How To Determine If My Joint Sponsor's Income Is Sufficent

[Mrs.Hull210 24]

Hello All,

My husband and I are using my brother as a joint sponsor. He has his own household of 4 and we understand that with my husband that would make it 5. I filed my own I-864 and my brother filed his own. My brother is married, his spouse does not work, and has 2 dependents which were all listed on his form, and from what we understood by looking at the Poverty Guidelines the required amount we need is $35,512 for a household of 5, and according to my brother's tax transcripts Adjusted Gross Income line he made $56,229 yet we just received a RFE stating that our joint sponsor's income does not meet the poverty guidelines. We even took our paperwork to our local office and a front desk clerk looked over it and stated that my brother's income far exceeded the guidelines and couldn't understand why it was given an RFE, but I would like to be sure that is entirely correct before we resend the same information only to be rejected again. I read that deductions may cause the AGI to fall below the poverty guidelines, so how do I figure if that has happened in our case, or if this is a mistake by our worker. Any help greatly appreciated.

Michelle

[teeak 224]

You're supposed to use Total Income on IRS Form 1040 (this is line 22). You use adjusted gross income if the sponsor filed Form 1040EZ. Since your brother has dependents, I'm assuming he filed a Form 1040.

This is from page 8 of the I-864 Instructions:

For purposes of this affidavit, the line for Total Income on IRS Forms 1040 and 1040A will be considered when determining income. For persons filing IRS Form 1040 EZ, the line for adjusted gross income will be considered.

[belinda63 2,981]

Did you send tax returns or tax transcripts? If you sent the tax return did you send the entire return including w-2, statements of interest income (if applicable), 1099 (if applicable), etc. If you failed to send the entire return they will not accept it.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Another reason they may reject your brother. He is married and filed a joint return. The tax return itself does not break down husband's income and wife's income. You know the wife didn't work, but does USCIS? An employer letter for brother showing his own Income is enough to qualify is a good proof.

Also a joint sponsor needs to be a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident. Did you send proof?

He makes enough if Line 22 of the 1040 is over $35512, but if your documentation is not complete, they won't consider him.

1) Proof his is USC or LPR

2) tax return and W2 -or- tax return transcript. Transcript is best.

3) additional proof of his salary like an employer letter to show his qualifies all by himself.

[Mrs.Hull210 24]

We sent in complete tax transcripts for years 2012-2014. All 3 years show Adjusted Gross Income over $50,000. My brother and myself are US citizens by birth, and birth certificates, social security cards, were sent in as proof. The RFE just states that his income does not meet poverty guidelines, however we did not include a work verification from employer as we thought that the tax transcripts showed that his spouse had 0 income. We will obtain that form and submit it along with the paperwork that our local rep noted. Thank you all for the replies, it is appreciated

[Willy8 0]

I'm in the same situation as you, Im the petitioner/sponsor and a file for my mom, my household is 3 people, me, my wife, and now my mom, for 3 people household the poverty guideline is of about 24k and me myself alone without my wife's income make 27k so that's enough but i got the RFE letter saying that my income did not meet or exceed and that i need to send my W2's or 1099's which i forgot to send... someone told me that they send the same letter to many people even though their income clearly is above the poverty guideline.. it's just that some people like me fail to provide documents, Ex. Transcripts, Schedules 1040, W2's, 1099's, It's this your case, did you forgot to send any document relevant to your sponsor and his income?

[newacct 688]

What it says on his tax transcripts doesn't matter. What matters is his current household income, which he filled on his I-864, and which is the sum of his current individual income, and the current incomes of any household members he chose to include the incomes of (they would have had to fill out I-864A to have their incomes included). Does this current household income meet the level or not?

[Mrs.Hull210 24]

I think it may be the lack of including a current work verification from his employer as that is the only thing we didn't submit. We sent in his pay stubs with the transcripts, and those clearly show his weekly pay which all equal up to his set salary of just over $56,000 yearly currently.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Mrs.Hull210

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

~ Moved from Tax & Finances During US Immigration to AOS from Work, Student & Tourist Visas ~

[meldia7 0]

Hello,

I am in the process of sorting out requirements for a joint sponsor and I want to make sure I do everything correctly here....

I filled out my I-864 and since I do not have enough income (am living overseas), my brother will be the joint-sponsor.

He has two dependents including himself and my husband (the beneficiary) will make a household size of 4, so we need to prove $30,312.

I understand that the total income must be from line 22 on his 1040.

My question is do I need to send tax information from the last 3 years? (2012, 2013, and 2014?) OR, will just 2014 suffice?

Also, my brother is self-employed. How do I prove income for him besides his tax form?

Thank you in advance for any advice about this!!

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Hello,

I am in the process of sorting out requirements for a joint sponsor and I want to make sure I do everything correctly here....

I filled out my I-864 and since I do not have enough income (am living overseas), my brother will be the joint-sponsor.

He has two dependents including himself and my husband (the beneficiary) will make a household size of 4, so we need to prove $30,312.

I understand that the total income must be from line 22 on his 1040.

My question is do I need to send tax information from the last 3 years? (2012, 2013, and 2014?) OR, will just 2014 suffice?

Also, my brother is self-employed. How do I prove income for him besides his tax form?

Thank you in advance for any advice about this!!

With self-employment the tax form has to be the proof. Does your brother have a spouse on that tax return?

Sending in 2014 is required. The others are optional as stated in the form instructions but he will copy Line 22 for three years for the I-864 form.

[meldia7 0]

Hello,

Thank you! Well in the process of doing all of this...I overlooked the fact that my brother (our co-sponsor) went to jail and has a couple of offenses on his criminal record!!

The offenses are stupid..one night he got drunk and broke into a couple of cars and spent 1 night in jail....I think he has 2 offenses now on his record. This took place maybe 15 years ago (more or less)..would this mean we could be denied based on this fact?

I would rather know this now than send in his papers and find out later.

Any advice on this would be appreciated...I cannot believe we overlooked this before..

Thanks in advance!!

Edited December 31, 2015 by meldia7