courtneyandsam

HI All - If someone would be able to help me out it would be great,

My husband and I just received our letter for the interview appointment, which is less than a week away.

I am scrambling trying to make sure we have every single piece of information required and that I am not missing anything.

I am / have been having trouble understanding how much $$ we should be able to show we have. We will be using purely assets, as we have just sold our fairly new car ad we also have savings. I have been told to use the i864 but I am not sure if that is appropriate because i am understanding it to be sponsoring? Also it says we have to have x3 the current poverty line, there are 2 of us which would make us need upwards of $45,000. Does that seem right?

Please, Help!

civilservant

Actually, you might be a little low. 125% of the poverty line for a family of 2 is $19,387, so 3 times that is $58,161.

Unless the USC is in the military - in which case only 100% of the poverty line applies, I haven't looked at your previous posts.

As to the I-864, that is the appropriate form for you to use.

courtneyandsam

no we are not military. thank you for your reply.
can anyone explain the i864? We are not going to be sponsored by anyone, just ourselves and our savings. we will be living with my parents in the USA rent free until our jobs are confirmed and we are able to find a place, but they are not sponsoring us.

civilservant

You should complete the I-864 as appropriate, including 0 income but listing x amount in savings. It is fairly self-explanatory. What are you actually having problems with?

hoffage123

Hi,

Step by Step instructions for completing the I-864 are here http://www.uscis.gov/i-864

courtneyandsam

thanks both for the replies - and thank you hoffage for the step by step instructions i will have a look

what i am finding confusing is the word - sponsor, i guess.

i am the us citizen (petitioner) and my husband is the british citizen (beneficiary) but we have joint accounts and one is not technically sponsoring another?

civilservant

You are sponsoring your husband, in that this is a legally binding document that agrees that, in the event he claims any sort of benefit, you will be responsible for repaying the amount claimed.

I understand that it might be confusing in that you are using savings you both possess, but for the purposes of the form the savings are 'yours' - and they are being using to support your spouses application. It is a pain that USCIS and DHS use different terminology for the same thing at different times, but welcome to the US!

hoffage123

The petitioner is the sponsor, as you are sponsoring the beneficiary in their immigrant visa application i.e. effectively agreeing they are not going to become a public charge during their time in the US.

The beneficiaries income/assets can be included in the affadavit of support (I-864) but you as the sponsor remain legally responsible for the beneficiary. So if it is joint savings, then they are your savings that you are using to support the affadavit.


Hoffage

courtneyandsam

Ok - understood, thank you for your patience !!

One more question. We will be able to show bout $45k (about 10k less than x3 the poverty line) but we do own a house here in the UK. Can we include our home owner papers and use that as an asset in addition to our savings?

civilservant

Can you? Yes. However it is very much up to the discretion of the ConOff if they choose to accept the equity in your home, since it must be able to be liquidated within 1 year, and that isn't always easy - especially if it is your primary home.

Are you intending to sell it?

hoffage123

Are you planning to sell the house or generate rental income from it? If so, then yes. The ConOff (Consulate Officer) has to be satisfied there will be realisable income from either a sale or rental income. As Civil said, in terms of the equity, it will need to be liquidated within one year.

Hoffage

hungryhorace

Why are you only using assets and not household income to meet the requirements? Are you both unemployed?

As Civil Servant says, the required income for a family of 2 would be $19,388, which is within reach for most I would guess? Certainly far easier to attain than finding 3x that amount in savings.

hoffage123

Hungryhorace,

Suspect it is because the income will not be continuing from the same employment once they both move to the US?

Similar situation to me and my missus, but we don't qualify on assets either, which is why we are using F-I-L as joint sponsor ...

hungryhorace

Makes sense. Thanks for the explanation, and good luck to both!

civilservant

Same thing I did - although that's because the Mrs. didn't quite earn enough last year. Then I started working at the same place - and got promoted over her. After 3 weeks