I just received the form I-864 and instructions in the mail. I have a few questions. My dad who meets the income requirments is going to be the joint sponsor as I wasn't working for the last three years (due to college etc.) and I recently got a job contract that will start in a couple of days. My question is should I fill out the I-864 from my side just to be on the safe side and mention why I don't have the tax returns etc? or should I just let my dad file it? The only thing i can possibly provide from my end as a proof of support will be a letter stating that I have gotten this contract from so and so company. I know if I don't meet the income requirments i shouldn't even fill the I-864 but I also want to tell them that I am doing my best and will be able to support my spouse because after waiting all this time we don't want any kind of rejection from them. Any answer in this regard would be appreciated.

You do need to complete an I-864 yourself even if you have a co-sponsor. You do know that only the most recent tax return is now required? You can read more on the final rules for the affidavit of support (I-864) HERE. The link is at the top in the first post.

I dont even have my most recent tax returns cuz I didn't file any this year either...If i do fill the form for myself as well then what would I mention in the sections where it asks for my annual income etc. should i leave it blank? cuz I haven't even started working yet it's just a contract that I got which will become perm after three months...I could wait till it becomes perm but we don't want to waste that much time...also should I write a letter stating the reason why I didn't have any income? i am really confused

If you were not able to file the most recent year tax return you need to explain it why you were unable to do so. Don't leave any space blank. You can write "did not work on 2005" or something like that. But you need to fill out a I-864 and your co sponsor needs to fill out one as well.

You definately need to file the I-864 and add your father as the co-sponsor because you don't meet the requirements for sponsoring your relative. This happens a lot so don't worry. Make sure you have evidence from the IRS stating that you didn't file for the most recent tax year. Your father has to have the most recent tax info, include your birth certificate indicating your relationship, and a copy of his US passport and Citizenship (birth certificate if born in US). You will also need verification of your current employement. In addition, you have to file for the "Contract between Household members", this is an agreement between you and the co-sponsor. Hope this helps

The I-864A is only used when the co-sponsor is a household member, otherwise the co-sponsor completes an I-864 just as the sponsor does.

kiny
Is your father a household member? Do you live with him?

FYI, I am in the the same situation....I just graduated university in June and start work this monday, August 14th...i will include my work contract/letter and by the time i submit my AOS i will probably have some pay stubs....my parents are my co-sponsor and we both need to fill out the forms good luck!

Yes, for the time being I am living with my parents and since we are both at the same address do I need to include I-864A as well?

You can have your dad complete the I-864A, you complete the I-864......Household income would be included on your I-864. The I-864A is an agreement for household member income (your dads) to be included.
Or you can both complete an I-864.

I don't understand. You just finished college. YOu have no job (yet) You live with your parents and they are supporting you. AND YOUR GETTING MARRIED. To a foreigner no less. Geee wiz...my wife gave me the third degree....She was pretty determined to find a guy with a job, and money, and stuff like that. I'd love to know how you managed to find a girl to marry you. YOu must have one hell of a personality. Potential, that's it! Now...once you finish with the I-864, you will need to have some things ready for the consulate/interview. You may want to look at these ahead of time because they can take some time to gather. Good luck to you kids!

What a sarcastic, dick of a response! very judgmental...it seemed to be addressed to the original poster, but since i am in his/her same situation, i feel offended. I have been in school and while I did work, it did not meet the affidavit requirements--does that make me a bad person for getting married? Meanwhile, my husband works his a$$ off in Belize but gets paid a wage that he could never support me by if we lived in the US...does that make him a BOY instead of a MAN? By the way, might I mention, that only in USA and western cultures, is it so TABOOOOO for parents to be supporting their kid! Uh, in central america where my husband is from, parenthood doesn't stop at age 18 honey...and it is so wonderful to have such supportive family...

I was kidding!

Even though it arguably was not expressed appropriately, I do understand the general point.

No permanent employment yet + Just finished college + Living with parents who support you = Not exactly the best circumstances to marry.

(I am only going by what you've posted here, so forgive me if there are extenuating circumstances in your case.)

I've noticed that there are many young people on this forum, more than I had expected. I'm also rather young and have never really worked. (I'm a professional student.) However, I made certain that my husband and I would have enough money saved up to be able to support ourselves without parental contribution. Moreover, I also made sure that we wouldn't need to live with my parents... I've met far too many young couples who had to do that and it really spelled disaster for them.

Marriage, in my opinion, is a huge step in life and with it comes responsibilities that only the couple should bear. Not parents, unless they offer... And that doesn't mean the couple must accept.

Good luck to the OP!

This goes to hahubrad and all those who have been spilling sarcastic comments about my situation without actually knowing anything about me...first lemme make one thing clear: i am NOT a guy i am a girl unlike wut hahubrad thinks...secondly, my husband is not a stranger like you sarcastically used the word 'foreigner'...he did his MBA from the states and his entire family (who btw are US citizens) live in the states as well...secondly, MY PARENTS DIDN'T SUPPORT ME FINANCIALLY...my husband sends me money and if i do live with my parents temporarily i am not ashamed to admit that in fact hats off to my parents and all other loving parents in the world who support their kids in their time of need with all their love and not throw them out on the streets unlike some parents...also i a m not a kid and we didn't just get married, we've been married for a while now and all this time my husband and I've been supporting myself. The reason I didn't have a permanent job uptil now was only cuz I wanted to live with my husband and I did live with him half of the time in canada...also, for your kind information i've been teaching two online courses and yes, since I don't meet the income requirements all my dad is doing is signing the co-sponsor forms and it's not like we'll be asking them for any financial help in any way...and the job that i recently got pays really good and now that my life is finally falling back into pieces i am very happy for every decision i made and for marrying the man that i love...hahubrad if your wife only goes for superficial materialistic things then I can only feel sorry for you...in my dictionary there's nothing such as "the best circumstances to get married in"...look at the divorce rate all across america and those shattering marriages that btw took place in the "best of circumstances" and i think u'll easily get my point...I hope this is enough to keep your brain cells jumping for a while...

Kiny,

No permanent employment yet + Just finished college + Living with parents who support you = Not exactly the best circumstances to marry.

I stand by that comment. A lot of young people are going through this immigration process without understanding what a huge responsibility it is. Instead of just waiting patiently until a job comes by, some younger petitioners want to start petitioning now when, realistically, they don't have the necessary financial support to take care of their spouse, themselves, and maybe any other dependents. I'm posting it here mostly because I know other young people read the forums and I'm just trying to help them see the situation from all perspectives. Ultimately, it's a personal choice.

Alien and foreigner are terms used to refer to immigrants. Depending on usage, these terms are not meant to be negative. I'm currently a foreigner in another country. There's really nothing wrong with that.

So your husband supports you financially instead of your parents? I see. Fine.

You don't have a permanent job? Okay. Fine.

There are, in my opinion, ideal circumstances to be married. Namely, at the very least, both parties should have permanent employment or some kind of income. Yours is not an ideal situation, in my opinion, to be married and there isn't really a reason to act like it is. Immigration forces us into some circumstances that we wouldn't have to endure normally if we weren't married to foreigners.

I wish you and your husband the best.

--Z

zauberblume:
In case you hadnt noticed this is an immigration forum, people come here to discuss specific immigration problems and issues and sometimes a positive word or two. This is not a forum to get personal with someone whose situation your are not fully aware of. Your comments did not add anything to the main question that was asked but were infact percieved as negative. Any reasonable individual at this stage would choose not to reply to avoid an argument. As for your comments and opinions....again with all due respect to you but nobody really asked you for your comments or opinions....nobody asked for them and they are welcome as long as they are contributing to solving the question asked if not please keep them to yourself. More then one people has expressed that they found your comments negative so please stick to the core objective of this forum i.e solving immigration related issues.
Thanks,

Fak,

I've been a member at VisaJourney for over a year now. I know VisaJourney is an immigration forum. If you have taken a look at my timeline, you'll see that I've also gone through the immigration process fairly recently.

I appreciate your comments, but I respectfully disagree with the overall point. This is a public forum where opinions are offered. Those opinions can be negative or positive as long as the comments expressed are in line with the Terms of Service guidelines.

I have a right to say exactly what I would like to, especially if I believe in it. I think the original comment, made by another poster, was legitimate and introduces an aspect of this process that young people tend to neglect.

The only way for me to stop expressing my opinions is for me to be banned. That's a decision for the moderator, but as it stands, I've been offering my opinion for the last year or so and most people have appreciated it and thanked me for it.

All the best,
Z

that's exactly my point...it might not be the ideal of circumstances and I do admit that immigration makes you go through a lot of hassle but then again this is life sometimes you can't find your other half in the best of circumstances these are all matters of fate and i am sure since you are going through it yourself you should know...I don't agree with you when you say that young ppl should wait to sponsor or wait to get married etc. maybe u got married late but a young person can be just as responsible and even more smarter than lets say a person going through mid-life crisis it really depends on what you are capable of... I've complate faith in my husband and myself for making it work and in the end that's all that matters...why is it that 18 is too old for you to be staying with your parents but if a recenet college grad or a person in his/her 20's gets married and sponsors their spouse they are too immature to do that? i think i smell double standards here...

Kiny,

It's a personal choice. Always.

Unfortunately, I have met young people who romanticized the entire immigration process, failing to fully understand the responsibilities that come with it. The financial responsibilities are especially important as the Consulate will turn you away if you do not meet the poverty guidelines and have not secured a co-sponsor who meets the guidelines. I just like to give young people some food for thought so that they are able to see the entirety of the matter. All too often, regretfully, they don't.

I'm twenty-three years old. I got married young, by most people's standards. I'm glad I got married; I found the man that I loved. But I also wanted to ensure that we wouldn't be financially constrained when we moved to America because I didn't have a job and he, as a new immigrant, could likely struggle to find one. I just wanted to be prepared so we waited nearly two years before we married and immigrated. Our preparedness helped us tremendously so I was able to sponsor him myself (and he also self-sponsored, to some extent, since we live together abroad.) But I'm not trying to be negative. I was a college student, too, and had no income or taxes; however, my "job" is to be a student, a graduate student. We never get an income worth much anyway. I just knew I couldn't support my husband financially on the stipend of a graduate student, so we saved up money in the process. (But because I've been abroad in a graduate program, I needed a co-sponsor or so I thought. Thankfully, I didn't.) I do have a job now (at my university) and, coincidentally, his current job will follow him to America. So we're ready for this next step!

Really, that's all I'm advocating: preparation. I know it's hard to support a two-person household on one income if that income is unsteady and doesn't meet the poverty guidelines. I would never tell anyone not to get married, though. I just think it's more of a challenge for which you have to be prepared. My opinion is just that--an opinion. But, still, I offer what I think might be helpful, maybe not to you in your situation, but to somebody else with slightly different circumstances.

Anyway, just be prepared. Immigration makes it all that much more of a challenge, for the young and the old!

--Z