I-864 Question: Temp Jobs Ok?

[dmm9999 0]

Hi there,

I've been searching around this forum for answers while my wife and I have been trying to figure out how to best go about applying for my AOS and I've found it very helpful. Thanks to everyone that takes the time to share their insight and experience! This is going to be a long post and I would really appreciate anyone who takes the time to answer something from it. But, if you don't have time for a long post, our main concern is about I-864. I went through and bolded all the questions in the hopes that that would compensate for the excessive length

My primary question is this: are temporary jobs ok on the I-864? My wife has a job that pays above 125% of the poverty level but it's through a temp agency. She works in HR for a software company but her "employer" is the temp agency and she's only employed for 6 months at a time at any given place before the temp agency has to renew her employment. She started last September and was renewed once already in March. Will this kind of job suffice for the I-864 Affidavit of Support? We haven't sought a letter from the temp agency as we were worried that asking for something from them on their letterhead would require them to say that she's only employed until September of this year and that that would lead to our I-864 being rejected. What insight and advice can you give us here?

My second question is: will my wife not having sufficient income on prior tax returns be a problem? My wife only just graduated college last May (2010) and so only started her job last September. So her tax returns for 2009 and 2008 don't show very much income (just summer jobs really). Indeed her tax return for 2010 probably doesn't show sufficient income either but that's only because she didn't start until September. She has written a letter explaining this to send with our packet. Will this be a problem?

Here's the whole story with a few other questions for anyone who cares to read it

I entered the US in August of 2002 for university. I'm a UK citizen and I've been living here since that time on a succession, 3, of F-1 visas. One for my bachelors, one for my masters and now one for my PhD. My USC wife and I got married this past weekend after having dated for 3 years (June 2008) and we're presently trying to put together our paperwork to file for my adjustment of status. I'm considering dropping out of my program, or at least taking a leave of absence from it, and so if I do that I'd lose my F-1 status sometime between mid-May and September depending on what happens and how fast the bureaucracy moves.

We're under the understanding that if we file our forms (I-130, I-485, I-693, I-765, I-864) before I go out of status then it'll be ok for me to remain in the US. Is this true?

We also wanted to know whether what we currently have will be sufficient to establish our marital bona fides. I've typed out a list below of things we have and things we don't have. What do you guys think of the list? And, how much of what we have should we submit at the time of application? We know we should bring everything to the interview, if we get that far, but how much should we send initially?

We have:

-her US passport (which pages do we copy?), her birth certificate is in GA so we don't have it right now, should we get it quickly?

-my birth certificate

-G325A, one filled out by her, one by me

-passport photos of us both

-our marriage certificate

-our lease with both our names on it

-some utility bills in her name, some in mine (should we change these so they're in both our names if we can?)

-a printed and stamped statement from our local bank branch showing our recently opened joint checking account

-online chat conversations dating from when we first met to the present day

-emails dating from when we met to the present day

-lots of pictures of us, by ourselves and with friends and family, from different stages of our relationship (how many of these should we include?)

-receipts for travel (bus and plane) to visit one another when we were doing long distance

-receipts for travel we've undertaken together (to visit my parents back home in the UK last summer for example)

-holiday cards addressed to us both

We don't have:

-joint credit cards

-joint insurance

-we've never filed our taxes together (but could next year of course)

-children

-joint property (she owns the car)

Does anything seem to be missing here? Are any of the things we don't have deal breakers?

Should we ask our friends and family for affidavits? When should we do this and is there a format they should follow?

Another question: can EADs be expedited on the basis of job offers? I'm planning on applying for a temporary work permit. I have a job offer for the summer (the job only lasts 6 weeks though) which starts at the end of June. I'm worried that I won't have my EAD in time so I was planning on calling once we have our NOA and asking to have it expedited. Is this possible?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!

Any advice or encouragement is very much appreciated.

[JoannaV 174]

They're normally pretty understanding when it comes to ex-students having low incomes from when they were students. One situation in which they actually show common sense :-) If you can point out that her income from last year was earnt in just 4 months, and then provide pay stubs from this year showing her year to date income, you should be fine. I guess this is one situation in which I would avoid providing the letter from employer unless it is subsequently asked for specifically.

Once your AOS application has been received then indeed you should be safe if you drop out of school however it might be best if you try to postpone that a little bit, at least until you have proof that they've received your application.

One more thing I think you should add to your list of evidence is two or three affidavits from people who know of you and your relationship. Family, friends, ideally even some kind of professional who knows the two of you. Oh ok now I see that you asked a question about that. There is a template for these on this website somewhere, I think, I'm sure someone can link you to them. Honestly I think any kind of affidavit is fine, just so long as it includes the information (about the person writing the affidavit) asked for in the I-130 instructions.

I've never heard of EADs being expedited.

[Little_My 464]

For the income part, I think if she currently has the required income and can show that she has been employed and that there is reason to believe she will continue to be employed in the future (for this employer or another), then you should be fine. It doesn't say anywhere that temp jobs would not be accepted, so I think it mainly comes down to convincing USCIS that the current sufficient income is likely to continue in the future.

As long as your AOS is received and acknowledged by USCIS, you will not be out of status even if your current I-94 expires while the application is pending. So, if you will be submitting it about 30 days before going out of status with the F1, you will be fine. And even if you did go out of status in between for a few days / weeks, it would not be a big deal in this process.

In your list, you say there is one G325-A from you and one from your wife - there should be 2 from you, one for I-130 and one for I-485. Other than that, your list seems fine. I think you don't have to worry about showing a bona fide marriage. I'd send the lease, some of the bills coming to both of you for the same address, the proof of the bank account - and then maybe proof of some joint trips. Affidavits could be beneficial. You can put in a couple of photos, or save them for the interview, it is up to you.

If she can't provide her birth certificate, you need to copy every page of her passport to show proof of citizenship. They might still ask for the BC for the interview, so it would be a good idea to have it send to you, even if it doesn't get here fast enough for you to add it in the AOS package.

If you get the affidavits, they should be written in a formal manner, clear and concise, and basically show how the person in question knows the two of you, and that they know your relationship is bona fide. I had affidavits from both of our father's (mine from Finland stated in his affidavit that my husband had visited our family home several times since 2007 and that my parents have been aware of our relationship since we started dating), and then two of our friends who were present at out wedding also wrote affidavits. I put a copy of the format we used in the end of this post.

Yu can try to get the EAD expedited by contacting your congressman and asking them to request an expedite on your behalf. It may or may not work. If you have a solid work offer and can show proof of that, it will help. On average, it takes 60-90 days to get the EAD - with an expedite, you might get it faster, but you can't have it issued until you have had your biometrics taken. I had mine taken about a month from submitting the original AOS application.

Hope this helps!

AFFIDAVIT OF PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP

I,___ residing at ___________

Being duly sworn depose and say,

1. That I was born on _____ in _____

2. That I am __ years of age and have resided in the U.S. since ___.

3. That this affidavit is being submitted on behalf of the following persons:

Name of petitioner & Name of applicant

4. That this affidavit is being made by me for the purpose of assuring the U.S. government that the persons named in item 3 have a true and loving relationship that was entered in "good faith," and is not for the purpose of circumventing immigration laws.

5. That I acquired my knowledge of the relationship between the persons named in item 3 in the following manner:

• I am the petitioner's (name) father

• I first became aware of ____'s and ____'s relationship in April 2007 when they met in ____ and know that their relationship has been ongoing ever since.

• I am aware that ___ took a trip to Finland shortly after meeting ______

• I first met (name of applicant) in December 2007 when she spent the Christmas holiday with us at our home in ______ We have also taken a family trip to _____with (beneficiary) and (petitioner) and our extended family in summer 2010.

• I know that _____ and _____ were officially married at New York’s City Hall on 2/11/11 and will have a wedding ceremony in Finland in July 2011, which I will attend.

OATH OR AFFIRMATION

I swear (affirm) that the contents of this affidavit are true and correct to the best of my knowledge.

Signature of person making this affidavit: _______________________________

Date of signature: ______________________

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

We're under the understanding that if we file our forms (I-130, I-485, I-693, I-765, I-864) before I go out of status then it'll be ok for me to remain in the US. Is this true?

Yes. In fact, you MUST stay in the US until you have either your GC or temporary travel permission called Advance Parole (AP). If you leave the US, you will automatically abandon your AOS application.