First - great news is we got approved yesterday!!!!

Now, I'm focusing on the next steps.

I'm a founding partner in a health club. I've poured all of my money/resources into the gym over the past year +. So, my 2006 tax returns show me meeting the poverty level, but if I file for 2007 they won't. As a business owner - what should I do? And what is?

report of commercial rating concern

For the 134, should I just use the 2006 returns, since I won't file for 2007 until the last possible day (as I always do).
Should I also get a co-sponsor (my parents) just in case?
Do I need to show my financial records as a business owner, or just my 2006 returns? I still have no idea what a commercial rating concern is???

PLEASE HELP!!!! I don't want all my efforts into my business to stop Sarah from coming home.

Thank you!

Congratulations on your approval!

From what I know, a report of commercial rating concern is a report that's done by organizations (like Dun & Bradstreet) to rate and estimate a business' financial standing (they predict or "rate" how likely it is that a company will pay it's bills in a 12 months time frame). It's usually done when the business concerned is a fairly new established one.
I am not sure if it's done for a small business like yours, to be honest.

About the tax returns to submit - they usually want to see the ones of the most recent tax year. That's def. for the I-864 you will have to submit later on with AOS. I received a RFE because I didn't submit the most recent ones (but the ones for the 3 previos years) and an explanation that my husband didn't file yet but they didn't accept it.
For the I-134 I assume though you should be fine with the tax returns for 2006 because in the instructions they ask for the last tax return filed, not specifically for the most recent tax year. Make sure to submit all other documents the I-134 asks for. If you can get your parents to be your co-sponsors you will def. meet all requirements and be fine and won't have to worry about that report of commercial rating concern.

Maybe someone else is/was in the same boat and can help out a bit more here.

So, if I have have little to show in my bank account (very little), but show my 2006 meeting the poverty requirements, and my parents co-sponsoring - you believe it should be ok?

Thanks!
Jesse

P.S. This is a great site.

They will only want to see the latest tax return filed as of the date you submitted the 134. If a new tax period has come since then they are not going to suddenly decide they need it. The employees at the embassy (local people) might think you need it but it is not true. For example, when we went to our visa interview the lady who worked at the embassy (not American) kept insisting that we needed anotgher tax return since it was now 2008 and all we had in the file was the 2006 tax return. I explained to her that in America we do not have to file our taxes until April 15 and also that when the application was filed that the 2006 tax return was the latest available. The Consul agreed that onlt the latest tax return you had as of the date you signed the 134 was necessary, even if this is a new tax year.

So what it comes down to is that if your tax record that you already submitted was good enough then it is good enough. On the other hand if the tax return was not good enough you can always add information (like a new W-2 showing you made more money, etc). You can always add more information but they won't require it!

Yes, I believe that, if you submit 2006 tax returns and all other evidence they ask for (bank statements about deposits and any assets you might have) you will be fine for the interview. If your parents fill out a I-134 along with you and act as co-sponsors you will def. be on the safe side.
In our case my husband isn't self-employed so we didn't even have to sumit any tax papers with I-134, just a letter from his employer, some paystubs and the bank statements.

Just remember, if you file for AOS later on down the road, after your fiance came to the US on K1 and after you guys got married you will have to submit 2007 tax returns with I-864 for AOS. So make sure your parents help you out there too.