Need :Co-Sponsor I-134 (I'm Jobless right now)

[Dot 0]

Hey Everyone, I just got my NOA2 Notice Yeye! I'm excited, but now it means the next step: I-134

I'm currently still a student. I've lost my job last year so I need my mom to co-sponsor my fiance for me.

Do I need to fill out the I-134 or my mom? Can someone provide me a sample to which I can follow? I'm really confused about this and definitely DON'T WANT TO SCREW up at this point!!

Please help.

Thanks,

Dot

[Darnell 8,478]

The two of you (mom and you) EACH fill out an I-134.

You are the primary sponser

Mom is a co-sponser.

[Dot 0]

The two of you (mom and you) EACH fill out an I-134.

You are the primary sponser

Mom is a co-sponser.

Even if I don't have a job I am still considered a sponsor? I still need to fill one out? Do they need my tax documents and my mom's?

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Even if I don't have a job I am still considered a sponsor? I still need to fill one out? Do they need my tax documents and my mom's?

Yes to everything. Read the instructions closely.

(Check with your embassy on what they wish to have as evidence for the I-134).

(Moving from K-1 to Embassy - I-134 related)

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Even if I don't have a job I am still considered a sponsor? I still need to fill one out? Do they need my tax documents and my mom's?

You are not just A sponsor. You are THE sponsor. You are the one who signed the petition to bring your fiance here.

Think of it like buying a car.

When you buy a car you sign a loan agreement. When you sponsor an immigrant you sign an affidavit of support.

If you can't qualify for the car loan on your own, you get a co-signer. If you can't qualify to sponsor an immigrant, you get a joint sponsor.

If you fail to make a payment on your car loan, the finance company comes after YOU first. If the immigrant you sponsor collects means tested benefits in the US while the affidavit is still in effect, then the government comes after YOU first.

If the finance company cannot force you to pay the loan, then they'll go after your co-signer. If the government cannot force you to reimburse them for the means tested benefits, then they'll go after your joint sponsor. In either case, your co-signer/joint sponsor is going to be forever pissed off at you.

The bottom line is that you are and always will be the primary sponsor. Your mom is not sponsoring an immigrant to come to the US. She's providing a backup plan for the government in case you default on your promise to ensure that your fiance never becomes a public charge in the US.

[Audy_Rob 26]

If you fail to make a payment on your car loan, the finance company comes after YOU first. If the immigrant you sponsor collects means tested benefits in the US while the affidavit is still in effect, then the government comes after YOU first.

If the finance company cannot force you to pay the loan, then they'll go after your co-signer. If the government cannot force you to reimburse them for the means tested benefits, then they'll go after your joint sponsor. In either case, your co-signer/joint sponsor is going to be forever pissed off at you.

[Dot 0]

You are not just A sponsor. You are THE sponsor. You are the one who signed the petition to bring your fiance here.

Think of it like buying a car.

When you buy a car you sign a loan agreement. When you sponsor an immigrant you sign an affidavit of support.

If you can't qualify for the car loan on your own, you get a co-signer. If you can't qualify to sponsor an immigrant, you get a joint sponsor.

If you fail to make a payment on your car loan, the finance company comes after YOU first. If the immigrant you sponsor collects means tested benefits in the US while the affidavit is still in effect, then the government comes after YOU first.

If the finance company cannot force you to pay the loan, then they'll go after your co-signer. If the government cannot force you to reimburse them for the means tested benefits, then they'll go after your joint sponsor. In either case, your co-signer/joint sponsor is going to be forever pissed off at you.

The bottom line is that you are and always will be the primary sponsor. Your mom is not sponsoring an immigrant to come to the US. She's providing a backup plan for the government in case you default on your promise to ensure that your fiance never becomes a public charge in the US.

Hmm, thanks for the extensive analogy. I'm wondering why my post was moved. Joint sponsor or co-sponsor it's all the same form right? just the I-134? I saw all these people talking about "supplement" for the I-134 do I need it? Instruction only says fill out I-134 is there a section with more details? THanks everyone U make my day!

[Dot 0]

Another question is that as I was filling out the form, this area asking me for my employment do i put "N/A" Or "Unemployed"? OR "STUDENT? " Or leave it blank? Down there it also ask about properties and such, I have none of these. Do I just leave them all blank?

I do get a source of income from the government Unemployment Benefits. Do I enter that and include my tax info ? There's no area for this info. How does this work?

Omg.. This is driving me insane.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Hmm, thanks for the extensive analogy. I'm wondering why my post was moved. Joint sponsor or co-sponsor it's all the same form right? just the I-134? I saw all these people talking about "supplement" for the I-134 do I need it? Instruction only says fill out I-134 is there a section with more details? THanks everyone U make my day!

Your thread was moved because you were asking a question about the I-134, which is submitted at the consulate. The K1 forum is mostly for the petition stage of the process. Read the description of the forums and you'll understand why your thread was moved.

Another question is that as I was filling out the form, this area asking me for my employment do i put "N/A" Or "Unemployed"? OR "STUDENT? " Or leave it blank? Down there it also ask about properties and such, I have none of these. Do I just leave them all blank?

I do get a source of income from the government Unemployment Benefits. Do I enter that and include my tax info ? There's no area for this info. How does this work?

Omg.. This is driving me insane.

Being a student is not "employment", unless you're fortunate enough to have someone paying you to go to school. If you plan to declare your unemployment benefits (see next paragraph) then write "Unemployment Benefits", or something similar in the "Type of Business" box. If you don't plan on declaring your unemployment benefits, then just write "Unemployed". Leave the other employer related boxes empty.

You can list your unemployment benefits if you like, but the consulate will usually not consider them when determining if you qualify. The reasoning is that you will be committing to providing support for a potentially long time when you eventually submit the I-864, and your unemployment benefits will expire long before the affidavit of support does. They don't usually consider income that will end in a relatively short amount of time.

If you filed a tax return last year, then you should include a copy or transcript of it.

For the I-134, it should be ok to leave the dollar amount fields blank if you don't have anything to list there. Writing "$0" implies that you have nothing, which may not be accurate. Writing any other number implies you are declaring assets or income, which you would be expected to provide evidence of. Writing "none" or "n/a" isn't appropriate because each field is preceded by a dollar sign.

Don't get too worked up over the details of your own form. Since you don't qualify to sponsor on your own, it's your mother's I-134 and evidence they will be scrutinizing.

[Audy_Rob 26]

Another question is that as I was filling out the form, this area asking me for my employment do i put "N/A" Or "Unemployed"? OR "STUDENT? " Or leave it blank? Down there it also ask about properties and such, I have none of these. Do I just leave them all blank?

I do get a source of income from the government Unemployment Benefits. Do I enter that and include my tax info ? There's no area for this info. How does this work?

Omg.. This is driving me insane.

NOTE: There is no such thing as a "co-sponsor" in USCIS forms and instructions. USCIS only refers to a joint sponsor where applicable. Many people at the VJ web site use co-sponsor instead of joint sponsor because it is three less keystrokes.

1) Unemployed

2) Leave the properties and other assets blank

3) If you are receiving income in the form of unemployment insurance enter that income

4) You should include the evidence that the Consulate/Embassy requests in your Packet 3.

You should provide at least one years tax return with W-2s and 1099s unless you were not required to file. If you were not required to file, state so in a supplemental letter and why you were not required to file.

Typical evidence to accompnay an I-134 might be

Letter of Employment

Tax Returns with schedules and W-2s/1099s

Pay Stubs

A letter from bank (usually not needed)

Bank statements (usually not needed)

Again, see the Packet 3 for what you should provide.

Edited May 6, 2010 by Audy_Rob

[JohnAnwesha 4]

NOTE: There is no such thing as a "co-sponsor" in USCIS forms and instructions. USCIS only refers to a joint sponsor where applicable. Many people at the VJ web site use co-sponsor instead of joint sponsor because it is three less keystrokes.

1) Unemployed

2) Leave the properties and other assets blank

3) If you are receiving income in the form of unemployment insurance enter that income

4) You should include the evidence that the Consulate/Embassy requests in your Packet 3.

You should provide at least one years tax return with W-2s and 1099s unless you were not required to file. If you were not required to file, state so in a supplemental letter and why you were not required to file.

Typical evidence to accompnay an I-134 might be

Letter of Employment

Tax Returns with schedules and W-2s/1099s

Pay Stubs

A letter from bank (usually not needed)

Bank statements (usually not needed)

Again, see the Packet 3 for what you should provide.

I had earlier asked a question about putting unemployment benefits on the I-134 and found out that we can since that too is income albiet short-term.

So in the I-134 ,y fiance has put unemployed for the question 'engaged in type of business'.Where should I mention the unemployment?Under the income section?But that is not annual,so do I write by its side that it is paid monthly?will that be okay if I,the fiance, just added it?

Thanks everyone!

[Dot 0]

Hey thanks a lot for all the replies. I think I will just leave the area blank all the way and attach my previous year tax information? -I'm not even going to put unemployment -Sounds really depressing Not like im proud to be unemployed. As long as I won't get in trouble for leaving it blank im okay with that.

As for my joint sponsor -Can I have two? Or should I just have one? Im not sure if my mom makes enough for that Do I need to submit her tax info?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I had earlier asked a question about putting unemployment benefits on the I-134 and found out that we can since that too is income albiet short-term.

So in the I-134 ,y fiance has put unemployed for the question 'engaged in type of business'.Where should I mention the unemployment?Under the income section?But that is not annual,so do I write by its side that it is paid monthly?will that be okay if I,the fiance, just added it?

Thanks everyone!

The affidavit of support is not like an IRS audit, where full disclosure is required. The purpose of the affidavit is to convince the government that you have sufficient income and/or assets to ensure that the immigrant will not become a public charge. Information that helps to convince them of this should be provided. It's pointless to provide information which does not help, and which they will likely not consider anyway.

The income section of the I-134 was designed to show ongoing income from employment. There is no simple way to declare unemployment benefits in a clear and unambiguous way. The box for income in section 7 is preceded by the statement "I derive an annual income of". Any figure you write into this box should be an annual figure. You could annualize your unemployment payments by multiplying your weekly payment by 52, but this would be misleading as it implies you'll actually receive this much in payments in a year. The laws vary between the states, but a maximum term of 6 months is not unusual. The consulates are well aware that those payments are going to end in a relatively short amount of time, so they don't really provide the sort of guarantee that they are looking for.

If you really want to list the unemployment benefits then write "Unemployment Benefits" in the "Type of Business" box, enter the annualized amount in the box, and then provide documentation to show the actual weekly payment and expected termination date. In all likelihood, the CO will see "Unemployment Benefits" and will ignore anything else you've written or provided, and start looking for your co-sponsor's affidavit. It would probably be easier to just write "Unemployed", and let the CO focus on the co-sponsor's affidavit.

[JohnAnwesha 4]

The affidavit of support is not like an IRS audit, where full disclosure is required. The purpose of the affidavit is to convince the government that you have sufficient income and/or assets to ensure that the immigrant will not become a public charge. Information that helps to convince them of this should be provided. It's pointless to provide information which does not help, and which they will likely not consider anyway.

The income section of the I-134 was designed to show ongoing income from employment. There is no simple way to declare unemployment benefits in a clear and unambiguous way. The box for income in section 7 is preceded by the statement "I derive an annual income of". Any figure you write into this box should be an annual figure. You could annualize your unemployment payments by multiplying your weekly payment by 52, but this would be misleading as it implies you'll actually receive this much in payments in a year. The laws vary between the states, but a maximum term of 6 months is not unusual. The consulates are well aware that those payments are going to end in a relatively short amount of time, so they don't really provide the sort of guarantee that they are looking for.

If you really want to list the unemployment benefits then write "Unemployment Benefits" in the "Type of Business" box, enter the annualized amount in the box, and then provide documentation to show the actual weekly payment and expected termination date. In all likelihood, the CO will see "Unemployment Benefits" and will ignore anything else you've written or provided, and start looking for your co-sponsor's affidavit. It would probably be easier to just write "Unemployed", and let the CO focus on the co-sponsor's affidavit.

Yes I feel that would be a better idea too.Since,I had earlier asked and two other experienced members suggested that I could put that under income,even though it is the regular income.

And I was not going to multiply by 52 ,since yes that would definitely be misleading,and plus he will not be getting it beyond the 6 month period I think.

So am just going to leave it blank at unemployed.

Thank you very much Jim

[trailmix 77]

NOTE: There is no such thing as a "co-sponsor" in USCIS forms and instructions. USCIS only refers to a joint sponsor where applicable. Many people at the VJ web site use co-sponsor instead of joint sponsor because it is three less keystrokes.

Well if you want to get all technical. As someone mentioned earlier in this thread, it isn't USCIS it's DOS at the submission of the affidavit of support.

It appears they use co-sponsor in terms of a household member and joint sponsor when the person is not a household member, so yes, it does in fact exist in their terminology:

9 FAM 40.41 N5.5 Supporting Evidence Must Be Submitted with Form I-864, Affidavit of Support

Under Section 213A of the Act

(CT:VISA-1317; 09-24-2009)

a. The “sponsor” is the petitioner; anyone else is a joint or co-sponsor. All references to requirements for the “sponsor” or “sponsors” would apply

not only to the petitioner sponsor, but also to any co-sponsor household members executing Form I-864-A and joint sponsors submitting a

supplementary Form I-864. The sponsor(s) must provide the following documentation to satisfactorily complete Form I-864, Affidavit of Support

under Section 213A of the Act: