I-485 Adjustment of Status - RFE

[VJQandA 0]

I am applying for I-485 through marriage and ran into a "Request For Initial Evidence" during this process.

 

My wife and I are a household of 2 and I earn above the 125% of poverty line for a household of 2 which is $20,575. 

I've been working at this job for 4 months now and have sent them a letter from my employment with my yearly salary amount as well as all paystubs ever since I started the job.

 

They notice they sent asks for my 2017 tax information but I was a student and did not file because I did not earn much. I have nothing to send to them for the 2017 tax year so it looks like I need a joint sponsor. 

 

My questions are:

• Is this worth fighting for by saying I'm earning more than enough right now and shouldn't need a joint sponsor?
• If I do get a joint sponsor, exactly what are the requirements that they need to meet?

[geowrian 22,337]

If you were below the minimum income required to file threshold, then you needed to have submitted a signed letter stating why you were not required to file.

 

Current income is king.

$20,575 is the minimum amount to qualify. The IO makes a determination on the public charge concern based on the totality of the circumstances.

 

A joint sponsor has the same requirements as the primary one: must meet at least 125% of the income level, be a USC or LPR domiciled in the US, must have filed taxes for the past 3 years (or explain why they were not required to file), must submit the most recent year's tax return copy or transcript, and must provide evidence of their income/assets being claimed on the I-864.

[VJQandA 0]

2 minutes ago, geowrian said:

If you were below the minimum income required to file threshold, then you needed to have submitted a signed letter stating why you were not required to file.

 

Current income is king.

$20,575 is the minimum amount to qualify. The IO makes a determination on the public charge concern based on the totality of the circumstances.

 

A joint sponsor has the same requirements as the primary one: must meet at least 125% of the income level, be a USC or LPR domiciled in the US, must have filed taxes for the past 3 years (or explain why they were not required to file), must submit the most recent year's tax return copy or transcript, and must provide evidence of their income/assets being claimed on the I-864.

I did submit an explanation on why I was not required to file but they still sent this notice. 

 

If my joint sponsor is living with 2 other family members (so 3 people including himself) would they be counted as people in his household even if they are all working?

If that joint sponsor is willing to sponsor for us, does he need to earn enough for just for 1 extra person (so a 2 person household) or for 4 people (2 family members living with him, himself, and the person he is sponsoring)?

 

If he needs to earn enough for 4 people, $31,375 would be the amount he would have needed to earned at the minimum, correct?

[geowrian 22,337]

1 minute ago, VJQandA said:

I did submit an explanation on why I was not required to file but they still sent this notice. 

 

If my joint sponsor is living with 2 other family members (so 3 people including himself) would they be counted as people in his household even if they are all working?

If that joint sponsor is willing to sponsor for us, does he need to earn enough for just for 1 extra person (so a 2 person household) or for 4 people (2 family members living with him, himself, and the person he is sponsoring)?

 

If he needs to earn enough for 4 people, $31,375 would be the amount he would have needed to earned at the minimum, correct?

Then I would assume they didn't accept your income as being stable enough, and a joint sponsor may be necessary.

 

The joint sponsor's household size is determined the same way as the primary sponsor's household size:

• Himself
• The intending immigrant
• His spouse, if any
• Any unmarried children under 21, regardless of custody
• Anybody else claimed on his most recent tax return
• Anybody else with an active I-864 he sponsored in the past.

Note that the above does NOT count the number of peopled living in the same residence. Household size != residence size.

Note that you only count somebody once in the list above...no duplicates.

Note that the primary sponsor (you) is not automatically included (but can be included if it meets any of the above criteria still).

 

If the joint sponsor files jointly with a spouse, the spouse should submit an I-864A as well.

 

Income levels are here: https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p

[VJQandA 0]

30 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Then I would assume they didn't accept your income as being stable enough, and a joint sponsor may be necessary.

 

The joint sponsor's household size is determined the same way as the primary sponsor's household size:

• Himself
• The intending immigrant
• His spouse, if any
• Any unmarried children under 21, regardless of custody
• Anybody else claimed on his most recent tax return
• Anybody else with an active I-864 he sponsored in the past.

Note that the above does NOT count the number of peopled living in the same residence. Household size != residence size.

Note that you only count somebody once in the list above...no duplicates.

Note that the primary sponsor (you) is not automatically included (but can be included if it meets any of the above criteria still).

 

If the joint sponsor files jointly with a spouse, the spouse should submit an I-864A as well.

 

Income levels are here: https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p

Ok so then I guess household size doesn't necessarily mean the number of people he is living with.

 

So if he files as a single status with no dependents, and has no spouse, and hasn't sponsored anyone before, he would just need to make enough for a household of 2 (himself and my wife)? Also, does this amount mean his total income or his adjusted gross income?

[geowrian 22,337]

7 minutes ago, VJQandA said:

Ok so then I guess household size doesn't necessarily mean the number of people he is living with.

 

So if he files as a single status with no dependents, and has no spouse, and hasn't sponsored anyone before, he would just need to make enough for a household of 2 (himself and my wife)? Also, does this amount mean his total income or his adjusted gross income?

Correct.

 

Also correct.

Current income. For a W-2 employee, this would be best demonstrated via pay stubs and an employment letter (weekly paycheck * 52 or bi-weekly paycheck * 26). For self-employed individuals, it's line 22 on the 1040.

Edited September 27, 2018 by geowrian

[VJQandA 0]

1 minute ago, geowrian said:

Correct.

 

Also correct.

Current income. For a W-2 employee, this would be best demonstrated via pay stubs and an employment letter (weekly paycheck * 52 or bi-weekly paycheck * 26). For self-employed individuals, it's line 22 on the 1040.

https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/affidavit-support

 

It says 

"You also must meet certain income requirements (whether you are a sponsor, a joint sponsor, or a substitute sponsor). You must show that your household income is equal to or higher than 125% of the U.S. poverty level for your household size. (Your household size includes you, your dependents, any relatives living with you, and the immigrants you are sponsoring.)

If you, the sponsor, are on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States, and the immigrant you are sponsoring is your spouse or child, your income only needs to equal 100% of the U.S. poverty level for your household size.

To see if you are above the poverty level, see Form I-864P, HHS Poverty Guidelines for Affidavit of Support."

 

Wouldn't this mean that the household does include all the people he is living with?

 

I also noticed that the RFE I received states that the amount on line 22 is what counts. 

 

Also requests the following for a joint sponsor:

• A completed and signed Form I-864
• Federal income tax return with all supporting tax documents for the most recent tax year
• Evidence of their status

 

If they don't have supporting tax documents, would just the tax return be sufficient? Would a tax transcript from the IRS be better since it shows some more info? Should we send in both return and transcript?

 

[geowrian 22,337]

The list of who counts in the household size is defined in the I-864 instructions (https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-864instr.pdf, page 7). Relatives living with you are not included unless they are dependents OR they are using an I-864A tr combine incomes with them.

 

Line 22 on the 1040 is what to list for the tax return incomes. For a W-2 employee, a tax return copy is still required but it shows past income, not current income.

 

A tax transcript is the simplest way to meet the tax return copy requirement, and it is what I would suggest sending. Don't mix and match...if you send a copy of a tax return (not a transcript), you also need to send supporting evidence such as W-2s/1099s/etc. If you send a transcript, you don't need to send those documents.