2nd Request for Evidence!

[vamos 0]

We just received another RFE. The first one was for me stupidly forgetting to attach a 1066 form. This time I'm stumped.

"Based on the documents submitted with Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, for the petitioner/sponsor, income did not meet 125% of the federal poverty line for the petitioner/sponsor's household size."

The information we sent clearly demonstrated our combined income was quite a bit higher than the required amount. My wife, as the petitioner, was the main sponsor and would not have met the requirements on her own however, we listed my income and showed evidence that my position was permanent.

I'm at my wit's end with this process. I was laid off in March but found another job immediately (I didn't even have a day in between jobs) but the position I'm in right now is temporary with an option to be hired on permanently after a certain amount of time, depending upon performance. We could send another I-864 with the amended information however this time I won't be able to show that I have permanent position. A joint sponsor isn't an option for us either as we don't have anyone who is in a position to fulfill this role.

This really couldn't have come at worse time; my wife is due to give birth to our first child next month and my K3 expires in June! I tried calling NCSC for information on why the I-864 was rejected but I was just re-read the letter I received in the post. It seems like I might need to do what I never thought would be necessary; get an immigration lawyer. If anyone could help I'd be really grateful.

[JERIII 8]

We just received another RFE. The first one was for me stupidly forgetting to attach a 1066 form. This time I'm stumped.

"Based on the documents submitted with Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, for the petitioner/sponsor, income did not meet 125% of the federal poverty line for the petitioner/sponsor's household size."

The information we sent clearly demonstrated our combined income was quite a bit higher than the required amount. My wife, as the petitioner, was the main sponsor and would not have met the requirements on her own however, we listed my income and showed evidence that my position was permanent.

I'm at my wit's end with this process. I was laid off in March but found another job immediately (I didn't even have a day in between jobs) but the position I'm in right now is temporary with an option to be hired on permanently after a certain amount of time, depending upon performance. We could send another I-864 with the amended information however this time I won't be able to show that I have permanent position. A joint sponsor isn't an option for us either as we don't have anyone who is in a position to fulfill this role.

This really couldn't have come at worse time; my wife is due to give birth to our first child next month and my K3 expires in June! I tried calling NCSC for information on why the I-864 was rejected but I was just re-read the letter I received in the post. It seems like I might need to do what I never thought would be necessary; get an immigration lawyer. If anyone could help I'd be really grateful.

There is, in reality, no such thing as a permanent position. The requirements read:

Income from the intending immigrant, if that income will continue from the same source after immigration, and if the intending immigrant is currently living in your residence. If the intending immigrant is your spouse, his or her income can be counted regardless of current residence, but it must continue from the same source after he or she becomes a lawful permanent resident.

This language, it seems to me, is intended to disallow situations in which it is clear that the immigrant will not be working the same job, not situations where he might lose his job, we all face that. After all, you lost yours, despite the fact that it looked

permanent."

I would submit your wife's current info and your info, with a letter precisely explaining the situation. If you are hired on permanently, send documentation of that with another copy of the RFE. Then see what USCIS does.

[vamos 0]

Thanks for the response. What you're suggesting is pretty much what I see as the only option they're leaving me. However, they rejected my first I-864 when there was nothing wrong with it without explanation there's nothing to stop them from rejecting this one also. Does anyone know of a way I can find out for sure what their reasoning behind the RFE was?

[JeremyR 8]

I got one of those too (a 'you're under the poverty line' RFE when we weren't). What we did was submit all the income info again, with anything extra we could lay our hands on, along with up-to-date copies of bank statements and payslips that clearly matched up with one another, showing my wife's income going into our bank account. As a kicker, we included a copy of the I-864P (poverty rules chart) and a sheet of calculations, showing that her income was demonstrably over the line. I was approved about 6 weeks after they received it.

I don't understand why USCIS send these 'rejections' like this when what they really want is more (or up-to-date) evidence. It doesn't half f*** with your head when you open up the letter and read something you know to be demonstrably false

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

"Based on the documents submitted with Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, for the petitioner/sponsor, income did not meet 125% of the federal poverty line for the petitioner/sponsor's household size."

It sounds like you didn't document the income enough. This memorandum is very detailed (27 pages) information about the I-864.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/AffSuppAFM062706.pdf

You should go over it carefully and make sure you included as much as you could to document that income, and that you counted the household size correctly. Perhaps it would be good to emphasize that you are authorized to work in the US since 2007 and your income should be included in the total household income as it is stable and continuing income. Maybe even a photocopy of your work authorization/EAD card attached would help. Make sure you included both yours and the wife's W2 forms with the income tax returns, unless you submitted tax transcipts from the IRS. Pay stubs from each of you and the copy of that employment letter you sent before. Also noted in the document linked to above, it says when you get an RFE, then the poverty guidelines that are in effect at the time of the RFE are the new standards. The same for income tax returns. So if you submitted 2007 and your RFE was after April 15 (or close to it) then the most recent tax return at the time of the RFE is 2008. It sounds like things are probably okay, but you need to clearly point out in an organized submission documents that back up the income you stated on the I-864...and especially things pertaining to the beneficiary's income and authorization to work.

[vamos 0]

Jeremy, it's good to know that somebody has been in this position also and that it turned out alright.

Nick, thanks for the link! We supplied 6 month's of pay stubs from both our jobs going right up to a week before we sent the application along with letters from both of our employers stating how much we earned etc. Going by the instructions that should have been enough. I'm starting to rue my decision to not include additional info since we already met the requirements through income alone.