Noorah101

I thought you were going to include a spreadsheet showing business income, expenses, and profit on a monthly basis to-date?

I thought the personal bank statements were to show her savings to be used as an asset?

Rene

IR1 alumni

at this point you should just relax. You have the paper that you have. Take it to your interview and let the Embasssy review it. Worst case, they don't accept it and they ask you to send in either a joint affidavit of support or additional documentation.

wareagle

I was going to devise a spreadsheet, but all it would show ultimately is the Net Monthly profit and this is the same amount as what is shown on her personal monthly statements. So i'm not sure it would make any difference, as I'll be able to explain to ConOff what the income is.

I have a separate one off letter from the bank talking about savings as they are spread across a few accounts

wareagle

sounds like a good plan! although with contract on the flat up on the 26th May I need to be out before then, so hopefully I can get it in one tomorrow

Noorah101

Hmmm. YOU were going to devise a spreadsheet? I would have thought this would be something she'd already have, and could just send it to you. How would you know all her monthly business expenses to show on the spreadsheet?

In my opinion, if you are wanting to show her income, you might need more than just the bank statements. The bank statements probably just show deposits, right? There's no backup to show if this is her personal income, the business income, or where the income came from.

You say she has a separate account for the business, right? So if bank statements are all you can get hold of, it might be best to show the business bank statements as well, showing the amount deposited to the business account, and then the amount she is keeping aside to pay herself in her personal account.

But I guess it's Thursday night where you are, and your interview is tomorrow. As IR1 says, all you can do is go in with what you have, explain the situation, and hope the ConOff accepts it. Worse case scenario, the ConOff asks for the missing documentation, you get it and return it, and everything works out.

Good luck tomorrow, looking forward to hearing your report.

Rene

wareagle

Thanks for your help.

I wrote a spreadsheet based off 2010 Taxes which showed all expenses. As I have her Net profit figures I just worked backwards to come up with a total revenue figure.

I guess this is more of a moral question, should I submit it? she doesnt keep any formal documents for the business.

I might just present all the paperwork and if the ConOff asks about the Spreadsheet, I could say it was done to show an estimate of business performance?

Anyway, 5pm here now, what I have is what I have and so I guess I'll just have to see how it goes.

I'll write a report soon as I'm done tomorrow!

Thanks

Noorah101

In my opinion, if it's something you did yourself, no. I wouldn't submit that. Especially since you used 2010 as a basis. The figures need to be accurate for 2011 income/expenses (from Jan - April) in real life...not guesses made from 2010.

I would not show the one you did. If the ConOff asks about providing further documentation, I would get it directly from your MIL.

Rene

wareagle

ok, makes sense.

Thanks again, wish me luck!

Noorah101

Best of luck!

Rene

jeffreyhy

I think you should. The spreadsheet will tie the year to date income to the historical annual income and, hopefully, show that this year is looking to be in line with or perhaps a bit better than in the past.

I also think you should be careful with your language. Your are not "trying to guess", you are comparing the first 4 months of this year with the first 4 months of last year and, based on the historical monthly patterns throughout the year, and perhaps some other economic trends, making a reasonable forecast of activity through the end of this year.

Regards, JEff

wareagle

alright, spreadsheet is back in! thanks Jeff

Noorah101

JEff, keep in mind that wareagle doesn't have any actual current figures from his MIL, other than the amount she deposits into her personal bank account each month. wareagle is kind of "backtracking" based on MIL's current personal deposits to her personal bank account, then comparing 2010's tax return (most likely Schedule C where it lists out the business expenses), to "guess" at what the 2011 business expenses have been to-date.

wareagle is looking at the 2010 tax return which shows the yearly amount of business expenses (perhaps he divided that by 12 to get a monthly figure). wareagle has said his MIL earns $6,000 a year from the business profit. That's $500 per month. I assume MIL's personal bank account shows an average of $500 deposit into it each month (from business profit). wareagle is comparing that to the 2010 tax return and coming up with his own idea of what the business income/expenses might be for Jan 2011, to come up with a profit of $500 (or whatever January's bank statement shows).

To me, without MIL verifying anything, that's "guessing" on wareagle's part. But I might just be too picky. lol

Rene

jeffreyhy

You appear to have a more detailed understanding of what wareable does and doesn't have than I've seen him describe.

If your assumptions are correct, and he doesn't have the information to make a reasonable estimate of current income, then I agree with you.

Regards, JEff

Noorah101

I was going by what wareagle wrote above. He wrote the spreadsheet himself, using the 2010 tax return that showed business income/expenses in 2010 (which might or might not be the same as 2011). He knows her net profit figures (from her current bank statement deposits to her personal account). So he worked backwards, using her current bank deposits, and guessing what might have been the total business income/expenses to come up with the deposit amount (profit). He doesn't actually know that's what the 2011 business income is, nor the business expenses.

If you can say the estimated 2011 income is close enough to being correct, just based on the 2010 tax return, (without any input from MIL) then fine. I know in my husband's self-employment world, that's not always the case.

At least, that's the way I understood it. I could be wrong.

Rene

wareagle

Hi Rene,

You have the scenario exactly right!

I think I'll just take it all along and explain where needed.

The most important thing is. She makes enough income and has enough assets to sponsor me. If they ask for more evidence I will just have to go and get it. Although I'm sure it'll be fine

In at 8am tomorrow so we'll know soon enough....