I-485 Request for Initial Evidence (I-864) URGENT HELP NEEDED

[Chardon Ne' 71]

14 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

Once they find an ineligibility, they stop reviewing the file.  Why would you expect them to continue to examine an I-864 that is already inadequate for every error?  The responsibility for a correct submission so the US Government is not wasting time and resources is on the person submitting it.  If you can not DIY, then hire a lawyer.  It's not the US Government's responsibility to review an I-864 for every error when one inadequacy is enough to not meet the requirements.

Because Im a dreamer so I believe they should.  I am allowed to do that or does that violate a VJ TOS? Hope is allowed or no? 

[aaron2020 11,651]

I never said you were violating a TOS on VJ or not allowed to have hope.  You can be a dreamer, no one is stopping you.  Just giving the OP the hard cold truth about how cases are actually adjudicated rather than rely on hopes and dreams that is not part of reality.

Edited January 11, 2017 by aaron2020

[Chardon Ne' 71]

1 minute ago, aaron2020 said:

I never said you were violating a TOS on VJ or not allowed to have hope.  You can be a dreamer, no one is stopping you.  Just giving the OP the hard cold truth about how cases are actually adjudicated rather than rely on hopes and dreams that is not part of reality.

It was already established and understood that they dont do it, what I dont understand is the psychological need to moderate everything even people's desires.  I was not being unrealistic or giving any hope it was a comment made in jest.  As a human being people make mistakes or overlook things, Even lawyers, and this is a life altering experience for some and wishing that if you did make a mistake the least they would do is tell you exactly what you did, would help ease a lot of frustration, confusion and anxiety. I guess my empathic, sunny disposition bothers you as well, but you know there is a block button for that because this is something I do often, sympathize. FYI you can do both,  give the truth and be sympathetic.   Best to you and yours. 

[Rob&Jen 14]

3 hours ago, aaron2020 said:

Once they find an ineligibility, they stop reviewing the file.  Why would you expect them to continue to examine an I-864 that is already inadequate for every error?  The responsibility for a correct submission so the US Government is not wasting time and resources is on the person submitting it.  If you can not DIY, then hire a lawyer.  It's not the US Government's responsibility to review an I-864 for every error when one inadequacy is enough to not meet the requirements.

 

By that logic they could look at a typing error and send me a notice asking to correct it, which I would then do, only for the agent to then turn a page and notice there's another discrepancy and what... send another RFE? 

 

That sounds like a bigger waste of time than providing a detailed list of the errors and how these should be rectified all at once. 

 

With what it costs to adjust in the first place, on the back of a K1 no less, I don't think that's asking too much. 

 

Instead I have to guess and hope I don't shoot myself in the foot, because an infopass appointment is nowhere possible at my location. 

[Lemonslice 4,553]

If you feel you need assistance to fill the forms, charities and legal associations do offer help.  

[Chardon Ne' 71]

That is also understood. OP read something, interpreted it one way and was hoping that if she was wrong they would let her know specifically what she needed to do to fix it but they did not. OP is reaching out to the community AFTER  attempting to do it themselves to try to help figure out what they wanted. 

[Villanelle 4,121]

On 1/10/2017 at 11:45 AM, Chardon Ne' said:

Right but upon filing a tax return, a transcript is generated. If you are going to send a tax return according to the instructions, a 1099 or w-2 must accompany it.

 

" If you provide a photocopy of your Federal individual income tax returns, you must include a copy of each and every Form W-2 and Form 1099 that relates to your returns. Do not include copies of these forms if you provide an IRS transcript of your Federal individual income tax returns rather than a photocopy unless you filed a joint income tax return with your spouse and are qualifying using only your income. "

 

They do not go by net, they go by gross so if the person is grossing $130,000 today that is more than enough and If it were me,  I would change it.

 

People will make their own decisions as to how they will proceed. All one can do is offer advice. 

 

On 1/10/2017 at 4:43 PM, Chardon Ne' said:

A 1040 is not evidence of having filed though. A tax transcript is.  Anyone can make a copy of a completed 1040, thats why they prefer the transcript.  From what I have seen, ppl who do not send a w2 or 1099 have gotten an RFIE or RFE. I dont know much but I know taxes and benefits.  if you are self employed a transcript is better evidence for self employed ppl as proof of having actually filed. All of that (schedules, etc) will be included on the transcript. It was already sent back once, so to be on the safe side i agree I would either do both if you can but definitely the transcript for sure....my opinion anyway. 

Some of this is right and some of this is wrong.

For USCIS 864 purposes- you can either send a transcript or complete return with all schedules to meet the requirements of "providing tax returns" However its a bit more complicated because one issue is the 864 requires you to provide tax returns- so either type (transcript or return+schedules/w2s) would satisfy that. 

 

A second issue though is proving your income. This is a totally separate issue from providing tax returns. For many if not most by submitting the tax info they cover both issues. It doesnt do it for everyone however.

 

For people who are self-employed a transcript (even though it shows the amount from schedule C) it does not provide a breakdown of the information contained on it. USCIS needs this info to evaluate your income and earning potential. So you need to submit the actual return along with the schedules.

 

They also go by an amount closer to the net amount. Its technically called your "adjusted gross amount" which is different then the gross income would be. They do not consider your gross income before deductions especially when you are self employed. On a transcript you would have one section titled "income" and it would list everything from w2s and your schedule C amount. It has a subtotal called total income. Then theres a section for adjustments to income where the self employment taxes come in. Under that is your adjusted gross income. That is the figure they use. 

 

Your gross income amount is reported on Sched C and at the end of the form it gives you the net profit/loss to transfer to your tax return. That gross income amount is a totally different thing then the adjusted gross income amount. 

-------

 

So the OP says they have a gross amount of 130k and its unclear if the 34k they are saying is "net" is the actual figure from the tax return gross income line. If its the figure from Sched C its wrong.

 

They need a household size for the 2 kids, the alien and the joint sponsor and wife because they are still married. So thats 5 people-  Thats 28440 unless they are in Hawaii or Alaska. 

 

They also need to show the income is stable and will continue. For self employed people you need at least one year in business so at least one tax return as a minimum. You also need to show some type of breakdown of the business. Depending on what they do you would show different things. Most people use quicken books type software spreadsheets that show how much in and how much out each month. If you have clients and contracts you would show that as 'future business'. Many also write a letter explaining the business and an overview of the expenses/income. If its a questionable situation you can pad it with proof of degrees or training to boost the claim of stability. It is going to be at the Officers discretion if its considered stable or not. Its harder with self employment income because anyone who is self employed knows its a different way to work. Bigger rewards and bigger risks. 

 

So the issue could be they provided wrong numbers and now USCIS is asking for proof of the wrong numbers. It could be they dont like that source of income. Going to infopass will not help. They will not provide you with anymore assistance then simply reading the notice to you. They DO NOT help you fill out forms or explain forms. As stated before you will have to obtain a lawyer or assistance on a DIY site for that. The IRS is pretty much the same way. You cant just go in at tax time with a shoebox and say to the guy here help me sort and fill this out (unless its a special tax prep clinic- and I dont even know if they do that anymore)

[Rob&Jen 14]

1 hour ago, Damara said:

 Going to infopass will not help. They will not provide you with anymore assistance then simply reading the notice to you. They DO NOT help you fill out forms or explain forms.

 

I managed to book an appointment for early tomorrow morning so hopefully you're wrong about how useful they can be. 

 

Thanks for the income evidence suggestions though. I need as many of these as I can get. Especially if infopass turns out to be a bust. 

[Lemonslice 4,553]

I hope the Infopass appointment will be a useful visit, but in my experience they are unable to advise much. 

Again, charities and legal association do offer assistance to fill the form (often with volunteer lawyers on site).  

 

Please come back to let us know how things went!

[DrEllaNJ 288]

15 hours ago, Damara said:

They need a household size for the 2 kids, the alien and the joint sponsor and wife because they are still married. So thats 5 people-  Thats 28440 unless they are in Hawaii or Alaska. 

Very thorough answer, although this part is wrong, unless the OP is on active duty in the military. For a household size of 5 people you need $35,550 (125% of the poverty line)

[Rob&Jen 14]

18 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

I hope the Infopass appointment will be a useful visit, but in my experience they are unable to advise much. 

Again, charities and legal association do offer assistance to fill the form (often with volunteer lawyers on site).  

 

Please come back to let us know how things went!

 

The meeting was pretty much a bust. 

 

We spoke to an actual adjudicator but he wasn't our case handler so he couldn't give us a specific reason for why the other agent wouldn't accept our evidence. He did say that when he does handle cases he normally likes to see evidence of the last 3 years taxes, even though the form states we only need proof of 1 year. 

 

He said the best thing we can do is submit as much evidence of income and taxes as possible along with a covering letter explaining our situation. 

 

So yeah... infopass is just for people who don't trust what they read on the internet apparently. 

[MariaR323 199]

Although the form states you only need proof of the previous year's tax return... it also indicates that submitting the last 3 year's worth of taxes helps to establish ability to maintain income. They ask for the last 3 years info on the I-864 and IMO you might as well submit the docs to backup the numbers you're indicating on the form (especially when it's income coming from self-employment).

 

Good luck!

[Chardon Ne' 71]

19 minutes ago, Rob&Jen said:

 

The meeting was pretty much a bust. 

 

We spoke to an actual adjudicator but he wasn't our case handler so he couldn't give us a specific reason for why the other agent wouldn't accept our evidence. He did say that when he does handle cases he normally likes to see evidence of the last 3 years taxes, even though the form states we only need proof of 1 year. 

 

He said the best thing we can do is submit as much evidence of income and taxes as possible along with a covering letter explaining our situation. 

 

So yeah... infopass is just for people who don't trust what they read on the internet apparently. 

That makes sense. 

[Rob&Jen 14]

On 12/01/2017 at 1:54 PM, MariaR323 said:

Although the form states you only need proof of the previous year's tax return... it also indicates that submitting the last 3 year's worth of taxes helps to establish ability to maintain income. They ask for the last 3 years info on the I-864 and IMO you might as well submit the docs to backup the numbers you're indicating on the form (especially when it's income coming from self-employment).

 

Good luck!

 

Visited my sponsor today. And let me get this out: SELF-EMPLOYMENT SUCKS. In this case anyway. 

 

We now have 2015 and 2014 transcripts along with the 1040s so they can see Line 22 for good measure. The website wouldn't load up his 2013 transcript so we took copies of his entire return, including Schedule C. 

 

2015 - over $31,000

2014 - over $130,000

2013 - over $200,000

 

His taxes for those years list the wife and 2 kids but this year he won't be legally allowed to as dependents. So they will go by the 5 person household. 

 

For 2016 we are providing his W-2 (he pays himself as an employee due to changing to LLC) and his W-3 which shows he earned $37,000 net. We also have an assessment from his accountant for Jan-Dec. He hasn't filed yet so we can't provide a complete 1040. 

 

For assets we're showing a life insurance policy worth over $42,000 and another with a cash loan option for $9,000.

 

My sponsor wrote and signed a letter on his company headed paper explaining the situation and how he can support me. 

 

So hopefully this should be enough this time. At least to satisfy an initial RFE. 

[Rob&Jen 14]

Case updated yesterday to show they received our response. I hope they accept it and approve my EAD soon and don't take the full 90 days.