I-864: Questions (help, please!)

[Heroe]

Hi everybody in the forum I'll explain my case briefly: I'm a foreigner who just got married to a US citizen a month ago and we currently live together in the US. I was a F-1 student when I got married and my visa expires in 2013, so we're applying for AOS, I-130 and I-485 (and also I-765). I am almost ready to send the whole package, and the only document that I don't feel confident about is my wife's I-864. I have read the form a hundred times, and the step-by-step instructions a few more times too. With all respect to whoever wrote them, I don't think they are very good. Anyway, although I still don't feel perfectly comfortable about them, I'm starting to understand everything a little bit better. It probably has something to do with the past 100 hours thinking, working and worrying about all this exclusively

The deal is, my wife doesn't have enough income to cover 125% of the Poverty Guidelines, but she has to be the primary sponsor since she is the petitioner who filled the I-130 (right?). So her dad, my father-in-law (who does cover the poverty guidelines by a big margin) is going to be a joint sponsor. So, both of them need to submit separated I-864 forms (right?).

My father-in-law's I-864 is not much trouble, it's pretty straigthforward since I have all the documents I need (1040's, W-2's and 1099's from the past 3 years) and he actually has more than enough money to cover the 125% of the Poverty Guidelines. However, I still am having trouble in a couple of spots of my wife's I-864.

In Part 6 item 25, in the joint sponsor's I-864 I wrote down the data for the last 3 years and marked both of the boxes, since I'm sending photocopies of the last 3 years. In my wife's I-864, I don't know exactly what to do. Neither in the form or in the step-by-step instructions it mentions that is needed to mark any of the two boxes (in other forms it would say "Choose one"), so I don't think I 'must' choose one, because neither of them applies. But I don't know if I still should input the data for the past 3 years (which would look like: 2010-something, 2009-nothing, 2008-nothing) since I didn't mark the box "I have filed a Federal tax return for each of the three most recent tax years."
Apart from this, I know that I need to attach to the form a photocopy of the past year tax returns of my wife and a written explanation about why she didn't file a federal tax return the previous years, as explained in the step-by-step-instructions. But I'm still not sure about what to answer in item 25. I'm pretty sure I shouldn't mark any of the boxes, but I don't know about putting the income for the past 3 years.

About part 7, I think that my wife doesn't need to put anything in there. In the form it says it's optional, and in the step-by-step instructions it says "Only complete this part if you need to use the value of assets to meet the income requirements". The way I see this is, although my wife can't meet the income requirements by herself, the joint sponsor is going to be the one doing it, so my wife does not have the need of using the value of her assets to meet the income requirements. So, she wouldn't need to fill par 7. Am I right about this?

Please if anybody has any idea about the matter, share it! It's the only document that I haven't packed yet and I just can't wait to finally be able to send the package. I thought getting a visa was hard, but this has been x10 worse.

Thanks for reading.

[hope123]

Hello,

Firstly, I do agree these forms take a lot of time and patience and is not everybody's piece of cake (I went through the exact situation as you and filed everything on our own). Anyway, I-864 is as straight forward as it gets (you will feel the same once you finish the process). USCIS requires that the sponsor (whosoever it may be) to show sufficient proof of 125% of the poverty guidelines to support the petitioner (You) as they do not want you to be a liability on the govt. Anyway, as long as you show enough proof of availability of funds , you do not have to show proof of assets. On the other hand, if you have insufficient funds , proof of assets will have to be shown. The sponsor will have to provide federal tax information for the 3 most recent tax years (USCIS will match the income on the tax returns to ensure that it covers the poverty guidelines). In addition to tax returns, you will have to submit additional documents to prove the availability of funds. I do believe that if one sponsor's income/funds match the 125% , you do not have to prove funds from other sponsors. This said, it is always a great option to show a lot more than what is asked of you (funds).

Also, since you mentioned your wife had no income in 2008 and 2009, you can still send her info as a co-sponsor with information on her current income (i.e. her pay stubs, employer letter, etc.). So, sending your father-in-law's and wife's documents along with the respective forms will not hurt. I highly recommend you call USCIS and request them to escalate your call (they will transfer you to a specialized agent or officer) because of the specific nature of your question. I will re-read your query and try getting you a more straight-forward answer. As far as part 7 goes, we did not show assets and hence wrote 'none, N/A' where applicable. I am pretty sure you are in great shape because you have the income proof USCIS requires (i.e.125% poverty guideline). But for now, hope this helps.