Jememennie

Hi there,

Our interview was on Monday morning. The short version is that after arriving an hour early and then waiting 2 more hours, we didn't pass the financial side of the interview. It turns out that we need a co-sponsor, as although Ben is making more than 125% of the poverty line now, they were judging us on his 2000 tax return when he was a student and working part time. So now we have to send in our affidavit and a co-sponsored one and then we should get an approval letter in the post. I was told that I can then go back to the INS and get the passport stamp, without having another interview.

The officer also wasn't impressed with the bits of paper we had for Ben's past tax returns. After we were at the INS, we went to the IRS and got a simple print out of the past 3 years at no charge, so the INS can keep these. So we totally recommend you doing that.

I wrote up the long version for our website and you can read it here: Ben & Jennie's US-UK Marriage and I'll post it to the interview experience page.

best wishes, Jennie

Terry Moore-Read

Strange - my income for 2000 was below the 125% by about $2000 but the officer at my
interview said she would accept a letter from my employer showing that I make >125%
now. I too wasn't approved then and there because my FBI clearance has expired so
they need new fingerprints so I was told I'd have a letter in 30 days - leaves you
feeling a terrible lack of closure doesn't it.

Hopefully I should get my approval in the next couple of weeks.

Terry

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Alvena Ferreira

Terry Moore-Read wrote:
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[usenetquote2]> >125% now. I too wasn't approved then and there because my FBI clearance has[/usenetquote2]
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This is where the INS has yet another inconsistency: the interviewing officer has
discretion over whether an affidavit of support is acceptable or not. Some would have
accepted the original poster's income, but that one did not. It is regretable that we
have a system which has no ironclad rules (or maybe not, sometimes this works to the
advantage of the immigrant when finances are slim and the officer cuts them slack)

Alvena
-----------------------
Doc Steen Site: http://www.mindspring.com/~docsteen/...o/visainfo.htm
=========================================
I am not a lawyer and this is not immigration advice. This is my personal opinion,
posted for the purpose of discussion only. Locate an immigration attorney in your
area at: http://www.aila.org
=========================================

jeffreyhy

It is not clear from the original post that the USC's present income was documented. I don't like to make guesses when posters supply only sketchy information, but based on the information given and the comment about the inadequate tax returns, it is possible that the couple did not have suitable documentation to support the claimed current income.

On the other hand, the responder did document his current income with a letter from his employer.

Regards, JEff

Rete

Sorry that you were not approved out of hand at the time of your interview.

However, it has been advised by the NG over and over again and INS in many instances request that all income tax returns be IRS transcripts or at the very least the tax returns be copies of the originals filed with original W-2's to sustain the information. Bits and pieces just doesn't cut it.

As for not allowing Ben's one year income over the guidelines, remember that those INS offices that allow students or others who had income below the guidelines for the two years prior to filing are accepting the I-864 on faith and not following the guidelines which state that the sponsor should have income matching or above the guidelines for the three years prior to filing. If the latest income was sufficient, INS would only request the most current return and employment letter with the I-864. They, however, do request the three most current years tax returns.

So for anyone in the same situation, it behooves them to complete two I-864's. One for themselves and one from a co-sponsor if they are in the same situation. Cover all bases is the best method in dealing with INS.

Rita

Ladiegrey

Dear Jennie...we went through EXACT same thing you just did (read google post:
"Portland AOS Experience"...and then read all the followups..what a nightmare it was
for us! Dont you dare giveup or lose faith! We did it so can you* Deb & John US/UK

Jememennie

Hmm, interesting. Yeah we missed the instruction about:

"the guidelines which state that the sponsor should have income matching or above the guidelines for the three years prior to filing."

We did have a letter from Ben's current employer stating his income and I think Ben had some pay slips with him. The officer did point out that he's only been working there since June though.

Yeah, I had no clue about the tax return things. I left that up to Ben and he doesn't read these newsgroups or anything online. :P

Mmm and do definitely get a co-sponsor if you're in a similar situation and unsure about it all.

Hope your approval comes in soon Terry.

~ Jennie

Rete

From the INS website FAQ on the I-864

http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/pu...ets/affaqa.htm

17. How is eligibility of a person to sponsor immigrants determined?


There is no set formula for determining whether a person qualifies as a sponsor. The greatest weight will be placed on earnings from current employment and the total unadjusted income shown on the most recent three tax returns. In most instances a sponsor who is employed and demonstrates ability of household members to earn income at or above 125 percent of the poverty line for the number of persons who will be supported will be found eligible.


Hope this helps answer some of the questions as to why some I-864's are denied and others accepted. For yourself, it would appear that you husband's earning potential was not acceptable in the eyes of the examiner most probably because he has only been employed for less than 6 months as he stated and because of his student status for all the years prior. Don't recall what profession he is in but perhaps it is in a field that is not very stable at the moment and that might have weighted heavily in the decision.

Hopefully you will not have a problem getting a joint sponsor and it will be over and done with for another two years.

Rita

Jememennie

Thanks for your words of encouragement Ladiegrey. Eeek, your original post sounds a little scary when you say:

"by law, INS "has to" give the petitioner 90 DAYS to produce another cosponser and if not, the AOS is denied and deportation process begins."

We were given a letter that said we had a month to provide a co-sponsor. We should have no problem with that and so the officer was all nice and reassuring that my immigration status was still ok. Eeesh, sorry to read about all the hassle you had, oooh but that's good that you got it sorted out. I'm guessing your husband got the passport stamp/green card in the end then.

Thanks for the link Rete. I'll have to add that to our site, so that people can make sure they're more informed than we were. :P Ben works as an anesthesia machine service technician, which is a lot more stable than some things. She seemed more concerned about the length of his employment so far. The company has spent so much money training him that they wouldn't be firing him anytime soon.

Thanks for the help and info, Jennie

misskate

eek jennie, that really sucks. hope all goes well for you next time around.

miss kate -- thanking goodness that copies of aaron's tax returns are on their way to apply for his fafsa anyway.

Jememennie

miss kate. Oooh there you are. I've totally been wondering what happened to you and how you were doing. Ben's theory was that Aaron had cracked down on your computer usage. Hehe, he just wishes I used the computer less. I'd totally love to hear from you if you fancy sharing how you're doing. You can reach me at [email protected]

take care, Jennie

Terry Moore-Read

The other thing that probably worked in my favour was that I had a paystub which
showed my year-to-date income was already greater than the 125% figure.

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http://www.mindspring.com/~docsteen/...fo/visainfo.h-
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Ladiegrey

[email protected] (Omo)
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[usenetquote2]> >[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]> > I wrote up the long version for our website and you can read it here:[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]> > http://www.geocities.com/ben_jennie/...interview.htm- lBen &[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]> > Jennie's US-UK Marriage and I'll post it to the interview experience page.[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]> >[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]> > best wishes, Jennie[/usenetquote2]
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((((look again!)))) http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...457ae15&rnum=1
ladiegrey39

Jememennie

Huh, it worked when I posted it on BritishExpats.com but apparently not here on
google. If you're still interested it's:

http://www.geocities.com/ben_jennie/...interview.html

We've sent out the affidavit again today so it should be ok now, *fingers crossed*

K

Hi jennie
Im sorry to hear that it didnt go very well for you and Ben. Lets hope that this time you will be ok.

Would you please tell me which forms you filed and what they cost please?

I would be very grateful for this info as we are getting ready to file this shortly.

Thanks again.