Child Support Included?

[christiesalim 6]

Hello. This is my first time posting and am very new to this process so please be patient with me My fiancee and I will be doing our paperwork for the K-1 visa in the next couple of months and I had a few questions. For the affidavit of support would child support I currently receive be included in that? Also, I am reading that my last 3 years of tax information will needed to be submitted. Currently I meet the requirements for income but, the years prior would be a little iffy because I was a student and only worked part time. Would we need to look into finding a co-sponsor based on that? I am sure I will have many more questions but that is it for now...ha! Thanks for any information. It is greatly appreciated!

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

Hello. This is my first time posting and am very new to this process so please be patient with me My fiancee and I will be doing our paperwork for the K-1 visa in the next couple of months and I had a few questions. For the affidavit of support would child support I currently receive be included in that? Also, I am reading that my last 3 years of tax information will needed to be submitted. Currently I meet the requirements for income but, the years prior would be a little iffy because I was a student and only worked part time. Would we need to look into finding a co-sponsor based on that? I am sure I will have many more questions but that is it for now...ha! Thanks for any information. It is greatly appreciated!

You can optionally include child support as income according to the forms I read.

I personally think they shouldn't count child support towards anything that is not directly towards supporting a child especially immigration of an SO.

[Que Saudade 284]

You can show it. It is not as if you are using the child's money to support the beneficiary.

Because the child lives with you, you have to count them as a dependent. The child support that you receive basically relieves the "extra" money you have to show that you make for the additional dependent.

For example, a household of 3 (petitioner+child, beneficiary) the requirement is $23,862. Let's assume you make $23,000, by guideline, you don't make enough for 3, but you do for 2 ($18,912). If you receive $3000 in child support, you now make enough for the 3.

The money is still going towards the child and NOT towards the beneficiary.

Edited August 4, 2012 by Que Saudade

[daliroya 7]

I was in the same situation. 1 of the 3 years in question was almost no income because I was in school. It has not seemed to have any impact at this point. I have a job and they wrote a letter stating my position and my income. Hopefully, it will be ok for ya'll too!

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

You can show it. It is not as if you are using the child's money to support the beneficiary.

Because the child lives with you, you have to count them as a dependent. The child support that you receive basically relieves the "extra" money you have to show that you make for the additional dependent.

For example, a household of 3 (petitioner+child, beneficiary) the requirement is $23,862. Let's assume you make $23,000, by guideline, you don't make enough for 3, but you do for 2 ($18,912). If you receive $3000 in child support, you now make enough for the 3.

The money is still going towards the child and NOT towards the beneficiary.

Exactly. Child support is paid to the custodial parent. The parent uses it to care for the child, e.g.> rent, groceries, insurance, clothes, utility bills, gas, etc.

OP> If you receive child support you can include it in your annual current income. You just need to show the court order to prove you receive it, and perhaps show check stubs or bank statements of direct deposits to show the amount you receive each month.

[berhanu 10]

Unfortunately, child support is NEVER an income. You dont even report it on your tax returns. Its meant for the children. IRS will never follow u for child support money you receiev and as such you cannot claim it as an income. If its an income, then it would have been subjected to tax. Its not an income because you did not EARN it.

[pushbrk 12,898]

Hello. This is my first time posting and am very new to this process so please be patient with me My fiancee and I will be doing our paperwork for the K-1 visa in the next couple of months and I had a few questions. For the affidavit of support would child support I currently receive be included in that? Also, I am reading that my last 3 years of tax information will needed to be submitted. Currently I meet the requirements for income but, the years prior would be a little iffy because I was a student and only worked part time. Would we need to look into finding a co-sponsor based on that? I am sure I will have many more questions but that is it for now...ha! Thanks for any information. It is greatly appreciated!

You do not need to have qualifying income for three years. For the I-134, nothing is asked about the past but it is good to provide at least the most recent tax return.

Court ordered child support that can be documented as actually being received as well as ordered, can be counted as income.

[berhanu 10]

am sorry. child support is not income. its the law

[Fight for Love 98]

yes, call the child support agency request a print out of your child support payment that you received for the last 3yrs..and also make sure you include you child support court order...that exactly what we did

goodluck!!!!!!!!!

am sorry. child support is not income. its the law

i totally disagree w/your statement. child support is an income.

[pushbrk 12,898]

yes, call the child support agency request a print out of your child support payment that you received for the last 3yrs..and also make sure you include you child support court order...that exactly what we did

goodluck!!!!!!!!!

i totally disagree w/your statement. child support is an income.

While child support is not counted as income when filing taxes, court ordered child support that is actually received IS counted as income for the purposes we are discussing. She does not, however, need to document receipt for three years. A few recent months of documentation is sufficient.

Edited August 10, 2012 by pushbrk

[berhanu 10]

This is very funny. well i know government is as confused as the word confused. But child support is NEVER an income. Its for the kids u help raise. Your salary is an income because you earned it. If you say spousal support i can agree to some extent since atleat that paid to u directly for your upkeep. The child support is not for ou but the kids. Infact in the child support calculations, the custodial parent who receives the money, is also obligated in thesame worksheets of the court to pay support. however, since the children live with the custodial parent, it makes no sense to ask oneself to pay to oneself.

The amount paid by the non custodial parent is not the FULL amount of support. each parent is obligated. so by showing your worksheets, u are also showing that you have obligations to pay to the support fund which money in your situation yu dont have. If the tables were turned and the children move to the other parent, you will be exposed because the worksheets will be enforced for your portion. it does not make u look good anyway. well pray for a lenient officer to handle your matter and having been here for long time, people have got away with things from one case but not in another case. The sad truth is the Immigration Officer does not know anyrthing about incomes and support issues. so for them its easy to pull wool over someone's face.

[pushbrk 12,898]

This is very funny. well i know government is as confused as the word confused. But child support is NEVER an income. Its for the kids u help raise. Your salary is an income because you earned it. If you say spousal support i can agree to some extent since atleat that paid to u directly for your upkeep. The child support is not for ou but the kids. Infact in the child support calculations, the custodial parent who receives the money, is also obligated in thesame worksheets of the court to pay support. however, since the children live with the custodial parent, it makes no sense to ask oneself to pay to oneself.

The amount paid by the non custodial parent is not the FULL amount of support. each parent is obligated. so by showing your worksheets, u are also showing that you have obligations to pay to the support fund which money in your situation yu dont have. If the tables were turned and the children move to the other parent, you will be exposed because the worksheets will be enforced for your portion. it does not make u look good anyway. well pray for a lenient officer to handle your matter and having been here for long time, people have got away with things from one case but not in another case. The sad truth is the Immigration Officer does not know anyrthing about incomes and support issues. so for them its easy to pull wool over someone's face.

All the above is irrelevant to the question at hand. In the context being discussed, Court Ordered Child support is counted as income on affidavit of support submitted by a US Citizen. PERIOD, end of story. The OP doesn't need a lenient officer. They will have an officer that follows the Field Adjudicator's Manual.

[berhanu 10]

well thi issue is yu hav not refuted anything i have said above. Its the fact. How can u call support income whe you are expected to contribute to the support you receive to take care of the kids. If its an income you will not have been obligated to contribute to the money you receive. sadly though, custodial parents in many case have used support money as if its their money instead of seeing it as money for the kids.

People have submitted I12f forms and did not attach many things and they get approved. others have missed the same things and had RFEs. thats why i say, it all boils down to the officer handling the case. they have lots of discretionary powers.

[pushbrk 12,898]

well thi issue is yu hav not refuted anything i have said above. Its the fact. How can u call support income whe you are expected to contribute to the support you receive to take care of the kids. If its an income you will not have been obligated to contribute to the money you receive. sadly though, custodial parents in many case have used support money as if its their money instead of seeing it as money for the kids.

People have submitted I12f forms and did not attach many things and they get approved. others have missed the same things and had RFEs. thats why i say, it all boils down to the officer handling the case. they have lots of discretionary powers.

I'm not refuting your facts. I'm saying they are irrelevant in the context of an Affidavit of Support. The additional "fact" that YOUR facts are IRRELEVANT is also a "fact".

I haven't a clue about submitting I12f forms. If you mean submitting an I-129F, affidavits of support are not submitted with an I-129F, they are generally handed over to a Consular Officer who knows how to deal with Court Ordered Child Support documented as being received.

The REASON, it is "counted" is BECAUSE the children it is to support are part of the "household size" of the sponsor. Yes, the Consular Officers have broad discretion in these matters. They may well not approve somebody who would not otherwise qualify for the size their household might be if the children were not there or if the child support is about to end.

I get your logic. It's sound. It's just not how affidavits of support are evaluated.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Unfortunately, child support is NEVER an income. You dont even report it on your tax returns. Its meant for the children. IRS will never follow u for child support money you receiev and as such you cannot claim it as an income. If its an income, then it would have been subjected to tax. Its not an income because you did not EARN it.

See what I posted above about how child support is used for the care of the child. The money is given to the parent, not the child. The money is to be used by the parent to care for the child in the ways they see fit. Usually it is spent for rent, groceries, insurance, clothes, utility bills, car payment, gas, and things of that nature. All the things that are needed to support and raise a child. It is counted as income for an affidavit of support because it is money that is received by the sponsor and used to support their household. It is also counted when a student that is still dependent on their parents fills out the FASFA for college. They take into account the total income of the parents, taxable or not.

There are several types of income that are non-taxable. Not having to file taxes for non-taxable income does not make it unworthy to use and not countable on an affidavit of support as income.

By the way, the reason the custodial parent that receives the child support does not have to pay taxes on it is because the non-custodial parent already would have. They do not tax the same income twice.