Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

It's the I-134 that you'll be filing initially. What I'm recommending is look at the I-864 series of forms as the targets you want to meet - since I-134 doesn't give you a number to shoot for.

At the end of the day numbers you are quoting are too low for when you get to the Adjustment of Status stage.

I grant you, there's a few steps between here and there but I'd hate to see you back in around a year asking for help because you've been denied your AOS.

Make sure when you file your I-134's for the K1 that you've taken into account the targets outlined in I-864P.

At my interview I was told my (then) fiancée's finances were on the low side (and I submitted 3x I-134's - one for my fiancée, and a pair for her parents) but as soon as I quoted the I-864P requirements the interviewer stopped that line of questioning (to this day I honestly believe if I'd not had a counter-argument I would have had my K1 declined).

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

Regarding those targets in the I-864P, I'm assuming that they would define the size of your household by the amount of people living there... For a household of 2 (which I assume also includes me by the time we get to the AoS stage where this is required) is $18,387, as you said.

Foreseeable problem; The household that we will be living in will have (including me) 4 residents... MIL, Fiancee, Friend & I, Which adds almost $10,000 onto that $18,000. The Wiki also states that;

"In the case of a K1 visa application, the financial support has to come from the sponsoring USC who filed the petition for the K1 visa."

So does that mean that the $28,000 has to be my fiancees income alone then, or can it still be split between say my fiance and my MIL?

Or did I mis-read something?

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

Read the actual I-864 instructions to see how they describe who needs to be counted as a "household member".

Hmmm, I'll have to check out the Wiki. But in general, the income shown on the I-134 cannot be split between two people. I don't think it MUST be your fiancee who does the I-134, I think it can be her MIL. If your fiancee does not earn enough, her mother can do an I-134, assuming SHE earns enough.

It might be a good idea if your fiancee AND her mother EACH give you an I-134 with their own individual information on it. You can have MIL's handy at your interview if the ConOff says your fiancee doesn't qualify.

Also, the I-134 does NOT use a specific dollar amount that must be met. So it doesn't have to be $18,000 or $28,000...it can be whatever the ConOff feels is enough to prevent you from becoming a public charge in the USA.

Rene

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

Co-sponsors are fine - even at the I-134 stage (I used three I-134's). So you'd be able to have two I-134's submitted at the K1 stage (assuming that the numbers add up - you may need more).

At the AOS stage, you'd likely submit an I-864 (for your, then, wife) and an I-864a (for your MIL, as part of the same household).

Household size does not have to include the friend (so long as no-one resident is financially responsible for them - see i-864instr.pdf for details) so you can target $22,887 at the AOS stage instead.

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

Awesome, thanks ^^ For a moment there I thought I was screwed in all honesty. When it gets to the AoS stage, $22,887 between my then wife and MIL shouldn't be a problem seeing as he won't be financially dependent :)

Anyways, whilst it is technically my day off now, I need sleep before confusing myself more... I'll be glad when my fiancee and I don't have a 7 hour time difference, plays hell with my sleep/work schedule at the moment.

Thanks again for the help guys, really do appreciate everything ^^

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

The "$22,887 between them" will only apply if your wife is your sponsor, and her mother is a contributing household member, adding her income to your wife's income, and assuming the household size at that time is 3.

Rene

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

Since this was your experience, far be it from me to dispute you on that. However, there is no mechanism for a co-sponsor for an I-134. It simply doesn't exist. There is only a sponsor. The sponsor can be the I-129F petitioner, the I-129F beneficiary, or anyone else who meets the eligibility and financial criteria.

I'm guessing that once you quoted the I-864P guidelines (which, by the way, the officer did not have to accept), the officer decided that one of the three I-134s that you had was acceptable to fulfill the requirements. I really doubt that it was some combination of the three that did it for you.

I caution you not to use your experience with the I-134 as a guideline for others to follow.

Ian

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

Caveat emptor then. I only referred the OP to my experience as his situation sounded quite similar to my own.

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

I'm guessing the same.

Regards, JEff

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

One last minor question, I'm about to post everything, but I was looking at a few posts and it seems that there is a bit of confusion over the G325a Form. I read over the instructions provided with the I-129f when you download it, and it seems that only one of those forms is required. But somewhere I believe I read that you need to send 4 G325a's in total.

I think I just need the one, but if anyone who has done this can let me know I would appreciate it because I'd hate to send all this over just for me to be missing paperwork.

Thanks in advance ^^

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

For the I-129F submission, there are two G-325A forms required...one from the USC, and one from the intending immigrant.

The G-325A form itself used to be 4 pages, but now it's just 1 page.

Rene

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

Update; Officially (06/12/11) Unofficially (10/12/11) ^^

My fiancée, or rather her mother seeing as my fiancée is sitting next to me in the UK, got the long awaited letter saying that the I-129F has been approved :D

I'm assuming that at some point next week a fair amount of paperwork is going to arrive so I can get started on that, not sure exactly what the letter says as I just got home from work (though I'd imagine that they wouldn't send a letter to a US Household if all it said was tell your fiancé to go to the US Embassy... Though the state of things these days it wouldn't surprise me).

Atleast now I know I got that part right and am moving in the right direction :) I'll post more updates as they come in ^^

Thanks to everyone again for their help ... Though I forsee more of the silly questions people are scared to ask coming from me at some point in the future lol :)

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

It will probably be a few weeks, maybe a month, and you'll get a letter telling you where to find a fair amount of paperwork to go get yourself.

You don't have to wait to get started - what you need is available on the web site of the US embassy in London.

Regards, JEff

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

After reading this thread I thought I'd throw this idea out there as an option.

You travel to the US and get married to your fiancee. You return to the UK and apply for a CR-1 visa.

The potential advantages:

1. You won't have to pay K-1 visa fees and AOS fees so it will be cheaper (some of this saving will be offset by the cost of your trip out there to get married).

2. You will be authorized to work as soon as you arrive in the US on a CR-1 visa so you won't have to wait for your employment authorization.

3. You will need to deal with the I-864 sooner rather than later so you won't wind up in a situation where you move over there and then start pulling your hair out if you realize that you overlooked something about the sponsorship side of things.

4. You will need to fill out less paperwork overall.

The processing times and paperwork requirements for a CR-1 visa are practically equivalent to the K1 visa. Medical, Police Certificate, etc.

Re: Those First Few Steps.
 

Note that the OP's fiancee has already paid the I-129f petition fee and that petition has been approved. So there's little cost or paperwork saving for switching to an immigrant visa and time for obtaining a K1 visa is already half (or more) over.

Regards, JEff