i-864 Poverty Line and tax revenue question

[cjason89 0]

My Wife petitioned for me for Adjustment of Status (early december), she's a U.S Citizen, I'm from Australia, we filed all forms concurrently (adjustment, employment auth etc.)

Today we received a letter stating that our household did not meet the federal poverty line, as her income did not meet the minimum requirement of 125% of the poverty line,

(Letter States: Based on the documents submitted, with form I-864, Affidavit of Support, for the petitioner/sponsor and household member(s), the income did not meet 125% (100% if military) of the federal poverty line for the petitioner/sponsor's household size.)

we included her father as a household member to supplement income which easily surpassed the requirement. He signed an i-864a and provided tax return etc. yet in the letter they've requested assets and said the household did not meet the requirements.

Would it be better off for him to complete an i-864 as a joint sponsor, would this make a difference?

Also they're asking for a tax return from my wife who has not filed one in the last few years as her income was not above the threshold for required returns.

(Letter States: The household member on the petitioner/sponsors Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, must submit the Federal Income Tax Return Submitted to the internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the most recent tax year.)

any help would be appreciated, thanks guys.

[ceadsearc 516]

An I-864 for him won't make a difference. It's the same income.

If she didn't make enough to file taxes she still reports on the I-864 exactly what she did make and the includes a statement saying that under penalty of perjury she was not required to file for whatever reason in lieu of including an actual return.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

My Wife petitioned for me for Adjustment of Status (early december), she's a U.S Citizen, I'm from Australia, we filed all forms concurrently (adjustment, employment auth etc.)

Today we received a letter stating that our household did not meet the federal poverty line, as her income did not meet the minimum requirement of 125% of the poverty line,

(Letter States: Based on the documents submitted, with form I-864, Affidavit of Support, for the petitioner/sponsor and household member(s), the income did not meet 125% (100% if military) of the federal poverty line for the petitioner/sponsor's household size.)

Unfortunately, this is a vague generic answer from USCIS. It doesn't really pinpoint why they deemed the sponsor package to be insufficient.

we included her father as a household member to supplement income which easily surpassed the requirement. He signed an i-864a and provided tax return etc. yet in the letter they've requested assets and said the household did not meet the requirements.

Would it be better off for him to complete an i-864 as a joint sponsor, would this make a difference?

Unknown. We don't know why he wasn't accepted as a household member.

Also they're asking for a tax return from my wife who has not filed one in the last few years as her income was not above the threshold for required returns.

(Letter States: The household member on the petitioner/sponsors Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, must submit the Federal Income Tax Return Submitted to the internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the most recent tax year.)

any help would be appreciated, thanks guys.

Look at the bolded text above. It sounds like they're asking for her father's tax return, and not hers.

I'm not even going to venture a guess as to why they rejected it without seeing exactly what was written on the forms, and what evidence was included. You said his income "easily surpassed the requirement". What income level are you considering the "requirement" to be (hint - if he's a household member then he's included in the household size)? Did your wife fill out and sign part 2 of the I-864A? Did your wife's father fill out the rest and sign part 3 of the I-864A? Did they include proof of the claimed family relationship - household member is the parent of the sponsor? Did they include proof that they are living in the same household? Did your wife include a sworn statement explaining why she wasn't required to file a tax return for the last three years? Did your wife's father include a complete copy of his tax return for the most recent tax year, including all supporting forms, schedules, W2's, 1099's, etc.? Or, did he include an IRS transcript of that tax return?

All of this stuff is in the instructions for the two forms.