AOS for spouse F1 Affidavit of Support

[luisima 0]

Hi everyone!

 

My husband and I are filing the I 864 form and I guess we're totally lost here. First off, we are living with a relative of mine and we don't pay rent. My husband is currently studying and doesn't have any income to report, being dependant on his parents. We are planning on having both his parents and my relative filing as joint sponsors.

 

My question is: where in the form do we say that three people are filing as joint sponsors? In the instructions it says that there cannot be more than two joint sponsors so I'm a little bit confused here. In Part 6. "Sponsor's Employment and Income" there's a section that says "Income you are using from any other person who was counted in your household size" but this doesn't apply to us as our sponsors are relatives, not dependants. Is there any section in the form where the petitioner sponsor lists the joint sponsors? 

 

I guess I don't fully understand how the affidavit of support works. For our household of 2, the income would be $21,137 or 125% of HHS Poverty Guidelines applies. If my husband has a $0 income, how much income do joint sponsors have to show and how does their household play here? They do not have any dependents besides their spouses, so would their household for this purposes be of 3 people? (his mom, his dad, and me; and for my aunt, herself, her husband, and me?) 

 

Part 5. 

3. "If you are currently married, enter "1" for your spouse." I am assuming I leave this blank since he is sponsoring me, his spouse?

 

Part 6.

6. and 7. Since my husband is unemployed, his income is $0. However, he does get a regular allowance deposited to his bank account. Is this considered income? He's never filed taxes and I don't think his parents have counted his as dependants of theirs in their tax returns. Will a $0 hurt our chances of approval even if we have joint sponsors? 

 

Thank you so much for your help!

[Liam2021 551]

You only allow one co-sponsor.

1. your husband as a main sponsor( petitioner ) must filed one I-864, and since he has no income( students) he just need to write a letter explain why he not file tax.

2. Join sponsor will need another I-864 as well as 3 year tax return+ current income( employment's letter, pay stub).

3.Part 5: Box 1 :1, Box2 :1 and you household size is 2. Another box put 0 on it.

 

[geowrian 22,335]

Just now, luisima said:

We are planning on having both his parents and my relative filing as joint sponsors.

"There can be only 1!" -> applies to both Highlanders and joint sponsors.

There's no point to having multiple joint sponsors anyway...just one good one is fine.

NOTE: Joint sponsors are different than household members with an I-864A agreement.

 

Your options are:

1) To do an I-864A with your household member (assuming they are a qualified relative - see https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-864ainstr.pdf), OR

2) Have one parent as a joint sponsor and their spouse complete an I-864A as a household member (to join their income with their spouse's I-864).

 

Household sizes...

It sounds like yours is just 2: The petitioner and the beneficiary. If doing option #1 above, then the household size would be 3 instead.

If doing #2, then the household size would be the joint sponsor + their spouse + the beneficiary + any unmarried children under 21 (or age of majority) + anybody claimed on their taxes as a dependent + anybody else with an active I-864. So this would be at least 3.

 

8 minutes ago, luisima said:

Part 5. 

3. "If you are currently married, enter "1" for your spouse." I am assuming I leave this blank since he is sponsoring me, his spouse?

Enter 0. You are already being counted in #1 and you don't count anybody more than once.

 

9 minutes ago, luisima said:

Part 6.

6. and 7. Since my husband is unemployed, his income is $0. However, he does get a regular allowance deposited to his bank account. Is this considered income? He's never filed taxes and I don't think his parents have counted his as dependants of theirs in their tax returns. Will a $0 hurt our chances of approval even if we have joint sponsors? 

An allowance is not income.

It's not good to have $0 in income, but it is what it is. A suitable I-864 from a joint sponsor is typically accepted.

[luisima 0]

1 hour ago, geowrian said:

2) Have one parent as a joint sponsor and their spouse complete an I-864A as a household member (to join their income with their spouse's I-864).

Ok, so just to make sure that I got it right, I think #2 would be our best choice because we live with my aunt so she couldn't file I-864A. So if his dad is filing as a joint sponsor, he would have to fill out the I-864 and then his mom would have to fill out I-864A, correct? 

 

In this case, how would they check Part 1. of the form? So far I have my husband checking 1.a. "I am the petitioner. I filed or am filing for the immigration of my relative." For his dad, he would check 1.d. "I am the only joint sponsor," correct? Now, for form I-864A does it matter that they (husband's mom and dad) file joint taxes? They do have assets separately that they could list, though. 

 

Their total income is above the minimum requirement for a household of 3 (I would be the only dependent). Can we still file form I-864A to make the financial part look stronger with more people signing the affidavit?

 

And one last thing (sorry for asking again) do my husband or my father in law at any point in the form have to mention each other's names as cosponsors? For some reason I thought there would be a box where they say who is the cosponsor but I guess the only thing that they must fill out is my info as the immigrant beneficiary... correct?

 

Thank you sooooooo much for your answers and all your help!!! 

[geowrian 22,335]

1 minute ago, luisima said:

Ok, so just to make sure that I got it right, I think #2 would be our best choice because we live with my aunt so she couldn't file I-864A. So if his dad is filing as a joint sponsor, he would have to fill out the I-864 and then his mom would have to fill out I-864A, correct?

Bingo.

 

1 minute ago, luisima said:

In this case, how would they check Part 1. of the form? So far I have my husband checking 1.a. "I am the petitioner. I filed or am filing for the immigration of my relative." For his dad, he would check 1.d. "I am the only joint sponsor," correct? Now, for form I-864A does it matter that they (husband's mom and dad) file joint taxes? They do have assets separately that they could list, though.

Correct. Having jointly filed taxes is fine. They would put the same tax return income information for the past 3 years.

Any assets they list is fine. Assets are optional if income is sufficient.

 

1 minute ago, luisima said:

Their total income is above the minimum requirement for a household of 3 (I would be the only dependent). Can we still file form I-864A to make the financial part look stronger with more people signing the affidavit?

I'm not sure who you are referring to with "can we still file form I-864A..." The I-864A would be with one parent to join their income/assets with the joint sponsor (their spouse). It's standard operating procedure for a spouse who files taxes jointly to provide an I-864A when the other spouse is a joint sponsor.

 

If you are referring to having your aunt do an I-864A and have a parent as a joint sponsor, then it won't look any stronger. Income/Assets cannot be joined across sponsors.

 

1 minute ago, luisima said:

And one last thing (sorry for asking again) do my husband or my father in law at any point in the form have to mention each other's names as cosponsors? For some reason I thought there would be a box where they say who is the cosponsor but I guess the only thing that they must fill out is my info as the immigrant beneficiary... correct?

Check the form to verify, but I could not find anywhere that mentions this or requests that information.

[luisima 0]

2 minutes ago, geowrian said:

I'm not sure who you are referring to with "can we still file form I-864A..."

Oh I just meant "we" as in all of us, me, my husband and his parents. Now that I understand it a little bit better, we'll send two I-864, one for husband and one for his dad, and the I-864A form for mother in law. 

 

4 minutes ago, geowrian said:

It's standard operating procedure for a spouse who files taxes jointly to provide an I-864A when the other spouse is a joint sponsor.

Didn't know this part. Thanks for the info!! You guys are the best!

[aaron2020 11,651]

If his parents claimed your husband as a dependent on their tax return, then they must include him in their household count.