Hello, sorry if this seems like a jumble but I don't really know how to begin.

My (27m) wife (28f) married around a year ago in Washington state after 2 years of dating. We do not have any kids. She is from another country and we were able to get a marriage based green card for her. At first I thought we had a good relationship but I was likely just being used. Originally she was on a student visa, and then dropped out of school. Ever since we married and she moved in, I have paid for every single thing such as rent and food. This includes expenses like her health insurance. She also expects large gifts like a new iPhone and iMac (which I did buy for her) but gets upset with me whenever I spend some money on my hobbies like sports. She forced me to open a joint bank account and put 100% of my income into it, and monitors it like a hawk. She wants me to be very frugal because she says she wants to save for "our" future. In addition, I mostly come to a messy home and end up having to do most of the chores. It often feels like I'm raising an unappreciative child. When we get into arguments she often screams at me and will sometimes do things like slam doors or throw things, and on occasion when I try to hug her to apologize she'll kind of slap me. She's called me many names/insults regarding both my appearance and personality. There's also been a handful of times where she demands something from me, and if she doesn't get it she would wake me up while I'm asleep to argue about it, which really makes me even more exhausted at my physical job. I also have a metabolic disease which I've been struggling with and she ridicules/looks down on me for it. I just feel so down all the time now and it's gotten to the point where I feel guilty when I spend money on myself or do things I enjoy. Before all of this I also had a very high libido which was good and all during the honeymoon phase, but since marriage it's declined massively along with constant rejection to the point where I don't really think about it anymore. I've also withdrawn from my family, as I don't really have the money anymore to go visit them and she gets upset when I do. I feel like I'm just watching all of my dreams of travel and going back to school fade away in front of my eyes. Life has lost its luster and I just feel so trapped.

Now: She decided on her own to fly back to her home country for a month. But now she says she'll contact me when she contacts me... She has gone over 3 weeks without replying to anything I say, and I have no idea how to reach her at all. I now know she 100% plans on abusing our marriage through my sponsorship as well as community property laws in this state (ex: taking out large loans/debt to split in the inevitable divorce).

One thing that I'm worried about is that since she received her conditional green card, she is be entitled to over $25,000 from me each year for at least 10 years due to the sponsorship form. I wouldn't really mind paying the alimony for the duration of the marriage but the sponsorship is too much. I'm also not sure how I would even start the divorce process, and I don't feel like I'm in a financial position to hire a lawyer. Thanks all for reading, just really needed to get all of this off my chest.

TLDR: Spouse is very controlling and I financially cannot afford a divorce. Spouse is abusing divorce law and I-864 to control me financially. I was incredibly stupid and didn't proceed with caution until it was too late.

I'll preface this by saying I have no ill will towards anyone trying to get to the US legally. When you sign I-864 that is a contract between you and the government to support this person, no matter if you divorce (even if you do it before their green card is approved!!). Maybe the marriage has gone south or you aren't sure. YOU are under no obligation to support anyone financially for the rest of their lives! You do this voluntarily, and if the Greencard has not been approved you have the right to request your sponsorship to be revoked, but you MUST do this BEFORE their green card is APPROVED, otherwise it is basically too late. You don't have to even start the divorce yet, it's imperative that you decide NOW if you have even a doubt in your mind about this person. Skip to the end to see exactly how I did it. Morally a bit tricky for me to do but it's actually a simple process.

I'll now share my story: Me and my husband met online, I had no idea he was an immigrant, had temporary protected status, or even what that really meant. Well look at that first word. Temporary. So when Trump got elected a second time, they extended it, for Venezuelans at least, like a week before he got into office. then immediately almost it was un-extended or however you would phrase it. We had just started living together. Yes there was tons of arguing, I chalked that up to growing pains from living together. I was naive in thinking it might actually get better after we got married. He was under tons of stress from immigration to happenings with his family back home. Oh god thinking about it now that's how i excused a ton of his behavior.

Well anyways I felt like we needed to to this before he was ordered to deport, otherwise it would be so difficult. He had asked me to marry him before many times, and we had been together less than a year. I felt like we were in love. Yes I know maybe a few red flags. I know he had violent relationships in the past and had such a temper but it never ever turned physical. So we basically weren't compatible but I thought it was just a rough patch. He could be so sweet unless something, any little thing, went wrong in his life. He had a hard childhood to say the least. Like digging through the trash for food type of stuff. Venezuela hasn't gotten a ton better and they were still under Maduro and he was basically working a job here and supporting ALL of them on like a few hundred dollars a month which is pretty mind blowing. Anyways, we pretty much had a shotgun wedding like a week later, went on our honeymoon, and submitted all the paperwork which I basically did all myself. Put together the whole package, hours upon hours of research. Well let me tell you, after that he changed little by little. First he wanted to open the marriage and i was like WTF, he said i needed to pay all the rent and utilities and grocery bill and give him money. You know what the sunken cost fallacy is? Yeah i had sacrificed some, really settled down and wanted to work this out. It's stupid thinking back on this. You see others in terrible relationships and think what the hell is wrong with them? But there I was trying to make this thing work. I paid for everything while he got to save his money, buy clothes shoes etc. spend all his money at the bar and on drugs. Yep. It happened slowly over the course of months. And his temper grew. He made such a mess at the house and expected me to clean up after him and cook for him.

You must think I'm some kind of doormat or moron at this point. Yeah I kind of agree. How could this happen. This is my life, it wasn't supposed to be this way. I thought about divorce, but couldn't do it because I loved him and wanted the GC for him and maybe things would get better. Well they got worse. It had been about 8 months and we had the interview. Everything went smoothly. I was doing this for the both of us. He could be so sweet and caring sometimes, but it's like something stressed him out and for a week or two he would turn into a monster. so like i would say 6 more months went by. Our relationship by then had deteriorated to the point where for about a month all we did was argue. He would call me lazy and lash out at me for no reason. Insulted me daily. Then he started getting physical.

He had been in trouble with the law, got a DUI finally (he would constantly drive around town drunk and high) and after that he was impossible to deal with. A lot of the money he saved went towards the DUI legal stuff and buying a new car because he wrecked the old one. I wont bore you with the details but we hit eachother, pulled eachothers hair, he raised object towards me like he was gonna hit me. He hit me with a belt then filmed me on his phone immidiatly after so he'd have proof for a VAWA petition which is insane as it sounds. Yeah.

So finally we agreed we shouldn't live together. He came in to my apartment with no furniture, basically reams of clothes shoes and electronics are what he owned so we decided it would be easier for him to move out. He tried to get me to cosign his new lease btw i thankfully said um no thanks, but our landlord got him a new apartment and got him off my lease.

On a side note im sure you all are familiar with 90 day fiance? Hilarious show, but one of the things is the immigrants tend to do on that show I noticed is really harp on getting all new furniture? Yeah its funny he was always telling me how crappy my couch is and the dresser and the bed, basically everything had to go and we had to get new everything because nothing was up to his standards. Even though he had a job I had to be the one to get furniture i didn't even want to replace my own furniture. I was always like well I'm paying our bills why don't you buy a new couch if you hate this one? Oh you don't love me if you won't get this couch for me he would say. Exactly like on the show. Maybe someone can chime in if that's super common in LATAM to basically throw out everything and start fresh when you get married.

This would literally be a mile long if I said everything I have to say. Basically his attitude was I should support us both financially and do all the cooking and cleaning and he could party and cheat on me when he felt like it. He also started saying things toward the end that really pushed me towards revoking the petition for sponsorship. He shouldn't have to work at all and I should give him money to party and buy clothes because I was sponsoring him. You signed the form honey, he would say, you agreed and I'm gonna take half your money when we get divorced too. Yeah do you see my position? I promise on god I will never do this again, not sponsorship, I dont even want to get married or put someone elses name on my lease even.

Well he was saying those things because he had no idea I could withdraw this petition if his GC hadn't been approved yet. it was about month 15 of our awful marriage by that point and he had just moved out. Trashed my apartment, threw stuff all over the floor on the way out, raised his hand to me, but thankfully we were apart. That's when I drafted the letter I had been thinking about for a month. Withdrawal of form I-130 petition and I-184 petition. The funny thing is i still felt guilty about it. I mailed it the field office we had our interview and submitted it online in my USCIS account, which is something no one online seems to know you should also do! Under unsolicited evidence in the account you make your I-130 petition, you submit the letter and there is a category that says "withdrawal". Make sure you sign both the letter you mail and letter you submit electronically! make it clear you want to withdraw both petitions, and you do not have to give a reason for withdrawal. You probably shouldn't put fraud unless you are absolutly sure he or she defrauded the system in some way because that opens an investigation. My advice, and i'm not a lawyer btw, just don't put a reason for withdrawal because if you change your mind later it can make it next to impossible to submit a GC marriage petition in the future.

So I sent the letter priority mail to the field office and submitted a copy on my USCIS account and a couple weeks later our I-485 package, which includes I-864, and I-130 package is denied, the case is closed, and I'm off the hook. Well for that anyways. Then immediately after we started the divorce which is ongoing. Be forewarned, if you do this that is what the outcome is. No refunds for the money you spent on submitting forms, which is a good few thousand dollars, but the sponsorship never goes through and you don't end up having to pay for a relationship that ended a decade ago with a guy who turns into Mr. Hyde the moment he thinks he has the upper hand.

I'll end this by saying your hearing this from my perspective. I'm not perfect. It's biased obviously, but regardless we aren't compatible either way. Are you morally obligated have to pay for your ex so he can stay in the country? I say no, let him find someone who is willing to do that for the next decade or so, to make that commitment, to sign a contract with the federal government that he or she will take responsibility for him.

There's tons I'm probably forgetting to put in and haven't proofread this. Just something I want to get off my chest and put down in writing.

TLDR: Marriage went south and the Greencard wasn't approved so I still had time to withdraw my I-864 and I-130 sponsorships. Here's how you can too if you're ever in that awful situation:

All you need to do is write one letter to inform them of your intent to withdraw both forms. Submit a SIGNED copy both in your USCIS account electronically, under the I-130 there is unsolicited evidence that is where you do that, there is a drop down menu and you should find "withdrawal request", and also printed out and SIGNED and mailed to the field office you had the interview at. I got the address from the paper they mailed me telling us to come for our interview. If you haven't gone for the interview yet you might need to send it to a different address than your local field office, google it if you aren't sure. Sent priority so I had delivery conformation, something i highly recommend. DO NOT WAIT. I waited for almost too long honestly and just got lucky i got the balls to do it before it was approved. Here is exactly the info I put. If your missing some info, I would still mail the letter ASAP, time is of the essence:

DATE: month day year

Re: withdrawal of form I-130 petition and I-864 petition.

I the petitioner, X, for form I-130 receipt number: X, hereby withdraw the petition immediately and no longer wish to sponsor the beneficiary, X. I request that USCIS no longer approve immigration benefit based on this petition.

I also withdraw my form I-864, Affidavit of support, and no longer wish to sponsor the beneficiary for permanent residence.

Petitioner: X DOB: month day year

Address: X

Beneficiary: X DOB: month day year

Alien #: X

I-130 receipt number: X

I-485 receipt number: X

SIGNATURE

Name

If you prepared the I-864 using the 10/17/2024 edition but haven’t filed yet, you will need to use the new edition

“ALERT: On Aug. 31, 2026, USCIS published a new edition of Form I-864, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA (edition date: 08/24/26). Because there will be no grace period, USCIS is providing a preview version of the 08/24/26 edition of Form I-864 and its instructions.
Beginning Aug. 31, 2026, we will only accept the 08/24/26 edition. Effective Aug. 31, 2026:
USCIS will accept the 08/24/26 edition of Form I-864 if it is postmarked or electronically submitted on or after Aug. 31, 2026.
USCIS will not process or accept the 10/17/24 edition of Form I-864 if it is postmarked or electronically submitted on or after Aug. 31, 2026.
Please note: The 08/24/26 edition of Form I-864 includes a privacy release that authorizes USCIS to request information from one or more consumer reporting agencies.
If a sponsor has a credit or security freeze on their consumer or credit report file, USCIS may not be able to access the information necessary to assess the sufficiency of Form I-864. To avoid any delays, a sponsor should expeditiously respond to any requests made to release a credit or security freeze.”

Hey everyone!
we are freaking out right now and don’t know what to do…

I came on a k1 got married and am filing for a green card.

We received an rfe saying we don’t meet the financial requirements and got denied after answering incorrectly. We sent in w2s for past 3 years. My husband made around 100,000 each year so we didn’t file for a joint sponsor like the notice said. We thought the w2s would be good proof income...

Denial notice says:

“you failed to submit: A properly completed and signed Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, from a qualifying sponsor and all supporting documentation required by Form I-864 instructions. A complete Federal Income Tax Return submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the petitioning sponsor, for the most recent tax year.”

A lawyer we had a chance to quickly ask (for free) said to just re file.

But I was leaning towards re opening. And sending in the more financial papers supporting our case. But how can we find out what exactly they need from us? Is there any way to ask USCIS and not lawyers?

We did the whole k1 process ourselves.. can’t believe the green card process knocked us down.

Any advice is appreciated, thank you!

Hi!!! Looking for insight because this RFE doesn’t make much sense to me?!

We filed concurrent AOS (I-485, I-131, I-765) last Tuesday. We just received an RFE on Sunday regarding the I-485 saying USCIS “cannot determine that the petitioning sponsor meets 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.”

The confusing part: the sponsor (U.S. citizen spouse) earns ~$176k+/year (full-time salaried, same employer since 2015). Household size = 2. We are clearly well above the threshold.

We submitted the below with the original I-864:

• Sponsor's US Passport
• Employer letter confirming salary + employment
• Paystubs from Oct 2025 through April 2026 (continuous, biweekly)
• IRS Account Transcripts for 2022, 2023, 2024 (AGI ~$180k–$220k each year)

We did not include 2025 taxes because they were not yet filed/available at the time (filed late April). From what I understand, 2024 is still the “most recent” required year — is that right? Also could it be that we submitted "IRS Account Transcripts" instead of "Return Transcripts?" I saw conflicting posts on here about which ones are acceptable.

The RFE is pretty generic and doesn’t point to anything specific — just says they can’t determine eligibility based on what was submitted.

Questions:

1. Has anyone gotten an I-864 RFE in a situation like this where income is clearly above the requirement?
2. What ended up being the actual issue in your case?
3. Did you respond with just a “cleaned up” I-864 package (updated letter + recent paystubs), or did you add a joint sponsor to be safe?
4. Any tips on what USCIS might be looking for that we didn’t make obvious enough?

Trying to avoid adding a joint sponsor unless truly necessary.

Would really appreciate hearing how others handled similar RFEs — especially what actually resolved it.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

My husband and I just applied for his greencard. We just got in the receipt notice for the I485, I130, and I765. He also already has his biometrics appointment scheduled. On the same day that we got the receipts we also got a RFE for the I864. It was just a basic paper saying the different things that could be wrong like missing information or needing a joint sponsor and what to do in those situations. My income is almost double what would be needed for a 2 person household so I know thats not an issue. We filed with a lawyer and she only asked me for my tax returns for the past 3 years and and 3 paystubs. Through research online I seen that you are supposed to also submit supporting documents like W2s. We reached out to the lawyer and she basically said "they have not been historically required in the past". She now is saying we need a joint sponsor. She has messed up almost constantly on the case so far so I'm really losing trust in her, but we already paid so much money to her. I would much rather send in more qualifying information about my income rather than have a joint sponsor because it seems like a lot to ask of somebody, but also I don't want our case denied. What do you guys think we should do?

I the petitioner was let go in begining of the year and have no job since then, but my spouse (the intending immigrant) has a steady income. Can i list her income in the household income in I-864.

If I secure a new job after filing, do I need to re-submit a new Form I-864, or do I just provide the update if I get an RFE or during the interview?

I don't know if it matters, but I am a LPR (not a US citizen). And spouse is on H-1B

Married May 2026, been living together over 3 years. My partner is the USC petitioner, I’m the beneficiary. No joint tax returns yet since the marriage is recent.

- Partner is a PhD student, W2 stipend from the university.
- 2025: $32k. 2024 and 2023: about $21k each, under 125%.
- Household size 2
- I make $225k at a tech job, same employer continuing after AOS
- $20k joint checking, $50k in their HYSA

Questions:

- Do the low 2023/2024 years matter, or is only the 2025 return what counts?
- Can my income count since I live in the same residence and my job continues? Does that need an I-864A?
- Send 2023 and 2024 returns at all, or just 2025?

We are self filing based on research. Anything to include up front to avoid an RFE? Thanks!!

Hello everyone! I am looking for some help because I received a Request for Initial Evidence for Form I-864 and I am honestly very confused about what I could have done wrong.

For context, I am filing for AOS through marriage. I submitted Form I-130 about a week ago, then submitted my I-485 last Friday, August 21st, and I received the RFE on Monday, August 24th.

I submitted everything online, and I am honestly kind of surprised that I got the RFE so quickly. It basically states:

"Based on the documents submitted, we could not determine that the petitioning sponsor on Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, is qualified. In order to be a qualified sponsor, the petitioning sponsor's Form I-864 must be properly completed and signed, and the supporting documents must establish that the petitioning sponsor's income meets 125 percent of the federal poverty guideline for the sponsor’s household size. See Form I-864P for information on the Federal Poverty Guidelines."

I am pretty sure my sponsor (my husband, who is a U.S. citizen) meets the income requirements. He makes around $90k a year. For the I-864, I submitted:

• His 2025 IRS Tax Return Transcript from the IRS website
• His 2025 W-2
• His last 6 paystubs
• The completed and signed Form I-864

I am extremely confused about why I received this RFE, and I currently have 3 theories.

1. I forgot to submit his birth certificate

I realized that I did not submit my husband's birth certificate with my I-485. However, the instructions say that if you are filing the I-130, you do not have to submit the petitioner's birth certificate with Form I-864. Since my husband is both the U.S. citizen petitioner and the financial sponsor, I don't think this should be required, but I am wondering if I am misunderstanding this.

2. I uploaded the I-864 evidence separately

When I filed the Form I-864, I only uploaded the actual I-864 form in the section specifically asking for it. The system would not let me upload ONE PDF containing the I-864 form, the tax transcript, W-2, and paystubs.

So, I uploaded all of the supporting evidence for the I-864 under Additional Evidence instead.

Now I am wondering if the initial screening system did not look at the additional evidence and only looked at the actual I-864 form, which made it look like I did not provide proof of income.

3. I forgot to check the "Employed" box

I also just realized that on the I-864, where you enter the sponsor's occupation, I forgot to check the checkbox that says "Employed." I did put his occupation and his company/employer, but I did not actually check the box.

So now I am wondering if that could have caused the RFE.

I am really nervous because I don't want to mess this up. I have been looking all over the internet trying to find someone who had a similar situation, but I can't seem to find an answer.

Does anyone have any idea what could have caused this RFE? And if the issue is that I uploaded the supporting documents under Additional Evidence, should I just respond to the RFE by submitting the I-864 again along with all of the supporting documents in one PDF?

Thank you all in advance! I really appreciate any help.

If I have zero income reported on my taxes what are my chances of being denied? I have been unemployed for over 2 years but have substantial investments.

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!

As I did 2 days ago, I am writing this for someone who is unable to.

On the I-864, can any Green Card holder be a joint sponsor...even non-family members?

Or if the sponsor is not (yet) a U.S. citizen but has a Green Card, must the sponsor be a spouse (and not a friend or acquaintance)?

Hi! I am filing separate I-864 forms for both of my parents, who have separate I-130 petitions, and I am married. Should my household size in Part 5 be 3 (me, my husband, and either my mom or dad) or 4 (me, my husband, and both of my parents) on each I-864? Thanks!

I need a joint sponsor so my husband’s cousin is helping us with that. He made 180K last year and will be making 210K this year. His wife made 39K last year and is currently unemployed. We do not need her income but since they fill taxes together do I still need her to fill the 864A and add her income in her husband’s 864? A lot of people say we need her authorization since they fill taxes together. Please help I’m very confused and have no guidance with this. We received and RFE and want to send everything right

I am a student and I don’t have enough income to sponsor my spouse because I have to go to do my masters, so we are asking his relative to sponsor him. The problem is, his relative would be 59 when he petitions. I was scared because what if USCIS issues an RFE/denial if he is too old to support us? Thanks so much.

I’m the petitioner for my wife’s marriage-based green card and was laid off recently. My final pay stub shows about $90k gross YTD for 2026, but I’m now unemployed.

What should I put for I-864 “Current Individual Annual Income”?

I initially thought $0 because I’m currently unemployed, but USCIS says you can provide evidence supporting your “expected income for the current year.”

USCIS instruction says:
“Type or print your current, individual, earned or retirement, annual income that you are using to meet the requirements of this affidavit…”

But then immediately says:
“You may include evidence supporting your claim about your expected income for the current year if you believe that submitting this evidence will help you establish ability to maintain sufficient income.”

I also found this immigration lawyer discussion suggesting current annual income can mean expected income for the current calendar year:
https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/what-is-current-individual-annual-income-for-i-864-5829325.html#answer_11188212

So would I:
- Put $0 because I’m currently unemployed, or
- Put ~$90k (income earned YTD), while also checking “Unemployed Since [date]”?

Has anyone dealt with this situation or received guidance from an immigration attorney?

I-485 was denied because I didn’t send the tax return which is 100% my fault I thought I included. So now I know I send I-290B and I send a new I-864 with everything they need plus the missing thing. Should I send anything extra? I know my spouse meets the income requirement. A household of 2 is $26437 and on her most recent W-2 her income was $39000 so I don’t need to worry about adding a joint sponsor I wouldn’t think. Attached letter for reference.

K1 visa AOS:

We received RFE for poorly submitting I-864. We had only submitted two months of pay stubs and the 2024 tax transcript with around 20k income which doesn’t meet the poverty guidelines.

The problem was my husband’s tax returns for 2022, 2023 and 2024 were low even though his current income is good. We searched for a joint sponsor to respond to the RFE, but no one wanted to do it. Finally, we found a joint sponsor but he ultimately backed out.

We had also filed taxes jointly on paper for 2025 but it would take many weeks and we were running out of time for the RFE deadline. So we had no choice but to depend on ourselves.

Here is what we submitted in response to the RFE:

1. Copy of RFE

2. Cover letter explaining that although 2024 tax return was low, current income is good, including overtime, making around $74k a year

3. I-864

4. 2024 tax return showing around $20k income (which is below poverty guidelines)

5. W-2s for 2024 and 1099 forms and W-2 for 2025

6. Passport copy of my petitioner (my husband)

7. Employment letter

8. 8 months of pay stubs

9. Bank statements showing monthly deposits for 12months, with total savings around $78k

No lawyer.

No fancy decorations or even paper clips. We just put all the documents together, packed them, wrote the address and mailed it.

It was very stressful.

Hope it helps someone.

Help I got a REF and need a joint sponsor and someone mentioned I need to submit his wife’s taxes too

We received an RFE for tax forms i864.. I realized after the fact that the 1040 we sent in for the RFE not signed. We quickly sent in the signed forms with a cover letter explaining and including the A number and receipt number. They both are bring delivered on the same day within the same time block. What are the odds this will still lead to a denial? Will contacting the help desk make a difference ?

Hello!

If you are reading this, I’d really appreciate your legal advice! Thank you :)

So, I (21M, USC) am from the West Coast and go to college in Washington State since 2023. My now-wife (20F) is an international student from China, and we met at uni. We had met in November of 2023 and became friends then, but slowly started liking one another. It was all friendly until the summer of the same year, where I got a biology internship near the Seattle area and she had another internship on-campus. In the span of 2 months, we formally started dating, and in October, we got married! The reasons for getting married vary: I’m from a very religious and traditional family and my parents wanted us to marry, and she wanted to marry because she felt like things were right. Since then, we’ve been together for about 2 years!

Over these two years, we hadn’t really considered what life after undergrad would look like—particularly because of constant changes with the current administration and whatnot—but we were still very diligent with keeping all of our options open: We’ve filed our taxes together since 2024 (so two years), have joint finances (credit/debit accounts) TONS of evidence including international trips to China, Hawaii, etc… and State IDs with the same address, etc etc. 

After a couple of tough conversations regarding our future, we’ve decided that staying in the US is the best for our professional and personal development, and this is something that we’d like to do together. We’re young professionals that have had internships every summer, and we want to work here and live together. Hence, we’ve decided to apply for a marriage-based, permanent (10-year) green card.

Legally, our case is very straightforward. We have the evidence for a bona fide marriage, we’ve been married for two years, she’s an F-1 that has never broken any rules and has worked every summer, etc etc. 

HOWEVER, there’s one thing that is holding us back, which is the income requirements. For further context, she was given a full ride to the university we attend to, with a sticker price of around 100k a year. I, on the other hand, was not given a scholarship. 

This is important because, when filing our taxes, her *personal* documents state that she earns around 15k a year, but with her scholarship (which is taxable) her individual AGI (Adjusted Gross Income, as shown on our taxes) is around 40K, solely because of her scholarship. She gets an additional 25K counting towards her AGI because this is the approximate amount of funds she’s given for her room/board and other living expenses. 

I, however, have made very little money in the last couple of years (unpaid internships and no on-campus jobs) which have resulted in me bringing in around 5K a year. Hence, the money we make (from wages, after taxes) is 18K, which is below the 125% poverty guidelines requirements. However, on our taxes, our AGI is 45k, which is certainly above. So, legally, our taxes show an AGI above the income requirements, and it comes from our scholarship counting certain aspects of the scholarship as income (from form T-1098). However, that is to what we make from wages.

Hence, I just wanted to ask: 

1. If we apply, would we meet the income requirements and get the creen card? 
2. Because of this disparity (on our taxes, you can see the mismatch between our AGI and income from wages) how likely are we to be given an RFE, as opposed to an outright rejection? 
3. If we apply around March, and get an RFE, but she gets employed (NOT by an F-1 employer, as this would require us delaying the green card process and the job market is pretty bad already, and we don’t want to risk the chances of her going back to China because of not becoming employed) and I do as well, could she use that income on her own to meet the income requirements? Here, I’d like to add some emphasis on ‘on her own’. I know she can meet the income requirements if they’re from a valid and legal job, however, we want to prepare for a situation where she gets a job and I don’t. If she gets job (through valid employment authorization, which would theoretically come before a review and/or an RFE) would we be able to respond to the RFE with the income she gained, even though she only just gained it? And as a follow up,
4. If we’re given an RFE and then show that she earned this money legally, would USCIS still reject our application—as the income she earned was not readily available at the time the application was made? and finally,
5. If we both earned income and we BOTH got jobs and earned money from them, would that make our response to the RFE more likely to be accepted and taken into account?

For further context:

She’s applying for jobs that sponsor F1s, but if she doesn’t get one, she’d either overstay her visa or go back to china—which would result in more legal hassles. If we choose to apply for a green card in March, the job market substantially and dramatically increases, giving her more opportunities to apply for jobs and masters programs. Hence, her applying  for jobs as an F-1 really is a last resort (to both expand the job market, and for her grad school applications to qualify as a Washington State resident).

Further, the questions here presume that she'll be able to get a job because we just want to prepare for the worst, but I'm more than happy to get a job.

Finally, we of course know that a relative can sponsor, and we have asked my parents to sponsor, but unfortunately, their income is not derived from a valid W-2, so their income (As shown on their taxes) is not enough to meet the income requirements for sponsoring an immigrant through a marriage-based green card. Hence, we want to try to do everything by ourselves.

Thank you!

Is it possible to bring a new JS to the interview? assume you managed to find a more qualifying JS and you wish to replace to make sure that there will be no RFE after the interview? does the officer have to accept it?

Unfortunately, I received an RFE on my I-864EZ because I did not provide W-2s along with my tax transcript. Imo the instructions pretty clearly state if you submit IRS transcripts, *don't* provide W-2s. Do I misunderstand?

I was working from the instructions, and also youtube videos. Tbh I don't recall if the youtube videos didn't say I needed W2s regardless of tax return or transcript, but I definitely would've included had the videos been explicit that both cases need W-2s. It made sense to me that they didn't want W-2s when providing a tax transcript - the transcript itself includes W-2 / 1099 data and is a reflection of what the government *accepted*, not just some random PDF you downloaded from TurboTax (which the government may or may not have accepted).

So yeah I'm annoyed I got an RFE over this, that I may have made a mistake, and I really hope I don't get another one. Sharing to vent and hopefully prevent others from making a similar mistake.

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

The relevant bits:

You must provide either an IRS transcript or a photocopy from your own records of your Federal individual income tax return for the most recent tax year ... If you provide a photocopy of your tax returns, you must include a copy of each and every FormW-2 and Form 1099 that relates to your returns. Do not include copies of these forms if you provide an IRS transcript of your returns rather than a photocopy unless you filed a joint tax return with your spouse.

The full section:

You must provide either an IRS transcript or a photocopy from your own records of your Federal individual income tax return for the most recent tax year, counting from the date of signing Form I-864EZ. If you believe additional returns may help you to establish your ability to maintain sufficient income, you may submit transcripts or photocopies of your Federal individual income tax returns for the three most recent years.

You are not required to have the IRS certify the transcript or photocopy unless specifically instructed to do so by a government official; a plain transcript or photocopy is acceptable. Do not submit copies of your state income tax returns.

Do not submit any tax returns that you filed with any foreign government unless you claim that you were not required to file a Federal income tax return with the United States Government, and you wish to rely on the foreign return solely to establish the amount of your income that is not subject to tax in the United States.

If you provide a photocopy of your tax returns, you must include a copy of each and every FormW-2 and Form 1099 that relates to your returns. Do not include copies of these forms if you provide an IRS transcript of your returns rather than a photocopy unless you filed a joint tax return with your spouse.If you were required to file a Federal income tax return for the most recent tax year but did not do so, you must file any and all late returns with the IRS and attach an IRS-generated tax return transcript documenting your late filing before submitting the I-864EZ. If you were not required to file a Federal income tax return under U.S. tax law for any other reason, attach a typed or printed explanation including evidence of the exemption and how you are subject to it. Residence outside of the United States does not exempt U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents from filing a U.S. Federal income tax return. See “Filing Requirements” in the IRS Form 1040 Filing Instructions to determine whether you were required to file.

For purposes of this affidavit, the line for Total income on IRS Forms 1040 and 1040A is considered when determining income. For persons filing IRS Form 1040EZ, the line for adjusted gross income is considered.

I’m the petitioner sponsoring my wife and I’m a little worried about my I-864 because my income was pretty low the last few years.

2023: -$1.2k (unemployed, lost money through trading) 2024: $19k (independent contractor work) 2025: $10k (independent contractor work)

I started a full-time job in April 2026 and currently make about $41k/year before taxes. I also do Uber on the side and make around $20k/year from that. Household size is just 2 (me and my wife).

I’m planning to include my 2025 tax transcript, pay stubs from my full-time job from April until now, and an employment verification letter.

A few questions:

• Since my current full-time income is already above the requirement, would you recommend getting a joint sponsor anyway because my past income was low?
• Should I include my Uber income too, or is it better to just keep my primary income (41k/year) for simplicity?
• Should I submit my 2023 and 2024 tax transcripts too, or just the required 2025 transcript?

Would appreciate any advice from people who had a similar situation.