advice/opinions/suggestions needed re: affidavit of support

[mr and mrs 187]

here's what the london embassy website states:

Evidence Which May Be Presented to Meet the Public Charge Provisions of the Law

K-1 and K-3 and their derivatives are not required to file an affidavit of support, form I-864 at the time he or she applies for the visa. However, the Immigration and Nationality Act does require the applicant to establish to the satisfaction of the consular officer at the time of the application for a visa, and also to the satisfaction of an officer of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at the time of application for admission to the United States, that he or she is not likely at any time to become a public charge.

An applicant for K-1 or K-3 visa may generally satisfy the requirement of the law by the presentation of documentary evidence establishing that

:

1. the applicant has, or will have in the U.S. personal funds sufficient to provide support for the applicant and dependent family members, if any, or sufficient to provide support until suitable employment is located;

2. the applicant has arranged employment in the U.S. that will provide an adequate income for the applicant and dependent family members;

3. relatives or friends in the U.S. will assure the applicant's support; or

4. a combination of the above circumstances

*

Applicants Own Funds

*

An applicant who expects to be able to meet the public charge provisions of the law through personal financial resources may submit to the consular officer evidence of funds or income from one or more of the following sources:

* bank statement showing present balance of applicant's account, date account was opened, the number and amount of deposits and withdrawals during the past 12 months, and the average balance during the year. If there have been recent unusually large deposits, an explanation thereof should be given;

* proof of ownership of property or real estate, in the form of a title deed or the equivalent and a letter from a lawyer, or real estate agent showing its present valuation (any mortgages or loans against the property must be stated);

* letter or letters verifying ownership of stocks and bonds, with present market value or expected earnings indicated;

* statement from insurance company showing policies held and present case surrender value;

* proof of income from business investments or other sources.

n/a for our situation

If the financial resources are derived from a source outside the United States, a statement as to how the funds or income are to be transferred to the U.S. must be provided.

i cut the next part off that talks about the sponsor/co-sponsor situation.

so, there is no real figure, right? hmm.

Edited March 26, 2009 by mr and mrs

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I would list the Roth with your other assets as part of your financial picture. I would skip the personal property things too as stated above.

A Roth is meant to be withdrawn after at age 59 1/2 for retirement income. Prior to that age a 10% penalty is applied. So yes you can get your money, but pay a fee for early withdrawal. However the penalty fee is waived for certain conditions like buying your first house (down payment), higher education (tuition), disability, etc.

UKC's funds: He can bring some kind of proof of his savings. Why not? It might influence a positive decision coupled with your income. It's somewhat subjective from what I read. Officer has to get a "sense" that immigrant won't go on the dole in the US. So 10k in cash money surely isn't a negative.

9 FAM 41.81

PROCEDURAL NOTES

9 FAM 41.81 PN2 EVIDENCE OF SUPPORT

(TL:VISA-377; 03-20-2002)

A K visa applicant and any accompanying children must meet the public

charge requirement of INA 212(a)(15) like any other visa applicant.

Evidence of support is usually requested by the consular officer. There is,

however, no absolute requirement that an affidavit of support or other public

charge documentation be presented.

It is only necessary that the consular

officer be able to conclude that the alien is not likely to become a public

charge. It would not be unusual, therefore, for a healthy alien of working

age, applying alone, to be able to establish eligibility during the visa

interview without the need for substantiating documentation.

[mr and mrs 187]

okay, the picture is coming in to better focus for me now. (merci bien, mes amis.) im gonna look through what i have and decide what else i need and how to frame things in the most positive light.

im now off to get my dinner. vietnamese food. yum! ill check back in later.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

You might PM weedebz -- she self-sponsored last year on a K1.

[mr and mrs 187]

You might PM weedebz -- she self-sponsored last year on a K1.

great! looks like she hasnt posted in awhile, but ill give it a shot. ill brush up on things first so i understand the situation better.

while looking for her posts on the subject, i can across this thread from sept 2008. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...hl=self-sponsor

havent read all of it yet, but seems helpful. : )

Edited March 27, 2009 by mr and mrs

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

You might PM weedebz -- she self-sponsored last year on a K1.

great! looks like she hasnt posted in awhile, but ill give it a shot. ill brush up on things first so i understand the situation better.

while looking for her posts on the subject, i can across this thread from sept 2008. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...hl=self-sponsor

havent read all of it yet, but seems helpful. : )

debz and I are also friends off of VJ -- I'll drop her a line and let her know you might be in touch.

[mr and mrs 187]

update on the support piece for jamie and i...

i think we are going to try first for self-sponsorship. jamie will bring along his documents and see what the CO says. (elmcitymaven, i did pm weedebz. ill see if she has any words of wisdom. also, boiler, if you have any further comments about self-sponsorship, ive worked through my incredulity and would love to hear them.)

if that fails....

im going to try to be the sole sponsor for jamie. i have all of my evidence and the I-134 (well, thats what im going to try to accomplish tomorrow.)

if that fails....

my mother will be the co-sponsor. which should be more than adequate.

is this an okay plan of attack? or will we fail if what we present at first does not fly? i think of it as a card game where i only need to show enough to let me play, i dont have to show everything.

tell me if i am off-base with this line of thinking. please.

(thanks for people's input. i wouldnt have even entertained the option of self-sponsorship had it not been... well for boiler who INSISTED upon the fact that her (or she? seems like boy to me.) has successfully done it. : ))

[mr and mrs 187]

think we are down to just self-sponsor and sole sponsor. :l

the co-sponsor option is not out, but my mom doesnt seem too excited about it. so i am not sending her documents to jamie for the interview.

if im honest that scares the hell out of me, but im going to pretend that i think things will be fine anyways.

and if he is asked for more support information during the interview, then we will deal with that when it happens. i think i would be able to find another sponsor, but im more scared to ask now that it freaked my mom out (which i wasnt expecting at all). maybe it will delay him coming, which at this point would break my heart A LOT, but it probably wouldnt be insurmountable.

it's hard not to feel a little abandoned. but i guess im supposed to be a big girl. and it will probably feel good for jamie and i to do this all on our own. if we can do it on our own.

i hope we have enough.

<hope hope hope>

[Talyss 0]

Maybe they will take into account Jamie's savings in addition to your sponsorship. Perhaps if he presents that as the package rather than one or the other.

Your 1-134 and documents plus his bank statements and a quote from moneycorp (or some such currency company) for transferring the money over. It makes sense as a couple that you will be combining assets.

I have a vague memory of seeing an interview report of someone where they had showed their own savings in addition to the I-134, but I can't remember for the life of me whether it was in the embassy reviews or another thread. It would have been a last year post I think because it was January when I was trawling through all those things looking for information on previous marriage certificates.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I think you have a very good chance based on what you've said about your income/savings. That coupled with a well documented account of his savings with perhaps a currency conversion figure into USD presented together like Talyss said should be fine.

Perhaps once he gets here and your mom gets to know him better, she might agree to co-sponsor AOS if needed. Right now he's sort of an unknown foreign quantity. I'm sure all of our friends and families at some point have silently wondered what the heck we are getting ourselves into, marrying a "foreigner" that we didn't meet in a traditional way. Asking them to join in your "folly" and commit to financially supporting that person is maybe more than they feel comfortable with. I'm not saying your relationship is folly, but to people who love you and want to protect you, it may seem folly to them at first. It's not like he's the boy next door that she knows his whole life history from Madge down at the local beauty shop.

[helwardman 1]

I self-sponsored on a K-1 through London in the second half of 2007.

At the time I had similar questions to those posed above. I tried to find the "magic amount" that the embassy wanted to see but I'm not sure that a hard-and-fast amount of money has ever been officially published, it seems like it's a judgment call on the day by the interviewing officer.

I had about 15k GBP in savings and documentation showing the (pending) sale of my house that was to net me a 65k GBP profit. This seemed like more than enough to satisfy them at the time, they hardly even looked at all the documents and bank statements that I took with me. (NB: The last I read, the London Embassy wasn't interested anymore in applicants showing house equity as available funds, due to the recession - this may have changed, I really don't know).

As far as I can tell, at the interview stage they are only interested in finding out if the UKC has enough funds to support themselves for the initial 90 days. After that, further financial proof has to be submitted at the time of AOS. I've read people on here say that the UKC cannot self-sponsor at that time and that a sponsor is always required. This is not true. When I filed for AOS I used ONLY my cash assets (no income at that time) and I successfully adjusted status without a co-sponsor with absolutely no complications.

[Boiler 45,467]

Similar situaton to myself, I had a spreadheet with the numbers in pounds and dollars, hardly a glance. I even had gone to the trouble of getting a print out for my current account that morning.

My wife did sponsor me for AoS, but by the interview she had left her job and had gone back to Uni. I had my details, but in the end the officer decided it was just easier to go with my wife's original affadavit and ignore the issue.

[mr and mrs 187]

bless all of you (and the CO who will make the decision) with my atheist . the day after tomorrow is 'send off the documents to jamie and hope for the best day' (i chatted with the lady at the post office. i said (i quote) 'my heart and my life will hinge upon the prompt delivery of this envelope' and she said 'you'll be fine!' (which i think is legally binding!!))

i feel more confidett than i should, but i am prepared, come what may. i think we do have a good shot. (65- 70%?) of qualifying.)

and as a warning, i may have a few last minute fits of anxiety and post some frantic questions. please bear with me. :l and : D.

bless.

[mr and mrs 187]

hi.

im not frantic. just curious.

i am so torn between answering question 11 (on the I-134) with

a. [do not intend] n/a (k-1 visa process for permanent residence)

and

b. [do intend] i intend to support my fiance in whatever way is needed, including providing room and board, for an indefinite period of time so that he does not become a public charge.

advice?

[krystiandjon 0]

hi.

im not frantic. just curious.

i am so torn between answering question 11 (on the I-134) with

a. [do not intend] n/a (k-1 visa process for permanent residence)

and

b. [do intend] i intend to support my fiance in whatever way is needed, including providing room and board, for an indefinite period of time so that he does not become a public charge.

advice?

We haven't had this given the stamp of approval yet, but I went with

"I intend to marry and live with the recipient in the manner of husband and wife, sharing with him my home, food, money, and belongings"

I looked at that N/A answer given in the guides and felt it was inadequate...although its probably perfectly adequate.