Questions on filing i-864

[Raikot]

Hi all,

Good day. Hope your holiday break is going well. I was hoping you could help test my understanding as I file i-864 for my parents.

Context: I’m applying IR5 visa for both my parents and I’ve current household size of 3 (would be 5 with both my parents). Current household income is $36.4k including my spouse (as per 2018) - I had $50k the last 2 years (in 2016 & 2017) but in 2018, ran into some losses. I believe my own income may not be sufficient to support household of 5.

1. What is the minimum income requirement for AOS (i-864)?
   • Is this the right estimate as on this link: https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p
   • Based on above, a family size of 5 (including 2 intending immigrants), only needs income of $37.7k – is this correct? and that means my own income is not sufficient?
2. What relationship between the petitioner and the joint sponsor is required?
   • Does it need to be a blood relationship?
   • If not, what should the cover letter include assuming the relationship is a distant cousin?
3. Joint sponsor has family income of $46k (family size of 5 including intending immigrants) but both the earning members are self-employed as partners in a business.
   • Is it necessary to fill both i-864 and i-864a, if sponsor has filed joint income tax return?
   • If so, how do we report income of sponsor on i-864 and that of household member on i-864A, given difficult to assign income to either? Should we just split total earned income 50%?
4. Can I use my parents’ assets to meet the income requirements (outside USA though)?
5. Am I missing any supporting documentation required for self-employed sponsors? Income tax return (Form 1040), Schedule-C (profit and loss from business), Business ID. Do we need form 1099?

Thanks

[newacct]

1. Under the current I-864, the household size should be 4, as there is only one intending immigrant on each petition. For a household size of 4, you need $32,187 current annual income.

Current annual income is the current annual salary of your current (right now) job, not necessarily what it says on your past tax returns.

2. A joint sponsor does not have to have any relationship with the petitioner or beneficiary. A joint sponsor can be any US citizen or permanent resident domiciled in the US.

3. It is not necessary to to have the sponsor's spouse do an I-864A if the sponsor's own income is enough. However, I am not sure how to separate out the sponsor's own income in the case you described.

4. Yes, if it can be sold within 1 year. $5 of assets counts for $1 of income.

5. If they use tax return form you need to include all schedules/W-2s/1099s. If they use tax return transcript then it's not necessary to include schedules/W-2s/1099s if the spouse is also doing I-864A.

[Raikot]

Hey mate,

Thanks a lot for your response. Really appreciate it. Very clear on all the points.

One follow-up question: Does it affect my chances how far above the income limit I am? i.e. $80k vs $36k for a family of 4 improves my chances of acceptance? or is it all the same as long as the minimum income requirement is met? I understand NVC does not have a set procedure here but I'm looking for advice based on experience of yourself/others here.

Thanks

[Trini0616]

My lawyer said it doesn't matter. You can be $1, $1000 or $100,000 over the limit and it's all the same.