LBR

Hi everyone, this is my first post although I have been lurking on this forum for a little while now. My husband (USC) and I (UKC) applied for AOS (from VWP) on April 3rd 2009 and have just received a Request for Initial Evidence.

It asks us to send IRS issued transcripts for the most recent tax year, letter of employment and pay stubs for my husband.

To give you the background, my husband did not meet the income requirement in the last 3 years as he was a student and then traveled overseas. Since January 2009, he has been self-employed and does earn enough to meet the income requirement. To be on the safe side we asked his mother to be a joint sponsor.

In the original package we sent on 3rd April, we included my husband's last 3 years tax returns/W2s and the joint sponsor's tax returns and proof of income.

So our question is, what evidence can we send of my husband's current income given that he doesn't have any paystubs? And secondly, does this even matter if we have a joint sponsor? The RIE did not mention the joint sponsor at all which makes me wonder if somehow the joint sponsor's forms got separated from the rest of the package.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Noorah101

Hi LBR, Welcome to BE.

It seems the Joint Sponsor forms got overlooked. I would sent a letter explaining your husband's employment scenario, and perhaps include letters from his clients stating the work he's done, or if he did this last year he'd have a 1099 to show, you can include that.

Go ahead and submit all the joint sponsor's information again (just send a photocopy of what you've already sent). In the cover letter, explain that you are using a joint sponsor, and point out that all the joint sponsor's relevent information is included.

Best Wishes,
Rene

LBR

Thanks Rene - that's very sensible advice. I did try to call the USCIS helpline but they weren't able to tell me anything. I will resend everything with a cover letter explaining the situation.

Thanks for taking the time to respond - I appreciate it

jeffreyhy

Perhaps the Joint Sponsor's material was not mentioned because it is complete? And the issue is uncertainty about your husband's qualification since, if he is qualified, there will not be a Joint Sponsor.

You write, "we included my husband's last 3 years tax returns/W2s ". For the avoidance of confusion, what were those tax years? Do they include the return he should have filed in 2009 for the 2008 tax year? If not, send it. If so, send it again.

As for the all important current income, he should have some kind of business records to show what he is earning as time goes by. (What he is earning, not what the business is earning.) Whatever he's got, put it in a suitable form and submit it along with a reasonable extrapolation of what a full year's earnings would be based on the part year of actual information. If he hasn't been keeping financial records for his business he should get started.

Regards, JEff

LBR

I've been pondering this and I think Jeff is right, from the letter it appears that the issue is the uncertainty over my husbands current income.

We sent the tax returns for 06,07 and 08 although for 08 it was a copy of the return we sent in, not an IRS transcript. I have now requested this from the IRS and will include this in our reply.

We have a record of my husband's earnings and expenses this year in the form of a spreadsheet so we could send this along with the corresponding bank statements. I also have a letter from a client confirming hours and pay.

I am concerned because we can't actually give them what they are asking for in their letter i.e. pay stubs and letter from current employer.

If USCIS deem this to be insufficient evidence, will they use the joint sponsor's info or do you think there is a possibility they will deny the case because we can't prove what we claim?

Thanks again for all your help!

Noorah101

Since your husband is self-employed, he won't have these things to provide, so nothing to worry about there.

If USCIS deems your husband unable to be your Sponsor, they are supposed to then examine the Joint Sponsor's evidence, and use the Joint Sponsor, if they qualify.

Rene

jeffreyhy

LBR,

It's almost certainly a generic, one size fits all, letter. Most people work in a job for an employer that gives them a regular paycheck, hence the request for a letter from the employer and copies of pay stubs. You haven't got that in your situation, so you explain your situation and give them what you do have that is applicable to your situation.

If you cannot show that you meet the requirements, but you have a Joint Sponsor lined up who meets the requirements, the case will not be denied on financial grounds. The Joint Sponsor's I-864 will be accepted and put into the file.

Regards, JEff

LBR

Great, thank you guys. I thought I might be worrying too much!

I will keep you posted!

jmood

Is the "request for initial evidence" sent in response to every application, or is it sent out only when the USCIS deems there isn't enough evidence submitted with the original application?
Thanks.

Noorah101

No.

Yes.

Rene

Rete

Did he include the 1099 tax schedule with his 08 return? I believe that is the one that a self-employed person needs to include with their IRS return.

Letters from contractors will help as Rene said

meauxna

Just so no one gets confused later..

The self employment tax return schedule is 'C'.
1099s are the income statements the worker gets from whoever paid him (equivalent to W-2).

If he has just become self employed in 2009, he won't have any of that yet.

Rigorous documentation of work done and payment received so far this year is the best you (OP) can do (with that client letter), but we're only 4 months into the year..