USCIS applicants fear rejection due to sponsor income
15 posts in the last 60 days, all from r/USCIS.
“Hi everyone! My husband’s 2025 income was too low, so we found a joint sponsor for our marriage-based AOS. Our joint sponsor earned $39,000 in 2025, but the income requirement for a household of 4 is $41,250. He previously sponsored two people who received green cards. One is…”
“Does the petitioning sponsor need to meet the requirements on his own or is the beneficiary’s (authorized to work) income accepted as well?”
“hi everyone, i am a beneficiary married a USC, and on our process of AOS, we got an RFE on i-864. As a response, we got a joint sponsor, who has around $43K income for household of 3 (included myself). however, i had questions while calculating her expected annual income…”
Applicants for US citizenship are anxious about their joint sponsors exceeding the poverty guideline threshold. They're unsure whether submitting applications with sponsors who fall just above the limit will lead to rejection.
SOURCES (15)
“Hi everyone! My husband’s 2025 income was too low, so we found a joint sponsor for our marriage-based AOS. Our joint sponsor earned $39,000 in 2025, but the income requirement for a household of 4 is $41,250. He previously sponsored two people who received green…”
“Does the petitioning sponsor need to meet the requirements on his own or is the beneficiary’s (authorized to work) income accepted as well? submitted by /u/According-Tune5147 [link] [comments]”
“hi everyone, i am a beneficiary married a USC, and on our process of AOS, we got an RFE on i-864. As a response, we got a joint sponsor, who has around $43K income for household of 3 (included myself). however, i had questions while calculating her expected annual income -- since she didn't have employment verification letter, i used her YTD income to calculate her expected income and it comes out around $49K (her last three years IRS tax transcript shows her w-2 wage as $43K). depending on”
“My joint sponsor’s income is sufficient this year and was also sufficient the year before last. However, last year his income was below the 125% requirement because health issues prevented him from working regularly. If USCIS sends an RFE asking for 3 years of tax returns, does the joint sponsor need to meet the 125% income requirement for all 3 years , or is sufficient current income what matters most? submitted by /u/EqualAttorney6232 [link] [comments]”
“He'll have a 2026 w2 of $21,000. He will be expecting $55,000 income in 2027 and beyong. If he files i-130 now, is he going to be able to sponsor a family of 3 for green card？Or is it upon officer's discretion? submitted by /u/NoMountain8155 [link] [comments]”
“I’m sponsoring my parent. We submitted i485 and all the required forms and documents online a week ago. We are family of 6 and my income is 125k which is above the 125% federal poverty guideline. I added my most recent w2 and tax transcript in the additional evidence section. I didn’t add my husband as a joint sponsor because my income already meets the 125% threshold and our household total income for the past 3 years is 250k+ each year. The RFE says they could not determine if I’m qualified. S”
“I'm the sponsor for my spouse and her 3 children. My income is almost exactly double the 125% HHS requirement for my location and number of dependents BUT I worked overseas for the last 8 years and used the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion to reduce my taxable income to below those guidlines. I'm including an employment verification letter from my employer showing my current income, and all my paystubs from them so far. Also, the tax transcripts from the past 3 years show my income being”
“For context, my husband is the main sponsor but his income last year was barely above 125% 2 person household poverty guidelines (1k above) so we filed one of his parents as a joint sponsor. We submitted the following evidence: 1. A copy of 2025 form 1040, with the total income line ~50k A copy of 1099 from their main job (Sent by their employer) A copy of W-2 from their second job as a pastor On the joint sponsor I-864 we filed household size of 3 (his parents + me) Our first mistake of forgett”
“If the petitioner themselves doesn't meet the established poverty guidelines, would it be possible to use the intending immigrant’s income alone in order to adjust status? Or would it still be required to have a co-sponsor? I'm curious to know if anyone knows or has had success adjusting status using the intending immigrant’s income when it surpasses the poverty guidelines of a 2-member household. Thoughts or feedback is greatly appreciated! TIA submitted by /u/Huge_Cat_8809”
“Hey everyone, How do you handle Form I-864 for family adjustments when your last tax return was below the poverty line, but your current projected income is well above it and a joint sponsor is NOT an option? This seems to trigger RFEs of some sort if not handled well in time. This happens a lot to younger adults just starting out post-high school or adults transitioning careers. If you have beaten this exact scenario, please share your experience: How did you prove your current income was stabl”
“Hi everyone. I’m looking for advice or experiences from anyone who has been in a similar I-864 situation.I married my U.S. citizen husband more than a year ago. We filed for Adjustment of Status this summer. My husband’s 2024 income was over $40,000 and sufficient, but his 2025 tax return shows a low income because he moved to my state after we got married and spent some time looking for a new job. He now has a stable W-2 job and makes about $55,000/year, about a month ago we received an I-864 R”
“State department faqs says I864 can be submitted and do not include the members who did not yet immigrate submitted by /u/Feeling-Audience1575 [link] [comments]”
“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. Woul”
“Hey folks, Got my RFE. Looks like USCIS is not 100% confident my sponsors income is sufficient. His yearly income is 83k/year for 7 ppl, which is roughly 168% above poverty line. I did provide his US passport photo, his W2 for 2025, and pay stubs for 3 months. Can someone help me figure our what exactly they are asking for? Like, what is mandatory to submit, and what is recommended that I submit? I see something about doing the house appraisal, but it's expensive. If it's mandatory, we w”