I-864 - Question to Part 6

[Magnus]

Hello all, first time here.

I'm currently in the Affidavit of Support stage. My situation is, my wife is the petitioner and sponsoring her Mom to come to the U.S. My wife has never work in the U.S, she's staying home watching our kid. I have so many questions which I'm not sure how to fill it out properly. Your feedback is really appreciated:

1, Although we file a tax return as Married Filing Jointly, she is still required to fill out the form I-864 and I fill out the I-864A, is this correct?

2, If she does file the I-864, then:
In I-864 Part 6, Question 1d. I check off Unemployed, but how can I answered "Since (mm/dd/yyyy)"? Should I just left a blank? Or should I just pick a date before she came to the U.S. in which she used to be self employed in her country?

3, In I-864 Part 6,
-Question 18a. I check off "NO" to:
"Have you filed a Federal Income tax return of each of the three most recent tax years?".
I put Question 18a just to reference to my next question:
-Question 20, to check/uncheck this box:
"I was not required to file a Federal income tax return as my income was below the IRS required level and I have attached evidence to support this"
Does she need to check this box or not?

I am kind of confuse with Question 20. For starter, she does not have income so how can she below the IRS requirement. What attached evidence support are they looking for?
If I don't check this box, we do tax return as Married Filing Jointly. So in that sense, she sort of file tax more like a dependent.

4, Use of Assets to Supplement Income:
My asset is her asset. Does she need to list it on her part? Also, I will be filing the I-864A and will not use the asset in the I-864A as I have met the 125% Poverty Line.

5, In I-864, what's the difference between Part 9 and Part 10?
Basically, I act as her Interpreter/Preparer for the I-864 form. Do I fill out both part 9 & 10 or just one?

Thanks guys in advance.

[newacct]

1, Although we file a tax return as Married Filing Jointly, she is still required to fill out the form I-864 and I fill out the I-864A, is this correct?

Yes. She, as petitioner, must be a sponsor and fill out I-864. If her income is insufficient and want to count your income in her household to make it enough, you have to fill out I-864A.

2, If she does file the I-864, then:
In I-864 Part 6, Question 1d. I check off Unemployed, but how can I answered "Since (mm/dd/yyyy)"? Should I just left a blank? Or should I just pick a date before she came to the U.S. in which she used to be self employed in her country?

not sure

3, In I-864 Part 6,
-Question 18a. I check off "NO" to:
"Have you filed a Federal Income tax return of each of the three most recent tax years?".
I put Question 18a just to reference to my next question:
-Question 20, to check/uncheck this box:
"I was not required to file a Federal income tax return as my income was below the IRS required level and I have attached evidence to support this"
Does she need to check this box or not?

I am kind of confuse with Question 20. For starter, she does not have income so how can she below the IRS requirement. What attached evidence support are they looking for?
If I don't check this box, we do tax return as Married Filing Jointly. So in that sense, she sort of file tax more like a dependent.

You are contradicting yourself. The two of you filed your tax return as Married Filing Jointly. So both of you have filed tax returns. That tax returns is the tax return for both of you. You did not specify if this is the situation for all 3 years. If you filed Married Filing Jointly for all 3 most recent years, then she would check Yes to having filed a tax return for each of the 3 years, and she would put the "total income" line from the tax return from those years. If there was one of those years where you filed as Married Filing Separately and she didn't file because her income was too low, or one of those years was before you married and she didn't file because her income was too low, then she would check No, and attach a statement that her income was 0 or whatever with the income threshold that is required to file for that year from the Form 1040 instructions for that year.

4, Use of Assets to Supplement Income:
My asset is her asset. Does she need to list it on her part? Also, I will be filing the I-864A and will not use the asset in the I-864A as I have met the 125% Poverty Line.

If the household income is sufficient, assets are not needed.

5, In I-864, what's the difference between Part 9 and Part 10?
Basically, I act as her Interpreter/Preparer for the I-864 form. Do I fill out both part 9 & 10 or just one?

Preparer fills out the form for the person, whereas interpreter translates the questions because the person doesn't understand English.

[Magnus]

You are contradicting yourself. The two of you filed your tax return as Married Filing Jointly. So both of you have filed tax returns. That tax returns is the tax return for both of you. You did not specify if this is the situation for all 3 years. If you filed Married Filing Jointly for all 3 most recent years, then she would check Yes to having filed a tax return for each of the 3 years, and she would put the "total income" line from the tax return from those years. If there was one of those years where you filed as Married Filing Separately and she didn't file because her income was too low, or one of those years was before you married and she didn't file because her income was too low, then she would check No, and attach a statement that her income was 0 or whatever with the income threshold that is required to file for that year from the Form 1040 instructions for that year.

Preparer fills out the form for the person, whereas interpreter translates the questions because the person doesn't understand English.

Thank you friend for your comments.
Since you put it that way, you are right about the contradiction. I was wrong as I was looking from I'm working and she's not approach. Yes, we filed as Married Filing Jointly for all 3 years.

So to sum it up in I-864 Part 6, I will file the following for her, please let me know if it's correct or not.
In Questions:
1.d = Unemployed
2 = My current individual annual income is: $0.00
15 = My Current Annual Household Income: Let's say $35,000 (Her is $0 + Mine $35,000)
18.a = Have you files a Federal Income tax return for each of the 3 most recent tax year: YES

*19.a,19.b,19.c = 2015 ($35,000), 2014 ($34,000), 2013 ($33,000) Tax Year/Total Income.
**For 19a,b,c, I will be using my income number from the above and NOT her number: 2015 ($0.00), 2014 ($0.00), 2013 ($0.00), right?
Somehow, not using her number, I feel like it's a contradiction to Question 2 where her individual income is $0.00.

[Then, when I file Form I-864A, I will be using my number from the first * again, right?]

20 = I was not required to file a Federal income tax return as my income was below the IRS required level and I have attached evidence to support this: No check on the box/leave as blank

Part 9 and 10 = I will fill these 2 sections out as I am translating to my wife and prepare the I-864 form even though I will file I-864A later on and I'm no lawyer. Right?

Again, thank you so much.

[newacct]

Yes, that's right.

Though I'm surprised that your wife doesn't understand English if she is a US citizen.

[Magnus]

Yes, that's right.

Though I'm surprised that your wife doesn't understand English if she is a US citizen.

Yeah, she does not know much. Only enough to pass her US Citizenship test a couple of year back, lol. But for her to actually read and understand this form, that's beyond her league. Even I have trouble filing this form.

As I'm filling out the I-864 form in my computer, that Question 19a,b,c using my income for 2015,14,13 feel so strange because it's like they asked about the Sponsor income but it's my number, lol. It's like a contradiction to Q2 where I list her as $0 income. All these immigration forms are so confusing, lol. I'm glad you guys are here to help out.