I-864 and I-864A Questions For AOS Packet

[Petition2252 7]

Background: We are submitting the I-864 and possibly I-864A with our AOS packet to USCIS. My wife, who is a US citizen, is sponsoring her mom who is legally here in the USA and will be doing the AOS process in the USA.

Question 1) Transcripts vs Tax Returns? Per https://youtu.be/b48zJLTP4ko?si=HDBdA9jZlm1tFIOn&t=1242 USCIS does not follow their own rules and issues RFEs for just transcripts. Just curious if anyone did AOS with transcripts and turned out fine. My tax return packet would be very thick if I had to go that route (up to 137 pages). I would prefer the transcript route as it is the cleanest.

 

Question 2) If I did have to send in my Tax Returns, which option would I select in Turbotax?



Question 3) Does USCIS accept Turbotax's 1099 and W2 forms, or would I need to make copies of the originals (if I had to submit returns)?

 

Question 4) My wife (primary sponsor) made less than the 125% poverty limit in 2022; however, makes significantly more than the poverty limit for 2023. We have an employment verification letter from her employer showing her current pay and can submit paystubs showing her pay increase. Should I (spouse/household member) still submit an I-864A since it seems like USCIS only cares about tax records? I made more than enough to satisfy the I-864P so if needed can file an I-864A with no issue.

 

Question 5) If tax transcripts are acceptable, do we still need to provide 1099s and W2s if we have to file an I-864A to show who made what income (we filed Married Filing Jointly)?

 

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Petition2252

[powerpuff 5,977]

I can only answer some of the questions as I’m not familiar with the intricacies of I-864A:

 

1) tax transcripts

 

9 hours ago, Petition2252 said:

since it seems like USCIS only cares about tax records?

That is not true. I have seen many get RFEs because they only submitted tax transcripts/returns and USCIS wanted proof of current income which is evidenced by employment letter and pay stubs rather than tax returns/transcripts 

 

I believe it’s safer to provide I-864A to avoid a chance of RFE.

[Petition2252 7]

Okay, I think I am going the kitchen sink approach and just oversubmitting to prevent an RFE. I will only do the most recent tax year as I am not afraid of my income not being enough and my packet would get too thick if I had to do more than one tax year.

We are only submitting the last tax year and no asset information as those are optional. Does anyone think this causes any problems?

I need advice on whether I need to duplicate evidence for the I-864 on the I-864A. My wife and I filed our tax returns as 'Married Filing Jointly.' She is sponsoring her mother and needs to fill out an I-864. However, she did not make enough on her 2022 W2, so I need to be a household sponsor filing an I-864A. Our tax documentation, including all worksheets, spans over 100 pages. Do I need to include two copies of our taxes—one for the I-864 and one for the I-864A? Or can we submit all our supporting evidence for both the I-864 and I-864A together, perhaps after the I-864A in the AOS packet?

• This is what we are including:
  • Tax Transcript (Do I duplicate this for both I-864 and I-864A?)
  • Her W2
  • Her Wage and Income proof (Wage and Income transcript, 109x, etc...)
  • Employment Verification Letter for her
  • Her last six months of paychecks
  • My W2
  • My Wage and Income proof (Wage and Income transcript, 109x, etc...) (If some of these are joint accounts, do I need to duplicate for both I-864 and I-864A?)
  • Employment Verification letter for me
  • My last six months of paychecks
  • Our Turbotax printout of everything federal (Do I need to duplicate for both I-864 and I-864A?)

Are we missing anything?

I wish USCIS could just accept a Tax Return Transcript and a Wage and Income Transcript from each applicant and be done with it... all of this extra evidence seems unnecessary and tedious if all they care about is previous tax information.

[OldUser 5,083]

@Petition2252 you don't need to duplicate any evidence.

 

You're submitting AOS as one packet. All the evidence can go at the end of packet. It's shared by all forms.

Edited November 2, 2023 by OldUser

[Petition2252 7]

@OldUser Would I put all the evidence at the end of the entire packet? Or after the I-864 and I864-A? The way I am reading your reply, I interpret to treat evidence like its own Appendix. "Appendix: Evidence"

[OldUser 5,083]

15 minutes ago, Petition2252 said:

@OldUser Would I put all the evidence at the end of the entire packet? Or after the I-864 and I864-A? The way I am reading your reply, I interpret to treat evidence like its own Appendix. "Appendix: Evidence"

All forms in the front, all evidence at the end. That's how my AOS and I-751 packets were submitted. Both approved.

Edited November 2, 2023 by OldUser