Need help badly on I-864, complicated

[thomasknudsenj]

Hello
2 years i left the us navy in japan, and i decided to stay out in japan but my wife and i went through all of the steps for our visa process and was extending our stay because we didnt know when we wanted to go to the usa. She basically stayed and worked while i stayed unemployed in japan for 2 years.

Recently we decided to move to usa and i have no tax information for last year, nor did i do any taxes since i did not make any income and neither did my wife since her income was all based on japan earned pay.

We contacted the embassy to let them know we were finally ready to enter the us, and we were told that everything was basically expired now and we had to redo the I-864 especially which is what i am having a huge amount of problems on. Since i am still unemployed but now back in the states looking for a job, im currently staying at a family members house and was thinking i need to use their income as a sponsor. I have many questions.

how would i show my tax information? I read the I-864 instructions but my situation is really weird. i have the last 2 of 3 years tax returns, the most recent being 0 and i never got a w2 so i couldnt file taxes anyways. the 2 years before that i was still in the navy and still earned some income for most of the year after that as well. Should i say 0 income for the most recent year in box 24.a under part 6 even though i technically didnt file it? Also for box 25, if i check it where it says i didnt file taxes for the last year, how exactly do i show evidence of this? in the instructions it doesnt clearly say.

ANy help is hugely appreciated. im losing my mind over this.

[newacct]

Hello
2 years i left the us navy in japan, and i decided to stay out in japan but my wife and i went through all of the steps for our visa process and was extending our stay because we didnt know when we wanted to go to the usa. She basically stayed and worked while i stayed unemployed in japan for 2 years.

Recently we decided to move to usa and i have no tax information for last year, nor did i do any taxes since i did not make any income and neither did my wife since her income was all based on japan earned pay.

We contacted the embassy to let them know we were finally ready to enter the us, and we were told that everything was basically expired now and we had to redo the I-864 especially which is what i am having a huge amount of problems on. Since i am still unemployed but now back in the states looking for a job, im currently staying at a family members house and was thinking i need to use their income as a sponsor. I have many questions.

how would i show my tax information? I read the I-864 instructions but my situation is really weird. i have the last 2 of 3 years tax returns, the most recent being 0 and i never got a w2 so i couldnt file taxes anyways. the 2 years before that i was still in the navy and still earned some income for most of the year after that as well. Should i say 0 income for the most recent year in box 24.a under part 6 even though i technically didnt file it? Also for box 25, if i check it where it says i didnt file taxes for the last year, how exactly do i show evidence of this? in the instructions it doesnt clearly say.

ANy help is hugely appreciated. im losing my mind over this.

The only reason you can legally not file for a given tax year is if your income that year was below the threshold for needing to file. You can find the thresholds for your filing status in the given tax year's Form 1040 instructions, in a section near the beginning called "Do You Have To File?". If your income was below the threshold and you didn't file, that is fine. But if your income was above the threshold and you didn't file for any of the last 3 years, you would need to file it before you can file I-864.

For any year in the last 3 years that you didn't file a tax return and your income was below the threshold, per the I-864 instructions, you would write "N/A" in the line for that tax year in I-864 Part 6 #24a-c. You would check the box in #25, and you would attach a statement simply stating that for that tax year, you weren't required to file for your filing status if your income was below $xxx, and state your income that year.

[thomasknudsenj]

The only reason you can legally not file for a given tax year is if your income that year was below the threshold for needing to file. You can find the thresholds for your filing status in the given tax year's Form 1040 instructions, in a section near the beginning called "Do You Have To File?". If your income was below the threshold and you didn't file, that is fine. But if your income was above the threshold and you didn't file for any of the last 3 years, you would need to file it before you can file I-864.

For any year in the last 3 years that you didn't file a tax return and your income was below the threshold, per the I-864 instructions, you would write "N/A" in the line for that tax year in I-864 Part 6 #24a-c. You would check the box in #25, and you would attach a statement simply stating that for that tax year, you weren't required to file for your filing status if your income was below $xxx, and state your income that year.

thank you so much!!!! I didnt meet the threshold at all. i literally made 0 the entire year.

I have a few more questions if you wouldnt mind. thank god you messaged me.

in part 5. sponsors household size (numbers 1-8), i am confused because when i try to fill it out, i keep coming up with a total of 3, even though its just me and my wife. for example, in part 5 number 1, i include my spouse that is trying to come to the usa. then in number 2, ofcourse i put 1 for myself. but this is where it gets confusing, i put in number 3 as "1' because it says " if you are currently married, enter 1 for your spouse" . this means i now have my spouse listed twice when trying to following the rules. is this a broken thing on the form or am i missing something?

going back to part 6. 23.a: "have you filed a federal income tax return for each of the three most recent years?" - since i didnt file last years tax return since i made 0 income, would i still have to mark it as no? even though i wasnt required to submit last years tax return? will it hurt me if i mark this as no? If i do this as well, is it recommended that i mark the box in 23.b "optional, i have attached photo copies or transcripts of my federal income tax returns for my second and third most recent tax years." ? will this help me or is it just unnessesary because it says optional?

do you recommend i mark the box in part 6. 25 which says "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"? If i do this, what evidence is necessary and easiest to obtain?

Thank you for your reply! you are helping me far more than you know. im struggling severely inside over here. I cant seem to get anything going right.

[newacct]

thank you so much!!!! I didnt meet the threshold at all. i literally made 0 the entire year.

I have a few more questions if you wouldnt mind. thank god you messaged me.

in part 5. sponsors household size (numbers 1-8), i am confused because when i try to fill it out, i keep coming up with a total of 3, even though its just me and my wife. for example, in part 5 number 1, i include my spouse that is trying to come to the usa. then in number 2, ofcourse i put 1 for myself. but this is where it gets confusing, i put in number 3 as "1' because it says " if you are currently married, enter 1 for your spouse" . this means i now have my spouse listed twice when trying to following the rules. is this a broken thing on the form or am i missing something?

Don't count anyone twice. Put 0 for spouse if your spouse is already one of the sponsored immigrants.

going back to part 6. 23.a: "have you filed a federal income tax return for each of the three most recent years?" - since i didnt file last years tax return since i made 0 income, would i still have to mark it as no? even though i wasnt required to submit last years tax return?

Check "no". That's the only truthful answer.

If i do this as well, is it recommended that i mark the box in 23.b "optional, i have attached photo copies or transcripts of my federal income tax returns for my second and third most recent tax years." ? will this help me or is it just unnessesary because it says optional?

I'm not sure, but I think that if a joint sponsor is going to be used, then it probably doesn't matter that much.

do you recommend i mark the box in part 6. 25 which says "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"? If i do this, what evidence is necessary and easiest to obtain?

Yes. Like I said above, you need to check this box, and attach a statement simply stating the threshold of income for needing to file a tax return for your filing status in the relevant tax year from that tax year's Form 1040 instructions, and state what your income was that year, and that it was below the threshold.

[thomasknudsenj]

Don't count anyone twice. Put 0 for spouse if your spouse is already one of the sponsored immigrants.


Check "no". That's the only truthful answer.


I'm not sure, but I think that if a joint sponsor is going to be used, then it probably doesn't matter that much.


Yes. Like I said above, you need to check this box, and attach a statement simply stating the threshold of income for needing to file a tax return for your filing status in the relevant tax year from that tax year's Form 1040 instructions, and state what your income was that year, and that it was below the threshold.

THANK YOU! this is very helpful! I just needed some guidance from someone with experience on this and you were just that person!!!

Just to verify, in this link which is the 1040 form filing rules for 2017, i need to print pages 7 and 8? : https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf

[newacct]

Just to verify, in this link which is the 1040 form filing rules for 2017, i need to print pages 7 and 8? : https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf

yes; I am not sure if you need to include those pages, but why not