Questions about personal finances at interview

[nyli01 0]

My spouse has a interview at US embassy in Egypt next month. I hear its a tough embassy to interview at . 

I am sponsoring my spouse and I will try be physically present at the interview . 

I work full time and get a W2 from my day job. I am also the sole sponsor on the I-864 and I have enough income on my W2 (like 5 times above the poverty line) to sponsor my spouse.
But I have a lot of complicated personal finances like I own multiple houses , rental income , multiple addresses  . My tax returns are very complicated , they are done by my accountant and have a lot of things that I also don't fully understand . 
My questions is if the CO starts asking me (the petitioner) questions about these personal finances in detail what should I do :
- My spouse knows  all details about my job but she does not know too much about other my personal finances. 
- Do I have answer all questions from the CO related to my finances?
- can I choose NOT to answer these questions? 
- Can I say that it seems like these questions don't have anything to do with the immigration of my spouse. since I already  make enough on my W2 to support my spouse , these questions are irrelevant?
- I just don't want to answer anything complicated related my finances to the CO .  

any input would be much appreciated. 

[Californiansunset 336]

3 minutes ago, nyli01 said:

My spouse has a interview at US embassy in Egypt next month. I hear its a tough embassy to interview at . 

I am sponsoring my spouse and I will try be physically present at the interview . 

I work full time and get a W2 from my day job. I am also the sole sponsor on the I-864 and I have enough income on my W2 (like 5 times above the poverty line) to sponsor my spouse.
But I have a lot of complicated personal finances like I own multiple houses , rental income , multiple addresses  . My tax returns are very complicated , they are done by my accountant and have a lot of things that I also don't fully understand . 
My questions is if the CO starts asking me (the petitioner) questions about these personal finances in detail what should I do :
- My spouse knows  all details about my job but she does not know too much about other my personal finances. 
- Do I have answer all questions from the CO related to my finances?
- can I choose NOT to answer these questions? 
- Can I say that it seems like these questions don't have anything to do with the immigration of my spouse. since I already  make enough on my W2 to support my spouse , these questions are irrelevant?
- I just don't want to answer anything complicated related my finances to the CO .  

any input would be much appreciated. 

It is highly unlikely any questions about your finances will come up except for what your job is and what kind of company it is you work for. 

[nyli01 0]

1 minute ago, Californiansunset said:

It is highly unlikely any questions about your finances will come up except for what your job is and what kind of company it is you work for. 

Yes thats what I was thinking also. but incase that happens what should I do and how can I answer the CO ?

[pushbrk 12,979]

1 hour ago, nyli01 said:

Yes thats what I was thinking also. but incase that happens what should I do and how can I answer the CO ?

You tell the truth to the very best of your ability.  Were you thinking there might be some other option?  We certainly can't explain your finances TO you or FOR you.  Ask your accountant.

[bakphx1 789]

Your tax transcripts should have the summary and the adjusted gross income line is the main focus.  If that line is high enough to qualify you as a sponsor, the section regarding assets isn't required..  They aren't interested in redoing your taxes from scratch again. 

[pushbrk 12,979]

9 minutes ago, bakphx1 said:

Your tax transcripts should have the summary and the adjusted gross income line is the main focus.  If that line is high enough to qualify you as a sponsor, the section regarding assets isn't required..  They aren't interested in redoing your taxes from scratch again. 

Well, yes, but a person with a complicated tax return would take their "income" from line 22 of the 1040 which corresponds to "total income" not "adjusted gross income" although sometimes the number is the same.

 

A person with a job paying, say $100,000 and is taking all the possible deductions from rental properties, could well have a negative number on line 22 or other number far smaller than their W2 income.

 

Such a person is both employed AND self employed.  As such, they may well need to show assets.  Complications breed complications.  No amount of "explaining" can change the number on line 22.

[bakphx1 789]

26 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Well, yes, but a person with a complicated tax return would take their "income" from line 22 of the 1040 which corresponds to "total income" not "adjusted gross income" although sometimes the number is the same.

 

A person with a job paying, say $100,000 and is taking all the possible deductions from rental properties, could well have a negative number on line 22 or other number far smaller than their W2 income.

 

Such a person is both employed AND self employed.  As such, they may well need to show assets.  Complications breed complications.  No amount of "explaining" can change the number on line 22.

Yes. The AGR is the first test but not the final.  It's hard to tell where that stands from the way the question is posed.  Someone can have a lot in savings and assets that don't increase AGR.  We're giving the same reply, but I was using the working assumption that they would stop if he qualified on income alone.  If not, then they open up the rest. 

[pushbrk 12,979]

4 minutes ago, bakphx1 said:

Yes. The AGR is the first test but not the final.  It's hard to tell where that stands from the way the question is posed.  Someone can have a lot in savings and assets that don't increase AGR.  We're giving the same reply, but I was using the working assumption that they would stop if he qualified on income alone.  If not, then they open up the rest. 

AGR is only the test if filing a 1040EZ.  Otherwise, it is "total income" from transcript or line 22 of the 1040.  Again, sometimes line 22 and line 37 numbers are the same, but on a 1040, it is line 22 that counts, not line 37 (AGI).  For self employed, or combination of employed and self employed those two numbers are almost never the same and line 22 is almost always higher.

[bakphx1 789]

7 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

AGR is only the test if filing a 1040EZ.  Otherwise, it is "total income" from transcript or line 22 of the 1040.  Again, sometimes line 22 and line 37 numbers are the same, but on a 1040, it is line 22 that counts, not line 37 (AGI).  For self employed, or combination of employed and self employed those two numbers are almost never the same and line 22 is almost always higher.

Ah, noted.  

[nyli01 0]

Just to clarify my line 22 and 37 are almost the same 95% of my income is from my W2.

[jan22 3,056]

On 5/10/2018 at 4:51 PM, nyli01 said:

......
But I have a lot of complicated personal finances like I own multiple houses , rental income , multiple addresses  . My tax returns are very complicated , they are done by my accountant and have a lot of things that I also don't fully understand . 
My questions is if the CO starts asking me (the petitioner) questions about these personal finances in detail what should I do :
- My spouse knows  all details about my job but she does not know too much about other my personal finances. 
- Do I have answer all questions from the CO related to my finances?
- can I choose NOT to answer these questions? 
- Can I say that it seems like these questions don't have anything to do with the immigration of my spouse. since I already  make enough on my W2 to support my spouse , these questions are irrelevant?
- I just don't want to answer anything complicated related my finances to the CO .  

any input would be much appreciated. 

While it is unlikely that complicated questions will be asked, I encourage you not to display the attitude that your questions seem to present during your wife's interview. Never a good idea to refuse to answer the consular officer's questions or say that you think they are irrelevant. This will make it seem like you're trying to hide information from the officer. While they may seem irrelevant to you, there is usually a valid reason for the questions. For example, if any of your business activities appear to put a significant portion of your earned income at risk each year, the consular officer has the right/obligation to look a little deeper at the situation.  If there's a question asked that you are truly unsure about the answer, you can always explain that you're answering to the best of your ability, but the taxes were done by your accountant because of the complexity of your situation.