What exactly counts as "annual income"?

[Catalina Cuqui 17]

Hi,

Our case is the following: my USA fiance was working as a contractor for a company 40 hour a week the whole last year, making pretty good money. In February he came to Spain to spend 3 months with me (as his company said he could work remotely, and therefore he would be making money while visiting me). But the company run out of projects and stopped sending him work, which basically means he made very little money for 5 months this year.

Then, upon returning to the USA, he got a job in another company 40 hours a week, in which he is making 30,000 a year. BUT he started this job in June, so he will not have made that amount when 2016 ends. Approximately, in 2016, he will have made a total of somewhat over 15,000.

On top of this, he has some credit debt from the months he wasn't given work. It's not a lot, but not sure he will have paid it all off before we he has to provide proof of income (we recently received our NOA1).

So my questions are:

1) is annual income counted by actual year - which would mean he has to make a minimum of 125% the poverty line IN 2016-, or rather means that if you got a job that pays you more than that you're fine regardless of WHEN you started making money?

2) is credit debt a problem? will it count against us? does he have to provide this info at all?

3) is there a minimum of savings in bank required?

4) overall, do we need a joint sponsor, or we will be fine as he is currently making way more than the minimum required?

Thanks a lot for your answers!

Edited August 28, 2016 by agnesita84

[MsCompE 50]

I believe it is based on the tax declaration. I had overheard another interview in the embassy while waiting for my interview.

CO: how much is your husband's annual income?

Lady: xx thousand

CO: but his tax declaration says he only earns xx per year

Lady: he earns xx per hour

CO: this is what his documents says and we are basing it from that...

[lost_at_sea 995]

What does his gross annual income say on his tax return? That's what they essentially look at.

[VividDreamer 15]

1) is annual income counted by actual year - which would mean he has to make a minimum of 125% the poverty line IN 2016-, or rather means that if you got a job that pays you more than that you're fine regardless of WHEN you started making money?

There's been lots of topics on the details of financial support; look back in this forum for a few threads about the I-134 if you want to get familiar with the advice people give. Essentially if you can bring solid proof that your fiancé is currently making over the poverty line, his last year's taxes won't really matter. They still wanna see the tax transcripts, but if you have a new job that makes over that line bring paystubs and a letter of employment from his employer stating rate of pay, permanent or temporary, full or part time, and it should be fine.

2) is credit debt a problem? will it count against us? does he have to provide this info at all?

As far as I'm aware, this doesn't come up.

3) is there a minimum of savings in bank required?

No minimum, no - but you can use savings to cover gaps in the yearly income to show proof of financial support. By the sounds of it though this isn't why you're asking

4) overall, do we need a joint sponsor, or we will be fine as he is currently making way more than the minimum required?

I believe you're fine but you do need to make sure you've got solid evidence of current and permanent income over the threshold. That's all immigration is really concerned with. Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong but I have read a ton about the support documents because my fiancé is riding the poverty line threshold and we'll likely need a cosponsor if his job won't give him a raise (infuriating! He's only 63 cents an hour away from making enough).

Hope that helps!

[Catalina Cuqui 17]

There's been lots of topics on the details of financial support; look back in this forum for a few threads about the I-134 if you want to get familiar with the advice people give. Essentially if you can bring solid proof that your fiancé is currently making over the poverty line, his last year's taxes won't really matter. They still wanna see the tax transcripts, but if you have a new job that makes over that line bring paystubs and a letter of employment from his employer stating rate of pay, permanent or temporary, full or part time, and it should be fine.

As far as I'm aware, this doesn't come up.

No minimum, no - but you can use savings to cover gaps in the yearly income to show proof of financial support. By the sounds of it though this isn't why you're asking

I believe you're fine but you do need to make sure you've got solid evidence of current and permanent income over the threshold. That's all immigration is really concerned with. Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong but I have read a ton about the support documents because my fiancé is riding the poverty line threshold and we'll likely need a cosponsor if his job won't give him a raise (infuriating! He's only 63 cents an hour away from making enough).

Hope that helps!

Thanks a lot VividDreamer!

I am guessing we should then be fine for the K1, as last year he made more than enough, and that's what says on his taxes. It could be a little more tricky when the time comes for AOS, as this year he will make less because of what I explained, but I hope that proof of his current employment showing what he is making nowadays will be enough to prove that he can support me!

Good luck to you! I hope he gets a raise.

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

Current annual income is based on what they earn in a year's time. Not in any one specific year. So, you would take what they earn per hour and multiply that by hours worked per week, then multiply weekly income by 52 weeks. That will give you current annual income amount. If it is just a base, outright salary of $30k, then state the current income as $30k. Use letter from employer and recent pay stubs to prove the current income.

Sounds like the USC petitioner was self-employed before. Self-employed use their recent tax return to prove income. They would go by line 22 of the 1040, which is Total Income. Sounds like his taxes show enough and his current income is enough, so should not be an issue.

Also, should not be an issue for AOS either. He will do the same, provide most recent tax transcript and proof of current annual income.