Affidavit of Support

[SnowyTater 0]

Hey guys,

Those of you who've already done your affidavits of support, what did you have to go through to get the statement from your bank concerning your account, money details, etc?

I just went to my Bank of America branch and told the woman my situation and what I needed. Said all I needed was a letter or statement on bank letterhead with all the necessary details, 3 copies.

She says there's an official process the bank has for these immigration things that I'll have to go through, that they can't do it at the local branch and it has to be sent off and will take some days to process. Fine. Starts asking me for information and details about the actual immigration...? I don't see how this is all relevant since it's more of a "to whom it may concern, this person is not that broke" letter, to my understanding.

Says there'll be a $10 for it. Then a few minutes later says there'll be a $20 per hour "research fee" for it and that'll be an X unpredictable amount.

Then she says she can only have the statement sent to the "address on my records," my home permanent address, and not to where I'm actually at; the best they could do is have it faxed into the local branch, which obviously doesn't help since no one there is willing to put an original signature on it as it's not the "official process."

Did you guys have to go through something like this? I thought I'd just go to one of those personal bankers, they could look up the details of my account, write a quick letter and sign it. My mom is my co-sponsor and she's already gone to her branch (still Bank of America) and her personal banker did exactly this for her no problem, no mention of an "official process."

Just wanting to know how it worked for everyone else and if the immigration guys care what the statement looks like/how "official" it is?

Thanks a lot.

[payxibka 10,045]

many rely on income alone... do you need assets to make up for a shortage of income?

[SnowyTater 0]

Hi fwaguy,

I don't really need anything...

To be honest I feel stupid but I've been a little confused about the Affidavit so I was going to just cover all bases.

I'm the sponsor of course but my mom's co-sponsoring; I'm a student and have about $1400 to my name and a part-time job. So from my mom I got:

1. the I-134, copies and notarized

2. Letter from her employer

3. statement from her bank about her accounts (though she makes well over the poverty line)

4. bunch of her paystubs

The instructions for the Affidavit say things like "provide evidence as applicable" or "as appropriate" and I know the form is used for different types of immigration, and I didn't really get what all they wanted. I know my mother doesn't have to show proof of her assets as she makes plenty, but I figured they still wanted to see her account details, etc.

And I know I don't make/have nearly enough, but I figured they still wanted to see all of the four things above for me, too, so I've been preparing all that.

The only thing we didn't bother with was tax returns or tax information as the instructions said to only worry about that if you're self-employed, which we're not.

I'm a loser

BTW sorry I put this in the wrong forum, I guess. I don't even know where we are now

[payxibka 10,045]

If you are not relying on yourself but a "co-sponsor", then don't pay $$$$ for your evidence that will priimarily be ignored anyway

[SnowyTater 0]

Right fwaguy, that's why I left the bank and said I'd deal with it later. But they still want a letter from the bank for me, don't they?

So I'm still just wondering if everyone else had to go through a process like this, or would your bank just type something up for you casual? If everyone has to do it, then I guess I do too.

[payxibka 10,045]

Right fwaguy, that's why I left the bank and said I'd deal with it later. But they still want a letter from the bank for me, don't they?

So I'm still just wondering if everyone else had to go through a process like this, or would your bank just type something up for you casual? If everyone has to do it, then I guess I do too.

I submitted no asset information whatsoever...

[sarah&rob 1]

I didn't provide any sort of bank information at all, just tax transcripts since 2004 and copy of my 2007 return, a copy of my w-2, 3 most recent pay stubs, and a letter from my employer.

I'm hoping this will be enough to show I have sufficient income because I'm sure if I'd even included anything about my checking account it would work the other way for me.

At any given time I can have anywhere from over $2k to under $200 depending on the time of the month. If I'd gotten my statement from the bank after my bills and rent were paid then it would look as if I had nothing in my account and probably work against me in the long run.

[Kayleigh+Kyle 0]

Hey guys,

Those of you who've already done your affidavits of support, what did you have to go through to get the statement from your bank concerning your account, money details, etc?

I just went to my Bank of America branch and told the woman my situation and what I needed. Said all I needed was a letter or statement on bank letterhead with all the necessary details, 3 copies.

She says there's an official process the bank has for these immigration things that I'll have to go through, that they can't do it at the local branch and it has to be sent off and will take some days to process. Fine. Starts asking me for information and details about the actual immigration...? I don't see how this is all relevant since it's more of a "to whom it may concern, this person is not that broke" letter, to my understanding.

Says there'll be a $10 for it. Then a few minutes later says there'll be a $20 per hour "research fee" for it and that'll be an X unpredictable amount.

Then she says she can only have the statement sent to the "address on my records," my home permanent address, and not to where I'm actually at; the best they could do is have it faxed into the local branch, which obviously doesn't help since no one there is willing to put an original signature on it as it's not the "official process."

Did you guys have to go through something like this? I thought I'd just go to one of those personal bankers, they could look up the details of my account, write a quick letter and sign it. My mom is my co-sponsor and she's already gone to her branch (still Bank of America) and her personal banker did exactly this for her no problem, no mention of an "official process."

Just wanting to know how it worked for everyone else and if the immigration guys care what the statement looks like/how "official" it is?

Thanks a lot.

That sounds pretty crazy. My bank really did nothing like that. I told them what I needed, the banker looked at my account information on the computer. I told him what info I needed in the letter, and he typed it up on a company letterhead, signed it, and gave it to me. I don't know why they would charge for such a thing.

[motu 6]

Most people including me didn't provide any bank or other asset info as we were over the 125% of poverty line and absolutely no info is needed if a co-sponsor is being used - only the Co-sponsor's info is needed. Relax. Good Luck