First off -- I want to say that I am incredibly grateful for this amazing community. In the last few years, I have learned a LOT thought these forums and through everyone's timelines as I strived to become a permanent resident, and later on a US citizen. So thanks for being awesome everyone.
I'm writing you all here to ask for help: I am about to sponsor my wife for her Adjustment of Status. Our case is pretty straightforward: She'll be adjusting from a J1 visa, without 2 year residency requirement, I'm a US citizen, I proposed to her a couple of months after her arrival in the US, we got married 6 months later and are applying over 7 months after her arrival on US soil... but there's one particularity to our case that makes me nervous. In order to make this clearer, here's a quick timeline of our relationship:
- I started my relationship with my current wife while I was separated but still married to my ex-husband in 2017.
- I started divorcing from my ex-husband in 2018.
- My wife (then girlfriend) arrived in the US on a J1 trainee visa in December 2018.
- My divorce process took forever but was finally pronounced and final in February 2019.
- I proposed to my wife in March 2019.
- We got married in June of 2019.
- We are now filing concurrently for I-130 and I-485 to petition for her Adjustment of Status so she can stay here to live with me.
My question is with regards to the I-864 part of the AOS application:
My personal income, alone, is LARGELY above the minimum requirement to be a sponsor (I have W2s from the last two years, six months worth of paychecks, a letter of employment, etc.)
BUT: I know that I have to file form I-864 to sponsor her, as her petitioning spouse, and that I have to provide my last tax return or transcript (for 2018) as supporting documentation. I have it, and can provide it, but I am worried because my ex-husband and I filed our 2018 taxes as married JOINTLY since we technically were married in 2018 (got divorced in February of this year, 2019), and it made a lot more sense for us to do so financially.
So my question is: Will providing my 2018 IRS transcript be an issue for this application since it will show my ex-husband's name and I plan on being the sole sponsor for my spouse's application?
Should I file for I-864ez instead and only provide my W2s from 2017 and 2019, offer letter and 6 months of paychecks?
Or will the I864ez require me to provide my IRS transcripts/tax returns anyway?
Thanks so very much in advance for any help and advice you'll give us.
Filing I-864 for Beneficiary Spouse but Last Tax Return Was Filed Jointly with Ex-Husband
in Bringing Family Members of US Citizens to America
Posted
Hello VisaJourney community,
First off -- I want to say that I am incredibly grateful for this amazing community. In the last few years, I have learned a LOT thought these forums and through everyone's timelines as I strived to become a permanent resident, and later on a US citizen. So thanks for being awesome everyone.
I'm writing you all here to ask for help: I am about to sponsor my wife for her Adjustment of Status. Our case is pretty straightforward: She'll be adjusting from a J1 visa, without 2 year residency requirement, I'm a US citizen, I proposed to her a couple of months after her arrival in the US, we got married 6 months later and are applying over 7 months after her arrival on US soil... but there's one particularity to our case that makes me nervous. In order to make this clearer, here's a quick timeline of our relationship:
- I started my relationship with my current wife while I was separated but still married to my ex-husband in 2017.
- I started divorcing from my ex-husband in 2018.
- My wife (then girlfriend) arrived in the US on a J1 trainee visa in December 2018.
- My divorce process took forever but was finally pronounced and final in February 2019.
- I proposed to my wife in March 2019.
- We got married in June of 2019.
- We are now filing concurrently for I-130 and I-485 to petition for her Adjustment of Status so she can stay here to live with me.
My question is with regards to the I-864 part of the AOS application:
My personal income, alone, is LARGELY above the minimum requirement to be a sponsor (I have W2s from the last two years, six months worth of paychecks, a letter of employment, etc.)
BUT: I know that I have to file form I-864 to sponsor her, as her petitioning spouse, and that I have to provide my last tax return or transcript (for 2018) as supporting documentation. I have it, and can provide it, but I am worried because my ex-husband and I filed our 2018 taxes as married JOINTLY since we technically were married in 2018 (got divorced in February of this year, 2019), and it made a lot more sense for us to do so financially.
So my question is: Will providing my 2018 IRS transcript be an issue for this application since it will show my ex-husband's name and I plan on being the sole sponsor for my spouse's application?
Should I file for I-864ez instead and only provide my W2s from 2017 and 2019, offer letter and 6 months of paychecks?
Or will the I864ez require me to provide my IRS transcripts/tax returns anyway?
Thanks so very much in advance for any help and advice you'll give us.
-Ani