I-864/I-864A Household Size

[sachinky 465]

I have a question and my brain is just not working after a stressful night. Please bear with me.

Due to certain issues that will take too long to get into here at the moment, I will be changing my joint sponsor at the interview from my cousin to my FIL. Now as I understand it, he will fill an I-864A as my husband is currently living with his parents till I get there and we can get our own place. His mother doesn't work, so she has 0 income but his dad makes more than enough to cover around 30 people.

My husband will also be filling in a new I-864 as he as a new job and the income takes him over the required guidelines (but we'd like to keep the FIL as a backup since this new job is very recent). For his I-864, for number 21g--will he put 2 for BOTH his parents as household members (since they both reside in the same house) or just 1 for his father whose income he IS actually combining. FIL/MIL file taxes jointly but thanks to Pushbrk's earlier advice, we know what to do in that situation. His father will then sign the I-864A but not the mother as she is not listed?

Do I have this correct? Or can/should my FIL file a I-864 since he qualifies on his own? I'm just confused regarding the household size--what will my husband's be now--3, 4 ? on the new I864?

Thanks for your response. Much appreciated.

[sachinky 465]

21g - This question gives you the option of including certainother non-dependent relatives who are living in your residenceas part of your household size. Such relatives may includeyour mother, father, sister, brother or adult children, if they areliving in your residence. However, the only reason to includethese family members in your household size is if you need toinclude their income when you calculate your householdincome for purposes of meeting the income requirement forthis form. To be considered, any relative indicated in thiscategory must sign and submit Form I-864A.

--From the I-864 instructions, it would seem that only household members whose incomes are been included to support the intending immigrant would be listed in the household size, irrespective of who actually physically resides there.

Am I reading this correctly? Please reply!

Edited March 29, 2010 by sachinky

[Bobby+Umit 161]

I have a question and my brain is just not working after a stressful night. Please bear with me.

Due to certain issues that will take too long to get into here at the moment, I will be changing my joint sponsor at the interview from my cousin to my FIL. Now as I understand it, he will fill an I-864A as my husband is currently living with his parents till I get there and we can get our own place. His mother doesn't work, so she has 0 income but his dad makes more than enough to cover around 30 people.

Correct - the FIL would do the 864A.

My husband will also be filling in a new I-864 as he as a new job and the income takes him over the required guidelines (but we'd like to keep the FIL as a backup since this new job is very recent). For his I-864, for number 21g--will he put 2 for BOTH his parents as household members (since they both reside in the same house) or just 1 for his father whose income he IS actually combining. FIL/MIL file taxes jointly but thanks to Pushbrk's earlier advice, we know what to do in that situation. His father will then sign the I-864A but not the mother as she is not listed?

If his (your husband) current income is making the level - you do not need a co-sponsor (as long as he is doing the job now) - you would only count people that are listed on the form.

Do I have this correct? Or can/should my FIL file a I-864 since he qualifies on his own? I'm just confused regarding the household size--what will my husband's be now--3, 4 ? on the new I864?

See above for the first question. If your husband can use his income, he would count himself and you, not the FIL/MIL (since they are not his dependents) on a the new 864

Thanks for your response. Much appreciated.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Bobby+Umit

[sachinky 465]

Thank you for responding!

From my understanding though, if the job is very recent (he started beginning March so he doesn't have too many paystubs but he will have an employment letter by the interview date) the consulate will often ask for the Joint Sponsor.

So in this case, I would like to have my FIL's documentation as a back-up in case it is required.

So what would you suggest we do in that case? Have 2 I864s prepared by my husband for the interview? One with just us 2 as the household and the other one as 3? Or does it not matter?

Edited March 29, 2010 by sachinky

[SunDrop 59]

21g - This question gives you the option of including certainother non-dependent relatives who are living in your residenceas part of your household size. Such relatives may includeyour mother, father, sister, brother or adult children, if they areliving in your residence. However, the only reason to includethese family members in your household size is if you need toinclude their income when you calculate your householdincome for purposes of meeting the income requirement forthis form. To be considered, any relative indicated in thiscategory must sign and submit Form I-864A.

--From the I-864 instructions, it would seem that only household members whose incomes are been included to support the intending immigrant would be listed in the household size, irrespective of who actually physically resides there.

Am I reading this correctly? Please reply!

My understanding of these instructions is that your husband completes the I-864 and counts a household size of 3. Him, you and his father. His father completes an I-864A, in order to contribute his income to the total household income.

[sachinky 465]

Thank you, SunDrop. That's what I thought too.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

My understanding of these instructions is that your husband completes the I-864 and counts a household size of 3. Him, you and his father. His father completes an I-864A, in order to contribute his income to the total household income.

This is correct -

It would be 4 if the Mother and Father were both providing the income level. (each one providing the 864A)

Some embassies want a 864A from both people (if they filed jointly) - it appears they do this to make sure the other party is aware of the obligation. (not sure on yours)

So what would you suggest we do in that case? Have 2 I864s prepared by my husband for the interview? One with just us 2 as the household and the other one as 3? Or does it not matter?

You could do that - extra insurance.

Make sure that the letter from the employer states that it's a permanent job, salary, and when he started.

[sachinky 465]

One more question related to this topic--

My husband is filling up a new I-864 according to the two jobs that is now working that will be submitted for the interview. His projected current annual individual income is $21,620. We can also show assets about $4000. Do we still need to worry about the joint sponsor because my cousin is being absolutely uncooperative so far(he is refusing to send me a copy of his AOS package for the interview citing privacy reasons. This means I will not have his 2009 taxes and I'm certain those will be asked for since our interview is in May and it wasn't submitted to NVC).

Yes, I will have my FIL's stuff as backup at the interview. I just am wary of changing joint sponsors at the last minute. I have no idea what the repercussions would be if that were to indeed happen. Would they automatically throw me into AP? Would they not accept it then and ask me to submit it through VFS(visa facilitating services through which documents are to be submitted 10-15 days before the interview)? Would they review it right then and there?

I honestly have no idea what happens in a situation like this. Any suggestions/ideas? I'm all ears. This is causing me far too much grief at the last minute.

Edited April 2, 2010 by sachinky