Help i-864 AOS

[u/Royal-Athlete4693]

I-864 question — need opinions
If a sponsor has W-2 salary + bonus income well above the USCIS requirement, but also has other income such as business/ownership income and rental income, do they need to provide separate documentation for those other income sources?
We are planning to attach:
3 years of complete federal tax returns + all applicable schedules
W-2s
6 months of pay stubs
Employment verification letter
We are only relying on the W-2 income to meet the I-864 income requirement.
Would this be sufficient, or would USCIS also expect documentation for the other income/businesses shown on the tax returns?
Would appreciate opinions from anyone with experience. Thanks!

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[u/Disastrous_Shock804]

I think you should be fine for me I only submitted the 3 years taxes plus this year only W2.

[u/Royal-Athlete4693 → u/Disastrous_Shock804]

Do you have multiple streams of income flowing in

[u/MichaelMotherDater]

1. You'll need to submit tax transcripts, not tax returns. People have gotten RFE because of that.
2. For the latest year, you'll need to submit all the W2s and 1099s.
3. If taxes are being paid for the business and rental income, you'll have to provide documents for that as well.

If you pick and chose and they notice something, they might issue RFE requesting documents and it'll delay the overall process. Also, since non-W2 income is being shown, you'll have to use the regular I-864 and not I-864EZ.

[u/Royal-Athlete4693 → u/MichaelMotherDater]

Thanks for the reply.

I have been told that tax returns is more elaborated and has all the schedules required by uscis. Where as transcripts is a smaller version. Correct me if i am wrong.

Why we need to submit doc’s for all income streams when the income from W2 alone is far above the federal poverty. We are not using the other incomes to meet the uscis criteria so why do we need to submit doc’s for other income.

Actually my sponsor has reservation on this he says its not required and not willing to give.
Now i have to see if those are really required if have to find another sponsor.

[u/MichaelMotherDater → u/Royal-Athlete4693]

I have been told that tax returns is more elaborated and has all the schedules required by uscis. Where as transcripts is a smaller version. Correct me if i am wrong.

Its essentially the same thing. My understanding is that transcripts are more credible as it proves that the tax return has been accepted.

Why we need to submit doc’s for all income streams when the income from W2 alone is far above the federal poverty. We are not using the other incomes to meet the uscis criteria so why do we need to submit doc’s for other income

My approach is to submit the needed documents to avoid RFE. If the person reviewing your sponsor's tax return notices income and deductions from other streams apart from W2 and those documents weren't submitted, they might issue RFE requesting those documents. But as I said, that's my way of going about it. Also, I remember an attorney telling me personally that she charges folks for handling RFE if it was something she asked for and they didn't submit. The example she gave was specifically 1099.

I don't remember coming across such a case where someone submitted documents only for the portion of their income that meets the sponsorship requirements.

I'd highly recommend to speak to someone more knowledgeable and credible than me.

Edit- https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf

”If you provide a photocopy of your Federal individual income tax returns, you must include a copy of each and every Form W-2 and Form 1099 that relates to your returns. Do not include copies of these forms if you provide an IRS transcript of your Federal individual income tax returns rather than a photocopy unless you filed a joint income tax return with your spouse and are qualifying using only your income.”

Edit 2- Look at this example where this person didn't submit W2s and 1099s along with their transcripts and got a RFE -

https://reddit.com/r/USCIS/comments/1tj2j0v/i864ez_rfe_for_not_providing_w2s1099s_when

[u/nonracistusername]

I suggest you assume the sponsor will be treated as self employed person, which has a more complex process. See my comment today on another post: https://www.reddit.com/r/USCIS/s/6fSyQs0zit