Affidavit of Support Questions!

[janamaria 0]

Hey guys!

I can't tell you how much I appreciate everyone who tries to help me out and take the time to reply when I have questions! It is absolutely amazing of you! You are always so so helpful and are making my life so so much easier! If anyone could help me out with one, some or all of these questions it would be massively appreciated!

Some background info: I am a dual citizen (both USC and a British citizen) and my husband is British. I have lived in England my whole life (apart from around 6 months travelling the states) but we are planning to make the US our permanent residence as soon as we are allowed! We are using DCF with London. Our I-130 has been accepted no problem, we are going to my husbands medical soon.

So my questions are:

1) For the affidavit I-864 form, I can see questions 18a asks for your federal tax return (for the last three years, just attaching proof of one.) I obviously haven't worked in the states to have never needed to do this. Do I still need to file for these last three years of tax returns? Looking at the USCIS website with information on the affidavit of support, I can see that it says: "If you were not required to file a tax return in any of these years you must provide an explanation." Would this be me in this situation or do I need to file one anyway? If I do need to file one, how long does it take and does anyone have a link to the correct form?

2) Household size. When people talk about needing to make 125% above the poverty line for your household size, what members of the household should you include? For example, would it be me and my husband only as we are the ones who combine our income and are planning on moving to the states, or would we also count people that we live with even if they have no financial ties to us? For example, say if we were hypothetically currently living with my parents temporarily (to save money for example) would we need to include all the relatives in the house for household size? If hypothetically we did have to do that, could we also use their assets (despite the fact that they are not US residents?) to make up the percentage above the poverty line?

3) If we can just apply as a two person household, can we still hypothetically use the assets of relatives to reach the 125% that we would hypothetically be staying with temporarily? Or does that rule that out?

4) My husband and myself are self-employed but do not currently make (or have the assets) to cover 125% above the poverty line. Our business is picking up and we plan on taking it to the states with us, someone mentioned that we could do predictive income, but I haven't found any more information about this. Does anyone have anymore information on this? Are there any other ways to meet the 125% poverty line without using a joint sponsor?

5) Joint sponsors! So am I right in thinking that joint sponsors have to be not only USC but also domiciled in the states? My mother is a USC but lives in England, so I couldn't use her? Are there any limits to who you can use for joint sponsors? I have some relatives in the states that were arrested, it was quite a big deal locally but then had the charges dropped, would it be a bad idea to use them??

Okay, that is all for now! Thank you so so so much in advance for any help you can give me!

Have an awesome Sunday!

[kris&me 572]

America is the only advanced economy in the world that enforces extraterritorial tax law. In other words, the U.S. taxes nonresident citizens the same way it taxes those living within U.S. borders.

England and US double tax dual citizens / you should have been filing quarterly estimated taxes and filing tax returns in the spring

You will need also to have established residence in US / a place to live here in US

the joint sponsor is for income only / they fill out the i 864 a / unless there is a big gap in income for the arrest, there will should not be an issue

joint sponsor is not asked for criminal report but immigration can check the background of any and all sponsors if they need to

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

1. Yes you need to backfile on your foreign income. Only if you had no income at all do you not need to file.

2.Just you and your husband (and any kids or other dependents like elderly parents). People you live with in a roommmate situation do not count, even if they are family members such as siblings or parents. No, the assets or income of people living abroad do not count (in the US embassy in London, they do allow the foreign beneficiary to self sponsor, but that would only be your husband, not the people you guys live with).

3. Yes-ish; you cannot combine your assets with theirs, but you CAN have a US citizen or greencard holder who resides in the USA as co-sponsor. They would need to qualify for the income or assets of their own household plus the immigrant. So if it is a husband, wife and 2 kids, their household povertyline would be for 5 people as 2 adults+ 2 kids+ immigrant.

4. London is probably the most liberal embassy with financials, but predictive income is veyr unlikely to be allowed unless you have concrete offers of work for your company. Another possibility, not nice, but if you cannot find a co-sponsor, is for you to move to the USA first, and get a job, and then sponsor your husband that way.

5. See 3, your mom would not count. The relatives can co=sponsor; the co-sponsor need not live where you will live, or even be a relative, as long as they are US based. Steady income is better than assets for a co-sponsor, but assets may be accepted at the discretion of the CO.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

On a spouse visa and I-864, there is no self sponsoring or flexibility in London. The I-864 requirements are set in law, unlike the I-134 fiancé requirements.

The USC must sponsor (sign an I-864) whether they have income that counts or not. Self-employed income is not predictable nor the expenses that can be deducted that reduces the income that counts with USCIS. A tax return is pretty much the only way to document self-employment.

As a sponsor, you must supply a tax return or a reason why you were not required to file. Living and working in the UK is not a valid reason for not filing if you are a US citizen and earned money anywhere in the world. If your income in the UK was less than $4000 in 2015, then you are below the threshold for filing. That is a valid reason for not filing.

The UK AND US do not double tax your income. They have a tax treaty where the place you reside collects the taxes. So you file a US return reporting your salary income and investment income. Your salary is excluded using the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Form 2555EZ. Your bottom line income for tax purposes is probably going to be zero (for salary) or quite small (if you had investment income). And you will end up owing zero taxes. You file and report, but you will not pay anything. Keep in mind that every tax situation is different and not knowing yours it is impossible to say positively no tax, but I doubt it. And you have a tax return to photocopy and submit with your I-864.

Other people explained you are a two person household and will need a joint sponsor who resides in the US. Their income requirement will be based on their family size plus the immigrant. You don't have to be supported by the joint sponsor because you are not an immigrant as such. You are a US citizen.

Edited August 21, 2016 by Nich-Nick

[janamaria 0]

America is the only advanced economy in the world that enforces extraterritorial tax law. In other words, the U.S. taxes nonresident citizens the same way it taxes those living within U.S. borders.

England and US double tax dual citizens / you should have been filing quarterly estimated taxes and filing tax returns in the spring

You will need also to have established residence in US / a place to live here in US

the joint sponsor is for income only / they fill out the i 864 a / unless there is a big gap in income for the arrest, there will should not be an issue

joint sponsor is not asked for criminal report but immigration can check the background of any and all sponsors if they need to

Thanks so much for replying! I really appreciate your help and the time you took to reply. I am glad that the criminal record will not make a difference, hopefully that will work out if I use them as a co-sponsor then!

1. Yes you need to backfile on your foreign income. Only if you had no income at all do you not need to file.

2.Just you and your husband (and any kids or other dependents like elderly parents). People you live with in a roommmate situation do not count, even if they are family members such as siblings or parents. No, the assets or income of people living abroad do not count (in the US embassy in London, they do allow the foreign beneficiary to self sponsor, but that would only be your husband, not the people you guys live with).

3. Yes-ish; you cannot combine your assets with theirs, but you CAN have a US citizen or greencard holder who resides in the USA as co-sponsor. They would need to qualify for the income or assets of their own household plus the immigrant. So if it is a husband, wife and 2 kids, their household povertyline would be for 5 people as 2 adults+ 2 kids+ immigrant.

4. London is probably the most liberal embassy with financials, but predictive income is veyr unlikely to be allowed unless you have concrete offers of work for your company. Another possibility, not nice, but if you cannot find a co-sponsor, is for you to move to the USA first, and get a job, and then sponsor your husband that way.

5. See 3, your mom would not count. The relatives can co=sponsor; the co-sponsor need not live where you will live, or even be a relative, as long as they are US based. Steady income is better than assets for a co-sponsor, but assets may be accepted at the discretion of the CO.

Thank you so much for replying, I really appreciate your input, it was all really helpful. I always assumed that my Mom would work as a co-sponsor, it will be hard to try and find someone else to co-sponsor us. I would obviously really prefer not to have to move to the states before my husband, but at least that is a back up plan.

On a spouse visa and I-864, there is no self sponsoring or flexibility in London. The I-864 requirements are set in law, unlike the I-134 fiancé requirements.

The USC must sponsor (sign an I-864) whether they have income that counts or not. Self-employed income is not predictable nor the expenses that can be deducted that reduces the income that counts with USCIS. A tax return is pretty much the only way to document self-employment.

As a sponsor, you must supply a tax return or a reason why you were not required to file. Living and working in the UK is not a valid reason for not filing if you are a US citizen and earned money anywhere in the world. If your income in the UK was less than $4000 in 2015, then you are below the threshold for filing. That is a valid reason for not filing.

The UK AND US do not double tax your income. They have a tax treaty where the place you reside collects the taxes. So you file a US return reporting your salary income and investment income. Your salary is excluded using the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Form 2555EZ. Your bottom line income for tax purposes is probably going to be zero (for salary) or quite small (if you had investment income). And you will end up owing zero taxes. You file and report, but you will not pay anything. Keep in mind that every tax situation is different and not knowing yours it is impossible to say positively no tax, but I doubt it. And you have a tax return to photocopy and submit with your I-864.

Other people explained you are a two person household and will need a joint sponsor who resides in the US. Their income requirement will be based on their family size plus the immigrant. You don't have to be supported by the joint sponsor because you are not an immigrant as such. You are a US citizen.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond, I really appreciate it! (And all the other times in the past you have responded also.) It really was never made clear to me that I would need to file taxes! Is this case even though my domicile has always been Britain? Also, do I still need to supply my tax return information on the form if I end up using a joint sponsor? In terms of tax return, where and how do I do this? Do you have a website link? I have tried to google it but there is so much information it is overwhelming and I just have no idea where to start!! Also, do you know how long the process tends to take?