Yogilynn02

I hope someone can clarify something for me. I'm a USC living in the UK and married to a Brit. We've just received confirmation that our I-130 petition has been received; so I'm now trying to get all out other paperwork together. My problem is that I'm a homemaker with no income. Our intention is to sell up and move back home and set up over there. I'm not worried about finding jobs, but for the purposes of the I 864 I cannot support my husband. We will have assets from the sale of our house, but that's about it and anyway that's is supposed to be used to help us establish ourselves and survive until we get jobs. Am I right I thinking I'll need a joint sponsor? We want to ask my husband's cousin as my mom is retired and doesn't have the income to support us. Can a cousin be a sponsor? Does it matter that he won't be living in the same city as us? What form do I need to tell him to fill out?

Sorry for the ramble, but this is my first post. Thanks to anyone who can offer advice.

lansbury

Welcome to BE.

You can have your cousin as a joint sponsor, I think the form is 864A they will need to fill out. While you might need the money from the sale of your house when you get here, it might still be possible to use that as an asset. The value of assets needs to be three times the required annual income for a sponsor. Having a joint sponsor might be the best option if that is possible.

ian-mstm

Yes.


As the USC spouse, you are your husband's sponsor; his cousin would be a joint sponsor. That said... yes, he can be a joint sponsor as long as he's either a US citizen or a US permanent resident (= green card), over 18, and living in the US. He must meet all 3 requirements to be a joint sponsor.


No.


He will need to complete an I-864 (not I-864A)... and you also will need to complete an I-864.

Ian

lansbury

Thanks for the correction Ian, had a feeling I got that bit wrong.

Yogilynn02

Thanks both for the quick reply. I know this whole process takes months, but I feel like I should get everything done as quickly as possible so I'm totally ready for when they do contact me. We'll be getting in touch with my husband's cousin today.

Yogilynn02

Just got a letter from the Embassy, they have 'received an approved petition in support' of my husbands visa application. They have directed me to their web site http://London.usembassy.gov/ds2001.html

I have looked at this site and it seems to say that all we have to do is get our supporting documents together, book a medical appointment and wait for the interview? Is that correct am I reading it right? I thought the process was going to take at least 10 months and it hasn't even been two!! Can someone let me know if I'm understanding this whole process? Thanks

Noorah101

Yes it seems you understand correctly. Filing the I-130 directly to London (as you did) can sometimes be a much faster process. Congratulations!

Rene

jeffreyhy

You are not reading it right. Either that, or you have not fully described what you read. If your husband just collects his documents and books a medical appointment he will be waiting forever for an interview that will not happen.

Regards, JEff

Noorah101

JEff is right...I neglected to say that there is something you need to send in, to let them know you're ready to be interviewed.

Rene

Yogilynn02

Thanks. That was further down the letter. I guess I was so stunned that I heard back so fast, I didn't take that part in!

jeffreyhy

Also, he needs to send in part 1 of the visa application. (DS-230-I)

Regards, JEff

thommo7879

Hi Yogi.

I think you're at exactly the same stage as me in the process right now.

I've just posted away Part 1 ONLY of the DS-230 form today.

I'm waiting on the ACPO Police Report coming back first before booking my medical down in London.

Have you made sure all your injections are up to date?

I had to get my MMR, and Tetanus and Polio again last week as they hadn't been recorded on my records when I was a kid

I also need to go back for a booster too which I'm going to get done, again, before the medical.

I don't know if you're aware of it, but when the nurse at my Medical Centre phoned the surgery in Knightsbridge to query the vaccinations required, she was told I needed to get the flu shot too, even although it's not on their list.

We are kind of worried too about the sponsor/affadavid type thing, as we are selling up here too, and will be going over there with the proceeds of our house sale (approx £150k) plus any savings etc we have.

The affadavid thing is the only thing I've not looked into yet, and it's the only thing that I can see might cause us some problems, however I'm hoping and am sure that the consulate realise that there must be a lot of people in our position, who are basically starting afresh over in the USA and as a result, cant provide income details, have guarantors, etc??

That's what I'm hoping is the case anyway.

Anyway, if you can, then please keep me up to date with how you're getting on as we're both roughly at the same stage in the process, and any extra information we can find out can only be beneficial to us both

Cheers
Graham

jeffreyhy

What you need to realize is that the consular officers follow the law and the policies that have been established to implement the law. If your financial situation is in accordance with law and policy "the affidavit thing" will not cause a problem. If your financial situation is not in accordance with law and policy it will cause a problem.

When you start looking into it, I recommend that you put 9 FAM 40.41 Notes on your reading list. It isn't easy reading, but it is what consular officers go by and what you'll have to deal with.

Regards, JEff

thommo7879

Thanks again for the reply Jeff.

Please don't think I was rubbushing the policy or anything like that, as it's the last thing that I think I'm going to need to look at, plan, and sort out before being ready for an interview.

I've not done any research on that "final hurdle" yet, but that's only because I've been trying to make sure all the dots are dotted and all the t's are crossed for everything that I've submitted so far.

All advice is greatly appreciated though and next on my list is the I-864 form

Noorah101

In addition to the I-864, also take a look at Form I-864P at www.uscis.gov. I-864P is the guideline you need to use when calculating whether the USC meets the financial requirements to sponsor you. It sounds like there won't be any income to count (neither of you will be receiving income from the same source once inside the USA, I assume?). It sounds like you plan to use assets to qualify (cash in the bank works best). So, if you have the proceeds from your house sale plus some cash in savings, that is what your USC spouse will list on the I-864. Keep in mind that assets need to be 3x what is lacking in income. So if it's just the two of you in the household (no kids or other dependents), you'd need at least $56,736 in savings to show as an asset. Sounds like you'll exceed this requirement, so probably nothing to worry about.

I'd worry if you can't sell your house, and have to list the value of the house as an asset...that might make meeting the requirement more difficult. Not insurmountable, but less desireable than having the cash in the bank.

The ConOffs do see this type of thing, every day. However, they will not take that into consideration if you don't meet the financial requirements...i.e., they won't cut you any slack. You either meet the requirements or you don't.

Rene