Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

Afternoon all, I am just starting the process of trying to understand the immigration visa timeline and am struggling to follow the right order of visa vs employment progress. I'll give a brief summary of us as a family first:
me: 32/m; UK born, UK parents, staff oil & gas control systems engineer for a UK company location with a US parent company, earn a good wage, have decent savings, no debt. Can give figures in more detail if needed.
wife: 37/; US born, US parents, been housewife in UK since we married c 10 years ago.
daughter, 2 1/2, UK born, UK passport.

I gave some indications to management around 6-9 months that wife and I would like to move to the US for various reasons. Recently had feedback that an opportunity could likely be available sometime 2020. As I read it, I'm going to need to be the financial sponsor but my wife can be the immigration sponsor for me and the daughter to emigrate.

The problem I have is understanding what order this would work in terms of demonstrating my financial support vs getting a job offer. I doubt the company will want to sponsor me for a visa and I don't know if they will give me a formal offer without me demonstrating legal ability to work, i.e. visa and green card. I'm also concerned at causing frustration if I meet and start discussing terms etc with the future workplace management only to leave them with an open gap for months if the process is slower than hoped for. If I start the immigration process without a job offer then I don't know whether my current financial situation and current employment earning power alone would be sufficient to demonstrate that I could support in the US.

Has anyone else had a similar situation or had experience on how to co-ordinate a job transfer/ re-employment with the same parent co vs financial demonstration? I know when my then fiancee needed the UK fiancee visa she was able to expedite it using an agent that could go straight to the processing center, but I don't see any equivalent fast-track approach to get US immigration, any suggestions?

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

Hi and welcome to BE.

There is no way to expedite your visa.

If you want to do the spouse immigrant visa, your wife will be your financial sponsor. She can use your income if it will continue from the same source it does now, so you would need proof on paper that your company will transfer you to the USA, and what your US salary will be. You will need this proof to take with you to the visa interview (as part of the I-864 affidavit of support).

If the company won't provide that, then your wife can use a joint sponsor for the I-864. Any USC or US LPR living in the USA who earns enough for their own household plus the immigrant. Details at www.uscis.gov.

Also, isn't your daughter a USC? She will need a US passport to enter the USA.

Rene

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

Thank you, I was pretty sure there was no way to expedite it but I didn't want to find I'd missed something.

Our daughter was UK born and so we got her a UK passport as at the time we didn't have any real plans to move stateside, however for various family reasons things have changed and my wife and daughter and her US family being closer would be nice.

When it comes to finances, I am anticipating that I may actually need to resign/ leave my current UK company and become re-employed with a US arm, which has the potential to complicate things in demonstrating earnings. I was reading the I-864 and the section on Assets offers the ability to list the principal immigrants savings and net value of property as assets in support of the application as well as the sponsor assets. It also states this:

"The total value of all assets, line 10, must equal 5 times (3 times for spouses and children of USCs, or 1 times for orphans) the difference between the poverty guidelines and the sponsor's household income, line 10"

The online guide for sponsorship (F3) says it needs to be proven at 125% of the poverty level guidelines. If I take our savings and add a conservative net value of our house, then I come out at approx 10 times the US poverty level line; or if I take into account the 125% of the poverty line rule referred to, it would be the 8.5 times. That looks like we can justify having sufficient interim income without including my present salary. I think I need to research the pros and cons of submitting the application now using only the assets listed so that I can get the process underway versus the risk of us being declined if there is no demonstrated continued income.

We're pretty limited in finding another US sponsor from my in-laws, although possible I'm not sure if it would further complicate the process.

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

So you'll be getting your daughter's US passport then?

Regarding the use of assets to meet the financial requirements, cash in the bank works best. Equity in property can be used, but only if you're going to sell the home. If you plan to rent it out, you can't use it as an asset anymore, but the rental income can be used as income. Assets must equal 3x the amount lacking in income (in your case, since it's marriage based).

Why would using your wife's parent as a joint sponsor complicate the process? It's the most straightforward way to meet I-864 requirements.

Also, not sure what you are referring to with the "online guide for sponsorship (F3)". The guide for sponsorship is the I-864P.

Rene

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

Assuming you file the I-130 directly to the USCIS field office in London, the proof of assets is not due until you go to your visa interview. Your wife can submit the I-130 now, and then you have 6 months or more to sort out the I-864.

Rene

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

As far as I know the USCIS office in London is still accepting DCF applications which is significantly quicker than the normal process.

Does not sound like you filed a CRBA for your daughter?

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

I'll confess I'm confused here. I'd read on the USCIS immigration pages and the I-130 instructions that they could be used for a US citizen to petition for their under-21 child to come to the US, but I didn't consider whether being eligible for US citizenship could rule that out or not. We didn't contact consulate or have them file a CRBA after my daughter was born, and she obtained a UK child passport based on my UK status. We have been to the US to see family and she has entered the US with her UK child passport without issue.
Will she need to get dual nationality/ obtain a US passport before any emigration, or can she gain a visa initially and enter as a UK citizen and later apply for US citizenship?

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

US Citizens are required to enter the US with their US passport. Hopefully the prior misuse does not impact you.

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

Thanks for the advice, based on only taking into account cash savings I probably need support of a salary too.

Neither of my wife's parents would be in a position to act as joint sponsor, and she is only in regular contact with one of them. I have a brother-in-law who could possibly help, but I wasn't sure how much documentation and demonstration of finances would be necessary.

The forum won't let me post links for what I meant by the F3, but google shows it as the first post if you search "uscis guide to financially sponsor".

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

Your daughter is a USC. She needs a US passport. I would get started on that immediately.

Rene

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

The brother in law would need to complete an I-864, provide proof of US citizenship, and the most recent 3 years of US tax returns. If he's not comfortable sending that to you, he can send it directly to the USCIS field office.

Rene

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

The financial obligation is detailed in the I 864.

How do you intend to show domicile?

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

In London, they only need to show intent to domicile, and even then it's not always asked for.

Rene

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

Yikes! I'd read it as meaning that if an application was made for her to obtain US citizenship then she would be required to use her US passport from then on for US entry, but I didn't understand that she HAD to, I took it mean she would be eligible to apply. Thank you for your help, I'll get on that first!

Re: Financial sponsor vs job offer: chicken & egg?
 

Your daughter should have entered the US on her US passport. If her mother has the right to pass US Citizen on to her children, then your children would be dual citizens. You always leave and enter the US on your US passport. It is a matter of law. Since your daughter is unknown to the US government as a US citizen since she was not registered with the US Consulate in London for her CRBA, she had no problem.
ASA you can afford to, please register her birth with the US Consulate and also apply for her US Passport. All that information is listed on the US Embassy London website.

I see you are horribly confused as noted by the above. She is already a dual citizen. We don't use the term nationality in the US. Yes, she needs a US Passport before immigrating to the US and she does NOT require a visa because she is a US citizen already. She does not have to apply for US Citizenship, she is already a US Citizen.