558900

Hello,

I've read many threads on visajourney but I'm still hesitant. My husband is self employed/freelance and we filed jointly. On the RFIE we received, they state "The Total income line on IRS form 1040 is used to determine qualifying income for a sponsor, not the Gross receipts line from IRS schedule C or C-EZ". On I-864 (part 6 question 24) , it says "total income (adjusted gross income on IRS form 1040EZ as reported on federal income tax returns".
Which one should we use? AGI on line 11 of form 1040 or total income on line 9 of form 1040? I've even read here some people saying that for self employed people, they look at your income after deductions and business expenses. On form 1040, his total income is 55k, his adjusted gross income is 52k but his taxable income is 22k. Will that be a problem?
I would appreciate any help, we have a lawyer to who we sent everything to but doesn't respond quickly. We already collected tax returns, transcripts, 1099s, w2s, paystubs and bank statements to prove all the income is his. I'm worried getting this RFIE wrong will result in denial.
 

In my case, right before Covid hit, it was a week. And my whole AOS took exactly six months 

OP is going through adjustment of status in the US, not spousal visa.  

Thank you for sharing.

They receive a LOT of correspondence.  I would expect any action for several weeks. 

We had one and our case was approved a month after they received our response.
Mind you, that was way before the pandemic. 

Yes that would be one issue as if you file MFJ you must differentiate individual income.
 
Gross total income instead of AGI will likely still be your problem.
I'd be wary.
 

So, there is a 60-day period out of the 90-day fiance visa period that is the time to file for a Social Security Card as a K-1 Visa Holder: After 14 days of entry, which would give plenty of time to get married. Within 75 days of entry.May 29, 2020
 
 

You did good! No issues getting it before as long as you wait for your EAD to work. 
 
The SSN office messed up my application and I ended up not being able to get mine. Lol I called and called almost everyday about it and no one got back to me or said we’re waiting on DHS IT Didn’t know anything about the mistake made until after my I-94 expired. 
 
it’s been annoying not having my SSN 😒 waiting for my EAD now 😒

The text on the card is completely normal for your situation. You can get it removed after you received your greencard.
 
I would honestly watch that lawyers work a little bit closer if she's saying things like that.

My wife and I applied for her SS card about 16 hours after her arrival in the United States, and we had it a week later. It is the first and probably the most important thing to get when arriving on a K1, before you get married or anything. You did  the right thing.

~Moved from AOS K1/K3 Forum to SSN Forum - SSN’s are discussed here~

Your lawyer is misinformed. It’s actually strongly recommended for K1 holders to apply for an SSN as soon as they arrive in the US and before they marry or file for AOS. K1 visa holders are eligible to get an SSN, so no, the social security office didn’t make a mistake. You will not need to explain yourself to anybody regarding this and you’re certainly not in trouble. 

No.
It's all fine since you were eligible to be assigned a SSN: https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110211530 See the "K-1" row
There technically is the (a)(6) EAD category but no one applies for it because a fee is required for that category and the expiration for that category must match the K-1 I-94 expiration (so with the long processing times it would be paying USCIS and still not getting the (a)(6) EAD).

We had our interview and approved today (well technically status changed to new card is being produced about six hours later, we weren't given an approval at the interview).
 
We brought all the things on the checklist with the appointment letter but the interviewer only asked for our evidence of a bonafide marriage. The only evidence we had on hand was several joint bank statements, joint leases, and joint tax returns, and about 15 pictures. He took all of the evidence. The only other thing he asked for was a marriage cert showing her name change but my spouse used her maiden name on the cert however he said her new last name will be on the green card anyways. Naturally over prepare and bring everything asked for but I'd emphasize the joint documents and pictures. My wife did her medical abroad for the K1 over two years ago and they didn't ask for any new medical forms.
 
Edit: I forgot to mention we both had to provide state IDs and passports. My wife had her EAD ID too.

I got an RFE for my income despite being above the limit (I barely made the cutoff since I'm a grad student) but it still wasn't enough to convince them.  I had my mother do an Affidavit of Support rather than trying to fight it. I'd highly recommend that route if it's available. You can stay in the USA while the application is still active and not be in fear of deportation. An RFE is not a denial. My wife has taken three domestic flights between North Carolina and Washington as she has family over there and she has never had issues. She has flown home to SK twice (after getting the travel authorization). I'm using the Seattle office which has processing times of two years. We submitted Aug 2019, and finally got an appointment in Aug 2021. Still not over the finish line yet. In the meantime just stay up to date with the work authorization/travel permit if your application is taking that long. You should be able to get a Driver's License if you haven't already but that might depend on the state.

Heck even citizens have been erroneously deported. Every noncitizen is at a nonzero risk of deportation at any time. The probability is low in your case however.
 
Just go ahead and file the paperwork expeditiously. Worrying yourself accomplishes nothing 

While the risk is low, there might be some danger for not filing for AOS in time. The danger might be until you get your NOAs; because that’s your evidence of “authorized stay” should you have an unfortunate encounter with border patrol or ICE. See this thread for an example of what could go wrong: 
 

There are many, many people here illegally in this country for various reasons. Your situation does not even come close to theirs.  You were technically at risk of deportation for the time between the expiration date of the I-94 and the receipt date of your AOS filing but that’s in the past now. Once your AOS application is receipted and a receipt number generated the clock stops and you are in “authorized stay” until a decision is made on your application. Unless you are planning on breaking the law in the meantime, you’re good. 
 
Even if you hadn’t filed the AOS paperwork yet it’s very unlikely that you would be deported purely for the overstay. ICE has limited resources and they have much more serious cases to deal with than a law-abiding spouse who filed late due to financial hardship. 

Its not about the timing of when you filed,  it's about providing sufficient evidence to approve the application. 

Once a proper I-485 (accepted) has been submitted, you are granted "authorized stay" in the US until the I-485 has been either approved or denied....an RFE is neither an approval nor a denial.   Just send them what they want to answer the RFE.  

I completely agree with that course of action.  
 
The I-130 would buy you nothing in this case.  While it is true you now have record of unlawful presence, the I-130 wouldn’t cure that.  Currently your presence is authorized and I advise you to not break authorized presence again: USCIS forgives unauthorized presence but ICE/CBP don’t have to, or put a different way, they have been known to not forgive it.  
 
The I-130 would only be useful and necessary if you failed to marry before the I-94 expired.  

Thank you Mike E for your time and detailed response, I truly appreciate it.

I think we will be working with a lawyer to help check our RFE response to avoid any mishaps since this is our second one and my husband's freelance status requires a lot of proof (he also filed taxes for the first time as married filing jointly, so our fault for not providing detailed proof of his income).

Forgive me for asking again for your opinion, but since my i-94 have expired by the time we filed for AOS, do you think we should have had included the i-130 form?

I agree and will definitely be more careful in the future. Had we known, we would have acted much quicker.

Thank you so much for taking the time and energy to write detailed explanations. Your answers had been extremely helpful.

Assuming your I-485 is denied, you will have 33 days from the date of the denial letter to either appeal (not recommended) or file a new package (recommended; your lawyers are correct). Refilling would extend your authorized  presence. Bonus: no need to later file I-751. Anti-bonus: longer wait to file for citizenship 
 
Regarding the current case: Provided you respond to the RFE with everything being asked for and the petitioner has consistently exceeded the required income in 2021 and previous years, I’m confident you will be approved or scheduled for interview. 
 
At the interview I advise the US citizen to bring an original US birth certificate, and updated income evidence (past 3 months pay stubs, 2021 tax transcript).