i864ez - multiple people in the home

[corrheag 2]

Hi everyone, 

I have a quick question. My spouse, the US citizen, lives abroad with me and our son. I understand we would need a joint sponsor in this case however, if there are multiple people living in the house we will be going back to in the US, can all those incomes be combined to help us meet the minimum income requirements? Can we just ask those people to submit their most recent tax returns? What would be the process to include their income in the i864ez? 

Thank you! 

Edited February 14, 2021 by corrheag

[pushbrk 12,103]

6 hours ago, corrheag said:

Hi everyone, 

I have a quick question. My spouse, the US citizen, lives abroad with me and our son. I understand we would need a joint sponsor in this case however, if there are multiple people living in the house we will be going back to in the US, can all those incomes be combined to help us meet the minimum income requirements? Can we just ask those people to submit their most recent tax returns? What would be the process to include their income in the i864ez? 

Thank you! 

First, in your circumstances, the I-864ez cannot be used.  Did you read the first 3 questions at the top of the form?  If you can't answer ALL of them with a yes, you cannot use this form.

 

The US citizen petitioner will provide an I-864 whether they have any income or not.  It's a contract that must be signed.

 

Next, become and A-Student of the I-864 instructions for how to use a joint sponsor and to deal with household size and income combining.  It's not as simple as counting everybody in the house, and combining their income. When you've done YOUR homework, come back here with remaining questions.

[corrheag 2]

17 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

First, in your circumstances, the I-864ez cannot be used.  Did you read the first 3 questions at the top of the form?  If you can't answer ALL of them with a yes, you cannot use this form.

 

The US citizen petitioner will provide an I-864 whether they have any income or not.  It's a contract that must be signed.

 

Next, become and A-Student of the I-864 instructions for how to use a joint sponsor and to deal with household size and income combining.  It's not as simple as counting everybody in the house, and combining their income. When you've done YOUR homework, come back here with remaining questions.

Hi, 

 

Thanks for your honest. 

 

I completely appreciate that it is not an easy process, hence why so many people hire immigration lawyers! It is a brave task to take this on solo. 

 

I would like to be more clear about my scenario. 

 

 

We are at the interview stage of our application. My spouse is a USC. Our interview will be at the US consulate in Montreal. I am Canadian.

 

We are filling out form i864.

 

My USC spouse has been in Canada with me and our son for one year. He is working in Canada (they do physical work for a multinational company) therefore will not meet the income requirements since their income is from Canada.

I, the intended immigrant, am a content creator with a few remote work contracts for companies based in the US.

 

All three of us (spouse, me, child) will be living my spouse's family home in NY. And it is very likely that I will still have my employment contracts with these same companies when I move back to the US.

 

Our child has a CRBA.

 

Should I fill out the i864 and i864a?

 

Or is it easier to get a relative in the family home in NY to complete these i864/i864a forms to help my spouse meet the income requirements?

 

We do not  meet the requirements for (liquid) assets. This is solely based on income.

 

Any other advice to strengthen our case would be extremely helpful

[pushbrk 12,103]

3 minutes ago, corrheag said:

Hi, 

 

Thanks for your honest. 

 

I completely appreciate that it is not an easy process, hence why so many people hire immigration lawyers! It is a brave task to take this on solo. 

 

I would like to be more clear about my scenario. 

 

 

We are at the interview stage of our application. My spouse is a USC. Our interview will be at the US consulate in Montreal. I am Canadian.

 

We are filling out form i864.

 

My USC spouse has been in Canada with me and our son for one year. He is working in Canada (they do physical work for a multinational company) therefore will not meet the income requirements since their income is from Canada.

I, the intended immigrant, am a content creator with a few remote work contracts for companies based in the US.

 

All three of us (spouse, me, child) will be living my spouse's family home in NY. And it is very likely that I will still have my employment contracts with these same companies when I move back to the US.

 

Our child has a CRBA.

 

Should I fill out the i864 and i864a?

 

Or is it easier to get a relative in the family home in NY to complete these i864/i864a forms to help my spouse meet the income requirements?

 

We do not  meet the requirements for (liquid) assets. This is solely based on income.

 

Any other advice to strengthen our case would be extremely helpful

It's really critical that you become an A-Student of those instructions.  The immigrant completes no I-86...related form at all, but the petitioner MUST complete an I-864.  I already told you this.  How to deal with the joint sponsor issues depends on information you haven't provided.  You don't know WHAT information is relevant because you haven't read the instructions yet.  Do it as your NEXT TASK.  Neither you, your husband or your child will be counted in any joint sponsor's household size.  Instructions first, now!

[corrheag 2]

10 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

It's really critical that you become an A-Student of those instructions.  The immigrant completes no I-86...related form at all, but the petitioner MUST complete an I-864.  I already told you this.  How to deal with the joint sponsor issues depends on information you haven't provided.  You don't know WHAT information is relevant because you haven't read the instructions yet.  Do it as your NEXT TASK.  Neither you, your husband or your child will be counted in any joint sponsor's household size.  Instructions first, now!

OK. Thank you. 

 

Reading. From my understanding: 

 

My spouse, the USC is filling out i864 - a contract between the sponsor and the US government. 

 

my spouse is sponsoring me, the  immediate relative as per i30

 

PART 5Our household size is 3 (me, sponsor, our infant)  is who my spouse is financially responsible for however, 

 

Part 6 Sponsor’s Employment and Income

Line 1-6 income for my spouse is all Canadian. He will leave that job when we move back to the US. 

Line 7 AOS is 0 because he won't have that income. 

Line 8-10 is my income. I am based in Canada right now, but I have a contract with a US-based company. My income meets the income requirements. 

 

Since our child is already a US citizen through my spouse, they is not a derivative family member. 

 

My spouse filed 2019 taxes as single as at the time because we married after April 2019. 

 

I also filed taxes in the US in 2018 and 2019 as I was living in the US on a work permit and making US income at the time. 

 

My spouse made Canadian income all of 2020, and I made Canadian income throughout all of 2020, but I landed a few contracts  as self employed in 2021. These contracts are on a long term basis. And we will be going back to the family home in the US, where his parents and two other siblings live. 

 

I have a few credits cards with 0 balances that total about 5K, but we don't have any cash assets that can support our income, so we didn't put anything down. 

 

So, I guess I answered my own question, but I just wanted to double check if there is anything I should be aware of with regards to what additional documents to bring to the interview, since we are not including a joint sponsor. We will be doing the interview in Montreal. 

 

Cheers, 

[pushbrk 12,103]

Pretty good study, but if your contracts are self employment, you do not have employment income.  YOUR current income is not your "revenue" but you revenue minus expenses on schedule C of your latest US Tax Return.  According to what you wrote above, your self employment revenue started in 2021, so YOUR income would be $0 right now, until you file a 2021 tax return in 2022.  Sounds like you'll need a joint sponsor.   Have you done that part of your study yet?

[corrheag 2]

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

Pretty good study, but if your contracts are self employment, you do not have employment income.  YOUR current income is not your "revenue" but you revenue minus expenses on schedule C of your latest US Tax Return.  According to what you wrote above, your self employment revenue started in 2021, so YOUR income would be $0 right now, until you file a 2021 tax return in 2022.  Sounds like you'll need a joint sponsor.   Have you done that part of your study yet?

Thank you for honest feedback. I am going to push back on this, though, because the more research I do, the more I realize that I don't in fact need to limit myself when it comes to "income." I was thinking that I needed to get a permanent full time job specifically with a company in the US, but I came across a poster in another forum who raised the very same question to a real Lawyer. They had income back in their home country and wanted to use that income to meet the income requirements. 

 

 The clear point is that the lawful income needs to continue once the intending immigrant is approved for LPR status. So, while I do have contracts with US-based companies as a self-employed content person, I can actually accept a permanent full-job job in Canada that is fully remote, and still keep that job after getting approved for LPR status. We live in Ontario right now, that's where I'm from. My spouse is from NYC, that's a very strong case. 

You are absolutely right, everything started in 2021, that still stands. I did my 2019 taxes, as did my spouse. Even if they don't ask, n top of bringing my job letter from the Canadian company, I will still bring my most recent US Federal Tax return. I would also still bring those contracts as well. All of this to show that ultimately, I am not going to become a public charge. 

[pushbrk 12,103]

50 minutes ago, corrheag said:

Thank you for honest feedback. I am going to push back on this, though, because the more research I do, the more I realize that I don't in fact need to limit myself when it comes to "income." I was thinking that I needed to get a permanent full time job specifically with a company in the US, but I came across a poster in another forum who raised the very same question to a real Lawyer. They had income back in their home country and wanted to use that income to meet the income requirements. 

 

 The clear point is that the lawful income needs to continue once the intending immigrant is approved for LPR status. So, while I do have contracts with US-based companies as a self-employed content person, I can actually accept a permanent full-job job in Canada that is fully remote, and still keep that job after getting approved for LPR status. We live in Ontario right now, that's where I'm from. My spouse is from NYC, that's a very strong case. 

You are absolutely right, everything started in 2021, that still stands. I did my 2019 taxes, as did my spouse. Even if they don't ask, n top of bringing my job letter from the Canadian company, I will still bring my most recent US Federal Tax return. I would also still bring those contracts as well. All of this to show that ultimately, I am not going to become a public charge. 

If you or the petitioner have actual employment where the income will continue from the same source after you immigrate to the US, you will not get past the public charge evaluation at the Consulate, and probably not with NVC either, without a qualified joint sponsor.  If you were to accept remote employment now where the job would continue, you may well be fine.  You'll document that income with a pay stub and a clear offer letter that indicates the employment and income will continue once you're in the USA.

 

Any person or lawyer can argue any point they choose.  Experience tells us which arguments win the day and which sound good but don't.

[corrheag 2]

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

If you or the petitioner have actual employment where the income will continue from the same source after you immigrate to the US, you will not get past the public charge evaluation at the Consulate, and probably not with NVC either, without a qualified joint sponsor.  If you were to accept remote employment now where the job would continue, you may well be fine.  You'll document that income with a pay stub and a clear offer letter that indicates the employment and income will continue once you're in the USA.

 

Any person or lawyer can argue any point they choose.  Experience tells us which arguments win the day and which sound good but don't.

I understand.

 

Based on my research and speaking to my network about being a joint sponsor, it would actually be easier for me to use my income.

 

At the end of the day, I had spoke to several lawyers about qualifying for a TN work permit as a management consultant. Every single lawyer told me I would not qualify for it, and I got it. that very same work permit.... twice. 

 

At the time, when submitting our documents to the NVC, I sent in my 1099 with my "revenue" and my spouse's income at the time, which was actually on an i864ez and they accepted all of it. they didn't ask for anything  except to prove US domicile. I sent in an email conformation of voter registration, NY state ID and and a bank statement and they accepted them. 

So, to be honest, speaking in these forums is saving us, a lot of grief. I believe based on what was submitted to the NVC, the interview would be a complete flop. Now I can make sure our package is more prepared. 

 

I am grateful for this completely honest advice.