I-864 Question

[schopap 0]

My wife has her interview in Buenos Aires in 2 weeks and I have one question.

For all of 2009 I lived and worked in Argentina. I earned the equivalent of $8600 US dollars for the year, and I was advised my my families accountant that I did not need to file a 2009 tax return, because I am well under the limit for foreign earnings.

My question is in reference to the I-864 aos they will review next month. I filled it out through 2008 complete with w-2's and I have an updated one from my father through 2009 complete with w-2's & the actual 1040. I also have an I-864a from my mom as their taxes are filed jointly. I did attach an employment letter from my now former employer in Argentina along with a pay stub to prove the level of pay for 2009. I also included my offer letter, employment verification and a recent pay stub from my new employer here in the US.

My only fear is that they will have questions about me in 2009. Can anybody shed some light on the situation and how we might avoid any potential problems before she goes?

Thanks

Andrew

[engineer21 51]

I have heard of people being asked for tax return documents even when they were not required to file for that year.

These are for AOS filers, but you might run into the same problem.

What these other people have done is they went to their local IRS office and asked for a verification of non-filing.

[Married2009 32]

Hi Andrew -

From what I understand, you have to send a letter explaining why you did not have to file taxes last year (which i see you have ready to send in along with the proof). You should be okay - but it is up to each individual CO. Good luck!

Edited June 24, 2010 by Married2009

[schopap 0]

I did write a short letter explaining my living in Argentina, recently moving back to the US and my non-filing due to the amount and legal requirements. I would assume my current income, along with my parents AOS (both of which are significantly over the poverty levels) should be what they are looking for.

Should I get an official IRS doc, or is this enough?

[Married2009 32]

I did write a short letter explaining my living in Argentina, recently moving back to the US and my non-filing due to the amount and legal requirements. I would assume my current income, along with my parents AOS (both of which are significantly over the poverty levels) should be what they are looking for.

Should I get an official IRS doc, or is this enough?

What kind of doc from IRS? If it were me, I would just go with what you have, since the co-sponsors make more than enough. But then, I would hate for you to listen to me, and be told you needed something from IRS at the interview.

[schopap 0]

What kind of doc from IRS? If it were me, I would just go with what you have, since the co-sponsors make more than enough. But then, I would hate for you to listen to me, and be told you needed something from IRS at the interview.

I was leaning that way anyways, like you said, what IRS document?

I hope my written explanition will suffice.

thanks

[trailmix 77]

You earned $8600 U.S. in 2009. Whether you should have filed or not has zero to do with the fact that it was foreign income (as your accountant claimed).

What it has to do with is income cut-off amounts for the year, which will either require you to file or not, regardless of where your income comes from.

That said, the cutoff amount for 2009, for married filing separately is $3,650.00, so that should be fine. The other criteria is that you must have been living with your spouse at the end of 2009, which you were.

You should include, if you have not already done so, a copy of page 9 of the 2009 1040 instructions.

What does the sponsor do when he/she was not required by law to file an income tax return during a given year?

If you did not have to file a tax return, attach a written explanation and a copy of the instructions from the IRS publication that shows you were not obligated to file. For general information on income tax obligations, visit the IRS website

Edited June 25, 2010 by trailmix

[Maria Belen 0]

Hi everybody,

I see nothing has been posted in this thread in a long time, but I thought I'd give it a chance since my situation is similar to Andrew's, meaning that he married an Argentine girl, and he worked in the country for a while.

Just to give you a little context, let me tell you a bit about where my husband and I are standing, and then I can tell you what my questions area:

I am from Argentina. My husband has been living with me in since December of 2008. We got married in October of 2010, and we recently applied for a CR-1 visa. I-130 was accepted about a month ago and while we wait for its approval we want to get the next set of papers ready. We are in the process of completing and getting everything we need for I-864, AOS, but we came across the following:

My husband has been working as a freelancer for a company in Rosario, the city we live in, since May of 2009, but due to the fact he didn't have a residency at the time he started working with these people, he was never able to invoice them, or get any receipts. Basically, he has no fixed income and there is no way to prove he has been working here (we don't think the company would want to write a letter on company letterhead paper).

What would you say I should enter as his annual income? An average of what he made last year?

@Andrew: did the NVC request your wife any paperwork of your employers in Argentina? If you don't mind, I would like to ask you a couple other questions regarding how the whole I-864 thing turned out for you.

Any help will be much appreciated!

Thanks a lot.

Maria Belen.