Filing i-864a with a single household member with joint return

[ChrisPr 0]

Greetings! First, thank you everyone who posts here for all your help. It's been invaluable so far.

My i-130 petition has been approved and I've paid the $120 affidavit of support fee, and my spouse will pay her $120 fee tonight.

Either way, I want to get my i-864 affidavit of support ready ASAP and check it over many times  before submitting it as I understand it's easiest cause of major delays. 

Here are the basic facts of my situation:
-I don't have any income as I'm a grad student.
-I live with my parents (my mom and non-biological stepfather); they have owned the house for many years and have resided there since the early 90s and this will be easy to prove with voluminous documentation.

-I lived abroad since 2011, but this has consistently been my permanent residence and I have documents to prove it (submitted them with the i-130 petition).

-Each parent independently makes well above the 125% 2017 poverty rate in annual income for years 2014, 2015, and 2016.

-They file jointly and have for 2014, 2015, and 2016.

-My mother has a W2 forms for '14 and '15, and 4 forms (W2s + 1099s) for '16 that add up very straightforwardly to her total reported income

-My step-father is self-employed; he has a variety of forms and an entire business return. Ideally he would rather not submit so much information when it's not necessary. He also has some employers that due to their error never provided him with 1099s, and he has reported the income in his return in the appropriate way with his accountant.

 

So here are my questions:

(1) Since my mother has enough income for the last three years on her own to meet the threshold as evidenced by her W2s and 1099s, is it possible to just have her fill out a i-864a even though she files jointly with her husband (my step-dad)?

 

(2) If I am required to have *BOTH* my mother and step-dad fill out i-864a and provide all tax documents, does my step-dad really have to submit his ENTIRE tax return for each year, including his business tax return? He is willing to do this to help but if possible he'd rather not by providing this information if it's not necessary. Also that document alone will be 50-100 pages for all three years.

(3) If I have to do both, *AND* I have to have my step dad submit his entire tax return including business documents for all three years, do I also need other documents proving familial relationship, or will documents for each household member and myself providing residence be sufficient?

Thanks everyone, and my sincere apologies if this questions has been answered previously.
 

Edited November 12, 2017 by ChrisPr

[Villanelle 4,121]

The issue is going to be the 864 is approved with discretion. There are "rules" but it ultimately comes down to the Officer reviewing it.

 

Technically you can fill out the 864 yourself (showing 0 income) and include the 864a from your mom only. This meets the requirements. She would need to show all her w2s so they can calculate her portion of the income on the joint tax return. Again, this should be sufficient however the Officer can request your step dad to fill out an 864a too and ask to see proof of his income, which would be the 50-100 page tax return. Try sending just your mom, but have dads papers handy incase they are needed.