i-864a individual income - taxes filed jointly

[lane]

I'm working on P3, and the i-864 affidavit of support.

Since my income is in China, and thus (1) isn't much, and (2) won't continue after we make it to the USA, my mom has agreed to submit an i-864a.

My question arises from the fact that her taxes are filed jointly with her husband. The i-864a form asks for "total income" as listed on the 1040 tax return. Since they file jointly, that "total income" line is their joint income. However the form also uses the word "individual" income. I assume that this means income for just the one person (in this case my mom), especially since there is only a place for one person to sign the form at the end.

My mom and her husband could both file these i-864a forms if it would help in some way, but my mom's income is enough on its own, and besides even if they both did it, it still wouldn't be clear how to fill out the form, given that it still asks for "individual income" and only has space for one person's information on each form. So I think it makes the most sense to ask only my mom to do an i-864a and only count her income.

So my proposed solution to this is to just use the income numbers from my mom's W-2's themselves (and attach the W-2s along with the tax returns). Does this seem right? My concern is that the income numbers on the i-864a don't match the income numbers on the tax returns (since the tax returns include two people's income). Either way they're both above the income requirement (125% of poverty line), so it shouldn't matter, I just don't want to delay the process with improperly filled out forms.

Another minor concern is household size. When we arrive in the USA, we will be living with my mother and her husband. We are only using my mom's income for the i-864a, so we only need to count her as a member of the household, but it seems strange to count her and not her husband. On the other hand, the instruction page says you don't need to count parents etc as a household member unless you are using their income to meet the income requirement. So I guess we don't need to include him.

Any thoughts?

[dnoblett]

I-864A is NOT what a Joint sponsor uses, they will also be providing an I-864 as a joint sponsor.

 

I-864A is only used by a member of a sponsor's household to add their income to that of the sponsor, you mom is not considered to be a member of your household because you do not claim her on your taxes.

 

When an I-864A is used:

• Dual income home, Husband/Wife case where they tend to file Married / separate returns. (Primary income earner I-864, secondary income earner I-864A)
  
• Home where dependent member (Son/Daughter) works and their income may be needed to be added to parent's income to make sponsorship. (Primary income earner I-864, secondary income (Son/Daughter) I-864A)
  
• Adjustment of status case where the non-immigrant that is adjusting their status is working, they can add their income to that of their sponsoring spouse's income. (Sponsor I-864, sponsored immigrant I-864A)
  

 

In your case you provide I-864 as Primary sponsor, and your parents also provide an I-864 as a joint sponsor.

[Feng]

Question:

 

If the secondary income earner is the petitioner, shouldn't the secondary income earner use the I-864 and the spouse use the I-864A even if the spouse is the primary income earner?

[dnoblett]

Question:

 

If the secondary income earner is the petitioner, shouldn't the secondary income earner use the I-864 and the spouse use the I-864A even if the spouse is the primary income earner?

Petitioner (Person who filed I-130 or I-129F) always provides I-864 as primary sponsor, spouse if reports income separately for tax reasons would provide I-864A if adding income to that of sponsor, this could be in cases of a K-3 who has EAD and is working prior to adjusting status.

 

Or in cases where petitioner employes a joint sponsor and the joint sponsor has a member of their household that files tax seperately, and the joint sponsor needs to add their income to their affidavit of support, the member of household would provide an I-864A.

• Petitioner/primary sponsor I-864
  
• Joint sponsor I-864
  
• Member of joint sponsor's household I-864A
  

[lane]

I recognize that you have more experience with all this, but according to my reading of the instructions on the forms, I would have to disagree with the idea that the i-864a is the wrong form in this case. Unless Guangzhou has different requirements or I'm misreading something. Now, it looks like we could also do a joint sponsorship in this case; probably either way would be okay. The main differences between a joint sponsor and a household member seem to be that (1) a joint sponsor must be able to meet the income requirement by themself, whereas in a household member situation the total income of the household must cross the threshold, and (2) a joint sponsor can be just about anyone, not necessarily a family member, whereas a household member

 

From i-864 instructions:

 

 

How Can My Relatives and Dependents

Help Me Meet the Income Requirements?

You may use the income of your spouse and/or any other

relatives living in your residence if they are willing to be

jointly responsible with you for the intending immigrant(s)

you are sponsoring. If you have any unrelated dependents

listed on your income tax return you may include their income

regardless of where they reside.

The income of such household members and dependents can

be used to help you meet the income requirements if they

complete and sign Form I-864A, Contract Between Sponsor

and Household Member, and if they are at least 18 years of

age when they sign the form.

 

What Is a Joint Sponsor?

If the person who is seeking the immigration of one or more

of his or her relatives cannot meet the income requirements, a

"joint sponsor" who can meet the requirements may submit a

Form I-864 to sponsor all or some of the family members.

 

A joint sponsor can be any U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or

lawful permanent resident who is at least 18 years old,

domiciled in the United States, or its territories or possessions,

and willing to be held jointly liable with the petitioner for the

support of the intending immigrant. A joint sponsor does not

have to be related to the petitioning sponsor or the intending

immigrant.

 

Since in my case, my mom's income is enough by itself to sponsor the immigrant, the only question seems to be whether or not she counts as a "household member". The definition seems to be based mainly on residence and family relation, not necessarily who is claimed on whose taxes, or who is a dependent of who(m) (although if you have claimed dependents, they count as household members too).

 

From i-864 instructions:

 

How Do I Count Household Size?

Your household size includes yourself and the following

individuals, no matter where they live: any spouse, any

dependent children under the age of 21, any other dependents

listed on your most recent Federal income tax return, all

persons being sponsored in this affidavit of support, and any

immigrants previously sponsored with a Form I-864 or Form

I-864 EZ affidavit of support whom you are still obligated to

support. If necessary to meet the income requirements to be a

sponsor, you may include additional relatives (adult children,

parents, or siblings) as part of your household size as long as

they have the same principle [sic] residence as you and promise to

use their income and resources in support of the intending

immigrant(s).

[...]

 

21g - This question gives you the option of including certain

other non-dependent relatives who are living in your residence

as part of your household size. Such relatives may include

your mother, father, sister, brother or adult children, if they

are living in your residence. However, the only reason to

include these family members in your household size is if you

need to include their income when you calculate your

household income for purposes of meeting the income

requirement for this form. To be considered, any relative

indicated in this category must sign and submit Form I-864A.

 

Or the same idea here:

 

From the i-864a instructions

 

Who May Be Considered a "Household

Member" for Purposes of This Form?

For purposes of this form, a "household member" is:

* A relative who has the same principal residence as the

sponsor and is related to the sponsor as a spouse, adult

child, parent, or sibling

* [...]

 

Since parents can be counted as household members as long as they have the same principal residence, then the question becomes whether or not my mom and I share the same principal residence. At the moment, of course, I'm living in China, but once we get back to the US, my wife and I will be living with her. For the domicile issue, I will hope to establish that I have maintained a permanent domicile in the US based on taxes, driver's license, etc., all of which use that same address: my mom's address. She doesn't claim me as a dependent, and I obviously don't claim her, but she is my relative, and our official permanent residence is the same, and we will be physically residing together when my wife and I get to the US.

 

So I think it will be okay. Maybe the joint sponsor route would be less iffy since there's no requirement that they be a household member, but I think in this case we'll be fine either way.

 

However, my original question about how to report the income still remains, and, by the way, I think this question would be the same no matter which route (joint sponsor i-864 or household member i-864a) we take.

[Randy W]

You know what you're doing, and your own situation. How IS the income divided? Do you live in a community property state (although I think this is not relevant for the I-864)?

 

Simply provide documentation to support this. Yes, the W-2's provide that documentation, but I also recommend that cases like this include an accounting-style cover sheet to show the true income situation. Remember that the income tax returns are just one piece of evidence to use in support of your claim. It's up to you to hit them over the head with the true picture to make sure they see it.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Randy W (see edit history)