mark1212

Quick question for those who’ve filed I-864—has anyone had their lawyer use adjusted gross income (AGI) instead of total income for Part 6 (16.a–16.c)? My lawyer filled in AGI, but when I checked the USCIS instructions, they say to use “total income” from Form 1040 (line 9 on current returns). I brought this up, and they said they typically use AGI and it doesn’t cause issues in practice—even though the instructions say otherwise. In my case, the difference between AGI and total income is less than $100, so it’s very minimal. Still, they went ahead and filed using AGI and 1040 tax return for the latest year. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Did USCIS accept it without problems, or did it lead to an RFE? Would you recommend correcting it or just leaving it as is? Would really appreciate hearing your experiences.

@Crazy Catthank you

Hi everyone, I’m in the process of filing a marriage-based green card and wanted to get some insight from others who’ve been through this. My spouse is the sponsor, and our household size is just 2 (no dependents). Based on the latest tax transcript: Total income: ~$39,000 W-2 income: ~$37,800 (stable employment) Small additional self-employment income From what I understand, this is above the 125% poverty guideline for a household of 2, but I’ve seen mixed experiences online. Has anyone here successfully filed with a similar income level? Did USCIS accept it without issues? Were you asked for a joint sponsor anyway? How important was current income vs tax return income in your case? Any recent experiences or advice would really help. Thanks in advance!

@pushbrk I am concerned about marriage fraud because I read on internet if they ask you for docs and you dont reply them or leave the process in between then they may think its fraud. Yes, the former spouse was in the US on f1 visa when they filed it. Current spouse is in US too and in status. Former and current spouses both are from India.

@NigeriaorBust the ex was on f1

@appleblossom sorry for my wording, I meant to say that I never looked into the process again, changed my address so never got any receipt number or anything and basically completely neglected it. By not replying them I mean if they had sent me any docs for RFE or interview I would not know that at all.

@TBoneTX No, I never wrote to USCIS about previous petition because I never thought Ill get married again. I am pretty sure it never got approved because I didnt look into the process at all and Im not sure of submitting important stuff which makes me think it mightve lead to fraud or something given we never replied to uscis or cared to look into it because we were going through a divorce.

I am a U.S.-born citizen, and I previously filed an I-130 petition for my ex-spouse (a foreign national) several years ago. We divorced before the petition was fully processed, and I never received a final decision from USCIS—I'm not sure if it was approved, denied, or if there was any finding of marriage fraud under INA 204(c). I didn't pursue it further after the divorce. Now, I am remarried to a new spouse (also a foreign national), and I want to file a new I-130 petition for them. My question is: Does INA 204(c) or any prior marriage issue automatically prohibit me, as the U.S. citizen petitioner, from filing and getting approval for petitions for future spouses? Specifically, since I don't know the outcome of the previous petition, could there be a hidden fraud bar that affects my ability to petition now? If there was no explicit fraud finding, can I proceed normally? I am confused that the internet has mixed responses where its saying that the previous alien would be banned and not the US citizen from filing petitions. Thank you!