Unemployment benefits used for support

[pushbrk 12,898]

Thanks for the response. Bare in mind another person during their AOS interview when asked if they were employed said no and they were approved. Do you consider unemployment insurance EARNED income? And for what time period? 2009 or 2010? How long do you need to show AOS support for? One year? If all else falis in my case I guess I can pull out my 401 and savings- but that's good for a year of support. It all seems a bit weird this public charge concern - the day after an approved AOS interveiw you could lose your job. And then my wife is sitting there with a diploma she just earned from the State Dental board. If the I-864 was never approved why did I send it in? Why were social security cards and AP et al issued? WIsh me luck I'm too old for joint sponsors!

Am I rambling? Sorry

It doesn't matter what I consider but no, unemployment benefits do not qualify as "earned income". Remember, somebody is making a judgment call on whether your spouse will become a public charge. Put yourself in their shoes. Should they decide all is well because you have unemployment benefits that can stop next week if you don't do what you have to do to keep them coming and WILL stop within a few months to a year no matter what?

Current income and current documented liquid assets are the main thing. Three years of good income won't make up for having no income now but a good income now can make up for having no income the previous three years.

[Darnell 8,478]

No, they will not last 5 years but, they are guaranteed where a job is not. I know that if I dont find employment for the next 36 weeks, I have this income coming in, whereas with a job, you dont know if you will have it tomorrow, much less 36 weeks from now. Therefore, it would seem the guaranteed benefit would outway one that is not. Just my common sense opinion though. It would seem also that with the crisis across this Country, this information should be made available by the State Dept. which has been unresponsive to my request for information about this topic. But I do appreciate all the input from you guys and gals out there that have firsthand knowledge and experiences in sponsoring CR-1 or K-3 Visas and thank you for your feedback.

WHERE ARE YOU IN THE FILING PROCESS? If you've not filed yet, you've got, IMO, about 6 months to get that high paying job.

'Current Salary Amount' is not same as 'accumulated income', ever, and in many instances, will trump 'accumulated income' .

Can ya get a job, within 6 months?

Where are you in the Filing Process?

[What Happened? 4]

We were approved with using only unemployment compensation. I only submitted my 2008 income tax returns, my bank statements, and the benefit award letters. I also submitted a letter from my previous employer verifying income earned early in the year and last date worked.

My affidavit of support was accepted with no problems.

One verified case of it being used with nothing else but taxes and bank statements.

However it is always best to not take the risk get cosponsors

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

World of difference in what will be accepted for the I864 when adjusting status and what a CO will accept at the visa interview (which was the OP's original question).

AO's are instructed by memo to include UI at the status adjustment. There's no such guidance for the I134.

[What Happened? 4]

World of difference in what will be accepted for the I864 when adjusting status and what a CO will accept at the visa interview (which was the OP's original question).

AO's are instructed by memo to include UI at the status adjustment. There's no such guidance for the I134.

my info was accepted at nvc with the i864 and forwarded to the consulate. not sure if this was to follow my reply or not but the op is speaking of k3 or cr1

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

my info was accepted at nvc with the i864 and forwarded to the consulate. not sure if this was to follow my reply or not but the op is speaking of k3 or cr1

Aye, you are right. Missed that.

And no my comments weren't to you specifically. Just adding to the conversation.

[Guitarlo 2]

It doesn't matter what I consider but no, unemployment benefits do not qualify as "earned income". Remember, somebody is making a judgment call on whether your spouse will become a public charge. Put yourself in their shoes. Should they decide all is well because you have unemployment benefits that can stop next week if you don't do what you have to do to keep them coming and WILL stop within a few months to a year no matter what?

Current income and current documented liquid assets are the main thing. Three years of good income won't make up for having no income now but a good income now can make up for having no income the previous three years.

Right, good points!.... it seems some people are getting AOS approved using their unemployment insurance as income. It's aggravating the USCIS doesn't comment on the matter in lieu of a national employment crisis. If I'm asked the employment "question" during the AOS interview I will point out the 43 weeks of U.I. due me, granted that's not the same as a letter of employment from Toyota where your U.I. benefits are probably more stable than a job! And a a very valid point... LOL and have my assests in the back up drawer. I'm personally just peeved that all the work and fees I paid for the whole immigration process excluded that the I-864 is not approved until the moment face to face with the decision maker. That sends my blood pressure through the roof after I spent thousands of dollars getting my wife and child here. If my family ever became public charge then I'm bound to repay the bill so what? Crying outloud, my American neighbor abdonded his house next to mine for foreclosure. My three Vietnamese neighbors are solild as a rock! Honestly, my wife was a Dentist and probably will have a job before me and a tax payer what more does Uncle Sam want? If my family is declined their Green Card I think I will move to the Philippines - to hell with it.

[Guitarlo 2]

World of difference in what will be accepted for the I864 when adjusting status and what a CO will accept at the visa interview (which was the OP's original question).

AO's are instructed by memo to include UI at the status adjustment. There's no such guidance for the I134.

OK - this was exactly the info I was looking for. "AO's are instructed by memo to include UI at the status adjustment." My apologies if I confused anyone with my question - I864 versus 1134. Is there a link to that memo somewhere I can read it? Also, please excuse my huffy-toned earlier post. A lot of people are under immense pressure during this whole immigration process and I'm no one special. It was hard for me to fathom that after the many thousands of dollars I invested into my wife and her son's schooling et al I could be facing rejection during the AOS interview because I was temporarily between jobs and collecting unemployment insurance. My AOS interview is on Feb 8th 12:30 pm in Bloomington, MN. Does anyone have any experiences to share? I don't know if a tally has ever been done on VJ but it would be interesting to see how many petitioners are asked during their AOS interview if they're employed and what was the result.

Thanks for putting up with me.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

OK - this was exactly the info I was looking for. "AO's are instructed by memo to include UI at the status adjustment." My apologies if I confused anyone with my question - I864 versus 1134. Is there a link to that memo somewhere I can read it? Also, please excuse my huffy-toned earlier post. A lot of people are under immense pressure during this whole immigration process and I'm no one special. It was hard for me to fathom that after the many thousands of dollars I invested into my wife and her son's schooling et al I could be facing rejection during the AOS interview because I was temporarily between jobs and collecting unemployment insurance. My AOS interview is on Feb 8th 12:30 pm in Bloomington, MN. Does anyone have any experiences to share? I don't know if a tally has ever been done on VJ but it would be interesting to see how many petitioners are asked during their AOS interview if they're employed and what was the result.

Thanks for putting up with me.

Here's the pertinent memorandum.

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

See Page 13, Section F of the document.

There are many issues at play here. What was your employment status at the time of filing the I864? What are you cash assets now?

I864 is supposed to stand as of the date of filing. However, no one here can assure you that should your present predicament come up at the interview that it cannot affect the outcome. We were asked at our interview if the employment picture had changed since the affidavit was prepared, BUT that incident occurred prior to issuance of this memorandum.

At any rate, I do not believe your family would encounter a denial of the adjustment. Worst case scenario is the AO sends you away from the interview with instruction to return with an I864 from a co-sponsor.

[Guitarlo 2]

Here's the pertinent memorandum.

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

See Page 13, Section F of the document.

There are many issues at play here. What was your employment status at the time of filing the I864? What are you cash assets now?

I864 is supposed to stand as of the date of filing. However, no one here can assure you that should your present predicament come up at the interview that it cannot affect the outcome. We were asked at our interview if the employment picture had changed since the affidavit was prepared, BUT that incident occurred prior to issuance of this memorandum.

At any rate, I do not believe your family would encounter a denial of the adjustment. Worst case scenario is the AO sends you away from the interview with instruction to return with an I864 from a co-sponsor.

Many thank you(s) for sending me this link. I spent the morning reading it and I suggest anyone with questions about their I-864 read it like the Bible on the matter. IN my case as stated by another VJ member, I combined W2 earnings+unemployment insurance+401 pension assests. So, one or part of those income components qualified me. What I read in the MEMO:

Therefore, if the Form I-864 was sufficient at the time it was filed with the Form I-485, USCIS should not request any further documentation (e.g., more recent evidence of employment or income) unless more than one year has elapsed since the Form I-864 was submitted and there is a specific reason (other than the passage of time) to question whether the evidence of income is no longer reliable.

Recent practice has been for the Form I-864 to be vetted at the National Benefit Center as part of the process of preparing the Form I-485 for adjudication. If the NBC vetting process indicates that the Form I-864 was sufficient when reviewed, an adjudicator may generally rely on that determination, unless it is determined, on the basis of specific reasons, that a request for evidence is appropriate, as outlined in paragraph 20.5(e)(2).

The trick words above are "generally rely on that determination" and "specific reasons" - one has no idea what that could mean. You're at the mercy of the AO I suppose?

According to the memo there should be no reason to be asking me any further support qualification questions because my I864 was vetted and because there's no other specific reason to ask i.e. (passage of time). I applied for my AOS in October 2009 and my interview is Feb 8, 2010. However, that being said, the words "unemployment insurance" as income is not clearly stated. If USCIS considers unemployment insurance to be like seasonal or temporary then they could toss an RFE out but even in those cases they get approved and if the 1864 was a problem it should have been addressed before it got to the AOS interview stage. The bottom line I read into all this is if your 1864 has been vetted it should stand at the AOS interview. Otherwise, the question of support is no longer the year you applied but becomes a question for the next year. If I get called on it I will have to honestly say I got 43 weeks of unemployemnt insurance coming and as a back up have more than needed in my 401k. Well, I hope I haven't beaten the subject into the ground. I will make a post after the interview and let you know what happened.

Thanks again VJ!!