Federal Income Tax Documents – Affidavit of Support

Provide the following documents along with the Form I-864 for each sponsor, household member, and joint sponsor:

• You must provide one of the following for the most recent tax year.
  • Following set of documents:
    • Copy of your federal income tax return.
      
      Even if you own a business, you should submit individual tax returns and not business returns. Consular officers can only accept individual tax returns, since it is the individual and not the business who is sponsoring the applicant(s).
      
      Unless specifically instructed to do so by a government official, you are not required to have the IRS certify the photocopy. A plain photocopy is acceptable.
      
      
    • A copy of each and every Form W-2 and Form 1099 that relates to your return(s).
      
      This is specially important if you filed a joint income tax return and are using only your own income to qualify.
      
      
  • IRS transcripts
    
    You can use the IRS Form 4506-T to request tax transcripts from the IRS.
    
    Unless specifically instructed to do so by a government official, you are not required to have the IRS certify the transcript. A plain transcript is acceptable.
    
    If you believe that additional returns may help you to establish your ability to maintain sufficient income, you may submit transcripts or photocopies of your federal individual income tax returns for the three most recent years. This is optional.
    
    
• If you are self-employed, you must include each and every Form Schedule that you filed with your Federal tax return, such as Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business), Schedule D (Capital Gains), Schedule E (Supplemental Income or Loss) or Schedule F (Profit or Loss from Farming).
  
  This information does not show up in the IRS transcripts.
  
  Additionally, provide evidence of the business, receipts, registration, the exact nature of the work, etc.
  
  
• Do not submit copies of your state income tax returns.
  
  
• Do not submit any tax returns that you filed with any foreign government unless you claim that you were not required to file a federal tax return with the U.S. government and you wish to rely on the foreign return solely to establish the amount of your income that is not subject to the tax in the U.S.
  
  

Married Filing Joint Return – Income Separation

If you and your spouse each reported income on a joint income tax return, but you want to use only your own income to qualify (and your spouse is not submitting a Form I-864A), you may provide a separate breakout of your individual income for these years. Your individual income will be based on the earnings from your W-2 forms, Wage and Tax Statement, submitted to the IRS for any such years. If necessary to meet the income requirement, you may also submit evidence of other income listed on your tax returns which can be attributed to you. You must provide documentation of such reported income, including Forms 1099 sent by the payer, which show your name and Social Security Number. If you own a business (corporation, partnership, etc.), you may get a K-1 statement from the business and you would report that typically on Schedule E. Enclose those documents as well to show your portion of individual income.

Failure to File Tax Returns

If you were required to file a federal income tax return during any of the previous three tax years but failed to do so, you must file any and all late returns with the IRS and attach an IRS-generated tax return transcript documenting your late filing before you can submit the I-864 Affidavit of Support. If you submit the affidavit of support without it, it would not be accepted.

Not Required to File Tax Returns

If you were not required to file a federal income tax return under U.S. tax law because your income was too low in any of the last three years, attach a written explanation.

If you were not required to file a federal income tax return under any U.S. tax law for any other reason in any of the last three years, attach a written explanation including evidence of the exemption (a copy of the instructions from the IRS publication) and how you are subject to it.

Note that U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who are working abroad are required by the IRS to file a return even if most or all of their overseas income is excluded from U.S. taxes.

Under-Reporting of Income

If the income requirement cannot be met, but the sponsor claims to have under-reported his/her income, an original or amended tax return will be necessary for filing the affidavit of support.