Affidavit of Support Question (London Embassy)

[gap1 21]

This question is directed to anyone that has already been approved via the London Embassy.

So I have terrible credit (student loans in default and collection). I know that everyone says credit score isn't taken into consideration when approving the visa, as long as the income is there (mine is more than enough, 43k with no dependents). Even so, I do not want to risk being denied for any reason so I'm preparing a co-sponsor. Even if someone swore on the Queen's life that my credit won't be an issue here, I really can't risk getting denied and having to wait even longer. I'd rather be prepared. It's just how I am.

My question is regarding the manner in which we hand over this information at the interview. I obviously don't want to use my co-sponsor unless absolutely necessary, so is there a way my fiance can just have the paperwork ready in case I am denied as the sole sponsor and hand it to them when asked, or should he hand them both forms at the start? Could he tell them we only want to use the co-sponsor if necessary? If they saw that I made enough and approved me, would they even take the co-sponsor into consideration if it was handed to them? I'm not sure how the embassy works.

I do not want a blue slip for any reason, so I want to do this right.

Any insight from those that have gone through this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[JoannaV 174]

Firstly, everyone is right. Your income will be absolutely fine. Credit is irrelevant. (You'd think they'd want to at least check that your monthly outgoings weren't more than your income, but no. So it's good )

Secondly, your fiance can keep the co-sponsor forms unless there is a problem and they ask for it. It is a good idea to go in as best prepared as possible, so it is good to have the co-sponsor forms ready even though you won't need them. The main reason being so that you don't have to worry about "what if my credit". But he can keep them in his bag and forget all about them unless someone requests additional evidence of support.

As this is the K1 visa and not a spousal visa, the sponsorship is not a legally binding contract. So actually, there is nothing to lose by just handing over the co-sponsor form if you want to. If this was a spousal visa I would be telling you to avoid using the co-sponsor unless you had to, but with the I-134 it doesn't really matter. So, you needn't worry too much about drilling your fiance on how to keep hold of the form unless he needs it. If he hands it over, then so what.

Oh, and generally they would hand you back anything they didn't need. So generally they would tell you you didn't need a co-sponsor if you didn't need one but produced one. As the sponsors for the K1 aren't quite so formal a thing, I'm not sure they would take quite so much care about this.

Anyhow, you will be fine. You could just let your fiance work it out when he gets there :B Let him worry about something!

[gap1 21]

Firstly, everyone is right. Your income will be absolutely fine. Credit is irrelevant. (You'd think they'd want to at least check that your monthly outgoings weren't more than your income, but no. So it's good )

Secondly, your fiance can keep the co-sponsor forms unless there is a problem and they ask for it. It is a good idea to go in as best prepared as possible, so it is good to have the co-sponsor forms ready even though you won't need them. The main reason being so that you don't have to worry about "what if my credit". But he can keep them in his bag and forget all about them unless someone requests additional evidence of support.

As this is the K1 visa and not a spousal visa, the sponsorship is not a legally binding contract. So actually, there is nothing to lose by just handing over the co-sponsor form if you want to. If this was a spousal visa I would be telling you to avoid using the co-sponsor unless you had to, but with the I-134 it doesn't really matter. So, you needn't worry too much about drilling your fiance on how to keep hold of the form unless he needs it. If he hands it over, then so what.

Oh, and generally they would hand you back anything they didn't need. So generally they would tell you you didn't need a co-sponsor if you didn't need one but produced one. As the sponsors for the K1 aren't quite so formal a thing, I'm not sure they would take quite so much care about this.

Anyhow, you will be fine. You could just let your fiance work it out when he gets there :B Let him worry about something!

Thanks! I just wasn't sure if there is a moment during the interview process where they'd request further evidence of support but it would be too late for him to hand additional information even though he had it with him and they'd make him come back or something.

Are they more vigorous on the financial support stuff during the adjustment of status phase then? Don't I have to provide the same forms?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

If you look at the Embassy Reviews of London and read all 506 of them, you won't find one mentioning "They asked about my debts." You're over-stressing and over-thinking and trying to create more work for yourself. With a 43K income, they won't look at your I-134 more than two seconds and won't bring it up at all in the interview portion.

It would be better to focus on him having only what he needs. A lot of guys get overwhelmed with too many papers and forms and start tuning out when you say, "If they say [x], then you pull out [y], but if they don't then go with [z]. You know all the forms and acronymns like the back of your hand, but it's likely all a muddle to him even if he says "yes dear, I understand." In my opinion (from reading London experiences for more than two years) things not needed in London include further proof of of you relationship, photos, and a new letter of intent. Things most often causing a hold-up of approval are not having the long-form birth certificate with parents' names on it, not including the entire tax return including W-2 form ( if not sending a tax transcript), and not having the proper court documentation if there are any arrests.

Just saying............

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Too late to edit my above post, but you might find this and the various links helpful.

UK specific Wiki articles

[gap1 21]

While I realize everything you say is probably true, I can't risk us getting further delayed just because I forgot to send him something. I'm still going with a co-sponsor. At the very least, if they decide I'm not sufficient as a sole sponsor at the AOS stage, I'll already be prepared from this round.

My fiance is capable of multi-tasking. He's not a confused child.

He's far more organized than I am. If I hand him 100 pages of forms to bring with him he'll be able to understand which is which. Also I'm visiting him at the beginning of Jan so assuming we have an interview date set by then I'll be able to go over all of it with him in person.

I'm using official transcripts (the free ones from the IRS, not the expensive photo scans). I already got mine in the mail, but they are only 1 page each. Are you saying we don't need W2s if we have these? As far as W2s go, is a pdf print out ok? My HR department has everyone online.

[Nik+Heather 121]

I agree with Nich about the tuning out comment. I know it's hard for us USCs to sit back and just let it go, but piling on all of your stress outs and dictating all of these extra things to him where there's no support whatsoever that it's required is just too much. The interview etc. is stressful enough without you making up requirements for him to deal with in addition.

I made the same mistake on a different part of the process. When Nik was coming in for POE, I had all these things I wanted him to do. It was really hard for me, because of course I was just sitting on my tush in the waiting room for 4 hours with nothing better to do but worry. He, on the other hand had a lot of things on his mind, and just couldn't juggle all of my added (unnecessary) requests. Honestly, if being together after POE wasn't so great, I think we would have both come away hugely disappointed with how it all went down. I wish that I had been more supportive and less of a burden to him during this part of the immigration process.

[gap1 21]

I understand what you're saying, but my fiance would much rather be completely prepared than get turned down for something silly and have to wait weeks or months longer to move here. He also doesn't live close to London so each time he has to go for a medical appointment or an interview he has to take the day off work. Trust me, he'd prefer a book of information to having to drag this process out further.

[Janine&Scott 5]

I went in armed with a lever arch file that was at breaking point...

All they wanted was my birth certificate, police record and the AoS by my fiance (I handed it over with 3 years of returns and his 2009 W2).

My second interview 10 minutes later all originals were handed back, I was asked about the child we had, to which I said ... huh? She was like you have a child right and it suddenly clicked she was talking about our niece in our photos which I explained. We both laughed, she tried to trip me up by saying we got engaged recently right and I corrected her by saying we got engaged last October and then she asked me to raise my hand and swear the oath thingy.

That was literally it. I offered his employment contracts or bank statements to verify the sums on the affadavit and she said it was unnecessary and that she had more than enough information and was confident that the relationship was genuine and that we were approved. It was all very anti climatic.

I agree that you should take information with you for that in case moment but as for poor credit or finances when you can state 40k on your affadavit - total none issue unless they have reason to believe that your 40k is a lie.

Good luck to you!

[gap1 21]

Thanks so much! I hope we have just as easy of a time, if the NOA2 ever arrives.

[Lisa and Ian 7]

Thanks so much! I hope we have just as easy of a time, if the NOA2 ever arrives.

USCIS will not care about your credit rating at AOS time, either, by the way. And you do get to fill out a affidavit of support form, with pretty much all the same info as you did this time around. Check out the AOS guide when you have spare reading time.

Good luck with the rest of your journey. The process is not as difficult as it sometimes feels... Waiting is the difficult part.

[JoannaV 174]

I'm using official transcripts (the free ones from the IRS, not the expensive photo scans). I already got mine in the mail, but they are only 1 page each. Are you saying we don't need W2s if we have these? As far as W2s go, is a pdf print out ok? My HR department has everyone online.

If you have the transcript then that is all you need. You only need W2s if you are using a copy of your tax return.

When you go for adjustment of status the form is slightly different and more formal. However, given your income, it's all pretty much the same.