A few questions about K-1

[phalstaph2002 1]

Thanks in advance for those who contribute here, the information has been very helpful.

I am just starting to wade into this paperwork. I live in the US and my girlfriend (fiance now) lives in London, UK. I have several questions and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

1. My fiance currently resides in the UK and is a British citizen. However, she was born and raised in New Zealand and is also a citizen there. She has lived in London for the last 13 years. The question is...for the purposes of this paperwork should we file under her UK citizenship or her New Zealand citizenship? Or does it matter?

2. For proof of meeting in the last 2 years. I have plenty of photos of us together at various times and I have my boarding passes from a trip we took to New Zealand where I met her family. She has visited the US several times a year for the past 3 years, she has met my family, we have taken small trips together and I have pictures, but she did not save boarding passes from flights. We have the email confirmations for when the tickets were booked, but none of her boarding passes. She can make copies of her passport showing entry to the US and those dates will match with times I have labeled on the photos of us and with the passport stamps, but is that going to be sufficient?

3. Two years ago I moved back to the town I grew up in. My parents have a small business here and I have been learning the business and expanding it. However, I have not been taking a paycheck, so I do not have tax records to show support. Now that the business is growing I plan to start taking a paycheck soon, but I still have no way to show income of any substantial nature over the past 2 years. However, we (my family and I) have a substantial amount of real estate and stock that was left in a living trust by my grandmother and when she died that trust was rolled into a corporation. I have a 25% share in that corporation and the assets are around 1.5 million. When the corporation was setup the 4 members of my family that had interest were listed as equal owners and I have those papers. So, my question is...can I use that as proof of support? Or am I going to need to get someone to help me with support? My brother and I share a house together that he owns and it is worth about $180k so we could do that if needed? Any idea on this one?

Okay....I think that is all I have at the moment. I tried searching the forums, but kept getting lost in the sheer volume of information. Thank you again for any help you can offer.

Edited May 13, 2014 by phalstaph2002

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

1. Doesn't matter. You will want the London Consulate, not NZ, though, I presume. You wil declare both citizenships.

2. Her passport stamps and your boarding passes are sufficient. No need to match them up with photos, just show that two people were in the same country at the same time.

3. This question requires more detail, if the money can be converted to cash within a year, then yes, basically. you can read the I-864 for more information. For the K-1, you will file a I-134, but for AOS after marriage (a required step) you will need the I-864, and the I-134 is meant to be based on the I-864 (though is usually somewhat easier).

[relativeways 27]

Thanks in advance for those who contribute here, the information has been very helpful.

I am just starting to wade into this paperwork. I live in the US and my girlfriend (fiance now) lives in London, UK. I have several questions and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

1. My fiance currently resides in the UK and is a British citizen. However, she was born and raised in New Zealand and is also a citizen there. She has lived in London for the last 13 years. The question is...for the purposes of this paperwork should we file under her UK citizenship or her New Zealand citizenship? Or does it matter?

2. For proof of meeting in the last 2 years. I have plenty of photos of us together at various times and I have my boarding passes from a trip we took to New Zealand where I met her family. She has visited the US several times a year for the past 3 years, she has met my family, we have taken small trips together and I have pictures, but she did not save boarding passes from flights. We have the email confirmations for when the tickets were booked, but none of her boarding passes. She can make copies of her passport showing entry to the US and those dates will match with times I have labeled on the photos of us and with the passport stamps, but is that going to be sufficient?

3. Two years ago I moved back to the town I grew up in. My parents have a small business here and I have been learning the business and expanding it. However, I have not been taking a paycheck, so I do not have tax records to show support. Now that the business is growing I plan to start taking a paycheck soon, but I still have no way to show income of any substantial nature over the past 2 years. However, we (my family and I) have a substantial amount of real estate and stock that was left in a living trust by my grandmother and when she died that trust was rolled into a corporation. I have a 25% share in that corporation and the assets are around 1.5 million. When the corporation was setup the 4 members of my family that had interest were listed as equal owners and I have those papers. So, my question is...can I use that as proof of support? Or am I going to need to get someone to help me with support? My brother and I share a house together that he owns and it is worth about $180k so we could do that if needed? Any idea on this one?

Okay....I think that is all I have at the moment. I tried searching the forums, but kept getting lost in the sheer volume of information. Thank you again for any help you can offer.

1. Doesn't matter - I applied using a passport of a country that I do not reside in. Her circumstances due to birth and where she lives now will not raise a flag at all. But she will have declare both when she does her DS160. It doesn't affect it though.

2. Should be sufficient. That's what my fiance and I did. We had some e-mail itineraries, photos, and he photocopied our passport showing same date entry/exit stamps. The passport stamps will be most important.

3. Yes you will still need a proof of support just in case. Even though you have assets, you need to show proof of a steady support. You will be fine as long as you have a cosponsor - you can actually use your parents since they own their own business. Read up on the i-134, they tell you what to do and show when you own your own business.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

3. Yes you will still need a proof of support just in case. Even though you have assets, you need to show proof of a steady support. You will be fine as long as you have a cosponsor - you can actually use your parents since they own their own business. Read up on the i-134, they tell you what to do and show when you own your own business.

Someone with enough assets does not automatically need a co-sponsor anyway. People can meet the financial support requirement with qualifying assets alone.

[relativeways 27]

Someone with enough assets does not automatically need a co-sponsor anyway. People can meet the financial support requirement with qualifying assets alone.

Ohh...! I guess I misunderstood when I was speaking to the consulate officer.

I guess it depends on how much asset...do they have a clear line on that (i.e. it's very clear for affidavit of support that you need to meet the poverty line)? The consular agent told me that a steady income (or steady influx of money) had to be proven.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Ohh...! I guess I misunderstood when I was speaking to the consulate officer.

I guess it depends on how much asset...do they have a clear line on that (i.e. it's very clear for affidavit of support that you need to meet the poverty line)? The consular agent told me that a steady income (or steady influx of money) had to be proven.

A CO has a lot of leeway in what they will or won't allow with an I-134 for a K-1 visa. It is up to their sole discretion. A lot of consulates use the I-864 guidelines, even with the I-134, and assets would need to be 3 to 5 times the income requirement. So, at the bare minimum, around $60k for a household of 2. They also need to be able to be liquified within a year without financial hardship. Some consulates may decide not to allow assets alone. It all depends on the case/situation and whether or not they believe the foreign fiance(e) will become a public charge.

If they really have a large amount in assets that can be converted to cash within a year, then I believe London would most likely accept that. London has even been known to accept self-sponsorship.

[phalstaph2002 1]

Thanks to all of you for the replies. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out.