borntotravel16

How can we meet financial requirements? I am USA citizen been living in UK for 6 years married to UK citizen our son has dual nationality. so he can travel. We are through the first hurdle after 12months now need to submit evidence I am a qualified teacher been working in UK husband is a joiner. Looks like I have to prove I am earning enough in USA to meet financial requirements for us but how when I work in UK ?

Pulaski

You either need to leave the UK and obtain employment in the US so that you do have US income, or, hopefully more likely, you need to prove assets/ savings, which can be cash savings or anything with a market value that can be liquidated.

So money in a bank account and investments such as shares, bonds or unit trusts are easy to value. Also equity in your home is acceptable - supported by evidence of value - I used a letter from an estate agent. Note that UK pension accounts do not work for this purpose as they cannot be liquidated.

Assuming you're planning to leave the UK, at a pinch you should also be able to use a conservative value for your car(s) - conservative meaning what you could expect to get for it if you needed to sell it fairly quickly, which would be a good bit less than you would expect to pay for it in its current condition.

Noorah101

If using assets, the value must be 3x the amount lacking in income. Or you could use a joint sponsor. Read the I-864 form and instructions.

Rene

S Folinsky

Your post reminds me of a phone call I received on Christmas Day. I’ve known Daniel since he was a newborn.

I am a retired immigration lawyer squarely within the Boomer generation. My grown children are in the generational cohort of youngest GenX and oldest Mllennials. An appreciable number of their cohort have married people who are not US citizens. I will then get inquiries from their parents on US immigration. Inasmuch as my bar license is inactive, I cannot give any legal advice. I do feel comfortable giving a referral to an immigration attorney who I know to be knowledgeable, dedicated and whose fees are quite reasonable.

So, Daniel is a U.S. Citizen. Like OP in this thread, he is a qualified teacher. He had been living in France for quite some time and was married to a French woman. They had decided to relocate to California. They had been doing it themselves with the aid of on-line information. They had gotten to the point that they felt stymied by the financial forms and the projected length of time. I made my normal referral.

Daniel had called me to thank me for the referral to the attorney and that his wife had obtained her immigrant visa the previous week. He felt that the legal guidance had halve the projected processing time. Of particular interest, none of the on line information suggested how to take advantage of his California credential.

Pulaski

Sorry Mr Folinsky, I have enjoyed reading some of your posts over the years, but has it really come down this? ..... 49½% story time, 49½% riddles, and 1% something possibly useful, assuming that coming to an online forum to be told to speak to an attorney is considered "useful". Personally I consider 1% for that to be generous, not because it is not necessarily helpful, but someone shouldn't need to read a web forum to learn that, and IMO is unlikely to be why people post here on BE.

S Folinsky

As to “riddles” I submit that the entire US immigration system is a series of riddles. I did not create that system. Nonetheless, almost any discussion of immigration, other than “two plus two” type will involve riddles. And that Godforsaken affidavit of support requirement is often the most PIA part of a marriage case.

OP’s post is one I would normally not respond to; not even “best if you hire an attorney.” The only reason I posted is the similarity to a fact pattern where old friends sought to discuss the application of their daughter-in-law. I provided the legal referral and promptly forgot about it. Then I received that Christmas Day call happened.

Pulaski

Undoubtedly, but are we here to discuss riddles or to provide possible answers?

S Folinsky

I don’t disagree. But those riddles and resolution thereof are the path to correct answers in any individual case.