Tokyo embassy: I-864 (Affidavit) & savings as assets

[bisco 0]

Hello! I wrote a similar post in one of the main forums and it was recommended that I post the same content here due to the fact that I have questions specific to dealing with the Tokyo embassy. Yoroshiku!

My Japanese wife and I are presently living together in Japan and are applying for her visa. I've been living here for about 7 years and we've been married for 3 years. We hope to move to the US in July. I have already submitted the I-130 to the embassy in Tokyo and we have heard back from them - so far, so good.

I still need to tackle the I-864.

I am presently unemployed (since May) and we do not have enough assets for me to be the sole sponsor, so my dad is going to be my joint sponsor, and he is filling out his own I-864.

My questions concern the I-864 that I am filling out.

I have a few questions, and this post is a little long, but PLEASE bear with me and any help would be very much appreciated!

#1 On the I-864 form you are required to list your adjusted gross income from the last 3 tax years, right? Well, as I said I have been living and working in Japan for a number of years now. Each year I have faithfully filed my federal tax return, but my income in Japan is excluded from US federal tax, and actually my adjusted gross income as listed on my federal tax return ends up being $0.00 in light of the tax exclusion. So, where it asks for me to write my income on the I-864, I am planning on writing $0.00. Is this correct?

#2 When my wife and I went to the embassy in Tokyo and submitted our I-130, I brought with me an incomplete draft of my I-864 and asked the officer some questions about it. She told me that regardless of the fact that my wife and I do NOT have enough income and assets for me to be the sole sponsor, AND my dad is going to be the joint sponsor, I should nevertheless STILL fill in the lines (in the section about assets) regarding how much money we have in our savings accounts, etc. I was under the impression that listing assets is entirely optional. Has anyone else been told the same thing by the embassy?

#3 Now, assuming that I must do as the officer told me and write about how much savings my wife and I have, do I need to provide proof that we indeed have the amount of money I write on the form? The I-864 form's instructions for using assets indicate that you need to provide for each assets a description of what it is, proof of ownership, basis of claim of its net cash value, and date of acquisition. While it makes sense to me that his information must be required when using a possession (such as a car) as an asset, the instructions are unclear as to whether this applies to bank accounts/savings as well (and to what extent it applies). Indeed, I have not been able to find specific information about what evidence is needed for bank accounts. (Again, the question here is, "do I need to provide proof that we indeed have the amount of money I write on the form?")

#4 If I DO need to provide a detailed description of our bank accounts along with documentary evidence of some kind, exactly what do I need to submit? I would imagine that we are going to need to get some documentation from our banks in Japan. (If any of you who lived in Japan have experience with this, please let me know what you did). And whatever Japanese forms we submit must be translated, right? I really hope the answer to this question is NO, but in my heart I fear that it is YES. If the answer is YES, this means more hours of work translating bank statements(?) and the like to prove that we have an amount of money which is insufficient to sponsor my wife anyway!

Please excuse this long post (and my venting - this whole visa application process has been more involved than I expected and I am thoroughly tired). Thanks in advance!!!

-Jason

[redglasses 1]

Hi Jason,

I am no expert, but I hope my experience helps.

#1: We wrote the amount of dollars converted from Japanese yen. We were also not sure if we should write $0 or not, but what we did didn't cause any problem.

#2: We listed only Japanese source of income on our I-864 at the time of the I-130 petition. The CO said a joint sponsor's income is good enough to meet the financial requirement.

[bisco 0]

redglasses,

Thank you for your reply, that does indeed help!

May I clarify one thing?

#2: We listed only Japanese source of income on our I-864 at the time of the I-130 petition. The CO said a joint sponsor's income is good enough to meet the financial requirement.

So, on your I-864 you did NOT fill out the section on assets at all?

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks!

[bisco 0]

#1: We wrote the amount of dollars converted from Japanese yen. We were also not sure if we should write $0 or not, but what we did didn't cause any problem.

Interesting... That gave me an idea: perhaps I could write $0.00 on my I-864 and include a footnote that says something to the effect of, "Please see my included federal tax return to see my foriegn-earned income before adjustment for US tax excemption."

[redglasses 1]

redglasses,

Thank you for your reply, that does indeed help!

May I clarify one thing?

#2: We listed only Japanese source of income on our I-864 at the time of the I-130 petition. The CO said a joint sponsor's income is good enough to meet the financial requirement.

So, on your I-864 you did NOT fill out the section on assets at all?

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks!

Yeah, we didn't fill out the section at all. We had savings both in the US and Japan, but thought it doesn't have any significant effect since the amount didn't meet the requirement (3 times the poverty line or something like that.)

[redglasses 1]

#1: We wrote the amount of dollars converted from Japanese yen. We were also not sure if we should write $0 or not, but what we did didn't cause any problem.

Interesting... That gave me an idea: perhaps I could write $0.00 on my I-864 and include a footnote that says something to the effect of, "Please see my included federal tax return to see my foriegn-earned income before adjustment for US tax excemption."

I guess that will work perfectly!

Even it won't, I've got the impression you can correct information on the form at the embassy counter because a couple in front of me (at the petition) seemed to be making some changes on their forms.

BTW, I am moving back to the US in July as well

I really wish a good luck!

[bisco 0]

I guess that will work perfectly!

Even it won't, I've got the impression you can correct information on the form at the embassy counter because a couple in front of me (at the petition) seemed to be making some changes on their forms.

BTW, I am moving back to the US in July as well

I really wish a good luck!

We already turned in our I-130 and I won't be going back to the embassy - my wife is going to go once more (alone) for her final interview. If her English was better, she could talk to the officer and ask him/her questions about the I-864 before turning it in, at the last minute. Unfortunately, her English is not very good yet (we speak to each other in Japanese). I would go with her to the embassy again but it's a costly 3 hour trip by bullet train (and forget the night bus)!

It looks like we could get away with leaving the assets section blank, as you did.

However, I am toying with the idea of calling the phone number the embassy lists on their web page just to make absolutely sure I am filling out the I-864 correctly, but, as you probably know, it costs over 2,000 yen for one call.

Thanks again for your reply! That's very kind if you.

Good luck to you, too! We are going to be moving to Michigan, where my family is. I hope I can find a job there! All I hear is that the economy is terrible and now is a bad time to be moving back. If it doesn't work out, we will probably cut our losses and move back to Japan. We can live with my wife's parents if we have to.