As an immigration lawyer, I frequently have to deal with issues arising from taxation of non-US citizens. We must submit tax returns to support various types of applications, including family or business sponsorship and to survive deportation from the US. This article will focus on tax issues in family sponsorship situations, with one exception: filing as the spouse of a US citizen creates its own issues that are best addressed in its own article.
A foreign national may be sponsored for permanent residence by a US citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident spouse, by a US citizen parent, by a Lawful Permanent Resident parent if the person is single, and by US citizen brothers and sisters. Once the sponsorship “petition” is filed, the person has a place in line to wait for a visa under the annual quotas. This place in line is called a “priority date.” When a visa becomes available under the quotas based on the priority date, the sponsor must submit tax returns to demonstrate that they have sufficient income to support the relative coming to the US. The critical number used to establish this is the sponsor’s adjusted gross income from the 1040 form.
The sponsor’s AGI must exceed 125% of the poverty guidelines as set by the US Department of Health and Human Services for that sponsor to qualify. The required income amounts are listed on the US Citizenship and Immigration Services Form I-864P, which can be found under the forms and fees section of www.uscis.gov. For a household of 2 people, which would be a single person sponsoring one immigrant with no children to either person, the required AGI on the most recent tax year’s 1040 form is $17,500 for 2008. That will have to be documented with the 1040 form itself and with a W-2, 1099 or relevant schedules from the 1040 form, in addition to current proof of business ownership or employment.
If the sponsor does not have sufficient AGI, then the immigrating relative will have to find a US Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident to be the financial co-sponsor on the case. A co-sponsor is not required to be related to the sponsor or the immigrating relative, but must meet the AGI requirements independently. In other words, the law does not allow us to cumulate the sponsor’s and the co-sponsor’s incomes to meet the requirement.
In the event a sponsor cannot meet the income requirement, assets may be factored into the analysis. For assets to qualify the sponsor, they must be reasonably liquefiable within 12 months, and must be valued at 5 times the income deficiency. So, for example, a single person sponsoring one relative who had zero AGI on the most recent tax return could still qualify as a sponsor if he or she could show $87500 in currently owned assets. These would include a house with that much equity, cards, funds in bank or investment accounts, even household items, but only if the value can be conclusively demonstrated. For more information please visit my website at www.gldlaw.com.