas, different agencies reviewing documents

It is interesting that different offices have different standards. 

I'm actually AOS from O-1, have been living here for 10 years and been working / paying tax. I thought about posting this in the AOS from work visa forum instead but now my AOS is family based.

10 hours ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Keywords "if applicable".

It's not applicable to you because one cannot file I485 and the accompanying I864 ONLINE. It is currently a paper filled form only. 

 

Respond to the RFE by mail. 

Makes sense, thank you. I will respond by mail.

5 hours ago, Mike E said:

When one gets an RFE for I-864, a professional to go over the response is a good idea because you get just one opportunity. After that if USCIS rejects the RFE response, IMO, the I-485 is rejected.  The fees for I-485 are gone  and the only practical DIY response is to file a new I-485 package.  
 

There are professionals without law degrees who will provide this service (reviewing I-864). 

I'll go over the form later with a consulting only attorney. In fact he helped us go over the forms the first time.

1 minute ago, NikoTaino said:

First filling.

DQ means “Documentarily Qualified”. It’s what NVC says once your profile is reviewed and it’s approved.

 

Ah..your case makes me even more confused. I literally submitted the exact same materials and a consulting attorney helped me go over the I-864 form before I filed.

Is this kind of thing just..random?

9 hours ago, NikoTaino said:

I did the same. Uploaded the transcripts from 2019, 2020 and 2021 but only the W2, 1040, 1099 and Schedules from 2021. I’m DQ and had no issue.

 

As far as I know, they only look for the latest tax returns.

 

I’m not an expert but this is how it went for me.

That's what I initially submitted for the first filing.

Did you mean that you submitted those for an RFE or the first filing? What does DQ mean?

20 minutes ago, OldUser said:

They're probably right saying it. If you provide both, give all information and not partial. Adding partial evidence does not help, it hurts the case.

Maybe that's why the consulting attorney now recommends submitting every single item (W-2s and 1040s from all 3 years)

3 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Why not all?

Because technically tax transcript = 1040 plus W-2s and 1099s. People usually submit either the tax transcript alone or that combo. Some folks here said that my mistake was to submit both, I really don't know.

11 minutes ago, OldUser said:

@Hamster X it all depends on what RFE asked for. If you did not initially include substantial evidence (tax transcripts, bank accounts etc) then it's normal to receive an RFE. Make sure to consult with somebody experienced and provide enough evidence. Otherwise you may get a NOID.

I just checked, actually I didn't submit the incomplete documents, I took them out last minute and they're on my desk.

Initially, I submitted the following items:

12 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Whether you end up submitting evidence electronically or by mailing, ALWAYS provide every single page. Otherwise you risk confusing the person working on your case.

Yeah you're right.

9 minutes ago, OldUser said:

@Hamster X You have plenty of time to respond to RFE. If I was in your shoes, I'd get advice from an immigration attorney, to make sure the reponse to RFE is adequate.

 

Then mail it (so you have a proof of providing it). Mailing also solves any issues with signature.

 

That's my opinion only

My grad school has free immigration attorneys for consultation only (they don't represent people). I've made an appointment with one tomorrow.

Although now I'm really confused since so far the attorney said totally different things from what very experienced folks on this forum had suggested. Like: submit everything including all W-2s and 1040s from all 3 previous years..etc.

1 minute ago, Timona said:

Follow the RFE guidelines 

You cannot upload I-864 online to respond to a case. USCIS hasn't got to to the point where that can be done.l online. 

The online option was mentioned in the RFE letter per se, and I did see where to upload them on the site as well as the file size requirements.

We filled out all the forms digitally and only the signature part was written by hand.

So USCIS did get to the point where this can be done online, the only thing I'm worried about is if the scanned signature is valid.

31 minutes ago, NikoTaino said:

You don’t need to send physical copies. You simply need to scan the AOS once they are hand signed with black pen and upload it to the CEAC.

Ah..scanning only the signed page or every single page? We filled out the form digitally, so is it okay if the other pages are digital, only the signature page is scanned?

Hi, in the RFE letter it mentioned both the physical mailing address and the USCIS online portal, which I have an account and have been receiving all the letters digitally at.

The RFE did ask for the signed I-864 form itself again, so I wonder if the signature part also counts if it's a scanned copy?

Has anyone tried to submit the RFE via the USCIS website? How did it go?

I've found the upload link, just need to make sure that signatures can be scanned copies.

On 9/12/2022 at 8:14 AM, CaLi90 said:

I originally submitted the tax return with W2s and all accompanying evidence. I got the same RFE and no Tax Transcript was mentioned in it, but because my spouse had several jobs throughout that particular tax year, we decided to submit the Tax Transcript as it was much more straightforward to match total income column, and the USCIS officer didn’t have to match all the W2s. 
 

As for the current income, she had been at that job for over a year by the time we submitted and provided recent pay stubs, employment letter etc.

 

This was enough to be accepted and my NYC interview was scheduled a few months after they received the RFE. 
 

Good luck with your journey!

Thanks! I was thinking the same, but in the RFE it didn't ask for the tax transcript at all.

I saw your other post about sending the physical copies instead of submitting online because of the signature. I was thinking that submitting everything online should be the safest and fasted way but now I'd look into this more.

1 minute ago, pushbrk said:

One or the other, not both.  If the transcript was not mentioned at all, don't submit it. Go with the complete return with all schedules and W2 and/or 1099 forms.

Got it, thanks.

7 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

But you did make several mistakes as others have pointed out.  Take the advice you've been given.  If you've forgotten.  Read again.

 

I understand that it should be either the Tax Transcript or the Tax Return.

But on the RFE it only asked for "a complete copy of the petitioning sponsor’s Federal income tax return, including all supporting tax documents (W-2s, 1099s, Form 2555, and tax schedules) filed with the return, for the most recent tax year", no tax transcript was even mentioned. In this case should I still submit the tax transcript?

48 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Based on those details, enter the 2021 income as the current income but SEND ONLY THE LATEST CONTRACT.

 

Moot point now, but no I did not say to estimate the number for "this year".  The method I described computes the income for the next 365 days.  I your husband's situation though, that doesn't work, so just enter the 2021 income as his current income.  The "contract" is the evidence he's currently employed.

Hmm that's exactly what we did when we first filed. 2021 income as current annual income and only the most recent pay stubs and contracts.

So I guess now we should just submit the exact same things (for 2021 and current) again? I honestly would feel better if we did make a mistake, we filed everything they could possibly ask for and still got an RFE.

Thank you for explaining things to me though.

31 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Go back and read carefully.  I explained how to calculate current income in great detail.  I said one current pay stub and the most current contract.  No more contracts and no more pay stubs.  Perhaps your husband will be the one who "understands better" but please read carefully and interpret literally, what I wrote and each question on the form itself.  2021 is certainly not "current".

And my husband hasn't received his first fall semester paycheck yet, so the pay stubs look kind of bad as they paused at the beginning of summer.

Should I just send all 4 of his employment contracts this year which would add up precisely to that estimated current income number without the pay stubs?

7 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Go back and read carefully.  I explained how to calculate current income in great detail.  I said one current pay stub and the most current contract.  No more contracts and no more pay stubs.  Perhaps your husband will be the one who "understands better" but please read carefully and interpret literally, what I wrote and each question on the form itself.  2021 is certainly not "current".

I understand it now after reading the actual form instead of the RFE. I see what you meant, it's the "current income" on Part 6 question 7. We put in the 2021 income as the "current income" because that was the only concrete number we had. So you're saying that this number has to be an estimate of this year, which makes sense.

In this case I'm not sure about the recent pay stubs math here in my particular case. My husband signs 2-3 contracts each year, each of them states the total income he gets for teaching that semester, and in the summer he usually doesn't have any work/income. The employers have been pretty stable (10 years), that's just how these kind of jobs work. In this case the suggestion to only list one pay stub does not add up accurately to the actual annual income. Each semester he gets paid differently. I mean that's the reality, but I wonder if USCIS wants to see the reality or the math.

40 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

I'm sure the message can be seen by either of you when you login to CEAC.  Let's get some terminology straight.  There is no 2022 data being asked for because 2022 tax returns are filed in 2023.  Pay stubs are not 2022 pay stubs.  You need to use ONE pay stub, the most current one NOW, to calculate current income.  Remember it is "current income" not "2022 income".  If he lost his job a month ago and hasn't found a new one yet (hypothetical) his current income is zero.  If he started a new job last month earning 1,000 a week, his current income is 52,000.

 

If you have the 2021 tax return transcript, that's the only tax document you send but also send the current pay stub from which you calculated the current income.  Only one pay stub is needed.  If you want to send the most recent contract too, that would be good.  Just the most recent.  Either of you can do this.  Choose the one who understands best, what I've written above.

Ah I do understand that the 2022 income was never required at all, not before and not in the RFE.

I have the 2021 tax transcript. I'm a bit confused, by "current income" you meant the 2021 income? Since the 2022 one was never required.

Overall, do I only submit tax documents of year 2021 + pay stubs of 2022 and new contracts made in 2022?