I-864 Joint Sponsor can not provide tax return

[ditwar 1]

I am an US citizen married to a German. I want to apply for a green card for my husband and we are making all this process thru DCF in Frankfurt. Unfortunately I have not enough income to fill alone the I-184 so I need a joint sponsor. I have a friend in the United States who is willing to be our sponsor. The situation is that he can not provide copy of a tax return or a IRS transcript because he works for an organization of the church and in the state where he lives (specifically a US Territory), he is exempt from making tax returns. He says this is because a law, I do not know if this law is only in this state or in every state of the nation.

My question is, what can we do in this situation? He can provide the documents but not the tax return. He says he had several times to provide evidence of this exemption to the local IRS. (I guess in the state where he lives)

It would be possible to use this same documentation in the form I-864 to explain why he can not provide a tax return? What else can be done so that he can be our joint sponsor?

[Anh map 2,098]

A territory is not a state. Where is this person living? He may be exempt from paying tax, but it sounds odd that there is no filing.

My suggestion is to find another sponsor rather than deal with whatever "complications" this person presents? Remember that the goal here is to obtain the visa, not educate consular officers about obscure tax rulings.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Anh map

[ditwar 1]

A territory is not a state. Where is this person living? He may be exempt from paying tax, but it sounds odd that there is no filing.

My suggestion is to find another sponsor rather than deal with whatever "complications" this person presents? Remember that the goal here is to obtain the visa, not educate consular officers about obscure tax rulings.

He is living in Puerto Rico. Residents of Puerto Rico are US citizen but are not required to make the federal tax return, only the local tax return. And there seems to be a law where he is exempt from making a tax return in PR.

[Penguin_ie 5,984]

If he can provide evidence of that law, he should send that in, and a SHORT cover letter explaining why there are no tax returns.

[ditwar 1]

A territory is not a state. Where is this person living? He may be exempt from paying tax, but it sounds odd that there is no filing.

My suggestion is to find another sponsor rather than deal with whatever "complications" this person presents? Remember that the goal here is to obtain the visa, not educate consular officers about obscure tax rulings.

If I look for another sponsor, this person may be a resident of PR or must live in any of the 50 states?

If he can provide evidence of that law, he should send that in, and a SHORT cover letter explaining why there are no tax returns.

That was exactly what I first thought when he wrote me about the tax return.

[Anh map 2,098]

The church job is not the filing issue. Submit the local tax returns along with the explanation just to call attention to the sponsor's PR residency. That should be all that is needed.