Jamster

Hello,

I recently submitted my DS-260 en route to (hopefully) joining my wife in California.

We always knew that her (the sponsor's) income alone wouldn't be high enough to sponsor me, therefore she planned to use the income of other household members to meet the financial requirements through form i-864a.

For the past two years, my wife has been living with her great uncle and retired great grandma. He has said he is happy to fill out the i-864a, and his income alone would comfortably meet the requirements. In order to prove my wife and his' relationship, he is going to write a signed written statement explaining it, as doing so through birth certificates etc. would be too complicated.

Up until now we thought this would be fine, until I looked at the i-864a instructions on the USCIS website. On the first page, it states a household member is considered: "A U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or U.S. national relative who has the same principal residence as the sponsor and is related to the sponsor as a spouse, adult child, parent, or sibling."

Obviously, my wife's great uncle is none of these relations. She is also not listed as a dependent on his tax returns. Therefore my questions are as follows:

1. If my wife sent off form i-864 and her uncle form i-864a, together with the written statement and other evidence etc., would this be acceptable or is there a chance the NVC would consider a sponsor's great uncle as too distant a relative to be an adequate 'household member'?

2. Would her great uncle be better off filling out a separate i-864 instead as a joint sponsor, instead of i-854a as a household member?

Just to be clear, although 'great uncle' might seem like a distant relationship, my wife and him are very close and he sees her as a daughter. This could be explained in the written statement if necessary.

Any help would be appreciated.

Noorah101

I would go with option 2. Have him do a separate I-864 as a joint sponsor. Much more simple.

Rene

Jamster

Ok thanks. Would it matter that their place of residence is the same with the joint sponsor route?

If we pursue that option, am I right in thinking that the only evidence he would need to submit is proof of his US status (such as a birth certificate), and his most recent IRS tax return (providing his income alone covers the minimum guidelines, which I believe it does)?

Also, would my wife need to still provide tax returns, evidence of income etc. or just her uncle?

Much appreciated.

Noorah101

1. His place of residence makes no difference.
2. Supply the most recent 3 years of tax returns, just in case. Is he self employed? If so, he would need a bit more evidence.
3. Yes, your wife still need to supply everything.

Rene

Jamster

Ok sounds straight forward enough. He's not self employed, he works at a high school.

If my wife still needs to submit her tax returns etc., does that mean her income will still be considered as well as her uncles?

This is the first year she has filed taxes as she wasn't working/in education before, so naturally wouldn't be able to supply the last 3 years.

ian-mstm

To clarify, she is your sponsor... whether she qualifies financially or not.


Yes... this! Ignore everything else concerning the I-864A.


No.


She should include a note indicating that she wasn't required to file because she was below the IRS income threshold for filing. It won't be a problem.

Ian

Jamster

Thanks Ian. From information gathered it looks like we will go down the joint sponsor route now.

Considering the evidence we need to collect is virtually the same and my uncle and wife don't need to worry about explaining their relationship, it definitely makes more sense.

Thank you and Rene again for your advice.