SecretGarden

Hi Matt,
Good, you're not too pissed off at me for my tone of irritation..... Anyway, if she has been at college the past three years and had no income and hasn't filed taxes, then you would have no tax returns to submit with the I-134. Clarify this with her. In general, taxes are due on April 15th of each year. If she has all of the information that she needs to file for this current year, tell her to get it done right away, and send a copy of it to you. That way you'll have at least one, and it's up to the minute! Also, she should write a cover letter with the I-134 explaining that she was in full time study for those past years and had no income, therefore did not file taxes. If that is the case---I'm still a bit confused on whether she has filed or not.

As far as "how can they justify asking for returns when they tell you nothing about needing them?"----you're going to learn that in dealing with government entities, (paraphrasing Folinskyinla here) their goal is to keep you OUT until they feel they have received adequate evidence from you that you should be let IN.

And, they can ask for anything they want. Get used to it, because this is simply the first step of a long process to get here and settle permanently.

In general, the people here who have gone through London have indicated that they had very pleasant, low key, friendly interview experiences. My husband did too! And that's a plus. However, I would hate to see you have to walk away without an outright approval IF there is evidence your fiancee had available and didn't use. It takes all of about a minute and a half to copy tax returns.

But, then again, I'm probably old enough to be your Mom, and I worry.

"I only want you to be *happy*!!!!"

~SecretGarden

Jason

not at all - if the OP has read the instructions on the DS200 (instead
of glossing over two thirds of it to get to the fun part about
assembling an I-134 - sound familiar?) and decided he needs the
Affadavit then I hope he finds the info posted useful.

ukmancoll

Jason,

what are you talking about??

Why would I NOT need the Affadavit...?

I have never recieved any DS2000 form...

Are you ok?

SecretGarden

Matt,
If you read Jason's posts in your other thread (and others relating to the I-134 and/or using immigrant's own assets), you would know that he had an experience different from many people on the group. He went for his interview, after just selling his house, and instead of submitting an Affidavit of Support from his foreign fiancee, used money in his bank account and the proceeds from the house sale to satisfy the requirements. He seems to think that, in general, we as a group are "panicked" about the affidavit and tell people to (paraphrasing here) "rush off and spend hours and hours putting together this difficult document".

Anyway, as I said in your other thread-----IF you have assets, by all means, use them. They are listed on the London Embassy's website as one means to satisfy the financial requirement. However, no one (including Jason) appears to have a definitive amount in pounds that the consulate will accept. SOOOOOOOOOOOO.

My point again, is that the I-134 is ALSO one accepted means of satisfying the requirement, and if you can do that, it's probably in your best interest. Have your fiancee get her taxes done now (which shouldn't be that complicated as she was a student last year and probably doesn't have that many complicated deductions for this year), and have her send you a copy with the W2s. She writes a letter to the effect that prior to this, she was a fulltime student, sends you her employment letter and some paystubs, and VOILA.

Hope this helps and doesn't incite a panicked riot on the group, eh Jason?

~SecretGarden

ukmancoll

Hi SecretGarden,

My fiancee has said to me that she is doing her tax returns right now, but won't get them back until anywhere from April to June time. Does that sound right?

Are you saying she should be sending me the document that she sends off to the governement? Or sending me what she recieves BACK from the government?

Thanks....

SecretGarden

Hi,
She isn't going to get anything BACK from the government except, perhaps, a monetary refund check. No, she should be sending you a copy of the document she sends to the government. That's what it means when they say, "a copy of your tax return". She also needs to send you the original of her W-2. She should know what this is---it's the small document which lists her salary, the amount that was witheld for taxes, social security, etc. The government will send her several of these: one to be filed with the tax return and one to be kept for her own records.

In my opinion, it would be best for her to get her taxes done ASAP, send you a copy and just be done with it. The I-134 is not a difficult form to fill out, particularly in your situation. I'm at work right now, and am really not supposed to be posting, so I might have to delay any further answers until later on this evening.

~SecretGarden

Jason

the DS2000 (also called the OF-167) is included with Packet 3 and is
the "Evidence Which May Be Presented To Meet The Public Charge
Provisions Of The Law" document, detailing the three financial support
options you have at your disposal to prove you won't become a public
charge.

To correct you on three points:

1) actually I just used the proceeds from the sale of my house as my
bank account was pretty empty when it got to K1 interview time. Just as
you used a sponsor who was comfortably over the 125% poverty limit -
thus I used funds that were comfortably over the minimum funds level. I
fail to see the difference? Whatever option you choose
(funds/job/co-sponsor) as long as you comfortably satisfy the
requirements you're fine.

2) I agree there is no definitive amount in pounds written anywhere
which is why I emailed the London Embassy. The reply I got was directly
from the Consular Processing Unit at the Embassy and informed me that
anything "upwards of a thousand pounds" is acceptable to them. I agree
it doesn't seem much but as they issue the visa's I'd rather listen to
them?

3) Perhaps the "rushing off" comment was a tad strong for which I
apologise but I can provide a list of *countless* threads where people
have said the I-134 is an absolutely must at K1 interview. It plainly
is not and I am just trying to correct the mis-information. Essentially
I don't care what people use - but most people don't seem to be aware
there is a *choice*.

SecretGarden

Jason,
Not to be pedantic, but your list above is not a list of "corrections" to my post, as:

~in #1 above, you are correcting *yourself* after you posted that you "did exactly that!" by going with a thousand pounds in your account and nothing else. Remember where you failed to mention that house sale in the initial thread?

~in #2 above it certainly looks like you and I are in agreement. A thousand pounds hardly seems like enough, and it's not written down anywhere "official" except on an email that you got from the consulate regarding *your personal situation*. Perhaps when they sent you that email, they were aware that you had sold your house? I'm assuming you included that in your email to them asking what amount of assets would be needed on your part?

~in #3 above you indicate that you agree your wording was too strong. There is absolutely NO REASON for this OP or anyone else in his situation to panic, or rush off and spend "hours and hours" gathering documentation. His situation is simple: his wife-to-be is getting her taxes done, she currently has a job, I'm assuming that she can fill out a ten-minute form, get a letter from her employer and figure out how to get to the post office or UPS and send these things over to him. THIS IS NO BIG DEAL. IF you have had experience with the I-134 and found it difficult to complete, or the documentation difficult to gather, THEN you would have a reason to give an opinion on the "panic" involved in filling out an I-134. You haven't, so how do you know how difficult it is to fill out?

When you and I went back and forth about this before, I told you that I remembered my wording to be that you would have to have this form at the interview unless you could prove that you had significant assets to sponsor yourself. In Matt's initial post on the other thread, he gave no indication whatsoever that he had any assets other than (what you and I agree is) a small amount in his bank account. It was that information to which I tailored my original response in his previous thread.

For goodness' sake. If his wife-to-be can spend a little bit of time getting this thing together and he can take it to the interview, then WHY would you discourage him from doing so??? The point is to GET THE VISA. A valid I-134 is going to take Matt and his fiancee quite a bit closer to GETTING THAT VISA than simply showing up with a bank statement and saying, "I hope it's enough".

I have this vision of you sitting in your chair, carefully combing the headers for anything whatsoever to do with the Affidavit of Support and excitedly clicking your mouse to make sure that no one "incites panic" about the I-134.

I give up. We each took our own path for a variety of reasons. My goal here is simply to provide information based on my experience.

Matt, give them what they want, and barring unforeseen circumstances, you'll get your visa.

~SecretGarden

pushing tin

Hi

YES! Your wife does need to file her US tax returns if she is the USC. We recently had our interview (DCF London) and they are definately required. They do however have a IRS department in the building if you need help filing. Just fill out what you can and they will help you do the rest. We met another couple on that day that did this. Good luck!

Tina

USA & Pakistan

Can we say... "mountain out of a mole hill"?

Simple question, simple answer... done.

Marnee

SecretGarden

Hi Tina,
Matt (the one asking the questions) is in the UK and his fiancee is in the US. They are planning to apply for a K-1 fiance visa, so she will be the one doing the tax return. And thanks for echoing what I've been saying all along.

~SecretGarden

SecretGarden

No sh*t. Karma for Marnee!!!!!!!



~SG

USA & Pakistan

Right back at ya!

pushing tin

Thanks.....I sorted butted in on the conversation y'all had going, but I was just tring to make it seem a little simpler. We too agonised over this one as I have been in the UK for 22 years and had never filed until I was asked to on the I-130 forms for my hubby. I'm glad I went ahead and did it. It's not really that big of a deal looking back, but it seemed like a huge mountain to climb at the time! We have just sold our house and are hoping to be in the US in about 6 weeks! Cheers!

Tina

pushing tin

Thanks.....I sorted butted in on the conversation y'all had going, but I was just trying to make it seem a little simpler. We too agonised over this one as I have been in the UK for 22 years and had never filed until I was asked to on the I-130 forms for my hubby. I'm glad I went ahead and did it. It's not really that big of a deal looking back, but it seemed like a huge mountain to climb at the time! We have just sold our house and are hoping to be in the US in about 6 weeks! Cheers!

Tina