Financial Responsibility

[roman11 0]

Hello All,

Have just sent the first K1 packet and setting up employment for 2011.

Have been unemployed 2009 and 2010. Received no government assistance.

What salary level will be correct for 125% of the poverty line. Have three children and pay 600 dollars a month child support. Household 5? Myself, fiancée, child support for 3 children?

Will 6 months of a decent salary, with letter from employer and 90k in savings be enough for the embassy in Bangkok, Thailand? I hear that the Bangkok embassy will not except a co-sponsor.

Thanks

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Hello All,

Have just sent the first K1 packet and setting up employment for 2011.

Have been unemployed 2009 and 2010. Received no government assistance.

What salary level will be correct for 125% of the poverty line. Have three children and pay 600 dollars a month child support. Household 5? Myself, fiancée, child support for 3 children?

Will 6 months of a decent salary, with letter from employer and 90k in savings be enough for the embassy in Bangkok, Thailand? I hear that the Bangkok embassy will not except a co-sponsor.

Thanks

Yes, it sounds like your household size would be five. $32,237 annualized income would be sufficient to meet the 125% threshold. $90K in savings would offset just about the entire amount, even if you had little income. It sounds like you'll be good to go.

[roman11 0]

Thanks for the reply,

Is the 125% level set after deductions? I found for 5 dependents $25,800?

Have looked on this site and others but have not found the equation with explanation to the Financial responsibility?????

Regards

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Thanks for the reply,

Is the 125% level set after deductions? I found for 5 dependents $25,800?

Have looked on this site and others but have not found the equation with explanation to the Financial responsibility?????

Regards

It's total income - line 22 of the 1040 form. This would be after some deductions, most notably business deductions from a schedule C, but before personal exemptions and deductions. If you're talking about a pay stub from an employer, the gross income before tax withholding would be the amount they would look at. It can get a lot more complicated for someone who is self-employed.

The poverty guidelines are published by USCIS on the I-864P.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-864p.pdf

The reason you're getting conflicting information is because there are no firm rules for an I-134 affidavit of support. There are general guidelines regarding the I-134 from the Department of State, but consulates frequently do not follow these guidelines when evaluating an I-134 for a K1 visa.

The I-134 is a relic. USCIS originally created the form when they were still known as "INS", but they don't use it anymore. It was originally crafted by a bureaucrat, and has been struck down as not legally binding numerous times in US courts. Changes in immigration law that went into effect in 1997 required, among other things, a legally binding contract for immigrant visas and adjustment of status. The contract which USCIS came up with was the I-864. A K1 visa is not an immigrant visa, so consulates aren't supposed to require an I-864 (a few do anyway), but consulates are still required to make a discretionary determination if the non-immigrant is likely to become a public charge in the US. Most consulates use the I-134 for this purpose.

Department of State guidelines are that a consulate should use 100% of the poverty guidelines as the qualifying threshold for the I-134. Consulates generally do this for most types of non-immigrant visas, but not for K1's. Why? Because, although a K1 arrives in the US as a non-immigrant, it is presumed they will become an immigrant by marrying and filing for adjustment of status. Because of the intent to immigrate, many consulates use the same income standards with an I-134 for a K1 visa that they would use with an I-864. They don't want to send someone to the US with a sponsor who won't qualify to file an I-864 when it comes time to submit the adjustment of status application.

Consulates usually do not publish the standards they will use to evaluate an I-134 for a K1 visa. Immigration law doesn't impose any standards for non-immigrant visas, and gives complete discretion to the consular officer. It's always safest to presume they will use the I-864 standards, which are fairly well explained in the form's instructions:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-864instr.pdf

The figure you found is very close to 100% of the poverty guidelines for a household size of 5, which is $25,790. The people who posted that were probably presuming that the consulates will follow Department of State guidelines for an I-134. They often don't, and it's safest to presume they won't. A sponsor who qualifies at 100% but not 125% has a very strong likelihood of not being accepted by the consulate.

[roman11 0]

Thanks for the clear and ample information.

Now the different texts found are beginning to make sense.

When I looked up the poverty line for five dependants, I forgot to add 25%.

Regards