Not clear RFE for income requirements please help!!

[fountain]

Hi guys,
I am new here and need you advice. My wife as a resident petitioned for me ( F1 student). We lived in Nebraska and moved to Indiana in July 2017. Our 2016, 2015 tax returns were good. But because we moved to Indiana my wife was looking for a job here and didn't work enough to have 125 % of poverty level for 2017 tax return. It was around 19700. She changed 2 jobs. Recently , on April 16th we mailed AOS package to USCIS. We included paystubs and letters form her 2 jobs saying how many hours she works and her hourly rate. We counted her hours and estimated our income at around 23-24 k this year including my income as a student under CPT and a letter from my employer and her employers as well. We consulted with attorney and were told that everything looks good. Today I went to fingerprints and got a letter in my mailbox from USCIS " Request for initial evidence". They want us to submit all w2 and 1099 etc for the 2017 tax year. Saying that the petitioner must submit all supporting documentation for the most recent tax year. Apparently we forgot to include W2 1099s, etc, but we included all paystubs, tax return, letters. AND also they said that.--." Based on the documents submitted with form I864, the income did not meet 125% of the poverty guideline. Submit evidence of assets that meet the standards listed below or find a joint sponsor. Assets must equal the stated difference between the petitioner household income and 125% of the poverty guideline..
I just don't understand what they assumed as our income, was it 2017 tax return or they counted pay stubs, or where is the actual number? My wife right now changed 1 job after we mailed AOS and her income alone would be 23-24 k , however, will it be enough if we mail one more time letters from her employers and paystubs from her recent job she changed would be only for recent 2 weeks? My job under CPT gave me a letter saying that I am guaranteed to earn in 2018 no less than 3700 but may be USCIS is not counting that?
Anyway, I am frustrated and don't want to regret after sending same paperwork if they deny my case. Thank you for your support in advance.

[gunit123]

as far as i am understanding

they go by latest tax year return, all other years are for reference. if your latest tax return 2017 does not meet 125% then u have to have a joint sponsor. no way around it.

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

Hi guys,
I am new here and need you advice. My wife as a resident petitioned for me ( F1 student). We lived in Nebraska and moved to Indiana in July 2017. Our 2016, 2015 tax returns were good. But because we moved to Indiana my wife was looking for a job here and didn't work enough to have 125 % of poverty level for 2017 tax return. It was around 19700. She changed 2 jobs. Recently , on April 16th we mailed AOS package to USCIS. We included paystubs and letters form her 2 jobs saying how many hours she works and her hourly rate. We counted her hours and estimated our income at around 23-24 k this year including my income as a student under CPT and a letter from my employer and her employers as well. We consulted with attorney and were told that everything looks good. Today I went to fingerprints and got a letter in my mailbox from USCIS " Request for initial evidence". They want us to submit all w2 and 1099 etc for the 2017 tax year. Saying that the petitioner must submit all supporting documentation for the most recent tax year. Apparently we forgot to include W2 1099s, etc, but we included all paystubs, tax return, letters. AND also they said that.--." Based on the documents submitted with form I864, the income did not meet 125% of the poverty guideline. Submit evidence of assets that meet the standards listed below or find a joint sponsor. Assets must equal the stated difference between the petitioner household income and 125% of the poverty guideline..
I just don't understand what they assumed as our income, was it 2017 tax return or they counted pay stubs, or where is the actual number? My wife right now changed 1 job after we mailed AOS and her income alone would be 23-24 k , however, will it be enough if we mail one more time letters from her employers and paystubs from her recent job she changed would be only for recent 2 weeks? My job under CPT gave me a letter saying that I am guaranteed to earn in 2018 no less than 3700 but may be USCIS is not counting that?
Anyway, I am frustrated and don't want to regret after sending same paperwork if they deny my case. Thank you for your support in advance.

I can sense your frustration. Take a deep breath. It will get you nowhere, otherwise. Current income and the income from the most current tax year are not the same thing.
The most current tax year, as of April 18th, 2018, is 2017. It's always best to send tax transcripts in order to avoid missing 1099s or other forms they might want to see. The IRS issues transcripts ONLY IF your tax return has been approved and cleared. (My lawyer wanted to play IRS with me because of my deductions and I told her - you are looking at transcripts. That's all been approved and cleared. So.....)
Anyway, just call the IRS and push buttons until you get an agent. Then request for the transcripts to be faxed. You must have immediate access to the fax machine OR have it sent to an online fax which would go to your inbox. Alternatively, your wife could try to get the transcripts online. That does not always work. It's never worked for me and I've been in the US since 96. You answer security questions and then you can just print them off the interwebs.

Current income is her weekly paycheck since January 1st 2018 x 52 weeks. It's a projection. Let's say she makes 100 per week. Let's assume she's worked 13 weeks so far. That's 1300. That's one quarter. Then 1300 x 14 = 5200
So the evidence of current income is a little bit more flexible. You can present paystubs or a letter from an employer certifiying hours that you are expected to work, your pay rate, etc.
You could also include the intending immigrant's income in the household income if that helps. You could include others. OR you could just get a joint sponsor.
You could also just sign up for uber and start driving a make some money and make a projection based on those initial earnings. Of course, expect to show proof of that at the interview.

The additional tax returns are optional. If the most current one does not meet the 125% threshold, then you need a joint sponsor. Having prior tax returns with high income wont make up for that. Those optional returns are included to show a trend of financial fitness.

Hope this helps.

[fountain]

UScitizenFilingforspouse, thank you for you reply.
So we sent our tax return for 2017 first two pages of each return from 2015. we earned in 2017 19700 doll which is lower than 125%. But we forgot to include w2s for the most recent year, 2017. I read on this forum that may people get same responses from uscis saying they did not meet the income requirements while uscis actually needs w2s or additional paperwork or smth is wrong. Is tax transcript and tax return same thing?
So my wife started working at her second job 2 weeks ago, and her paychecks reflect the amount of 23-24 k ,if we assume she continues working at the pace , for the period from May 2018 to May 2019. the only thing she had only 1 job from January, and then starting from march she had 2 jobs, her paychecks did not reflect consistent amount cause she was called to work sometimes from 8 to 16 hours a week at her second job. Then a gap of 2 weeks, and finally she found a better second job and now she has been working for almost 2 weeks and checks are good. She can present letters from her employers saying how many hours she is guaranteed to work and how much she is earning also.
I am trying to understand , was it generic response from USCIS or they meant that we have low income, cause the first was written there is that they need W2s and 1099s etc for the most recent tax year, And then, that we did not meet income requirements. I have a feeling that they did not even read or check letters from employers and paystubs, nothing specific which can help me to establish exact reason for RFE. W2s -- yes, income requirements--was it generic or they meant it, don't know..I heard about INFOPASS appointment and do you think I can get there more clear response of their requirements for my case?
Do you think its risky to send w2s they requested and my wifes current paychecks , which are good, but still having a low income 2017 tax year?
If they don't like it , could they send additional RFE? I read about many different cases, good and not that lucky. Some people got denied without having a chance for additional RFE. My wife , when she was sending her AOS from outside of the US, she got RFE for 4 or 5 times, and finally they accepted it.
THANK YOU for help!

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

UScitizenFilingforspouse, thank you for you reply.
So we sent our tax return for 2017 first two pages of each return from 2015. we earned in 2017 19700 doll which is lower than 125%. But we forgot to include w2s for the most recent year, 2017. I read on this forum that may people get same responses from uscis saying they did not meet the income requirements while uscis actually needs w2s or additional paperwork or smth is wrong. Is tax transcript and tax return same thing?
So my wife started working at her second job 2 weeks ago, and her paychecks reflect the amount of 23-24 k ,if we assume she continues working at the pace , for the period from May 2018 to May 2019. the only thing she had only 1 job from January, and then starting from march she had 2 jobs, her paychecks did not reflect consistent amount cause she was called to work sometimes from 8 to 16 hours a week at her second job. Then a gap of 2 weeks, and finally she found a better second job and now she has been working for almost 2 weeks and checks are good. She can present letters from her employers saying how many hours she is guaranteed to work and how much she is earning also.
I am trying to understand , was it generic response from USCIS or they meant that we have low income, cause the first was written there is that they need W2s and 1099s etc for the most recent tax year, And then, that we did not meet income requirements. I have a feeling that they did not even read or check letters from employers and paystubs, nothing specific which can help me to establish exact reason for RFE. W2s -- yes, income requirements--was it generic or they meant it, don't know..I heard about INFOPASS appointment and do you think I can get there more clear response of their requirements for my case?
Do you think its risky to send w2s they requested and my wifes current paychecks , which are good, but still having a low income 2017 tax year?
If they don't like it , could they send additional RFE? I read about many different cases, good and not that lucky. Some people got denied without having a chance for additional RFE. My wife , when she was sending her AOS from outside of the US, she got RFE for 4 or 5 times, and finally they accepted it.
THANK YOU for help!

I see I did not do a very good job at explaining why USCIS does not require you to include W2s or 1099s if you submit a tax transcript. The IRS would not issue a transcript unless the federal tax return is blessed in all ways. For example. We had to wait until March 14th to mail our package, because the IRS had selected our 2017 federal tax return for identity verification, as well as my 2016 federal tax return. So both were pending. I ordered transcripts through the automated line and got "No federal tax return filed" in the mail.

So if you send transcripts, USCIS can trust what's on the transcript is true. See, you could easily send the IRS and USCIS different versions of your 1040s. So that's why it's best to always send best evidence. In this case, a federal tax return transcript is "best evidence". Transcripts save USCIS time. Otherwise, adjudicators have to spend time vetting your federal tax return.
*There is more to it but in your case that's all that we need to get into - you have one sponsor who is not self employed. Her income is all from W2s. If you send transcripts, no W2s or 1099s are needed*

See the screenshot below.


I think it might be best if you post a screenshot of the letter(s). De-identify them. You have to get the response right. You are also cutting it so close with the income that they may just send it straight to a denial if you get it wrong, like you said has happened to others.

How about a joint sponsor?