K-1 Income/Assets Reqmn't

[ezmiller 0]

I understand that for the K-1 there is a certain amount of income/assets you need to be able to show. As I understand that is roughly 125% of the poverty level listed for a given household size. So for example a household of two would need to show $16,500 in income/assets. My question has to do with the way in which income versus assets are evaluated. If I have 0 income, but $20,000 in liquid assets (say cash in the bank) does that still meet the requirement. If not, how do they evaluate the relative value of income versus assets?

[Otto 83]

Household of two would be $18,212 (more for Hawaii or Alaska).

Is there no possibility of gainful employment by the time of the interview? (or, if that's not possible, any chance of a co-sponsor?) Which Consulate/Embassy?

[Otto 83]

ETA:

Most Embassies/Consulates use the I-864 guidelines to evaluate much of the affidavit of support. It is safe to use the instructions pages on the I-864 for many things, including pertaining to asset evaluation.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I understand that for the K-1 there is a certain amount of income/assets you need to be able to show. As I understand that is roughly 125% of the poverty level listed for a given household size. So for example a household of two would need to show $16,500 in income/assets. My question has to do with the way in which income versus assets are evaluated. If I have 0 income, but $20,000 in liquid assets (say cash in the bank) does that still meet the requirement. If not, how do they evaluate the relative value of income versus assets?

The requirement for 2 people is a little over $18,000 right now. It is adjusted (up) each March. You do not need to show anything for the petition, this stage comes at the interview.

Assets are valed at 1/3 income. Your $20,000 in the bank will equal about $6,500 worth of income, so if you are a little short, this can be used to make up for the shortfall, IF the consulate will consider it, they do not have to and cash assets are sometimes frowned upon. The point of all this is to determine how much money they can get from you if you default on your obligations, cash assets are tough to get hold of since they can be withdrawn right after the interview and disappear. It will depend on the consulate to some extent. With a K-1 you have to qualify again after your fiance(e) arrives during the AOS process.

[ezmiller 0]

The requirement for 2 people is a little over $18,000 right now. It is adjusted (up) each March. You do not need to show anything for the petition, this stage comes at the interview.

Assets are valed at 1/3 income. Your $20,000 in the bank will equal about $6,500 worth of income, so if you are a little short, this can be used to make up for the shortfall, IF the consulate will consider it, they do not have to and cash assets are sometimes frowned upon. The point of all this is to determine how much money they can get from you if you default on your obligations, cash assets are tough to get hold of since they can be withdrawn right after the interview and disappear. It will depend on the consulate to some extent. With a K-1 you have to qualify again after your fiance(e) arrives during the AOS process.

If they consider assets? You mean they don't necessarily consider your assets at all when assessing whether you meet the requirements? And what do you mean when you say: "The point of all this is to determine how much money they can get from you if you default on your obligations..."? What obligations? I thought your obligation is to your finance who you are sponsoring, not to the government? Can you explain? That would be great.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

The requirement for 2 people is a little over $18,000 right now. It is adjusted (up) each March. You do not need to show anything for the petition, this stage comes at the interview.

Assets are valed at 1/3 income. Your $20,000 in the bank will equal about $6,500 worth of income, so if you are a little short, this can be used to make up for the shortfall, IF the consulate will consider it, they do not have to and cash assets are sometimes frowned upon. The point of all this is to determine how much money they can get from you if you default on your obligations, cash assets are tough to get hold of since they can be withdrawn right after the interview and disappear. It will depend on the consulate to some extent. With a K-1 you have to qualify again after your fiance(e) arrives during the AOS process.

If they consider assets? You mean they don't necessarily consider your assets at all when assessing whether you meet the requirements? And what do you mean when you say: "The point of all this is to determine how much money they can get from you if you default on your obligations..."? What obligations? I thought your obligation is to your finance who you are sponsoring, not to the government? Can you explain? That would be great.

The consulate has a lot of discretion with K visas, so you'll find the rules vary (sometimes dramatically) from one consulate to another. Some consulates won't consider assets for the reason Gary mentioned - some people would borrow money from a family member (for example) to temporarily pump up their bank accounts in order to qualify, and then return the money after the interview. Some consulates will only accept evidence of income.

The purpose of the affidavit of support is to guarantee the US government that the sponsored immigrant will not become a burden to the taxpayers of the US. If the sponsored immigrant ends up collecting "means tested benefits", then the sponsor may be sued by the government for reimbursement. That's the "obligation".

[Anh map 2,098]

The requirement for 2 people is a little over $18,000 right now. It is adjusted (up) each March. You do not need to show anything for the petition, this stage comes at the interview.

Assets are valed at 1/3 income. Your $20,000 in the bank will equal about $6,500 worth of income, so if you are a little short, this can be used to make up for the shortfall, IF the consulate will consider it, they do not have to and cash assets are sometimes frowned upon. The point of all this is to determine how much money they can get from you if you default on your obligations, cash assets are tough to get hold of since they can be withdrawn right after the interview and disappear. It will depend on the consulate to some extent. With a K-1 you have to qualify again after your fiance(e) arrives during the AOS process.

If they consider assets? You mean they don't necessarily consider your assets at all when assessing whether you meet the requirements? And what do you mean when you say: "The point of all this is to determine how much money they can get from you if you default on your obligations..."? What obligations? I thought your obligation is to your finance who you are sponsoring, not to the government? Can you explain? That would be great.

The instructions for the I-134 (page 2) give the answer to your questions. All form instructions are well worth reading. The affidavit of support is used to recover costs of means tested benefits that the alien may use.

[ezmiller 0]

Ok then what about these two scenarios:

1) say I don't have normal job contract, but rather income derived from short term contract as an adjunct instructor at a university (that is in fact my situation at the moment). Say I get my employer to provide me with a latter stating my projected salary which exceeds the minimum income requirement for a household of two so $20,000 and I have say $30,000 in stock assets. Will that work? Or will they not view my employment situation as stable enough?

2) What if I have $30,000 in assets and my salary (same situation as above) is just below the income requirement, say $2,000 below?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Ok then what about these two scenarios:

1) say I don't have normal job contract, but rather income derived from short term contract as an adjunct instructor at a university (that is in fact my situation at the moment). Say I get my employer to provide me with a latter stating my projected salary which exceeds the minimum income requirement for a household of two so $20,000 and I have say $30,000 in stock assets. Will that work? Or will they not view my employment situation as stable enough?

2) What if I have $30,000 in assets and my salary (same situation as above) is just below the income requirement, say $2,000 below?

You're asking a hypothetical situation, but you're not providing a key element needed to give you an answer - which consulate are you dealing with? What country? Like I said, the requirements vary dramatically from one consulate to another. Without that information, it's like asking "What will happen if I jump off a bridge?" without telling us which bridge you're going to jump off.

[pushbrk 13,136]

Ok then what about these two scenarios:

1) say I don't have normal job contract, but rather income derived from short term contract as an adjunct instructor at a university (that is in fact my situation at the moment). Say I get my employer to provide me with a latter stating my projected salary which exceeds the minimum income requirement for a household of two so $20,000 and I have say $30,000 in stock assets. Will that work? Or will they not view my employment situation as stable enough?

2) What if I have $30,000 in assets and my salary (same situation as above) is just below the income requirement, say $2,000 below?

The answers to your question have already been given within this thread as to "requirements". What a Consular officer will decide, cannot be predicted here. It's best to comfortably exceed the requirements or have a co-sponsor. No money, no honey.

[ezmiller 0]

Ok then what about these two scenarios:

1) say I don't have normal job contract, but rather income derived from short term contract as an adjunct instructor at a university (that is in fact my situation at the moment). Say I get my employer to provide me with a latter stating my projected salary which exceeds the minimum income requirement for a household of two so $20,000 and I have say $30,000 in stock assets. Will that work? Or will they not view my employment situation as stable enough?

2) What if I have $30,000 in assets and my salary (same situation as above) is just below the income requirement, say $2,000 below?

The answers to your question have already been given within this thread as to "requirements". What a Consular officer will decide, cannot be predicted here. It's best to comfortably exceed the requirements or have a co-sponsor. No money, no honey.

That is helpful itself. I didn't realize that the specific office is so important. Is there a way to find out about the practices of a particular office. In this case, it would be the Czech consulate.

[Stephen + Elisha 92]

Question pertains to the consular phase of the K-1 process - moving to US Embassy and Consulate Discussion

[pushbrk 13,136]

Ok then what about these two scenarios:

1) say I don't have normal job contract, but rather income derived from short term contract as an adjunct instructor at a university (that is in fact my situation at the moment). Say I get my employer to provide me with a latter stating my projected salary which exceeds the minimum income requirement for a household of two so $20,000 and I have say $30,000 in stock assets. Will that work? Or will they not view my employment situation as stable enough?

2) What if I have $30,000 in assets and my salary (same situation as above) is just below the income requirement, say $2,000 below?

The answers to your question have already been given within this thread as to "requirements". What a Consular officer will decide, cannot be predicted here. It's best to comfortably exceed the requirements or have a co-sponsor. No money, no honey.

That is helpful itself. I didn't realize that the specific office is so important. Is there a way to find out about the practices of a particular office. In this case, it would be the Czech consulate.

Please note that a Consular officer is neither a Consulate or an "office". An "individual" makes a judgment call but meeting the minimum requirements is, well, a "minimum requirement". More important is the bold sentence in my earlier post. See above.

Edited October 29, 2009 by pushbrk

[ezmiller 0]

The answers to your question have already been given within this thread as to "requirements". What a Consular officer will decide, cannot be predicted here. It's best to comfortably exceed the requirements or have a co-sponsor. No money, no honey.

That is helpful itself. I didn't realize that the specific office is so important. Is there a way to find out about the practices of a particular office. In this case, it would be the Czech consulate.

Please note that a Consular officer is neither a Consulate or an "office". An "individual" makes a judgment call but meeting the minimum requirements is, well, a "minimum requirement". More important is the bold sentence in my earlier post. See above.

Can you be more specific about what it means to "comfortably" exceed the requirements? Or is the point that you are trying to make really that it depends on the individual? This question is important for me to answer if I can because I am an adjunct college instructor in history at the moment and the job market being the way it is, the possibility that I won't find a more stable and high-paying job in the near future is pretty high. I can probably get a salary projection estimate from the university where I teach that shows me making like $24K (before taxes). If the minimum for a household of two is about 18K does that count as comfortably exceeding the requirements? I also feel I should say thank you to those who have responded. The amount of collective knowledge on this forum is truly stunning.

[pushbrk 13,136]

The answers to your question have already been given within this thread as to "requirements". What a Consular officer will decide, cannot be predicted here. It's best to comfortably exceed the requirements or have a co-sponsor. No money, no honey.

That is helpful itself. I didn't realize that the specific office is so important. Is there a way to find out about the practices of a particular office. In this case, it would be the Czech consulate.

Please note that a Consular officer is neither a Consulate or an "office". An "individual" makes a judgment call but meeting the minimum requirements is, well, a "minimum requirement". More important is the bold sentence in my earlier post. See above.

Can you be more specific about what it means to "comfortably" exceed the requirements? Or is the point that you are trying to make really that it depends on the individual? This question is important for me to answer if I can because I am an adjunct college instructor in history at the moment and the job market being the way it is, the possibility that I won't find a more stable and high-paying job in the near future is pretty high. I can probably get a salary projection estimate from the university where I teach that shows me making like $24K (before taxes). If the minimum for a household of two is about 18K does that count as comfortably exceeding the requirements? I also feel I should say thank you to those who have responded. The amount of collective knowledge on this forum is truly stunning.

Which country?