What if joint sponsor doesn't earn enough? Updated...

[DTunda 0]

Hi everyone,

For those who are not familiar with my case, I had my fiance interview on June 9th.

The CO told me that my husband to be did not earn enough in 2009 so we needed to get a joint sponsor. She requested that the joint sponsor submit the I-864 form, her 2009 tax return and a copy of her passport.

My aunt has volunteered to be our joint sponsor, but in 2009 she filed her daughter and her daughter's two children as her dependents on her tax return so including me, her household size is 5 and her income for this household size in 2009 is 1385 below the poverty guideline.

However, her circumstances since 2009 have drastically changed. My cousin and her children are no longer my aunt's dependents. She (my cousin) has gotten a job and she now lives with her husband and children so the only dependent my aunt has for this tax year, and beyond, is herself (and me, if the K1 should be approved).

Here is a summary of the package she sent me:

The I-864

Dependents in 2009: 4 (daughter, grandchildren, herself)

Sponsored relative/s: 1 (me)

Total household size: 5

Salary for 2009: 30 832

Assets (savings): over 27 000

Letters

One letter explains the change in her circumstances (the daughter and children no longer being her dependents) and that her salary of over 30 000 a year is more than enough to support both herself and me in 2010 and beyond.

In another letter, since she did not include her pay stubs thus far for 2010 because she says she couldn't find them, she invited the embassy to confirm her earnings by calling her employers.

Other documents

Bank statements to prove possession of the asset stated.

2009 Tax return

W2s

Copy of passport

Based on this information, would you guys recommend that I go ahead and submit her as my joint sponsor to the embassy? Or should my fiance and I continue looking for someone else?

Your advice is much appreciated! Thx very much in advance!

[engineer21 51]

Does the daughter and her children still live there though?

See..I don't know if the household size is counted based on claiming dependents (on taxes) vs. simply having someone live with you...

But anyway, my understanding of the use of assets is that if it is at least 5 times the shortage of the income, then your aunt is fine to be a co-sponsor anyway even with all her dependents.

She is only about 2K short for household of 5 and her savings is more than 5 times 2K, so..

Hopefully somebody with better knowledge will come along!

[amykathleen2005 441]

You are not your aunt's dependent, you are the main sponsor so you don't count on her total.

[DTunda 0]

Hi guys, thanks for answering.

Amykathleen2005, I'm not the USC, I'm the beneficiary so I would have to be included in the household size.

Engineer21, yes the daughter and kids are still technically living with her, but she (the daughter) is not fully employeed. I actually thought she had moved out completely, but they live in the same house though not in the same space. My aunt lives upstairs while my cousin (my aunt's daughter) and her family live downstairs. However, the two abodes are two separate apartments at the same address.

Does anyone else have an opinion as to whether I should submit her as our joint sponsor? Previously some of you adviced that we find a new sponsor all together, but that was before my aunt added her savings as assets to supplement her income. So I'm just wondering if the addition of the 27 000 in savings will improve her position to be our joint sponsor at all?

I'm really pulling my hair out about this so please anyone who can provide any insights I would be so grateful (Auby_Rob, I'd love to hear from you!). Things have not been going well for me. Lately, I've had stroke after stroke of bad luck following me around. It's like there's bad news around every corner. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating or being overly pessimistic. Therefore, I do not want to submit her as our joint sponsor only to be denied on the grounds that I will become a public charge. It is such a ridiculous notion, this public charge thing, and that's what is so frustrating. My fiance is more than capable of supporting me (2009 was just a bad year for him because of his injury. He's fine now, and working full time) and so does my aunt. I know things are tough now in the US, but I'm quite highly educated (at the master's level) so I also know I too will be able to support myself in the long run.

This is all our lawyer's fault. He should have adviced us to get a joint sponsor from day one. Instead he led us to believe that my fiance's disability payments will be counted in his earnings. The CO who interviewed me disregarded the disability payments and focused only on his earned income. That's why we're in this situation. Man, I hope this will be a lesson to others. I trusted this lawyer to do what I'm paying him for and he didn't. Now we're in a situation where the only person who is willing to be our joint sponsor may turn out to be unsuitable. Sorry guys, this is just so hurtful and frustrating and I need to vent.

Please let me hear from more of you VJers. Since we can't trust our lawyer to do what we're paying him to do, you guys are our only hope for guidance.

Thx a lot!

[DTunda 0]

Hi guys, thanks for answering. Please disregard the post above!

Amykathleen2005, I'm not the USC, I'm the beneficiary so I would have to be included in the household size.

Engineer21, yes the daughter and kids are still technically living with her, but she (the daughter) is now fully employeed (so she and her kids are no longer dependents of my aunt). I actually thought she had moved out completely, but I recently found out they live in the same house though not in the same space. My aunt lives upstairs while my cousin (my aunt's daughter) and her family live downstairs. However, the two abodes are two separate apartments at the same address.

Does anyone else have an opinion as to whether I should submit her as our joint sponsor? Previously some of you adviced that we find a new sponsor all together, but that was before my aunt added her savings as assets to supplement her income. So I'm just wondering if the addition of the 27 000 in savings will improve her position to be our joint sponsor at all?

I'm really pulling my hair out about this so please anyone who can provide any insights I would be so grateful (Auby_Rob, I'd love to hear from you!). Things have not been going well for me. Lately, I've had stroke after stroke of bad luck following me around. It's like there's bad news around every corner. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating or being overly pessimistic. Therefore, I do not want to submit her as our joint sponsor only to be denied on the grounds that I will become a public charge. It is such a ridiculous notion, this public charge thing, and that's what is so frustrating. My fiance is more than capable of supporting me (2009 was just a bad year for him because of his injury. He's fine now, and working full time) and so does my aunt. I know things are tough now in the US, but I'm quite highly educated (at the master's level) so I also know I too will be able to support myself in the long run.

This is all our lawyer's fault. He should have adviced us to get a joint sponsor from day one. Instead he led us to believe that my fiance's disability payments would be counted in his earnings. The CO who interviewed me disregarded the disability payments and focused only on his earned income. That's why we're in this situation. Man, I hope this will be a lesson to others. I trusted this lawyer to do what I'm paying him for and he let us down. Now we're in a situation where the only person who is willing to be our joint sponsor may turn out to be unsuitable. Sorry guys, this is just so hurtful and frustrating and I need to vent.

Please let me hear from more of you VJers. Since we can't trust our lawyer to do what we're paying him to do, you guys are our only hope for guidance.

Thx a lot!

Edited June 27, 2010 by DTunda

[payxibka 10,045]

Moving thread to:

US Embassy and Consulate Discussion

This is the place to post your experiences or questions related to this last step before moving to the US. Topics relating to I-134's, packets sent from consulate and medical & police certificates should be posted here.