josda

We got an RFE from NVC after having reviewed our AOS package. If anyone can shed light on this I would appreciate it.

My husband had no taxable income in 2011 and did not file a return for that year. He submitted an explanation of why he wasn't required to file a return for that year, namely he did not earn any taxable income. The RFE says he did not submit an explanation. Is there something missing in his explanation?

It also states that his income stated on I-864 does not correspond to the most recent tax return. Obviously, since he's only worked at this place since March this year. He submitted payslips, but perhaps something else is needed? Letter from the employer? If so, what sort of information should be included in the letter?

I also got an RFE for birth and marriage certificates. I checked my country's list of required documents and submitted what is accepted for my country. The govt doesn't issue fancy looking originals, just a print out at the tax authorities, which is signed and stamped. But I made sure all the required information was on there, and it comes out as a combined marriage and birth certificate. I can only imagine that Swedes have always supplied this exact type of document, so I'm confused why it wasn't accepted.

If I call the NVC can I expect them to give me specific information on my case, and explain the reason why the documents sent are not sufficient?

Thanks!

jeffreyhy

You say that he had no taxable income - did he have non-taxable income? A tax return requires reporting of many types of non-taxable income as well as taxable income. In what form was the explanation? Was it an attachment to the I-864? A stand-alone document? Part of a cover letter? The first is the best, the other two may get misplaced. The income tax return is the primary evidence of current income. Submitting the pay slips was good, but a letter from the employer would have made the explanation for the discrepancy more complete. The I-864 instructions tell you what information the letter should contain. The clerk to reviewed your documents may not have recognized these documents as legitimate. The NVC clerks have to deal with various forms of documentation from over 100 different countries, the clerk who reviewed your documents may rarely, if ever have seen documents from Sweeden. Bottom line - I don't think calling will get you case-specific information. What you need to do is respond to the request with either better documentation and explanation or, if you are certain that what you've submitted should be adequate, instructions that you have nothing better to submit and so the NVC should forward what they have to the consulate. The NVC folks only review what's been submitted to determine if it matches the list of required documentation, it's the consular officers who make the final determination as to whether or not what's been submitted meets the qualitative requirements. Taking the birth and marriage documents as an example, the consular officers posted in Sweeden will know, far better than the NVC clerks, if your documents meet the requirements. Regards, JEff

Noorah101

I take it you refer to AOS meaning Affidavit of Support, right?

If he stated that he didn't earn the amount of income as required by IRS to be required to file a tax return, and he either quoted that reference to IRS or included a printout of that page from www.irs.gov, then there is nothing missing, no.

A letter from the employer would probably help, yes. The letter should include his amount of pay (per hour, per pay period, or per year), how long he's been with the company, his position/title, and that the job is full-time permanent position (if it is such).

If this is the normal birth certificate and marriage certificate from your country, then there isn't much you can do. Does the RFE say why it wasn't acceptable? Or does it say it was missing altogether?

No.

When dealing with an RFE, your choices are:

1. Return everything the RFE asks for; or
2. Return some of what the RFE asks for, with a note saying this is all you have; or
3. Return only a note saying you've already submitting everything you can, and to please forward the case to the consulate as is.

The one thing you cannot do is ignore the RFE.

So, gather what you can from what the RFE is asking for. Send in the same birth/marriage certificate with a note explaining this is what your country provides. Send in the further evidence of your husband's current employment and income level. Send in the actual reference to the IRS page which says he was not required to file a tax return.

Come to think of it, the I-864 asks you to provide your most recent tax return. If he didn't file one in 2011, then 2010 would have been his most recent one. Provide that one, if he filed one. If he's never filed one because he never earned enough, write a statement to that effect, and why. Was he a student, was he unemployed, etc.

Rene

halfmoon

We had something similar. My husband was permitted to defer filing his 2011 tax return and included a statement to this effect, as well as a printout from the relevant IRS document to back it up. He received an RFE to say that the statement had not been included. We also had the comment that his income listed on I-864 section 19 did not correspond with the detail on the most recent tax return.

I called the NVC to explain that they already had the information, but they just advised me to re-send it. We resubmitted exactly the same documents, but used a big font and lots of highlighter pen to draw attention to the appropriate points. It is easy for the information to get lost / overlooked in the big package.

We also submitted a statement to say that for the purposes of the affidavit, the most recent tax return was 2010.

The package was (thankfully) accepted the second time around.

josda

Thanks!

Halfmoon, you don't happen to remember what that IRS printout was? My husband did include a printout along with the explanation but I have no idea whether it's the correct one. It was publication 501. He just sent me the explanation and I see there's an error in punctuation that makes it all look a little confusing. Maybe it's just that. I'll also make sure this time the explanation is an attachment to I-864

My husband lived on student loans and governments grants (Swedish) during this time. I know the grant portion is considered income in Sweden, but it's non-taxable. He also got 4000 dollars worth of government payments for parental leave. This is taxable in Sweden, but when he asked H&R tax pro about it, he was told it's not considered taxable in the US. I don't think he made any specific mention of it to the NVC though, just that he had no taxable income during 2011. I don't know how we can determine whether this parental leave money would be considered taxable or not in the US, and whether he should file a return or not.

Jeff, how do I know if this publication 501 applies to my husband, when he did have income, just not taxable income?

Rene, no it doesn't say that a birth and marriage certificate is missing or is incomplete. It only says to submit one. Now, I did make a mistake on my list of residences since age 16 (put 1995 instead of 1994), so was asked to submit the DS-230 again with the corrected information. Could it be that they ask for these certificates in conjunction with resubmitting the corrected data?

Thanks again, don't know what I'd do without this forum!

ian-mstm

You seem to be confusing two separate concepts: filing a return, and paying taxes. It doesn't matter whether or not the income is taxable or non-taxable... it should still be reported. The only difference is that the non-taxable income can be subtracted out of the tax return afterwards so that no tax is due on that amount. Income is still income... you still have to report income if that income (taxable or not) puts you over the minimum threshhold for filing a return.

Ian

josda

No, I'm not confused by the difference. We knew we didn't have to pay taxes. My husband was told he didn't have to file a tax return at all because he had no taxable income that year. Are you saying he's been misinformed and that publication 501 does not apply to him, only to those with absolutely no income, taxable or non-taxable?

Thanks.

Noorah101

I haven't read publication 501, but in general, IRS sets a minimum threshhold of income that one needs to have before they are required to file a tax return. If one's income is below that level, they are not required by IRS to file a tax return (but they still CAN file a tax return, if they want to...which is sometimes helpful for immigration purposes such as this). If one's income is over that level, they must file a tax return and report all worldwide income (both earned and otherwise, such as interest from a bank account, etc).

I think your husband should gather up evidence that he did not earn over that threshhold in 2011, include the publication from IRS, and return that with the RFE. Or, he could file a back tax return for 2011, claiming whatever income he did earn that year, even if it was 0. Then he will have a 2011 tax return to show.

Filing a tax return isn't about whether income is taxable or not, it's simply about reporting all income.

Rene

jeffreyhy

Yes, IRS Publication 501 contains the pertinent information. As does the Form 1040 instructions. The task is to provide the explanation and the supporting statements from 501 in such a way that the person who is reviewing the I-864 materials can't miss it.

Be sure that all of your husband's income is tax exempt under US law. Note that form 1040 does require the reporting of certain tax-exempt income, even though no tax will be charged against that income.

If your husband has ever filed a US income tas return, he should fill in the information for the most recent return in item 25 of the I-864. He should also write a note in the 'white space' at item 25 to the effect that no tax return was required for the years 20??-2011, see Attachment X for explanation.

Regards, JEff

josda

The threshold for a head of household under 65 seems to be 12,200 dollars. His income excluding loans comes to 8000 dollars for that year, so we're good. Thanks for pointing this out Rene, I wasn't aware.

As for that letter from the employer, my husband recently got 'promoted' to a temp-to-hire position with the same company (after having worked for 5 months as a temp). What should he ask his employer to write about the permanency of his job? I've asked about what constitutes a qualifying job on here before (a permanent job with likely prospects to continue), does a temp to hire position qualify for this, anyone? I know no one is ever let go at his company and he was the only one chosen for this position among the newly taken on temps. Just not sure that his employer can write that it's an officially permanent position, yet. The probationary period is usually 5 months.

Since filling out I-864 the first time, his pay has changed. Should he make a note of that change in a cover letter?

Also, he has two jobs, one full-time at which he earns more than the required 125%, and a part-time one. Should he report his income from both of those jobs, or just the full-time job? If both, should he get a letter of employment from the part-time employer too?

And if anyone has experience with the birth and marriage certificate thing, let me know. As I stated above, it only says to submit them, not that what I submitted was wrong. Whereas with the I-864 and a discrepancy in data on my DS-230, it specifically stated that something was missing or incomplete.

Thanks again.

Noorah101

The employer should just write the truth.

He should probably fill out a new I-864 showing the new information.

If one job earns the right amount to qualify, he doesn't have to list the 2nd job. But if the first job is not very "stable", as you say it's a temp-to-hire position, then I think it would be smart to include the part time job income as well.

Yes, and include some pay stubs from the part time job, too.

Rene

josda

Thanks Rene. We'll see what the employer writes in the letter, and take it from there. Good idea to include the second job if the first is deemed not stable enough. I'm guessing we won't know until the time of the interview if his jobs will qualify.

halfmoon

Hi Josda
Our circumstances were quite specific - we enclosed an extract from Publication 3 as my husband is military. The frustration came from knowing that we had already submitted it once, but as I was reminded on this board - ignoring an RFE is an option but not one that will get you anywhere!

I also contacted the IRS section at the London US Embassy for advice, and found them extremely helpful. I was just trying to get my head around the basics and terminology, and having this conversation reassured me that we had already sent the right information so it was just a case of sending it again.

Good luck... I'm not informed enough to answer the rest of your queries but fortunately there are others here who are!

josda

An update. I called the NVC and apparently the above does not refer to them needing further evidence of current income. From the letter: income indicated on the I-864 Part 25 does not correspond to
that shown on the most recent tax return and W-2(s). I suppose I took that to mean they weren't convinced about whatever he's currently making.

My husband had put down his current income on line 25, when he should have put down 0 because he did not file a tax return for 2011 (income under threshold). So, I'm asking for advice here. Is it best to just leave out the letter of employment, and should they ask for one later on, submit it then?

Also, I think Jeff or someone on here said that 'the most recent tax return' is which ever was last filed. For my husband that'd be 2010, but the NVC gal said 2011, which is why, according to her, line 25 should be 0. Who's right?

Oh, and about the birth and marriage certificates, they assume I sent the wrong documents because the Reciprocity Tables for Sweden is a mess. But I found another one of their information sheets for Stockholm with the missing pieces and am sending that one along with another copy of my certificate.

jeffreyhy

Answering the questions in item 25 of the I-864 as asked, I would:
- Not check the box where it says "I have filed a Federal tax return for each of the three most recent tax years."
- In the "Tax Year" column enter 2011, 2010, and 2009.
- In the "Total Income" enter 0, 2010's income as reported, and 2009's income as reported.
- Next to the 2011 $0 line write "tax return not required".

I now think the woman you spoke with was correct. The question asks for information about the most recent 3 years, not the most recent 3 years for which a tax return was filed.

Regards, JEff