Self Employed Income Documentation

[cjmc 10]

I would like some input regarding fiancé support documentation please......

I am self employed and a partner in 3 different businesses....I have filed an income tax return extension for 2012 and I do not receive the typical W2's or pay stubs.

Here is what I can provide-

2011 income tax returns that shows the 3 different business's and partnerships

Current letter of partnership in these business's

Copies of checks from income from these partnerships for the last 2 years

Copies of bank statements showing this income going into my personal bank account for the last 2 years

Copies of all my bank statements, investment accounts, life insurance showing my current assets

Verification of the current value of my house and mortgage balance... I have lots of equity

Will this be enough ??? anyone had problems with this sort of thing ?? My jobs and income documentation are not very normal but it is all there.

Any input on this would be great....just want to make sure I am doing as much as I can.

Thanks,

cjmc

[Hank_ 9,173]

You will need to bring a copy of the extension form as well. Other than that I think you have the bases covered.

[M&S2013 2]

I would like some input regarding fiancé support documentation please......

I am self employed and a partner in 3 different businesses....I have filed an income tax return extension for 2012 and I do not receive the typical W2's or pay stubs.

Here is what I can provide-

2011 income tax returns that shows the 3 different business's and partnerships

Current letter of partnership in these business's

Copies of checks from income from these partnerships for the last 2 years

Copies of bank statements showing this income going into my personal bank account for the last 2 years

Copies of all my bank statements, investment accounts, life insurance showing my current assets

Verification of the current value of my house and mortgage balance... I have lots of equity

Will this be enough ??? anyone had problems with this sort of thing ?? My jobs and income documentation are not very normal but it is all there.

Any input on this would be great....just want to make sure I am doing as much as I can.

Thanks,

cjmc

I have similar situation. Self employed, owner of incorporated consulting business since 1999. I am the only employee/owner of my company. I am not planning to provide as many of the items as you have listed. My income alone is sufficient to meet the minimum poverty requirement for K1 visa (100% for I-134 and 125% for I-864 to be filed later). I do prepare W-2 for myself, and also K-1 Business Income (not to be confused with K1 visa), which are included with my annual 1040 If you are only deriving income from business profits, then you should still be receiving K-1 or similar Share of Business Income statements from each of your businesses, which serves a similar function as W-2, 1099, etc. As with you, I also do not prepare pay stubs for myself since I sometimes only pay myself a few times throughout the year, depending when my business receives payment from invoices I submitted to my clients. Often times, I don't get an invoice paid for several months (sometimes as long as 6-8 months, in fact, I just received a deposit for a couple invoices for earlier this year and had no income all year until now - but this deposit alone meets the requirement). As a result of my unorthodox cash flow, here is my plan:

For the I-134, I plan to only provide the bare minimum up front: personal tax transcript for the most recent filing (2012 tax year in my case). If your income in 2012 meets the poverty guideline, then you really only need to provide the proof of the annual income amount that is listed on I-134 (which should match the total income amount as shown on the tax transcript). The proof is the IRS tax transcript. You can order these online from IRS and it only takes a week or two to receive them in the for your 1040 filings. You can order them for the most recent tax year (2012), plus three years prior. So I ordered all four years, but I am only going to provide 2012 up front with the I-134. My fiancée will have the other three years with her, if they ask about it.

I see no reason to provide anything else in terms of financial position, such as life insurance and other equity holdings, since my annual income far exceeds the minimum requirement.

However, while I am technically considered to be an employee of my company, I am also the owner and, therefore, self employed. So I also ordered the tax transcripts for my business. These are also free from the IRS, but you have to mail a request form and it takes about 30 days to receive these transcripts. I have not received mine yet. I will give these to my fiancée in case she is asked about it during the interview and needs to provide evidence of the business income, but I am not planning to provide it up front with the I-134.

The transcripts are the way to go. They are issued by the IRS and are very simple and straightforward. Copies of tax returns are really useless, since these can be made to show anything and are not the proof of the information that the IRS actually has on file.

Also, the transcript clearly states your filing status. In my case, Single. This is the proof of my marital status, as there are no other official government documents for this purpose in the US. Be sure to prepare a new Letter of Intent to Marry and clearly state in it that you are single and intend to marry your fiancée.

Regarding my current income since filing the 2012 tax return (2011 in your case). I agree that the only thing we can do it provide bank statements showing income received since that time since there are no pay stubs. I am planning to get a YTD summary of my personal and YTD bank accounts, notarized at the bank. I doubt these will even be required, but will provide these to my fiancée also as a backup.

I am going to prepare a letter to include with the I-134 about my owner/employee situation, using my company letterhead, stating the name, address, etc. of my company, type of company (sub-S), state of incorporation, incorporation date, etc. (All the usual business facts.) Including a very short (one sentence) blurb about what type of consulting service I provide, and explanation of my oddball cash flow situation. I will also list the officers (which is only me), and sign it as President, which is my legal corporate officer title. I might also emboss it with my corporate seal just to make it official looking. I am probably also going to take a copy of the Articles of Incorporation, but I doubt this would be needed for the I-134 (maybe for the I-864). I still think the tax transcripts are sufficient anyway, since these documents already show most all of this info.

Just make sure that your fiancée knows what you do to earn a living. She doesn't need to know how it works (US business and taxes), she just needs to be able to answer basic questions about your career, if asked, which is more of a demonstration of proof of relationship.

Even at this point, I think I am over-doing it for the I-134. But, I have been considering about this for many months while waiting for NOA2, and finally decided on a plan once our approval finally came in a couple weeks ago.

Good luck!

[Hank_ 9,173]

I have similar situation. Self employed, owner of incorporated consulting business since 1999. I am the only employee/owner of my company. I am not planning to provide as many of the items as you have listed. My income alone is sufficient to meet the minimum poverty requirement for K1 visa (100% for I-134 and 125% for I-864 to be filed later). I do prepare W-2 for myself, and also K-1 Business Income (not to be confused with K1 visa), which are included with my annual 1040 If you are only deriving income from business profits, then you should still be receiving K-1 or similar Share of Business Income statements from each of your businesses, which serves a similar function as W-2, 1099, etc. As with you, I also do not prepare pay stubs for myself since I sometimes only pay myself a few times throughout the year, depending when my business receives payment from invoices I submitted to my clients. Often times, I don't get an invoice paid for several months (sometimes as long as 6-8 months, in fact, I just received a deposit for a couple invoices for earlier this year and had no income all year until now - but this deposit alone meets the requirement). As a result of my unorthodox cash flow, here is my plan:

For the I-134, I plan to only provide the bare minimum up front: personal tax transcript for the most recent filing (2012 tax year in my case). If your income in 2012 meets the poverty guideline, then you really only need to provide the proof of the annual income amount that is listed on I-134 (which should match the total income amount as shown on the tax transcript). The proof is the IRS tax transcript. You can order these online from IRS and it only takes a week or two to receive them in the for your 1040 filings. You can order them for the most recent tax year (2012), plus three years prior. So I ordered all four years, but I am only going to provide 2012 up front with the I-134. My fiancée will have the other three years with her, if they ask about it.

I see no reason to provide anything else in terms of financial position, such as life insurance and other equity holdings, since my annual income far exceeds the minimum requirement.

However, while I am technically considered to be an employee of my company, I am also the owner and, therefore, self employed. So I also ordered the tax transcripts for my business. These are also free from the IRS, but you have to mail a request form and it takes about 30 days to receive these transcripts. I have not received mine yet. I will give these to my fiancée in case she is asked about it during the interview and needs to provide evidence of the business income, but I am not planning to provide it up front with the I-134.

The transcripts are the way to go. They are issued by the IRS and are very simple and straightforward. Copies of tax returns are really useless, since these can be made to show anything and are not the proof of the information that the IRS actually has on file.

Also, the transcript clearly states your filing status. In my case, Single. This is the proof of my marital status, as there are no other official government documents for this purpose in the US. Be sure to prepare a new Letter of Intent to Marry and clearly state in it that you are single and intend to marry your fiancée.

Regarding my current income since filing the 2012 tax return (2011 in your case). I agree that the only thing we can do it provide bank statements showing income received since that time since there are no pay stubs. I am planning to get a YTD summary of my personal and YTD bank accounts, notarized at the bank. I doubt these will even be required, but will provide these to my fiancée also as a backup.

I am going to prepare a letter to include with the I-134 about my owner/employee situation, using my company letterhead, stating the name, address, etc. of my company, type of company (sub-S), state of incorporation, incorporation date, etc. (All the usual business facts.) Including a very short (one sentence) blurb about what type of consulting service I provide, and explanation of my oddball cash flow situation. I will also list the officers (which is only me), and sign it as President, which is my legal corporate officer title. I might also emboss it with my corporate seal just to make it official looking. I am probably also going to take a copy of the Articles of Incorporation, but I doubt this would be needed for the I-134 (maybe for the I-864). I still think the tax transcripts are sufficient anyway, since these documents already show most all of this info.

Just make sure that your fiancée knows what you do to earn a living. She doesn't need to know how it works (US business and taxes), she just needs to be able to answer basic questions about your career, if asked, which is more of a demonstration of proof of relationship.

Even at this point, I think I am over-doing it for the I-134. But, I have been considering about this for many months while waiting for NOA2, and finally decided on a plan once our approval finally came in a couple weeks ago.

Good luck!

125% for I-134 at embassy as well.

Transcripts are fine, but do note the embassy instructions letter asks for the most recent tax return... so they are totally acceptable.

[M&S2013 2]

125% for I-134 at embassy as well.

Transcripts are fine, but do note the embassy instructions letter asks for the most recent tax return... so they are totally acceptable.

Hi Hank,

I agree, 125% should be a goal right from the beginning since it will be required for I-864 anyway, especially if the final K-1 objective is an expectation to immigrate to the US (which is very likely the case).

125% may be the rule at Philippines embassy (as well as China in my situation), but the actual minimum requirement as declared by the Department of State FAQs for K-1 visas is 100% for I-134:

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_2994.html#9

Do the Same Income Requirements Apply to Form I-134 as Apply to Form I-864?

No. The 125 percent of the federal poverty guideline minimum income requirement, the most recent year's tax return, and other requirements only apply when Form I-864 is needed. Applicants presenting Form I-134 will need to show that their U.S. sponsor's income is 100 percent of the federal poverty guideline.

However, the main thing is to provide sufficient evidence to the consular officer that there is no risk of the beneficiary becoming a public charge after arrival in the US. So, while not necessarily required for I-134, it's definitely a better approach to just demonstrate > 125% and not worry about it.

A copy of a tax return is also acceptable since the signatory proclaims under penalty of perjury that it is a truthful document. The complete tax return should be made available if it was specifically requested, but the info in it had also better match the transcript since this officially represents the info from the tax return that was actually filed with the USG and is verifiable. My impression from researching a lot about this topic over recent months is that consular officers prefer the transcripts as the supporting documents for I-134/864 income verification. But, every case is different and who knows what they will ask for? It will be interesting to find out if they really want to sift through my 50+ page tax return or just take a quick glance at a 3-page transcript, or if they even bother to look at any of it!

[Hank_ 9,173]

No "should" about it... 125% IS REQUIRED (this is the Philippine sub-forum, so its all about USEM here).

The below has no basis in what is actually required -

but the actual minimum requirement as declared by the Department of State FAQs for K-1 visas is 100% for I-134:

http://www.travel.st...pes_2994.html#9

Do the Same Income Requirements Apply to Form I-134 as Apply to Form I-864?

No. The 125 percent of the federal poverty guideline minimum income requirement, the most recent year's tax return, and other requirements only apply when Form I-864 is needed. Applicants presenting Form I-134 will need to show that their U.S. sponsor's income is 100 percent of the federal poverty guideline.

**

None of the above BS is relevant as the actual requirement is 125%, so tossing around 100% tends to only add confusion to an already over-whelming process for many.

- USEM makes the rules... we just play the game.

[M&S2013 2]

Fine. You win. Excuse me for attempting to contribute. Since my comments are irrelevant, I won't bother to waste my time trying to participate anymore.

Adios.

[Hank_ 9,173]

Participate all you want, but what DOS states in relation to what USEM states.... DOS is irrelevant for the K-1 visa.

[Love's JAA 100]

I would like some input regarding fiancé support documentation please......

I am self employed and a partner in 3 different businesses....I have filed an income tax return extension for 2012 and I do not receive the typical W2's or pay stubs.

Here is what I can provide-

2011 income tax returns that shows the 3 different business's and partnerships

Current letter of partnership in these business's

Copies of checks from income from these partnerships for the last 2 years

Copies of bank statements showing this income going into my personal bank account for the last 2 years

Copies of all my bank statements, investment accounts, life insurance showing my current assets

Verification of the current value of my house and mortgage balance... I have lots of equity

Will this be enough ??? anyone had problems with this sort of thing ?? My jobs and income documentation are not very normal but it is all there.

Any input on this would be great....just want to make sure I am doing as much as I can.

Thanks,

cjmc

If you want to include real estate, you should have a recent appraisal, and a copy of the deed showing you are the owner.