Financial Aid

[Eli 0]

Hullo! I have some concerns about the affidavit of support (I134) and was hoping you guys could give me some help. My fiancé (US citizen) is currently a college student and does not earn enough money to match 125% of the poverty line. However, he does receive a considerable amount of money in financial aid (scholarships and grants) for college. He checked with the USCIS and he was told that financial aid counts as income, and if this is the case then it would be more then 125% of the poverty line. However, a lot of information coming from the USCIS as of late had been contradictory or flat-out wrong, and I do not trust what they say. Does anyone know where I could confirm that fin. aid is useable as income, or know anything about this?

The main reason I'm so concerned about this is that if it doesn't count as income then we could be in big trouble - he doesn't have anyone that could act as a co-sponsor. He isn't too concerned because the USCIS said he'd be fine, but it's REALLY STRESSING ME OUT!!

Thanks for all your help,

Eli

[iceyspots 0]

Financial aid from school is supposed to be used for tuition, books, supplies.. there are certain things you can't use the money for.. I've heard that it cant be used, but I dont remember the source. Maybe someone else has some info.

I hope it all pans out..

[samir_shannon 0]

Yes it is income... i also receive financial aid but i also work full time so i didnt even count it.. but u can cos that is how he lives while he goes to school.

Financial aid from school is supposed to be used for tuition, books, supplies.. there are certain things you can't use the money for.. I've heard that it cant be used, but I dont remember the source. Maybe someone else has some info.

I hope it all pans out..

jamie you are right about that part but certian grants and such are to be help with living costs.. i am receiving one for this semester.

[zauberblume 0]

I believe that financial aid, in the form of scholarships and some select grants, counts as income, for the purposes of the Affidavit of Support.

As a student myself, I received two grants, but they did not meet the poverty guideline requirement for this year or last year.

Starting in September, I'll be a graduate student with a full tuition and fee waiver as well as a stipend. I attached an official letter from my university to the Affidavit of Support form detailing this financial aid package. It was accepted by the Consular Officer in Frankfurt. I would suggest that your fiance obtain an official letter from his university detailing his financial aid package.

If his scholarship and grant funding is over the poverty guideline, then he should have taxes to prove that, which will help your case.

Based on my experience, my stipend was considered income. After all, it is taxable income.

I would suggest having a co-sponsor just in case the Consular Officer does not like your fiance's financial situation. It helps to have that already prepared. If the Consular Officer approves, then you need not worry about it until the Adjustment of Status stage.

Good luck!

[Eli 0]

If his scholarship and grant funding is over the poverty guideline, then he should have taxes to prove that, which will help your case.

Based on my experience, my stipend was considered income. After all, it is taxable income.

Actually his financial aid wasn't taxed being as it was federal aid ... no point in government taxing government money. He didn't have to pay any taxes for last year, despite having around $15 000 in fin. aid. I wish we had someone to act as a cosponsor...

[zauberblume 0]

Eli,

Did he receive loans as well?

Are you sure that the federal aid was not taxable? If I had more information about your background, perhaps I could understand it better. As it stands, I had no idea that the federal government gave out that much aid per year for college.

Did the federal aid include a fee or tuition waiver?

Either way, I think you'll have to search for a co-sponsor unless you or your fiance have assets to make up the difference that you don't have in income.

Besides, for the I-864, which you'll need to file for AOS, you'll need to be 125% above the poverty guideline for your household size. A household size of two is currently set at $16,500. Even if his financial aid could be used, you'd still be $1,500 short.

Keep thinking and, as always, make the Affidavit of Support work for you.

-Z

If his scholarship and grant funding is over the poverty guideline, then he should have taxes to prove that, which will help your case.

Based on my experience, my stipend was considered income. After all, it is taxable income.

Actually his financial aid wasn't taxed being as it was federal aid ... no point in government taxing government money. He didn't have to pay any taxes for last year, despite having around $15 000 in fin. aid. I wish we had someone to act as a cosponsor...

[Yodrak 7]

Eli,

I'm sure you do - two people can get mighty cold and hungry trying to live on $15,000 per year.

Yodrak

.... He didn't have to pay any taxes for last year, despite having around $15 000 in fin. aid. I wish we had someone to act as a cosponsor...

[Eli 0]

Eli,

Did he receive loans as well?

Are you sure that the federal aid was not taxable? If I had more information about your background, perhaps I could understand it better. As it stands, I had no idea that the federal government gave out that much aid per year for college.

Did the federal aid include a fee or tuition waiver?

Either way, I think you'll have to search for a co-sponsor unless you or your fiance have assets to make up the difference that you don't have in income.

Besides, for the I-864, which you'll need to file for AOS, you'll need to be 125% above the poverty guideline for your household size. A household size of two is currently set at $16,500. Even if his financial aid could be used, you'd still be $1,500 short.

Keep thinking and, as always, make the Affidavit of Support work for you.

-Z

This is the info on his financial aid he recently sent me:

Student Assistance Fall 2006 (ditto for Spring 2007)

Wackman Brabyn Trust Fund $500.00

Working Scholarship $245.00

Wa State Need Grant $2,578.00

Federal Grant - Seog $50.00

Federal Grant - Pell $2,025.00

***State Workstudy $1,000.00

Subsidized Stafford Loan $1,750.00

Perkins Loan $966.00

Semester Total $9,114.00

Total Assistance (2 Semesters) $18,228.00

Keep in mind this inclues $1,000 in Workstudy (which I probably won't do, being already employed), and $2,716 in loan eligibility. So in actuality, I will accept $5,398 per semester, for an annual total of $10,796.

Tuition $5,888

Mandatory Fees $560

Total $6,448 (Annual, so $3224 per semester)

In addition to the above financial aid he does work, which I neglected to mention earlier. To date he's earned roughly $7500+, and a conservative projection puts him at $10 500 for 2006. With the addition of his financial aid that puts his income at about $20 000 for the year, easily surpassing the minimun requirement of $16 500. He receives more financial aid than the cost of tuition - this is to help with living expenses etc (he rents an apartment).

In regards to being his financial aid being taxed last year: "I had no taxable income (I received a full tax refund) ... - I had no tax liability is all." I don't yet understand the income tax system in the US. I can certainly ask him further questions about this.

Eli,

I'm sure you do - two people can get mighty cold and hungry trying to live on $15,000 per year.

Yodrak

Yodrak: we have no intentions of being cold and hungry!! This also says nothing of the fact that I will be working fulltime as soon as I get the SSN, EAD etc, which even at THE minimum wage is near to $16 000 a year. We aren't planning on moving me there to live off of his financial aid alone and having us both starve - that would be very foolish and absolutely no way to start a healthy marriage together!

-Eli-

PS- sorry for the tardiness of my response! I forgot to check this board for a couple of days, got caught up in the excitement of lists and approvals and such - *blush* - I hope the additional info helps, you have no idea how much just explaining this to people who are listening and and offering advice is helping my nerves.

[Yodrak 7]

Eli,

I'm sure that you don't have intentions of being cold and hungry, and that you do have intentions of getting a job as soon as you're eligible for employment. Unfortunately, the best of intentions do not always come to fruition so the INA requires that you have a 'Plan B' that does not rely on the US taxpayers.

You do have a Plan B?

Yodrak

Eli,

I'm sure you do - two people can get mighty cold and hungry trying to live on $15,000 per year.

Yodrak

Yodrak: we have no intentions of being cold and hungry!! This also says nothing of the fact that I will be working fulltime as soon as I get the SSN, EAD etc, which even at THE minimum wage is near to $16 000 a year. We aren't planning on moving me there to live off of his financial aid alone and having us both starve - that would be very foolish and absolutely no way to start a healthy marriage together!

-Eli-

[Eli 0]

Well my primary concern here is whether they will accept the financial aid as income on the afffadavit (in addition to his employment). It seems the concensus here is a cautious "yes." I can tell you that there won't be any problems in terms of me being a burden to the state. We've done a LOT of calculating as part of ensuring this would work, before sending in the petition. We aren't going to do anything stupid. There are projections and alternate plans and allowances and we will have enough money even if I decide to start college within the next couple years. The town I will be moving to is a college town where every fall all the students drop their employment or reduce it to part time while they study - there are plenty of job openings, especially for full-time. As near as I can tell I am also eligible for Canadian EI for a time until I pick up a job in the US. Of course, none of this matters if they don't grant me the visa. I am confident about our ability to handle our finances. What I am not yet confident about is the I134.

Nail Bitingly,

Eli