What if I Literally cannot provide an affidavit of support?

[Christi85 86]

Just to add that the co-sponsor doesn't have to be a relative. So even if your aunt doesn't want to do it, you can try to look for someone else to help.

As long as they are a US citizen living in the US or a Legal Permanent Resident and make enough/have enough assets to qualify as sponsors (their own household size will have to be taken into account), then it could be your mailman, your next door neigbour, or your co-worker for all the government cares.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Cast your net wider in asking for co-sponsor; friends, far off family members, neighbours, co-workers- him too, not just you! Is he Muslim? He could ask at the mosque. Do you attend church? Ask there....

I totally understand not wanting to be apart, but keep in mind if you both move to Pakistan, you may not get back here for a while- the affidavit of support will still be needed, and foreign income doesn't count.

[Myopia 93]

Cast your net wider in asking for co-sponsor; friends, far off family members, neighbours, co-workers- him too, not just you! Is he Muslim? He could ask at the mosque. Do you attend church? Ask there....

I totally understand not wanting to be apart, but keep in mind if you both move to Pakistan, you may not get back here for a while- the affidavit of support will still be needed, and foreign income doesn't count.

You know , you should take Penguins suggestion and ask at the mosque. One thing that I know is that the mosques here in the US love professional muslims more than anything else particularly doctors. Your husband could offer to see mosque members when he is legally allowed to practice. These acts of charity are highly recommended and may cause someone to step forward to offer to help. Go to the Imam of where ever your husband makes jumuah and he may get some help. Really great suggestion.

[rika60607 215]

He is not a medical doctor, he's working towards his PhD, not towards MD.

You know , you should take Penguins suggestion and ask at the mosque. One thing that I know is that the mosques here in the US love professional muslims more than anything else particularly doctors. Your husband could offer to see mosque members when he is legally allowed to practice. These acts of charity are highly recommended and may cause someone to step forward to offer to help. Go to the Imam of where ever your husband makes jumuah and he may get some help. Really great suggestion.

[Myopia 93]

He is not a medical doctor, he's working towards his PhD, not towards MD.

Ha! I got this OP mixed up with the other OP(Who had the rough interview).

Well I guess he better not offer to treat anyone, right?

[aeryfaery7 1]

You know , you should take Penguins suggestion and ask at the mosque. One thing that I know is that the mosques here in the US love professional muslims more than anything else particularly doctors. Your husband could offer to see mosque members when he is legally allowed to practice. These acts of charity are highly recommended and may cause someone to step forward to offer to help. Go to the Imam of where ever your husband makes jumuah and he may get some help. Really great suggestion.

We are both Muslims (My church didn't support our marriage before I converted) but there isn't an established mosque here in my city, nor anywhere near us. The only one here is run by university students, there is no imam, no priest, just students who are foreigners themselves.

[Aztec&Taino 144]

We DID research...we were told that we didn't have to provide the affidavit until our interview came up, but then they hit us with this affidavit thing half way through the process. We were hoping to have more time to pull together what we needed to sign it on our own, but they stopped our case to do this even though the people/site said we didn't have to provide it until we got our interview date...

We can't wait because his Visa expires in June and when it expires, if we aren't pending our case we'll have to move to his country until he gets another visa or a work permit etc. He's getting his PhD in one month but he has to have the Green Card to work here. Otherwise, I am going to have to live in a country that isn't so kind to Americans right now. We can't really wait, and we researched as much as we could, that's why I came here to look for advice because I couldn't find the answer anywhere else.

I don't know who told you this, but it isn't true. You DO need to submit an affidavit of support at the time of sending your AOS packet. Isn't there any close friend or family member (even if distant) who could be the sponsor? The minimum poverty guidelines are quite low, so it really does not take that much money to be able to sponsor. Anybody? Family member? Friend? ...

[Anh map 2,098]

Oh, that's not what I read then...they make it so dang difficult to understand! I do have an aunt who MIGHT be able to help but that is a LONG LONG LONG shot. She has her own business, is paying off her house and owns a car...I talked to her today but she wants me to try and figure this out on my own before I ask for her help, she really doesn't want to provide her financial information unless it is necessary. it's such a pain and I am wracked with worry day in and day out.

We are from Missoula and are going to Helena tomorrow...

If your aunt is self employed then the income number for her that would be used is line 22 from her most recent tax return. That amount would have to be enough to cover her household count plus your spouse. See the I-864P (link down below in my signature) to see the required income amounts.

As Jim stated in another post, a $9/hour job would allow you to meet the requirement on your own. That may require a reshuffling of your course schedule.

Best of luck.

[ann and aties 9]

aeryfaery, I don't have any experience or opinions on most of what is written about your problem, but I'm responding to something you said way back in this thread about your aunt being very private and not wanting to show her financial life...........

I really understand that, when I started this process it was one of my biggest worries. But when I thought it all through I realized the govt has all that info if they really wanted it. I'm not telling them anything special. And frankly, I'm not special to them, or unique, my financial life is like just anybody's elses that they see. It can be daunting to package it all together for a stranger eye's to see - I really get that and it might help to acknowledge that for your aunt. But in the end of it, they are just bureaucrats that are looking at it and they are looking at it for one purpose only: to see if you pass the support test. I know your aunt doesn't have the added benefit of being with the one she loves to encourage her to open up her financial business to a stranger's eyes, but really, in the end, none of us are "all that". Good luck in your journey.

[aeryfaery7 1]

Went in for the biometrics today...it went fine and I got some answers that I needed badly...thank you all for your help!

[extremerecluse 32]

Hello! I am a U.S. citizen born and raised. I met my husband at my University during my freshman year and we've been together for four years, married for 2 years. He came to the U.S. on a student visa and we are just now filing for his green card. The process is going well, but then we are told we have to provide an affidavit of support. I can't do that. I am a full time college student and work a part time work study job on campus. I am the only person in my entire family who is making anything out of myself. No one in my family makes enough money to sign or co-sign and I don't know anyone who would be willing to help.

I love my husband so very much, and when we got married we didn't even think about the green card process until about a year after we were married. We are both very hard working and I can't bear to be separated form him for even a moment. Can we be denied his Green Card if I literally do not have anyone to help us? We've never asked for government help, and we aren't above doing grunt work to pay our taxes and bills. I graduate University next year but his visa expires this summer. I am so wracked with worry. We go in for his fingerprinting appointment tomorrow morning so maybe I can ask someone at the office about this.

He's applied for the work permit and we pray he gets it but until then, we are stuck. What do you suggest I do?

I understand your plight. I have a simple solution. Get a job. Both of you get jobs. You are a student. He is on an F1. Before the interview he will have a work permit. He must use this work permit. How? You ask. Getting a co sponsor is out of the question, right? You stated that you are the only one in your family who has decided to do something with your life. Everybody else is trying to baffle you with the intricate details of the AOS process. I know how he can be working making $40,000 to start after he obtains his work permit. This can be used as a temporary fix or a permanent one. A good job is what you need, right. Open up your minds now. TRUCKING!!!! There are ten jobs for every driver. He can start within days of receiving his work permit. He will be finished with training and hired by one of the bigger trucking companies. By the time of the interview you will already have six or seven paychecks in hand. You will be making far more than the poverty guidelines for two people. I know you are both highly educated and probably would not stoop so low. But, think of what will happen when he goes through removal proceedings. This is a slam dunk. Who knows? He just might like it and say "Screw that degree!!". Think outside that box you see yourself in!! Just a simple solution.

[cookieandcream 10]

40 000 is not that much if you have a phd

good luck with you aunt

[Dakine10 5,452]

I understand your plight. I have a simple solution. Get a job. Both of you get jobs. You are a student. He is on an F1. Before the interview he will have a work permit. He must use this work permit. How? You ask. Getting a co sponsor is out of the question, right? You stated that you are the only one in your family who has decided to do something with your life. Everybody else is trying to baffle you with the intricate details of the AOS process. I know how he can be working making $40,000 to start after he obtains his work permit. This can be used as a temporary fix or a permanent one. A good job is what you need, right. Open up your minds now. TRUCKING!!!! There are ten jobs for every driver. He can start within days of receiving his work permit. He will be finished with training and hired by one of the bigger trucking companies. By the time of the interview you will already have six or seven paychecks in hand. You will be making far more than the poverty guidelines for two people. I know you are both highly educated and probably would not stoop so low. But, think of what will happen when he goes through removal proceedings. This is a slam dunk. Who knows? He just might like it and say "Screw that degree!!". Think outside that box you see yourself in!! Just a simple solution.

The problem is they need to submit a valid affidavit of support with the original paperwork. If they don't, the most likely scenario is that USCIS will send a RFE before the EAD ever gets processed.

[aeryfaery7 1]

I understand your plight. I have a simple solution. Get a job. Both of you get jobs. You are a student. He is on an F1. Before the interview he will have a work permit. He must use this work permit. How? You ask. Getting a co sponsor is out of the question, right? You stated that you are the only one in your family who has decided to do something with your life. Everybody else is trying to baffle you with the intricate details of the AOS process. I know how he can be working making $40,000 to start after he obtains his work permit. This can be used as a temporary fix or a permanent one. A good job is what you need, right. Open up your minds now. TRUCKING!!!! There are ten jobs for every driver. He can start within days of receiving his work permit. He will be finished with training and hired by one of the bigger trucking companies. By the time of the interview you will already have six or seven paychecks in hand. You will be making far more than the poverty guidelines for two people. I know you are both highly educated and probably would not stoop so low. But, think of what will happen when he goes through removal proceedings. This is a slam dunk. Who knows? He just might like it and say "Screw that degree!!". Think outside that box you see yourself in!! Just a simple solution.

I work part time on campus (I am taking 18 intense upper division credits as well) at a pretty good job. He also works as a janitor on campus. He's a geologist but we both aren't above working hard. I've been in fast food, so has he. Thank you for the trucker job idea...I know he would be away from me,but that I can handle because there's a difference between being away from me in the U.S. and being half a world away from me. Thank you so much! I didn't ever think that it would work! I know that with his degree and a job within his degree he could easily get a job that pays 60,000-100,000 a year, but we'd have to move outside our state because it sucks for getting a job like that. However, there are a LOT of truckers that go through here...I will most DEFINITELY talk to him...thank you thank you thankyou!

[extremerecluse 32]

40 000 is not that much if you have a phd

good luck with you aunt

$40,000 is a whole lot of money if it means the difference between having a successful AOS and going through removal proceedings. What is the difference between an unemployed garbage collector and an unemployed nuclear physicist? Nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!