LondonLondon

Hi,

I have dual nationality (British and US) but have lived in England all my life. I am hoping to move to the US next year with my husband, but am worried about having to sponsor him since I will only be able to get a job when I get there so I will have no proof of income when we apply for his visa. I have read some information on joint sponsors and I have relatives in the US who would be able to prove large incomes. Is this the way to go? Otherwise, do they take into account your savings or earning potential?

In addition, to take my husband over to the US, do I have to have lived there for a certain period of time?

Many thanks.

ian-mstm

If you do not have your own income from a US source, a joint sponsor is the way to go, yes.


No. As long as you are a USC, there is no US residency requirement for sponsoring eligibility.

Ian

Folinskyinla

Hi:

You only need to be a US Citizen. No need for prior residence. That comes into play if you had children born outside of the US and you wanted to give "derivative" citizenship to them.

Yes, you can use a joint sponsor. However, do note that YOU will have to still file an I-864 -- even if it is 'deficient' for "public charge" purposes. Do note that you have to provide the information from your last three US tax returns, a copy of your last US tax return. If you did not file, you have to give a reason why you were not required to file those returns.

By the way, the assets test can be met by having assets which are 3 times the 125% poverty level. If so, you will not need a joint sponsor.

meauxna

You can use a Joint Sponsor or your own assets if you do not have a US income. It's probably easier to just start with the form and its instructions and see if it clears things up for you:

I-864 Affidavit of Support

Also, since you'll be petitioning in London, read the 2 links in my signature for a jump start. There is more info on the I-864 for your situation in the links in the first article.

LondonLondon

Thanks for your responses. I have never filed a US tax return... didn't actually know I was obliged to until recently so I have some relatives in the US who are looking in to that for me. I know... bad excuse.

As for the assets, does that include what we have over here in the UK? (obviously we have nothing in the US yet!) We have our own house which is worth the equivalent of $800,000 but we intend on keeping it and renting it out rather than selling up.

Many thanks.

meauxna

You can start yourself on the tax returns; the IRS info on the London Embassy site (from 2nd link) will help you. You must basically start with the past 3 years, and it's not as bad as you might think. Many here have done the battle.
Don't feel badly, most people do not know that they need to report overseas income.

If you are going to keep your UK property, you can use the equity as an asset. You need a property valuation (can be informal) to show worth, and a mortgage balance to show the debt. The difference is your 'asset' for the I-864. Note that assets are tallied differently than income.

LondonLondon

Thanks everyone for all your responses. I am going to make my way through all the information and no doubt, post back with some more questions! Didn't think it would be this hard!! Thanks again.

BritishGuy36

We are using house equity alone for the I-864 requirement.

I am not sure you should mention at any point that you plan to rent out your house rather than selling it, to be counted as assets your house equity needs to be viewed as readily convertable to liquid assets within 12 months.

As you aren't planning to do that (or to be more accurate, are planning to do exactly the opposite!), any hint that you are not selling up may disqualify your equity as far as satisfying the I-864 requirement is concerned.

Currently for the I-864 requirement assets of around $51,000 or equivalent are required for a family of two.

LondonLondon

Good point BritishGuy36- have just read that through one of the above links. Have you had any problem just using the equity in our house for the I-864 requirement?

One question - we are only planning to be in the US for a year or two at first (kind of like a career break) and then if we like it, we would move there properly. (ie. we would sell up here and buy over there). Is there no other option other than applying for the spouse visa if we only want to spend a short time there?
Thanks.

BritishGuy36

Your options are limited if you plan to be stateside for a full two years (as far as I can tell from reading the comments of others on this forum). Spousal visa is the way to go.

We are still waiting for I-130 approval at this time so haven't got as far as sorting out the I-864 but according to others who have done it house equity is fine - as long as you have enough of it to satisfy the requirement.

LondonLondon

I figured that may be the case... guess it is worth doing the whole spouse visa thing anyway in case we do decide to stay over there for good (highly likely - can't wait to get out of the UK!!)

We would have more than enough equity so am hoping that will solve our problem of me not being able to prove income in the US.

Great, have got some really good info on this site - thanks guys.

BritishGuy36

You can get the I-130 bit out of the way at any point, but don't start the visa application (DS-230) until at most 8 months before you want to travel - once a visa is issued you need to use it within 6 months of issue, or else it lapses and you have to start again....AND.....it may be harder to get it the second time ("why didn't you use the first visa we issued?")

There is no commitment to the I-130 but DS-230 is a different story.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

$800,000 in the house is considered a "liquid" asset for I-864 purposes.

Get a FORMAL appraisal of the house. Not being familiar the real estate sales terminology in the UK, I will use US terminology -- you do NOT want a brief letter from a real estate agent saying "I am of the opinion that your house can sell for x amount of pounds." What is needed is an appraisal that a BANK will accept for a mortgage -- this describes your home, describes in details the recent sales of "comparable" properties and noting how they are comparable [same size and condition, 200 yards down the street etc etc]. The more "comps" the better -- but at least three.

You don't need to intend to sell the place, it is sufficient if you COULD sell the place.

On the tax returns, you may be OK -- but do contact ACS/IRS at the Embassy. However, there may be tax implications if you sell your UK house AFTER your husband immigrates. Also, the rental income from that UK house will be subject to US income tax. You will need a "CPA" [same as "chartered accountant"] who is savvy on this. I don't think the mass marked "tax preparers" [e.g. "H&R Block"] or tax software [TurboTax and such] will suffice.

I can't give you any advice on tax affairs other than to tell you to beware. I know a young woman whose father died when she was quite young and left a huge sum of money for her in trust. She started getting the payouts [of income from the trust -- it is a "spendthrift" as to the principal] when she was 18 and just loved the big checks she was getting. When she was 28, she was contacted by the Internal Revenue Service about the income taxes she wasn't paying for the past 10 years -- it was an unpleasant shock. I have no idea if the attorney I referred her to has resolved the matter yet.

meauxna

Home equity is used all the time; I used mine from our primary residence when we first applied.

Renting should not have anything to do with it plus or minus; a rental can still be sold within 12 months if required. Renting the house out does not disqualify it as an asset for the I-864.

meauxna

Formal appraisals have not been required in the past for people from London using real estate as an asset; it's a very common occurrence there. OP can find more detailed postings on sites like dive into America and uk-yankee where participants used to post their local filing details to confirm what's worked in the past.

The tax thing was discussed recently; OP might find this thread useful:

Tax payable in the US when Primary Residence sold in the UK