RFE I-864 - error on form & self-employed

[Gail and Derrick 270]

Like many others here we received the "vague RFE" around being unable to process (see below) the I-864. At first glance I had no idea what the problem was because I'd sent my tax transcripts for the last 3 years. Upon closer inspection of the form itself, I realized I had entered AGI not Total Income for the last 3 years so I'm guessing that's why it was kicked back as those numbers didn't match the total income lines on the tax transcripts and they probably just stopped there and hit the RFE button.

 

I'm wondering if I should

1. upload the new I-864 with that section corrected, or

2. upload new I-864 and resend the tax transcripts, or

3. upload new I-864 and follow instructions for the vague RFE and send the whole 2021 tax return with W2s, 1099s, and schedules?

 

I guess I'm wondering if they will have kept everything from the first submission or if I should treat this as "I have sent them nothing" and resend tax transcripts and supporting evidence of income?

 

I'm concerned about submitting the corrected form to get past this RFE and then having them decide they need more evidence of current income because I have been self-employed for the last year. If that happens, will they even send a second RFE or just reject the application outright? 

 

 

 

We are unable to process the I-864 because it has one or more deficiencies. In order for us to process
your application further, you must:
Submit a completed and signed Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, from the petitioning sponsor. All
pages must be present and of the latest edition date.
Provide the petitioning sponsor's Social Security Number on Form I-864.
Provide a complete and correctly calculated household size for the petitioning sponsor on Form I-864.
Submit a complete copy of the petitioning sponsor’s Federal income tax return, including all supporting
tax documents (W-2s, 1099s, Form 2555, and tax schedules) filed with the return, for the most recent tax
year.
 

[Verrou 1,901]

i entered AGI and has no issue, no RFE. 

[Crazy Cat 39,572]

10 minutes ago, Gail and Derrick said:

Like many others here we received the "vague RFE" around being unable to process (see below) the I-864. At first glance I had no idea what the problem was because I'd sent my tax transcripts for the last 3 years. Upon closer inspection of the form itself, I realized I had entered AGI not Total Income for the last 3 years so I'm guessing that's why it was kicked back as those numbers didn't match the total income lines on the tax transcripts and they probably just stopped there and hit the RFE button.

 

I'm wondering if I should

1. upload the new I-864 with that section corrected, or

2. upload new I-864 and resend the tax transcripts, or

3. upload new I-864 and follow instructions for the vague RFE and send the whole 2021 tax return with W2s, 1099s, and schedules?

 

I guess I'm wondering if they will have kept everything from the first submission or if I should treat this as "I have sent them nothing" and resend tax transcripts and supporting evidence of income?

 

I'm concerned about submitting the corrected form to get past this RFE and then having them decide they need more evidence of current income because I have been self-employed for the last year. If that happens, will they even send a second RFE or just reject the application outright? 

 

 

 

We are unable to process the I-864 because it has one or more deficiencies. In order for us to process
your application further, you must:
Submit a completed and signed Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, from the petitioning sponsor. All
pages must be present and of the latest edition date.
Provide the petitioning sponsor's Social Security Number on Form I-864.
Provide a complete and correctly calculated household size for the petitioning sponsor on Form I-864.
Submit a complete copy of the petitioning sponsor’s Federal income tax return, including all supporting
tax documents (W-2s, 1099s, Form 2555, and tax schedules) filed with the return, for the most recent tax
year.
 

I would follow their instruction on the RFE. 

[Crazy Cat 39,572]

@Gail and Derrick, is your household size correct on the I-864?  

[randy32 165]

The RFE was vague but still has some specific instructions.

address each one. look into those items first. If they are correct, then go over the rest of the form

then respond to the RFE

 

latest version of the form, all pages present, signed?

Petitioner's SSN? is it correct?

household size?

Tax return/ transcript?

[Gail and Derrick 270]

2 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

@Gail and Derrick, is your household size correct on the I-864?  

Yes. Everything else was correct. 

37 minutes ago, randy32 said:

The RFE was vague but still has some specific instructions.

address each one. look into those items first. If they are correct, then go over the rest of the form

then respond to the RFE

 

latest version of the form, all pages present, signed?

Petitioner's SSN? is it correct?

household size?

Tax return/ transcript?

Yep! This was what I did first and it was all as it should be and then I found the AGI vs Total Income issue. 

[Gail and Derrick 270]

2 hours ago, Misscloud said:

i entered AGI and has no issue, no RFE. 

If you file 1040EZ then AGI is used. If you file 1040 then you use total income. It's on the instructions but I managed to skip over it. 

 

"For purposes of this affidavit, the line for Total Income on IRS Forms 1040 and 1040A will be considered when determining income. For persons filing IRS Form 1040 EZ, the line for adjusted gross income will be considered."

[Verrou 1,901]

12 minutes ago, Gail and Derrick said:

If you file 1040EZ then AGI is used. If you file 1040 then you use total income. It's on the instructions but I managed to skip over it. 

 

"For purposes of this affidavit, the line for Total Income on IRS Forms 1040 and 1040A will be considered when determining income. For persons filing IRS Form 1040 EZ, the line for adjusted gross income will be considered."

yes, i file 1040 ( not EZ) and use AGI ( following what my lawyer told me) and had no issue. my interview will be next month

 

i agree with @Crazy Cat and just follow what RFE instruction

Edited May 27, 2022 by Misscloud

[K1visaHopeful 2,686]

Self employed is always AGI.

Your errors are some where else.

Use the deduction method to pick through your Form and supporting evidence. 

 

PS. 2021 is the only Transcript you NEED to send.

You have to fill out 24a, b , c but only need documentation for 24a.

 

Less documents equal less chance to make an error. 

Edited May 27, 2022 by K1visaHopeful

[Gail and Derrick 270]

Just now, K1visaHopeful said:

Self employed is always AGI.

 

Except I was W2 until June of last year and 1099 after that so my 1040 from 2021 has both W2 and 1099. And I did not file 1040EZ. Instructions for the form state total income and it seems to have tripped others up too. 

[K1visaHopeful 2,686]

2 minutes ago, Gail and Derrick said:

Except I was W2 until June of last year and 1099 after that so my 1040 from 2021 has both W2 and 1099. And I did not file 1040EZ. Instructions for the form state total income and it seems to have tripped others up too. 

Look. If you search the group for every time some one got an RFE for the I864, you'd see about 80% of the time, the poster was SO SURE that THEY were right and USCIS was just stupid.

 

I hope you'd rather be approved than right.

 

 

[Gail and Derrick 270]

1 hour ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Look. If you search the group for every time some one got an RFE for the I864, you'd see about 80% of the time, the poster was SO SURE that THEY were right and USCIS was just stupid.

 

I hope you'd rather be approved than right.

 

 

Good grief. Never once did I say that USCIS or anyone else was stupid. I'm here asking because I know others have valuable knowledge so not entirely sure how you arrived at this conclusion. 

 

I will absolutely look into using AGI versus Total Income but everything else I read pointed to the difference between 1040, 1040a, and 1040 EZ in addition to the difference between tax transcripts versus the full return with schedules, 1099s, and W2s. Nowhere in the instructions does it say to use AGI if you're self-employed. The differentiation is only between different versions of the 1040. But perhaps it's somewhere else and I've overlooked it. If you have a reference please share. I looked through a lot of posts on VJ and found instances where others had entered AGI instead of total income when filing 1040 or 1040a and also needed to correct. I also found evidence from other sites that the I-864 will be returned if the income reported on the form is different from what's on the tax transcript or return. It's apparently not uncommon for people to do this. It's extra complicated for self-employed because schedule C is what they'll use to consider "current income" but that's another matter. 

 

 

 

[K1visaHopeful 2,686]

17 minutes ago, Gail and Derrick said:

Good grief. Never once did I say that USCIS or anyone else was stupid. I'm here asking because I know others have valuable knowledge so not entirely sure how you arrived at this conclusion. 

 

My apologies. 

Ive seen hundreds of posts like this one where the poster is so sure of the one thing that is wrong with their I864 after RFE and VJ members have suggested out the ying yang that the poster was incorrect but the poster was too set in their ways so they continued to get RFEs.

 

17 minutes ago, Gail and Derrick said:

I will absolutely look into using AGI versus Total Income but everything else I read pointed to the difference between 1040, 1040a, and 1040 EZ in addition to the difference between tax transcripts versus the full return with schedules, 1099s, and W2s. Nowhere in the instructions does it say to use AGI if you're self-employed.

It doesn't. 

We're telling you from experience. 

 

17 minutes ago, Gail and Derrick said:

 

The differentiation is only between different versions of the 1040. But perhaps it's somewhere else and I've overlooked it. If you have a reference please share. I looked through a lot of posts on VJ and found instances where others had entered AGI instead of total income when filing 1040 or 1040a and also needed to correct.

Not for that reason. 

Ever. 

And no one will never know the reason why their I864 gets accepted after RFE or multiple RFEs.

All you will know is it was. 

It's very possible that your IO decided to give you a break and be more lenient with their rigid policy if they have the correct supporting documents in front of them and can see what you SHOULD HAVE input where.

That's not impossible. 

17 minutes ago, Gail and Derrick said:

 

I also found evidence from other sites that the I-864 will be returned if the income reported on the form is different from what's on the tax transcript or return.

 

Of course.

That's the reason for most RFEs.

Amounts must match supporting documents. 

Another reason is providing too many useless documents or incorrect documents. 

17 minutes ago, Gail and Derrick said:

 

It's apparently not uncommon for people to do this. It's extra complicated for self-employed because schedule C is what they'll use to consider "current income" but that's another matter. 

 

 

 

So don't report current income. 

Report your AGI as current income as well like most Self-employed sponsors.

[carmel34 3,533]

Self-employed income requires all forms, schedules, and attachments with the 1040, to be sent with the I-864:

 

If you selected Part 6., Item Number 2. that you are self-employed, you should have completed one of the following forms with your Federal income tax return: Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business), Schedule D (Capital Gains), Schedule E (Supplemental Income or Loss), or Schedule F (Profit or Loss from Farming). You must include each and every Form 1040 Schedule, if any, that you filed with your Federal income tax return.

 

This is because they want to know exactly how you figured your "total income."  Schedule C reveals the details they need to decide if total income is overstated.

Edited May 28, 2022 by carmel34

[Gail and Derrick 270]

18 hours ago, K1visaHopeful said:

 

My apologies. 

Ive seen hundreds of posts like this one where the poster is so sure of the one thing that is wrong with their I864 after RFE and VJ members have suggested out the ying yang that the poster was incorrect but the poster was too set in their ways so they continued to get RFEs.

 

It doesn't. 

We're telling you from experience. 

 

Not for that reason. 

Ever. 

And no one will never know the reason why their I864 gets accepted after RFE or multiple RFEs.

All you will know is it was. 

It's very possible that your IO decided to give you a break and be more lenient with their rigid policy if they have the correct supporting documents in front of them and can see what you SHOULD HAVE input where.

That's not impossible. 

Of course.

That's the reason for most RFEs.

Amounts must match supporting documents. 

Another reason is providing too many useless documents or incorrect documents. 

So don't report current income. 

Report your AGI as current income as well like most Self-employed sponsors.

Thanks! I really appreciate all of this info. I've seen people be really rigid and convinced they are right even in the face of advice and evidence so I get it. I have definitely seen other threads where there's an insistence on using total income (part of the problem, I think, is that the section on the form itself is badly worded) and let's face it, for as many rigid question-askers there are also people responding who actually don't know and provide incorrect answers so I usually look for those who've clearly built a reputation here and also for consistency (as in a LOT of people are providing the same response!). 

 

You offer some sound advice and insight and it is appreciated!