Income requirements for business owners

[Dampea1983 0]

What will be needed for business owners that are filing for a spousal visa? My spouse is in Ghana and I have seen that you will need proof of income if you are working, but I am a business owner and it shows that the requirements for a two person household is over 100,000 in the form of a bank account, or home equity.  What would I need as proof of income? PLEASE HELP

[janet3 1,170]

20 minutes ago, Dampea1983 said:

What will be needed for business owners that are filing for a spousal visa? My spouse is in Ghana and I have seen that you will need proof of income if you are working, but I am a business owner and it shows that the requirements for a two person household is over 100,000 in the form of a bank account, or home equity.  What would I need as proof of income? PLEASE HELP

The minimum standards (for the I 864) are 125% above the minimum poverty line (which is somewhere around $20575 for 2)

What is your business declared as? A sub S, LLC, Partnership? Do you receive a W2 or 1099? Is your personal tax return seperate from your business tax return?

How much personal income did you declare on your tax return last year?

 I may be able to help you more with a little more information.....

Edited February 8, 2019 by janet3
One more question

[pushbrk 12,108]

9 hours ago, janet3 said:

The minimum standards (for the I 864) are 125% above the minimum poverty line (which is somewhere around $20575 for 2)

What is your business declared as? A sub S, LLC, Partnership? Do you receive a W2 or 1099? Is your personal tax return seperate from your business tax return?

How much personal income did you declare on your tax return last year?

 I may be able to help you more with a little more information.....

It's 125% "OF" not 125% "ABOVE", but otherwise we're on the right track here.  Owning a business is not the issue.  It is whether you are "employed" or "self employed".  You can be employed by a business you own or a sole proprietor, partner, etc.  If you file a schedule C on your personal tax return, then you are "self employed" and your "current income" comes from line 22 of your 2017 federal tax return.  If you have no income or too little income to qualify, then you need $3 (not $5) for every dollar of income shortfall, when qualifying to sponsor a spouse. 

 

The 100k plus figure would be 5 times the income requirement.  That applies to immigrant other than the spouse of a US Citizen.  Again, it is 3 times in income shortfall, not three times the income requirement.  If your line 22 is a negative number then your shortfall is the product of using the negative as a positive, adding the income requirement an multiplying by 3.  Carefully study the "liquid asset" definition in the I-864 instructions, as the equity in your business is NOT considered "liquid".