Confused about Affidavit of Support / police certs

[BrianK 1]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section - my (USC) partner has just filed an I-130 petition for my visa in London (filed Saturday, fee taken from my card today!!!), and I'm hoping to spend the waiting time getting all my forms together. However, regarding the affidavit of support I'm... confused.

Basically, as she's living here in the UK, her father and/or stepmother have offered to be the joint sponsor. I'm confused however as to who fills out what forms! Am I correct in understanding that my (USC) wife fills out the I-864a form, and her father/stepmom fills out the I-864? What other forms/evidence do we need to go alongside that?

Finally - I jumped ahead and applied for my police certs from Ireland and Australia a few months ago - at what point do these get submitted, and how timely do they need to be? I'm concerned that, if they need to be less than 6 months old and are submitted at the interview, they'll be out of date - can anyone advise?

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Police certificates--read it straight from London http://london.usembassy.gov/document_checklist.html#police_certificate

I-864. Best to study the instructions over and over.

Wife does I-864. Include her US tax return. It's covered in the instructions if she didn't file.

Her father does a separate I-864. He needs--

Proof he is a US citizen

Latest tax return

Proof of his separate income if he filed a joint return with his wife. A joint tax return does not indicate who earned what. Employer letter or pay stubs can be the proof.

All the above is presented at the Interview for the first time in a DCF case.

If you haven't found this guide by lost_at_sea for London DCF, then start reading the thread. It is a super resource for you. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/443127-dcf-london-i-130-for-ir1cr1-spouse-guide/

Edited November 20, 2013 by Nich-Nick

[BrianK 1]

Awesome, thanks Nich-Nick.

One other question - for the I-864 from the US joint sponsor - does the submitted copy have to be a signed copy, or can they sign a copy and fax it to us in the UK?

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Because it is a legally binding contract, the signed form should be submitted. You didn't send photocopies of your I-130 petition and such. Same logic should apply to all paper forms. The tax return (or transcript) can be a photocopy, as well as Dad's birth certificate or US passport (prove citizenship). Maybe somebody has gotten by with a scanned I-864, but best practice is ink signature on forms.

[BrianK 1]

That's what I was thinking but I thought I'd check anyway - thanks mate.

[MandyLouDarling 0]

anyone know how long it takes for the Police Checks here in the UK to process. We are mailing the forms off to our local today and only have a week before DH's Medical in which he will need his police checks then.. cutting it close.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

anyone know how long it takes for the Police Checks here in the UK to process. We are mailing the forms off to our local today and only have a week before DH's Medical in which he will need his police checks then.. cutting it close.

On the form it says

Standard Service - £45.00 (10 working days, Not including dates of receipt or dispatch)

Premium Service - £80.00 (2 working days, Not including dates of receipt or dispatch)

By "our local" do you mean the ACPO in Hampshire?

[MandyLouDarling 0]

On the form it says

Standard Service - £45.00 (10 working days, Not including dates of receipt or dispatch)

Premium Service - £80.00 (2 working days, Not including dates of receipt or dispatch)

By "our local" do you mean the ACPO in Hampshire?

thanks! Yes, sorry.. I meant ACPO in Hampshire. I totally forgot about the Services. thanks for the reminder!

[BrianK 1]

Sorry to drag this up again, but I've recieved all the docs from the wife's mother (who's my joint sponsor) and she's sent me copies of her marriage licence and birth cert, as well as a YTD payslip from December from her job, plus a form titled "Electronic filing instructions for your 2012 federal tax return" which has a TurboTax logo and a section headed 2012 Federal Tax Return Summary - is this correct? I'm thinking it's possible that this is not the correct tax return documentation - can anyone confirm? If it's not, can she scan and email me the correct forms for me to print out, and if so what exactly does she need to send?

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

It is not the correct tax return. Anything called summary or worksheet or says TurboTax is not part of the tax return. If she did TurboTax online, not sure because I buy the software so I can print at will. This is what I would do with the software version...maybe she can do the same.

Go to the Print section. There are options like print everything, specific forms, etc. There is an option "only the forms required for filing". Not looking at it now but there is also a way to save as a PDF. If she can do that, she can email the whole pdf file and you can print the forms needed. Then she won't have to scan. TurboTax generates a lot of extra pages. What you are looking for is Form 1040, anyhing else called Form [numbers], or things called Schedule [letters].

Not everybody has the same pieces to their tax return other than the Form 1040. Mine has 1040, Schedules A, B, C, D. SE and maybe some others. If I printed the "everything" in TurboTax it would probably generate 70 pages of extra junk called summary and worksheet for this and that.

And she needs to include a photocopy of her W2 or 1099 showing wages. It comes from the employer each year. That is part of what is considered a "complete tax return".

OR since you have some time...

She can order a tax return transcript free from the IRS. They mail them out quickly. Then that's it. No forms 123 or schedule XYZ and no W2 from the employer. It is a condensed version from the IRS.

This is the online order for the transcript. She wants tax return, not record of account. http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript

Edited February 5, 2014 by Nich-Nick

[BrianK 1]

Awesome, thanks for the detailed reply Nich-Nick.

OR since you have some time...

She can order a tax return transcript free from the IRS. They mail them out quickly. Then that's it. No forms 123 or schedule XYZ and no W2 from the employer. It is a condensed version from the IRS.

This is the online order for the transcript. She wants tax return, not record of account. http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript

We haven't had a date yet so we have approx 3-4 weeks I think - looking at the link there's an option to get your transcript online - if we logged in and printed off her transcript from there (and my wife's) would that suffice? Also assuming at this stage in the year it's still correct or the transcripts to be for 2012 rather than 2013?

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Oh cool. I hadn't even seen that they offer them for online printout now. If you don't mind going through the --this is a government website for authorized users--pretending to be somebody else, then do it.

[Snorbs 0]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section - my (USC) partner has just filed an I-130 petition for my visa in London (filed Saturday, fee taken from my card today!!!), and I'm hoping to spend the waiting time getting all my forms together. However, regarding the affidavit of support I'm... confused.

Basically, as she's living here in the UK, her father and/or stepmother have offered to be the joint sponsor. I'm confused however as to who fills out what forms! Am I correct in understanding that my (USC) wife fills out the I-864a form, and her father/stepmom fills out the I-864? What other forms/evidence do we need to go alongside that?

Finally - I jumped ahead and applied for my police certs from Ireland and Australia a few months ago - at what point do these get submitted, and how timely do they need to be? I'm concerned that, if they need to be less than 6 months old and are submitted at the interview, they'll be out of date - can anyone advise?

Hi Brian,

I note you started the process almost the same day we did. I was wondering what your timeline is so far? We are currently waiting for an interview...

[BrianK 1]

Oh cool. I hadn't even seen that they offer them for online printout now. If you don't mind going through the --this is a government website for authorized users--pretending to be somebody else, then do it.

Magic. Quick question - for both my wife and my stepmom, do I just need 2012? Or should I be taking three years for each?

[BrianK 1]

Hi Brian,

I note you started the process almost the same day we did. I was wondering what your timeline is so far? We are currently waiting for an interview...

Honestly I would say our timelines are almost identical, but my medical was the 25th and I didn't do my DS-260/Notification of Readiness until last Saturday. Also still waiting on a date for the interview, thinking I'll call them a week Monday (once two weeks has passed) and ask them if one has been set (assuming I haven't heard back at that stage). Let me know when you get a date!