Clueless on K1 Visa and I-864 Affidavit of Support Help

[joyce0609 0]

Hi, I am a newbie at this site and recently my bf (American citizen) and I (Filipino) decided to

go the K1 visa route. But both of us are clueless as to how or when to start.

We have both been researching on it and it seems like it is overwhelmingly long time wise and hard.

However, I think reading through blogs and forums we have got more or less everything.

Except the ff: We don't really email each other all conversations we have used thus far is through the phone.

He can produce phone bills but I on the other can't since I use Magic Jack and Yahoo Minutes? Is phone bills really important for both side? And how would the embassy or uscis know the phone number is mine?

We have yahoo chat logs though since if we don't talk on the phone we use Yahoo Messenger. Would that do?

We have met when I went to the States so boarding pass and tickets and hotel receipts we can present that.

And as for the I-864, we are both concerned about it since almost everyone talk about employer certifcation and all that. My bf is self-employed and has a business of his own, so what can we use for financial support or proof of financial ability to support in lieu to employment certification and pay slips?

And what is pay stubs?

Thank you very very much. This site has been very helpful to both of us and enlightening.

We really appreciate your help as we really need it.

Is hiring a lawyer helpful for the preparation of paperwork?

[Butterflye 0]

Wow...I think I can possibly answer this one...FIRST and foremost...DO NOT waste your money on a lawyer and make same mistake I did...my lawyer was vague and mislead me on many issues...besides a lawyer does not stay on top of your case or prioritize you specific case they way you do your own...took me forever to even get a tracer put on my case that didn't come to decision within time frame they are processing them at and just so you know ...I just got a RFE using a lawyer...so either he didn't tell me I didn't have enough evidence or didn't check well enough I made out the forms correctly...Dont worry about the phone logs...what they care about more during first phase is proof you met within the past 2 years which phone logs do not prove...however phone logs I am told are helpful for the interview phase as proof of ongoing relationship...Second if your fiances tax returns prove he is over the 125% mark above poverty level an am told by my lawyer that's all they are really interested in..the letter from employer means is nice to have but the w2 or in his case I believe 1099 is what they care about more...if he is in business for himself well then usually one must file taxes on a quarterly basis..besides technically if he is his own employer and all he would need to provide is proof that he owns his business. Hope this helps

[scotty's girl 1]

You will be using I-134 for K1, not I-864. Read the guides and you'll be fine. You can also go to the Philippine Forum to learn about other helpful information.

Chat logs are fine. Hubby and I never emailed each other. His phone bills will be good too. Pay stubs are what we call pay slips in the Philippines.

[april082010 3]

Hi, I am a newbie at this site and recently my bf (American citizen) and I (Filipino) decided to

go the K1 visa route. But both of us are clueless as to how or when to start.

We have both been researching on it and it seems like it is overwhelmingly long time wise and hard.

However, I think reading through blogs and forums we have got more or less everything.

Except the ff: We don't really email each other all conversations we have used thus far is through the phone.

He can produce phone bills but I on the other can't since I use Magic Jack and Yahoo Minutes? Is phone bills really important for both side? And how would the embassy or uscis know the phone number is mine?

We have yahoo chat logs though since if we don't talk on the phone we use Yahoo Messenger. Would that do?

We have met when I went to the States so boarding pass and tickets and hotel receipts we can present that.

And as for the I-864, we are both concerned about it since almost everyone talk about employer certifcation and all that. My bf is self-employed and has a business of his own, so what can we use for financial support or proof of financial ability to support in lieu to employment certification and pay slips?

And what is pay stubs?

Thank you very very much. This site has been very helpful to both of us and enlightening.

We really appreciate your help as we really need it.

Is hiring a lawyer helpful for the preparation of paperwork?

Hi Joyce,

Hiring a lawyer doesn't guarantee faster processing and it cost a lot of money. You can do far much better than a lawyer, just make sure you submitted the documents correctly. My husband, was really cautious in filling out the forms and he's so worried he would make mistakes and we'll get an RFE. He even thought of hiring a lawyer, it does cost a lot of money so he decided to do it by himself. It took few months before he able to send the whole K-1 packet. He did a good job, the process was smooth and we got approval within 3 months.

Good luck!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

USCIS doesn't care if you have a relationship. They care if you've met face-to-face in the past two years, and can prove it. It sounds like you sufficient evidence for this.

The consulate DOES care if you have a relationship. Magic Jack unfortunately only keeps a limited call history. It wouldn't hurt to start doing screen captures of your Magic Jack call history display and save those. If you use MS Windows then just have the Magic Jack program window active and hold the "Alt" key while you press "Print Screen". The contents of the Magic Jack program window will be copied to the clipboard. You can paste it into Windows Paint to save it.

Yahoo chat logs are good, but it's better if you have actual transcripts of the chat sessions. Make sure you have "Message Archives" enabled.

The most important financial evidence your fiance will have to submit is a copy of his most recent tax return. Even self-employed people have to file an annual tax return. Being self-employed, he probably has a lot of legitimate business expenses. Tell him to check line 22 on his 1040 tax return form to determine the qualifying income that the consulate is going to be using with the affidavit of support.

"Pay stubs" is rather dated term from the days when everyone was paid by check. Many people now have their pay directly deposited into their bank account. Anyway, the pay check was delivered as part of a single sheet of paper. A pay statement was printed on one part of the sheet, and the actual check was printed on another. After you remove the check (to cash or deposit it at the bank) the remaining "stub" contained the pay statement.

Most people receive pay statements from their employer, even if they don't receive an actual check. When people use the term "pay stub" they are referring to this pay statement from the employer.

[joyce0609 0]

Wow...I think I can possibly answer this one...FIRST and foremost...DO NOT waste your money on a lawyer and make same mistake I did...my lawyer was vague and mislead me on many issues...besides a lawyer does not stay on top of your case or prioritize you specific case they way you do your own...took me forever to even get a tracer put on my case that didn't come to decision within time frame they are processing them at and just so you know ...I just got a RFE using a lawyer...so either he didn't tell me I didn't have enough evidence or didn't check well enough I made out the forms correctly...Dont worry about the phone logs...what they care about more during first phase is proof you met within the past 2 years which phone logs do not prove...however phone logs I am told are helpful for the interview phase as proof of ongoing relationship...Second if your fiances tax returns prove he is over the 125% mark above poverty level an am told by my lawyer that's all they are really interested in..the letter from employer means is nice to have but the w2 or in his case I believe 1099 is what they care about more...if he is in business for himself well then usually one must file taxes on a quarterly basis..besides technically if he is his own employer and all he would need to provide is proof that he owns his business. Hope this helps

Thanks a lot and it does really help. I am really in the dark with this thing and so is he.

Hehehe..So basically to just present also his business registration/certificate?

[joyce0609 0]

You will be using I-134 for K1, not I-864. Read the guides and you'll be fine. You can also go to the Philippine Forum to learn about other helpful information.

Chat logs are fine. Hubby and I never emailed each other. His phone bills will be good too. Pay stubs are what we call pay slips in the Philippines.

Yay! Kababayan! Thanks for the advise regarding affidavit. Phew! I was reading through it but I guess I misread.

Overwhelming kasi.

Ah...okay so they are pay slips..if there is none? would that still be okay though?

[joyce0609 0]

USCIS doesn't care if you have a relationship. They care if you've met face-to-face in the past two years, and can prove it. It sounds like you sufficient evidence for this.

The consulate DOES care if you have a relationship. Magic Jack unfortunately only keeps a limited call history. It wouldn't hurt to start doing screen captures of your Magic Jack call history display and save those. If you use MS Windows then just have the Magic Jack program window active and hold the "Alt" key while you press "Print Screen". The contents of the Magic Jack program window will be copied to the clipboard. You can paste it into Windows Paint to save it.

Yahoo chat logs are good, but it's better if you have actual transcripts of the chat sessions. Make sure you have "Message Archives" enabled.

The most important financial evidence your fiance will have to submit is a copy of his most recent tax return. Even self-employed people have to file an annual tax return. Being self-employed, he probably has a lot of legitimate business expenses. Tell him to check line 22 on his 1040 tax return form to determine the qualifying income that the consulate is going to be using with the affidavit of support.

"Pay stubs" is rather dated term from the days when everyone was paid by check. Many people now have their pay directly deposited into their bank account. Anyway, the pay check was delivered as part of a single sheet of paper. A pay statement was printed on one part of the sheet, and the actual check was printed on another. After you remove the check (to cash or deposit it at the bank) the remaining "stub" contained the pay statement.

Most people receive pay statements from their employer, even if they don't receive an actual check. When people use the term "pay stub" they are referring to this pay statement from the employer.

WOW! From someone who already went this route thanks for the good news. Yes we have met quiete recently in fact since I just got back home from the States hehehe I still have the boarding pass and my ticket as well as hotel receipts and registration...aside from the pictures that is...We were wondering though, can we file for K1 visa, even if I was the one who went to the States but he hasn't been to the Philippines yet? Does he have to set foot in my country to file for the petition? Since we heard it takes a bit of time for the processing, anytime we can save is really vital.

Okay will start doing that and pasting it on a paint file. Thanks for the tip, I am using Windows And will also start using Message Archives. I never really thought of that until now.

Yes he does file his taxes and has complete records of his income tax returns. Where can we find the link to the qualifying income that the consulate would be looking at for the affidavit? Is it a table/income bracket for one househould kind of thing? He has 3 kids, two lives with him but the 1 does not? is that 3 people in a household or 4 excluding myself?

Is it okay if he does not have pay stubs? He has business registration and income tax returns.

Thank you very much for your help...The infos you provided and suggestions are helpful and informative.

[Gingerpants 8]

We were wondering though, can we file for K1 visa, even if I was the one who went to the States but he hasn't been to the Philippines yet? Does he have to set foot in my country to file for the petition? Since we heard it takes a bit of time for the processing, anytime we can save is really vital.

No. All that matters is that you've seen each other within the last two years.

Where can we find the link to the qualifying income that the consulate would be looking at for the affidavit? Is it a table/income bracket for one househould kind of thing? He has 3 kids, two lives with him but the 1 does not? is that 3 people in a household or 4 excluding myself?

The number of dependents he has will determine which income requirement he falls under. So for example if he has 4 dependents then he will need an annual income of over 22,050. Poverty Guidelines Chart

[joyce0609 0]

No. All that matters is that you've seen each other within the last two years.

The number of dependents he has will determine which income requirement he falls under. So for example if he has 4 dependents then he will need an annual income of over 22,050. Poverty Guidelines Chart

Wow! Thanks a lot! I didn't know it can be done that way, him not going to my home country I mean.

Ah...is this the poverty guidelines chart the consul would be using to evaluate the financial capacity in the affidavit of support?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Wow! Thanks a lot! I didn't know it can be done that way, him not going to my home country I mean.

Ah...is this the poverty guidelines chart the consul would be using to evaluate the financial capacity in the affidavit of support?

I have to disagree with the other poster. Yes, they do use the poverty guidelines in determining the minimum income requirements, but the figure you were quoted is 100% of the poverty guidelines for a household size of four. First, the consulate will apply the I-864 standards, which requires 125% of the poverty guidelines unless the petitioner is active duty US military. Second, if he pays any support on the 3rd child then that child will also be included in his household size, as well as the intending immigrant (which is you). That means his household size is probably five, rather than four. The minimum income for a household of five is $32,237.

Make sure he looks at line 22 on his 1040 income tax return form. That's where they are going to get the number they use to determine his qualifying income. Many people who are self-employed have gross incomes which are far higher than the number on line 22 of the 1040, but the US tax laws give them some very generous deductions for business related expenses, and these deductions are subtracted before calculating the taxable income. It's not unusual to see a self-employed person with total revenues of over $60,000, but with less than $10,000 listed on line 22 of their 1040. This is an unfortunate side effect of using the total income from a tax return to establish a sponsor's income level. You can't ask one branch of the US government to consider your "in the pocket" income to be very low for tax purposes, and then ask another branch of the US government to consider your "in the pocket" income to be much higher for the purpose of sponsoring an immigrant.

Because he is self-employed, they may want to see bank statements instead of pay stubs to show money regularly coming into his account. If his business in incorporated they may want to see a copy of his Dunn & Bradstreet rating.

[joyce0609 0]

I have to disagree with the other poster. Yes, they do use the poverty guidelines in determining the minimum income requirements, but the figure you were quoted is 100% of the poverty guidelines for a household size of four. First, the consulate will apply the I-864 standards, which requires 125% of the poverty guidelines unless the petitioner is active duty US military. Second, if he pays any support on the 3rd child then that child will also be included in his household size, as well as the intending immigrant (which is you). That means his household size is probably five, rather than four. The minimum income for a household of five is $32,237.

Make sure he looks at line 22 on his 1040 income tax return form. That's where they are going to get the number they use to determine his qualifying income. Many people who are self-employed have gross incomes which are far higher than the number on line 22 of the 1040, but the US tax laws give them some very generous deductions for business related expenses, and these deductions are subtracted before calculating the taxable income. It's not unusual to see a self-employed person with total revenues of over $60,000, but with less than $10,000 listed on line 22 of their 1040. This is an unfortunate side effect of using the total income from a tax return to establish a sponsor's income level. You can't ask one branch of the US government to consider your "in the pocket" income to be very low for tax purposes, and then ask another branch of the US government to consider your "in the pocket" income to be much higher for the purpose of sponsoring an immigrant.

Because he is self-employed, they may want to see bank statements instead of pay stubs to show money regularly coming into his account. If his business in incorporated they may want to see a copy of his Dunn & Bradstreet rating.

So you mean to say that the amount would be based on the 125% poverty level base on 5 people, which is $32,238.

and it has to be that amount (or more than that amount) being reflected on line 22 of his 1040?

Yes, I gathered as much that we would be needing to present a bank statement..but he only has one would that be enough? He doesn't have any bonds. His business is under single proprietorship.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

So you mean to say that the amount would be based on the 125% poverty level base on 5 people, which is $32,238.

and it has to be that amount (or more than that amount) being reflected on line 22 of his 1040?

Yes, presuming he provides some support for the 3rd child.

Yes, I gathered as much that we would be needing to present a bank statement..but he only has one would that be enough? He doesn't have any bonds. His business is under single proprietorship.

He can get prior statements from his bank simply by asking for them. If he has a business account then they probably send him a summary of his account activity at the end of the year. I have a home based business in addition to a salaried job, and my annual account report from my bank is several pages long. It shows everything a CO would need to know about the account.

If his business is a sole proprietorship then it's very unlikely he'd have a D&B rating, so that wouldn't be necessary.

The reason I went into a long winded spiel about the total income line 22 on the 1040 is because many self-employed people would have total revenues well into 6 digits before their line 22 total income exceeded $32K. Congress wanted to give small businesses a break, so the expenses they are allowed to claim are usually far in excess of what they actually spend on those expenses. This makes up, to some degree, for the non-taxable benefits they don't receive that many salaried employees receive, and allows them to pay a lot less in taxes. The downside, from the affidavit of support perspective, is that it makes it look like they have a lot less money to live on than they actually do. The consulate isn't likely to listen to any arguments about this. If the sponsor claims the expenses on the tax return then the consulate will presume the money is actually spent on the business, and isn't available to help support the immigrant. Sponsors who have been hit by this have either had to find a co-sponsor, or file an amended tax return reducing the expenses they claim and paying the additional taxes.

The consulate is Manila is notoriously picky about co-sponsors for K visas. They often won't even consider a co-sponsor unless the petitioner is a student (a good reason for insufficient income, and an indication their income will improve after they graduate) and the co-sponsor is a close relative (a good indication the co-sponsor will step up and sign an I-864 when the time comes). If your fiance's line 22 income is too low then he might need to consider filing an amended return.

[joyce0609 0]

Yes, presuming he provides some support for the 3rd child.

He can get prior statements from his bank simply by asking for them. If he has a business account then they probably send him a summary of his account activity at the end of the year. I have a home based business in addition to a salaried job, and my annual account report from my bank is several pages long. It shows everything a CO would need to know about the account.

If his business is a sole proprietorship then it's very unlikely he'd have a D&B rating, so that wouldn't be necessary.

The reason I went into a long winded spiel about the total income line 22 on the 1040 is because many self-employed people would have total revenues well into 6 digits before their line 22 total income exceeded $32K. Congress wanted to give small businesses a break, so the expenses they are allowed to claim are usually far in excess of what they actually spend on those expenses. This makes up, to some degree, for the non-taxable benefits they don't receive that many salaried employees receive, and allows them to pay a lot less in taxes. The downside, from the affidavit of support perspective, is that it makes it look like they have a lot less money to live on than they actually do. The consulate isn't likely to listen to any arguments about this. If the sponsor claims the expenses on the tax return then the consulate will presume the money is actually spent on the business, and isn't available to help support the immigrant. Sponsors who have been hit by this have either had to find a co-sponsor, or file an amended tax return reducing the expenses they claim and paying the additional taxes.

The consulate is Manila is notoriously picky about co-sponsors for K visas. They often won't even consider a co-sponsor unless the petitioner is a student (a good reason for insufficient income, and an indication their income will improve after they graduate) and the co-sponsor is a close relative (a good indication the co-sponsor will step up and sign an I-864 when the time comes). If your fiance's line 22 income is too low then he might need to consider filing an amended return.

Thanks Jim! Once again you are a life saver. I will ask him to look at line 22 on his tax return before we file I-134 just in case we need to adjust or amend that document and it takes time.

Yes! I have heard the same thing about Manila Consulate being difficult. How long does the entire K1 visa take to process on the average would you happen to know?

Jim, I have another question if you can help or know anything about it. I met my fiance when I was in the States and he was going through a divorce during that time and we started dating each other while the divorce proceedings was going on. Of course now applying for K1 he is already divorce. But I just meant the time we met he was still going through one, would that be a problem?

All our hotel documents and receipts was paid by him and has proof that I stayed with him and him with me through all the 2 months I was in his State..But like I said he was still going through a divorce then and his divorce certificate would show that it got done after the time we met and started dating. Would that be okay or would that be a problem?

Thanks again. Hoping again for another save on this one.

By the way, for the question 18 on the how we met on form I-129F. Does the answer have to be long and detailed?

Can't we just answer it like "we met when she came here to States to visit her friends and met each other last June, started officially dating and living together in a studio hotel and then she went home."

Some people say it is good to provide timelines of the relationship? Does this include how we met 3 years ago on an online gaming site? Until the filing of the I-129F? And again, would it be a problem since he was still separated during those times and during the time we met he was having a divorce proceeding ending only before the filing of the I-129F?

[joyce0609 0]

Hi Peeps. Follow up question.

My fiance as mentioned has just been recently divorced (upon filing the I-129F)and I have asked other people if this would cause a red flag or pose to be a problem later on? They say it would not, since it is not uncommon for couples to be separated before getting an actual divorce and divorce proceedings could sometimes take time. And that is the case with him. What do you think?

However, about his 1020 or income tax return for 2009, 2008, 2007. It was filed jointly with his ex i.e like under combined income since he was still married then? Would that be a problem? He does make the cut off for the poverty guideliness even with his ex and kids and me included in the picture.

Any advice as to what we can do? Or would that be okay? Anyone who's gone through the same thing?