Interview - August!!!

[Ted1234 0]

Before I post, I would like to thank all the VJ members for helping me out in some extremely stressful situations (well they felt stressful at the time) and a special thanks to Doghandler and Dodi.

I cant believe it but after 5 working days of sending in my Packet three London have scheduled my interview for 2nd August, and I am getting extremely nervous about the interview - from what i have read there is nothing to be worried about but it is normal right?

Anyway, could i perhaps just ask a quick question about the I-134.

Due to the fact that my fiance has been with me on a UK fiance visa most of last year her tax returns show very little income. Basically in Feb I got a really good offer on my flat in London something that i could not refuse and I had had enough of my job and my fiance would prefer to live in america - so we decided to embark on this process. So excited.

Anyway she left in March well before the visa in the UK expired. She has now found a job which pays 12k gross with great prospects. Anyway, therefore we have provided a letter from the employer illustrating her salary, 2009 tax return (showing nothing), letter from bank (newly opened as she closed it before she came to London) with a small balance. We have also a co-sponsor (her brother who lives in CA, my fiance in NY) who earns 32k and is expecting a salary increase before the interview which we may include too if it works out. I also have on the back of selling my flat made a considerable amount of money. On the balance of probabilities would this be ok. I assume they dont care how much i have as the beneficary..... is this going to be enough information to show that i will not become a public burden. Proving the reli is real is no problem been together for 2.5 years and had fiance visa in the uk etc. etc. but worried about the income/ public burden bit. I know this is pretty much a post to get some reassurance but it would help if someone who is experienced in this or has gone through the process could reassure me or tell me if i should include more info. Never been this nervous about anything in my life and its freaking 3 weeks away. Its nuts.

Thank you all for your support so far. I will update my timeline and submit a review after - hopefully with an approval.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

It sounds like you should be fine with the co-sponsor. The London consulate is not known to be particularly tough on the "public charge" requirements if you can provide a sponsor who qualifies.

London is also one of the handful of consulates that will allow the beneficiary to self-sponsor. I honestly don't know what the income/asset threshold is for self-sponsorship.

[Ted1234 0]

It sounds like you should be fine with the co-sponsor. The London consulate is not known to be particularly tough on the "public charge" requirements if you can provide a sponsor who qualifies.

London is also one of the handful of consulates that will allow the beneficiary to self-sponsor. I honestly don't know what the income/asset threshold is for self-sponsorship.

Self sponsorship will that mean filling out an I-134 and bringing a letter from the bank saying I have that money (ill also take a completion statement from the flat) - this will also show me having an account in the US with some money deposited, as HSBC have done this for me which will also state I can move money to the US instanteously.

Also, I was thinking it would be something that maybe worth producing at the consulate if there were a problem - and using the co-sponsor to start with. Can you do this

Thank you so much for your help!

[Dodi 69]

You can use whatever assets/sponsors you like, but the CO will determine in the end what is most beneficial to your case. Your fiance will HAVE to fill out the I-134, as she is the petitioner and seen as the main sponsor, but once her income/assets are seen as insufficient the CO will immediately move on to yours, and then to the co-sponsor.

I'll say up front that I do not know what the asset requirements are to self sponsor. They won't look at your income since that will end as soon as you leave for the US, but your assets may help. The rule is, your assets need to equal 5 times the deficiency between the income and the requirements. (Example: If she made $5000 less than the income limit, you'd need 5 times that to qualify, or $25k in assets, without a co-sponsor.) Does this make any sense?

The co-sponsor will definitely help. He'll just need to prove that he meets the requirements for sponsoring the full number of dependents he already has (if any) and you combined. I make about the same amount as your co-sponsor, not including my child support, and I have 2 dependents, not including my fiance, so for a family of 4 my requirements are $27,562. I am dealing with a situation where my income last year was much smaller due to a lay off, but am making much more now, so we're hoping we don't need our co-sponsor.

It's always better to be safe than sorry and include them anyway. You'd hate to come down to the day of the interview and find out you needed them.

The I-134 has to be an original. If your co-sponsor can get his documents together and send them via USPS Express Mail International Guaranteed (Not Global Express Guaranteed, it's twice the price for about 2 days quicker service) you should have them by the end of next week. This would give you time to look them over prior to the interview date.

Good luck!!

Edited July 15, 2010 by Dodi