Faye1

Hello

I am a UKC who married my USC this summer. I've been living in the USA for 8 years on an I-visa which is valid until 2014.

We are applying for my AOS by using my income to qualify as my husband is a MA student who didn't earn enough in 2010.

I have all the necessary paper work ready to send off and have been waiting on my 2010 US tax transcript so that my UK based salary can be used for the I-864. Yesterday I received a letter from the IRS requesting some additional information that it turns out my accountant forgot to include This means I now have to wait an additional 6-8 weeks until I receive my tax transcript and so we are now exploring the option of working with a co-sponsor so we can file sooner than later.

Questions:

1. If I do end up waiting for my transcript is it weird or risky for me to travel back to the UK in the meantime to see my family? I still have a valid I-visa but am obviously now married to a USC.

2. The salary I was hoping to use for my I-864 is UK based as mentioned (although I file taxes in both US and UK). I'm paid mostly in dividends with a small amount of salary but filed over $70k in income taxes for 2010 - does this sound okay even though its foreign based income?

3. A friend has offered to act as a co-sponsor but owns her own small company which made a loss in 2008 and 2009 (0 salary for these years). In 2010 she filed $23k in income. Would this render her unable to sponsor me? Also she files a schedule K-1 and so doesn't have a W-2 or 1099 as she works for herself - would this mean she would need a transcript or is a Schedule K sufficient?

Many thanks for any advice

jeffreyhy

1. I have an idea, but don't know for sure, so I'll keep it to myself.

2. Your salary is UK based? Didn't you say you've been working in the USA for 8 years? In any case, as long as your pre-immigration income is going to contiue post-immigration, you can contribute to your husband's I-864 financial requirement as his household member.

3. I would think that the $0 income for 2 years folllowed by 1 year of income would make the sustainability of the income questionable. A tax transcript is a condensed version of a tax return. The Schedule K is part of the tax return (as would be a W-2 or 1099). The joint sponsor (not co-sponsor) must provide either a tax transcript or a complete copy of the tax return for the most recent tax year.

Noorah101

Since she's self-employed, make sure that $23,000 income is her personal income (not the total business income). Personal income can be calculated as follows: Business income minus business expenses equals personal income. In other words, whatever profit is leftover after the business expenses, is her personal income.

So, if you want to use her as a joint sponsor, just make sure that her personal income is enough to sponsor her household size plus you.

Rene

Faye1

Thanks Norah - yes its personal income (shes single no children). Do you think that her zero income for 2008 and 2009 could be a problem?

Noorah101

In that case, either the business actually earns more, and her profit was $23,000....or the business earned that much and she had zero to very few business expenses, right? Or, she actually pays herself from the business and it is recorded as her income from the business that way.

I don't know. 2 out of 3 years she had a loss. That doesn't look good. Plus, what she earned in 2010 is relevent, but it's not what she will list as income on the I-864. She will list *current* income on the I-864. It's now coming towards the end of the 3rd quarter of 2011. How is the business doing currently? Is she showing a profit so far? Has she been earning at least the same as 2010, or more? She will need to provide proof of her 2011 income as backup for the I-864. If her business is doing well and she can prove she's getting the same or more personal income in 2011, then I'd say 2008 and 2009 might be overlooked. If her business isn't doing as well this year as it did in 2010, then there could be a problem.

Rene

ian-mstm

Since your UK earnings were included on your 2010 tax return, you can simply copy your 2010 US tax return and include it with your application. There's no need to wait for transcripts. They may be convenient, but in this case they're a complete waste of time especially if you're considering using a joint (not co-) sponsor if you can't get them in time!

Ian

Faye1

Hi Ian - I was under the impression I had to wait for the 2010 tax transcript as the only means of proving my 2010 income? What makes the transcript a waste of time?

It would certainly be much simpler if we could just use my wages rather than using a co-sponsor (as mentioned my husband is a student and so has minimal income). My annual income is around $70k per year so my last three year tax returns look much healthier than my co-sponsor right now who actually made a loss in 2008 and 2009.

Rene - She pays herself an annual salary from her business. Waiting for her to confirm her current income but from what I can gather her business is having a good year and so she is likely to show more than $23k this year.

Noorah101

No, it doesn't HAVE to be the official IRS tax transcript. A simply photocopy of your entire 2010 tax return will suffice. Make sure you include any year-end earning statements and schedules that get filed as well. It must be the 'complete' tax return, just as you sent to IRS.

Why not go ahead and do that, then? Makes a lot more sense.

Rene

Faye1

Ah - I'm wondering if I may have been told that because I have no 1099's or W-2's as I work (remotely) for a British company - would I still be able to just send a copy of the 1040 without either of those?

Noorah101

You should send whatever you turned in to IRS in 2010. You don't have W-2's or 1099's, but you probably have something from the UK, since that's where your income is from?

Rene

Faye1

I'll check with my UK accountant, but its tricky as I part own the company so I basically just transfer money to myself each month (no pay stubs or anything official). Maybe my UK tax return would work?

As a worst case scenario - If I was to go with the risky co-sponsor and the immigration officials decided she didn't qualify, could this be held against me in any way or would it just be a matter of finding an alt sponsor or then using my taxes at that point (with all 3 transcripts) with no harm done?

S Folinsky

A general comment -- we are are in the last month of the THIRD quarter of 2011. Why does everyone keep talking only about 2010? Just curious.

jeffreyhy

You didn't read my post #2 in this thread?

Regards, JEff

jeffreyhy

A lot of people have tax returns that do not include one or the other of those. Your source of income will dictate what document you will have to prove what your income was, and in your case apparently neither a W-2 or a 1099 applies.

You've said that you've been submitting US income tax returns? Surely you included some document with those returns that shows what your income from the UK company was?

In any case, what you need to submit is either a tax transcript or a complete copy of your income tax return. In most cases that is not just a 1040. For many people an income tax return consists of more than the 1040.

Regards, JEff

Faye1

Jeff - each year my UK accountant informs my US accountant of my end of year total salary and dividends which are taken straight from the company accounts.

My principal tax is paid in the UK (I'm paid in the UK in pounds into a UK bank account) and then we apply foreign tax credits to my US return so I'm not taxed twice on the same income (complicated!).

I could supply both US and UK bank personal bank statements to show business money entering my account and being transferred to the US each month along with a letter from my UK boss confirming salary I guess?