feels like the end before the beginning...

[JoyDee 21]

Strange question, in that if you use 1040EZ, you don't use 1040 at the same time. If using 1040EZ, then adjusted gross income is the figure you state as income from that year.

As in, I file using 1040EZ instead of 1040... not so crazy! Is the AGI the number that the consular office looks at when one files the 1040EZ? Put another way, what line on the 1040EZ matters?

[Barbara J 115]

It's been an incredibly hard day for me... like some of you who celebrate Christmas it was one more holiday alone. We filed in October and don't expect to hear anything until April or May at the earliest. I can handle the time. It's the uncertainty I cannot handle.

I am self employed... In 2010 I will have earned $25,000.00 in my business. I also work a part-time job that pays about $14,000.00 a year. I also receive about $15,000.00 a year in child support. All of those incomes are documented and I have proof of income. But again and again I read of circumstances where visa's are denied because of lack of income. Oh... I also have 2 children that are in my custody.

I did not meet my fiance on a "find a spouse" website. It was a random meeting almost 2 years ago on Facebook. Yes, another internet meeting..... go ahead with your comments, I have heard them all. But I love him more than I have ever loved anyone in my life. Neither one of us can bear the thought of living the rest of our lives without eachother.

My question to you is... when our k-1 visa is denied (I just have a gut feeling it will be), how much longer until I can file another one? I will get another job and work 20 hours a day if I have to. I will do whatever it takes to prove that I love him and that I want him with me. That he will not become a "charge" of the country. But a man who is willing to work if just given the chance. I will prove that he is not coming to this country for its "benefits" but because he is willing to give up his life, his job and his family because he loves me and wants to spend the rest of his life with me.

I am feeling your anguish right now but please be more positive. Don't be ashamed of how you met a lot of us met on line. I met my husband on Year Book and I am here finally and spent my 1st Christmas here with him and it has been wonderful. I am sure your financial situation will be fine and as you only filed in October you should get your NOA2 March . Try to keep your chin up and we all know what it's like with the waiting, it's the hardest part of the whole process. Try and be positive and God's blessings on you all.

[pushbrk 12,234]

As in, I file using 1040EZ instead of 1040... not so crazy! Is the AGI the number that the consular office looks at when one files the 1040EZ? Put another way, what line on the 1040EZ matters?

Line 4 is adjusted gross income on the 1040EZ but all you needed to do was look at yours to know that. Often line 1 and line 4 have the same number but sometimes not.

[crazybanana 1]

sounds like you work quite a bit and have children. my guess is that you don't have a lot of free time to travel. you two met on facebook two years ago. how many times have you been to UK and spend time with one another?? if only once, income is the least of your concern.

[LoriT 16]

Actually it is only required to meet your fiance once in person. The United Kingdom is not a high fraud country. We have pictures together, hundreds, if not thousands of emails, phone records, etc.

[LoriT 16]

but thanks oh so much for your reassuring words, because I really needed that extra stress put on me

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Unfortunately... self employment is not your gross income but your income after expenses... most business owners write off as much as possible to pay the least amount of taxes. Your gross income is usually cut by at least 60%, which leaves my income at about $11,000.00. If I take out all the expenses I am allowed. Plus my part time job of $14K a year. Just about $3K under what I need to make.... My ex pays my mortgage in lieu of child support. I have a notarized statement from him stating our agreement plus a statement of the last mortgage payments for the past 2 years. Hopefully that will be enough. But it still frightens me...

Child support counts so I would document that, definitely. However, it needs to be court ordered and you need to have proof of payment. Allowing someone else to pay your mortgage in lieu of child support does you no good, at least in theory. They do not ask about your bills, they ask about your income.

If you had $8000 per month in income but had $9000 per month in bills, you would qualify. If you have $2000 per month in income and -0- bills, you do not qualify. Convert the child support to documentable income, reductions in expenses are not what you need.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

I don't understand why your ex-husband is paying your mortgage instead of paying support directly to you? Was this the court ordered arrangement? If not, then is his name still on the note and he is taking the mortgage deduction?

I suppose none of this is my business, except if this is the reason you have deviated from your court ordered agreement, then it's time to change that arrangement. Perhaps you could allow your ex to claim the children on his income tax return, rather than claim the mortgage interest?

Also, as pushbrk said, file your tax return differently than you have in past years. Don't reduce your bottom line as much as in the past. It's a choice many who are self-employed have made in order to make the affidavit of support "work".

sounds like you work quite a bit and have children. my guess is that you don't have a lot of free time to travel. you two met on facebook two years ago. how many times have you been to UK and spend time with one another?? if only once, income is the least of your concern.

She's going through London, not Gangzhou.

The OP might want to consider going to the interview with her fiance. They do usually ask when the last time was the applicant saw the petitioner. They asked my husband the question. I felt better being there.

Edited December 27, 2010 by Rebecca Jo

[LoriT 16]

Child support counts so I would document that, definitely. However, it needs to be court ordered and you need to have proof of payment. Allowing someone else to pay your mortgage in lieu of child support does you no good, at least in theory. They do not ask about your bills, they ask about your income.

If you had $8000 per month in income but had $9000 per month in bills, you would qualify. If you have $2000 per month in income and -0- bills, you do not qualify. Convert the child support to documentable income, reductions in expenses are not what you need.

I now have a notarized statement from my ex stating our agreement, I also have the last 3 years of mortgage payments documented. Hopefully that will work. My ex is not the easiest human to deal with. Getting him to change this agreement would take a court date and lawyers. He's just difficult. I do believe I have found a co-sponsor who will help. As you have mentioned Gary, I've done all I can and now I just need to wait.

[LoriT 16]

I don't understand why your ex-husband is paying your mortgage instead of paying support directly to you? Was this the court ordered arrangement? If not, then is his name still on the note and he is taking the mortgage deduction?

I suppose none of this is my business, except if this is the reason you have deviated from your court ordered agreement, then it's time to change that arrangement. Perhaps you could allow your ex to claim the children on his income tax return, rather than claim the mortgage interest?

Also, as pushbrk said, file your tax return differently than you have in past years. Don't reduce your bottom line as much as in the past. It's a choice many who are self-employed have made in order to make the affidavit of support "work".

She's going through London, not Gangzhou.

The OP might want to consider going to the interview with her fiance. They do usually ask when the last time was the applicant saw the petitioner. They asked my husband the question. I felt better being there.

I would have loved to have been there for my fiance at the interview. Unfortunately I had a few major expenses that ate up the money I have saved for a plane ticket. He is saving all of his money for the medical, interview/visa, plane ticket, moving expenses and the AOS when he gets here. It's just a been a long hard road and everything seems to be going against us at the moment.

[Canadiandggal 49]

I now have a notarized statement from my ex stating our agreement, I also have the last 3 years of mortgage payments documented. Hopefully that will work. My ex is not the easiest human to deal with. Getting him to change this agreement would take a court date and lawyers. He's just difficult. I do believe I have found a co-sponsor who will help. As you have mentioned Gary, I've done all I can and now I just need to wait.

See all will work out!

Hang in there

[JoannaV 173]

Forums such as VJ are such a huge help to people. Unfortunately they also have the side effect of making you aware of all that can go wrong, and leave you over-thinking and over-worrying. Ignorance is a much joyous place to be, and 99.99% of the time it is also the correct state of mind to be in. (That is, most of the time everything works out just fine so thinking optimistically has more relevance to reality.) Just keep your eye on the goal, and your mind busy

[Didisan 0]

Forums such as VJ are such a huge help to people. Unfortunately they also have the side effect of making you aware of all that can go wrong, and leave you over-thinking and over-worrying. Ignorance is a much joyous place to be, and 99.99% of the time it is also the correct state of mind to be in. (That is, most of the time everything works out just fine so thinking optimistically has more relevance to reality.) Just keep your eye on the goal, and your mind busy

very good comment

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Forums such as VJ are such a huge help to people. Unfortunately they also have the side effect of making you aware of all that can go wrong, and leave you over-thinking and over-worrying. Ignorance is a much joyous place to be, and 99.99% of the time it is also the correct state of mind to be in. (That is, most of the time everything works out just fine so thinking optimistically has more relevance to reality.) Just keep your eye on the goal, and your mind busy

While I appreciate the sentiment and the intentions in your statement, I couldn't possibly disagree more about ignorance. People who are blissfully unaware of the requirements usually fail. What's worse, their failure hits them like a brick wall at 90 MPH - totally unexpected and emotionally devastating. I've seen it too many times here. People are crushed when they are denied because they didn't know they needed X, Y, or Z, and they never bothered to find out beforehand, and their blind belief that they would never be denied left them vulnerable to the emotional train wreck they experienced.

A better state of mind is to be logical, rational, and calm. Know exactly what the requirements are at each step of the way, know what your options are if you fail, and be prepared with a course of action for any possible outcome. You shouldn't view the immigration process as an integral part of your relationship, but as a peripheral process that you have to deal with, sort of like filing your taxes every year. You probably wouldn't be emotionally ruined if the IRS denied a deduction you tried to take. You'd probably chalk it up to not being adequately prepared or educated about what you needed to qualify. You should approach the immigration process with the same attitude. The US government doesn't take this stuff personally, and neither should you.

[JoannaV 173]

While I appreciate the sentiment and the intentions in your statement, I couldn't possibly disagree more about ignorance. People who are blissfully unaware of the requirements usually fail. What's worse, their failure hits them like a brick wall at 90 MPH - totally unexpected and emotionally devastating. I've seen it too many times here. People are crushed when they are denied because they didn't know they needed X, Y, or Z, and they never bothered to find out beforehand, and their blind belief that they would never be denied left them vulnerable to the emotional train wreck they experienced.

A better state of mind is to be logical, rational, and calm. Know exactly what the requirements are at each step of the way, know what your options are if you fail, and be prepared with a course of action for any possible outcome. You shouldn't view the immigration process as an integral part of your relationship, but as a peripheral process that you have to deal with, sort of like filing your taxes every year. You probably wouldn't be emotionally ruined if the IRS denied a deduction you tried to take. You'd probably chalk it up to not being adequately prepared or educated about what you needed to qualify. You should approach the immigration process with the same attitude. The US government doesn't take this stuff personally, and neither should you.

The first part of my comment was of more importance in that sense: that VJ is a huge help to people. I would never advocate ignorance as the better course of action. I was merely saying that there are always disadvantages to knowledge, even when the advantages greatly outweigh them and it is obvious that knowing is better. Some people find it easier to be "logical, rational, and calm" than others. For some people, once they have educated themselves and done all they need to do, they then need to focus on something else. Sometimes people need to be alerted to the possible negative outcomes, and other times they need unequivocal encouragement. My comment was aimed only at the OP, who was educated and had also been alerted to possible issues/solutions by previous posters.

Having said that, too much knowledge is still a disadvantage of open internet forums. In an ideal future, we would have a system where you could access all the information and discussion you needed, but were not needlessly exposed to horror stories until after you had completed the immigration journey. So, you could say "I have never even touched anything remotely criminal" and you would then never have to read about denials and waivers relating to criminal stuff. Personally, I could deal with everything immigration related in a rational and calm manner but visiting the US whilst waiting for my visa caused me many sleepness nights. I would've liked to have known what evidence to carry with me when flying, and also seen the statistics of other people's experience visiting for various periods of time, but not had to read about anything else.