I-864 Question

[Piano Man 0]

Part 6 of the I-864 asks for the "Sponsors employment and income".  I filed for an extension for my 2024 tax return so it's not complete yet.  Also, Part 7 of the I-864 asks for "Use of Assets to Supplement Income".   Just taking the balance of my checking and savings accounts is far in excess of 5 times of the 125% Federal Poverty Guidelines.  How should I proceed?

1.  Leave Part 6 blank and fill in Part 7 and attach 12 months of bank statements.

2. Fill in Part 6 with my 2023, 2022, 2021 income and fill in Part 7 and attach 12 months of bank statements.

3. Fill in Part 6 with my 2023, 2022, 2021 income, attach Form 4868 Tax Extension, and fill in Part 7 and attach 12 months of bank statements.

 

[JeanneAdil 7,016]

NVC needs your current yearly income (2025 expected) 

you need to go by the instructions for the form

they need tax transcripts to continue the process /without  them the petition goes nowhere 

and good to put past years 2024, 2023, etc 

 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf   page 10

 

Many embassies will not consider assets so what embassy is this ?  That's important 

 

Item Number 7. Current Individual Annual Income. Type or print your current, individual, earned or retirement, annual income that you are using to meet the requirements of this affidavit and indicate the total in the space provided. You may include evidence supporting your claim about your expected income for the current year if you believe that submitting this evidence will help you establish ability to maintain sufficient income. You are not required to submit this evidence, however, unless specifically instructed to do so by a U.S. Government official. For example, you may include a recent letter from your employer, showing your employer’s address and telephone number, and indicating your annual salary. You may also provide pay stubs showing your income for the previous six months. If your claimed income includes alimony, child support, dividend or interest income, or income from any other source, you may also include evidence of that income. However, you may not include any means-tested public benefits as income for the purposes of meeting the income requirement.

[Piano Man 0]

19 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

Many embassies will not consider assets so what embassy is this ?  That's important 

US Embassy, London

Is this an embassy that doesn't consider assets, just income?  

[S2N 196]

How complex is your tax situation? An extension isn’t a requirement to file in October and if you’re paying a CPA to do it you should be able to tell them you need it done quickly if you’ve provided all the information they need.

If that’s not feasible I’d recommend downloading your IRS account transcript (different than your return transcript) so the beneficiary can at least show there’s an extension in the system at the interview.
 

There are reports here about COs not responding favorably to extensions, which is why I’d suggest if at all possible trying to file quickly.

[pushbrk 13,555]

Are you employed or self employed. If employed, the answer to your question is different than if you are self employed.  In general though, the year you sponsor an immigrant is not a good time to file for an extension.

[pushbrk 13,555]

1 hour ago, JeanneAdil said:

NVC needs your current yearly income (2025 expected) 

you need to go by the instructions for the form

they need tax transcripts to continue the process /without  them the petition goes nowhere 

and good to put past years 2024, 2023, etc 

 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf   page 10

 

Many embassies will not consider assets so what embassy is this ?  That's important 

 

Item Number 7. Current Individual Annual Income. Type or print your current, individual, earned or retirement, annual income that you are using to meet the requirements of this affidavit and indicate the total in the space provided. You may include evidence supporting your claim about your expected income for the current year if you believe that submitting this evidence will help you establish ability to maintain sufficient income. You are not required to submit this evidence, however, unless specifically instructed to do so by a U.S. Government official. For example, you may include a recent letter from your employer, showing your employer’s address and telephone number, and indicating your annual salary. You may also provide pay stubs showing your income for the previous six months. If your claimed income includes alimony, child support, dividend or interest income, or income from any other source, you may also include evidence of that income. However, you may not include any means-tested public benefits as income for the purposes of meeting the income requirement.

 

The bold above is incorrect.  Quite wrong for a self employed person.  For the self employed, "current income" is the number on the "total income" line of the latest federal tax return.  For the employed, it's the gross for a full pay period, times the number of pay periods in a year.  In some cases that might be what is expected for 2025, but not in all cases.  Nowhere in the instructions is "expected in the current calendar year" mentioned.  It's not current year income. It's current income.  The OP's question cannot  be properly answered without knowing whether they are employed or self employed.

 

[Piano Man 0]

13 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Are you employed or self employed. If employed, the answer to your question is different than if you are self employed.  In general though, the year you sponsor an immigrant is not a good time to file for an extension.

I am self employed.

[pushbrk 13,555]

8 minutes ago, Piano Man said:

I am self employed.

Then my advice is to get that tax return filed.  Your current income is the "Total Income " number.  Same for that section where you enter tax return information.  Yes, this may delay your I-864, but the cause is your lack of preparation.

[S2N 196]

Going off pushbrk, I would recommend calling your CPA and telling them taxes need to be done ASAP and you’re willing to pay for rush. If it’s due to lack of final financial results from your business, see if you can get the internal accounting team to finalize numbers ASAP. Easier said than done, I know, but accountants are used to fire drills. Just be nice to them after

[Piano Man 0]

45 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Then my advice is to get that tax return filed.  Your current income is the "Total Income " number.  Same for that section where you enter tax return information.  Yes, this may delay your I-864, but the cause is your lack of preparation.

As previously alluded to, is it true that that the US Embassy in London doesn't consider assets to supplement income?

Edited Monday at 09:53 PM by Piano Man

[pushbrk 13,555]

1 hour ago, Piano Man said:

As previously alluded to, is it true that that the US Embassy in London doesn't consider assets to supplement income?

Nobody said that about London.  However, you still must properly state current income.