I-134 questions 7, 9 and 10

[Hiker 9]

Question #7 asks a bunch of numbers for worth of what I have. I would assume "other personal property" would include my truck plus anything of value in the home that would actually be possible to liquidate? I have no "stocks and bonds" but I have a 401k -- put its value in there instead? I have life insurance but I don't know what a "cash surrender value" is, so I'm entering $0? I actually have 2 life insurance plans so my thinking is to just put the sum of them for the life insurance. They only give one line for real estate, but I own both my home plus a plot of land in the woods. Should I add an addendum? And, is this addendum done the same was as it was done for the I-129F? Or, is it not worth it to bother with the piece of land since I have plenty of income? Although, the house mortgage is under water but the land is owned free and clear, so maybe I should have the land listed too.

Question #9 "I have previously submitted affidavit of support for the following persons": I'm divorced from a previously successful K1 visa application (11 years ago). So, I would write in her maiden name here? I don't know the exact date it was submitted... I do know the interview date, would that be the best date to put for when an I-134 was "submitted"?

Question #10: I guess I put the ex-wife here again, with relationship of "ex-wife" and the date that her I-129F was received? And below that, I would put the fiancee that I'm currently petitioning for with the text after it of "(filing now with I-129F)"? That's what I see in the example for the current fiancee.

Thanks!

[Hiker 9]

Sorry, one more thing. At the end of my PDF form is the place you sign it. Right after the text "... and the Food Stamp Act, as amended." is a blank area with a line under it and a blue area where I can type something in. It doesn't say what I'm supposed to type here. Is this some kind of PDF file error? At the bottom is the usual signature and date fields. But, I see a phantom field there just above that which I suspect should not be there.

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Sorry, one more thing. At the end of my PDF form is the place you sign it. Right after the text "... and the Food Stamp Act, as amended." is a blank area with a line under it and a blue area where I can type something in. It doesn't say what I'm supposed to type here. Is this some kind of PDF file error? At the bottom is the usual signature and date fields. But, I see a phantom field there just above that which I suspect should not be there.

DOn't know about Q 9 and 10. I don't have a 'blue' area in the form I had sent, but I'd say that nothing goes there. Don't forget to get it notarized! (right next to the barcode). On the addendum question, yes, I did that, to go over other property: cars, power tools (welder, table saw, tile saw, etc), that ended up adding to more than 25k (at fair value). I also have more than one real state property so I put one in the line in the form and in the addendum I listed them all, the balances of mortgages if any, fair values, bank accounts, etc. I listed 401 total value and stocks, attached letter of the custodian of 401, stock broker, etc.

For insurance, the surrender value is the value you would get from the insurer in case you get terminally ill but you don't want to wait until..well, you pass. It is in the contract actually, that they would get you a %, usually 50% between 6 months to a year of the expected passing. So for example, if your policy is 500k, the insurance company would get you for example 250k 9 months before the time you have been given. It is contractual, so maybe it is zero for you. They save money, and you get some cash to take care of things before you pass.

I'm taking this not just to show that I can support my wife but I have given all this to my fiancee in an open envelope and we have gone over that, the intention is to show the CO that I have nothing to hide to my future wife and she knows exactly what I am worth (or what she can get if she decides to split , I am in a community property state!)

Hope this helps

Edited June 15, 2011 by Gosia & Tito

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Question #7 asks a bunch of numbers for worth of what I have. I would assume "other personal property" would include my truck plus anything of value in the home that would actually be possible to liquidate? I have no "stocks and bonds" but I have a 401k -- put its value in there instead? I have life insurance but I don't know what a "cash surrender value" is, so I'm entering $0? I actually have 2 life insurance plans so my thinking is to just put the sum of them for the life insurance. They only give one line for real estate, but I own both my home plus a plot of land in the woods. Should I add an addendum? And, is this addendum done the same was as it was done for the I-129F? Or, is it not worth it to bother with the piece of land since I have plenty of income? Although, the house mortgage is under water but the land is owned free and clear, so maybe I should have the land listed too.

Question #9 "I have previously submitted affidavit of support for the following persons": I'm divorced from a previously successful K1 visa application (11 years ago). So, I would write in her maiden name here? I don't know the exact date it was submitted... I do know the interview date, would that be the best date to put for when an I-134 was "submitted"?

Question #10: I guess I put the ex-wife here again, with relationship of "ex-wife" and the date that her I-129F was received? And below that, I would put the fiancee that I'm currently petitioning for with the text after it of "(filing now with I-129F)"? That's what I see in the example for the current fiancee.

Thanks!

#7) If you are above the 125% poverty level, you do not need to list any assets at all. Only list them if you need assets to make up for a shortcoming in your income.

#9) I think listing your ex and the interview date works, or the date you submitted the I-864 for AOS after you married.

#10) Yes. List your ex again, and put the date the I-129F was submitted for her.

I do not see a blue or blank space on the form, so cannot help you there. I can say, the form does not need to be notarized.

[Hiker 9]

I don't see an official place to notarize the I-134 so I wasn't expecting to do that. My plan was to notarize copies of anything that I can't send the originals for (W-2 forms come to mind).

I was also going to just put down the value for all personal property and not try to itemize it. Other than my truck, my most valuable property is a firearms collection. And, I would prefer not to let them know about that in case it offends them. That's interesting though if my income is enough that I don't need to list anything else? I was going to do so anyway just for redundancy and to give extra emphasis that I'm serious. My plan was to include copies of:

- Bank account statement (I don't really need "original" do I? It is all online now.)

- 401k statement (they can have the quarterly original statement if they want)

- W-2 form copies (notarized as true copy)

- 3 years of tax transcripts (sure.... original since its just a printout from IRS anyway)

- Letter from HR saying I work there

- Several pay stubs (these are only available as printouts so "original" doesn't really mean anything)

Do I need anything to document house and land property, and the life insurance plans? I may have a bit of trouble coming up with those. It seems odd sending in copies of quitclaim deeds. Anything else I'm forgetting?

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

I don't see an official place to notarize the I-134 so I wasn't expecting to do that. My plan was to notarize copies of anything that I can't send the originals for (W-2 forms come to mind).

I was also going to just put down the value for all personal property and not try to itemize it. Other than my truck, my most valuable property is a firearms collection. And, I would prefer not to let them know about that in case it offends them. That's interesting though if my income is enough that I don't need to list anything else? I was going to do so anyway just for redundancy and to give extra emphasis that I'm serious. My plan was to include copies of:

- Bank account statement (I don't really need "original" do I? It is all online now.)

- 401k statement (they can have the quarterly original statement if they want)

- W-2 form copies (notarized as true copy)

- 3 years of tax transcripts (sure.... original since its just a printout from IRS anyway)

- Letter from HR saying I work there

- Several pay stubs (these are only available as printouts so "original" doesn't really mean anything)

Do I need anything to document house and land property, and the life insurance plans? I may have a bit of trouble coming up with those. It seems odd sending in copies of quitclaim deeds. Anything else I'm forgetting?

If you send IRS transcripts, then W2 forms are not needed.

Yes, if your income is enough, you can leave the asset questions blank. If you choose to go ahead and list those things, then yes, you need the paperwork to back them up. If you cannot get, or do not want to bother to get the documents for evidence of assets, then leave the assets off.

Tax transcripts, letter from employer and pay stubs is all you really need.

[Hiker 9]

Oh that's good to know, if I can leave off everything except income. As long as everyone is positive that's okay. I know the rules only require a certain minimum income but I'm just being extra careful. I think I'll still include a copy of the W-2 though... it is less likely anyone would suspect a forgery if I include more than one thing that would require forging.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Oh that's good to know, if I can leave off everything except income. As long as everyone is positive that's okay. I know the rules only require a certain minimum income but I'm just being extra careful. I think I'll still include a copy of the W-2 though... it is less likely anyone would suspect a forgery if I include more than one thing that would require forging.

You don't have to list any assets if you don't need them to qualify. If you do list assets then you are required to provide proof that you own them, and proof of their current value. These proofs have to come from a credible source, and not just a personal statement you make yourself. This is way more work than you want to do if you don't need to do it.

The I-134 instructions are useless, as many consulates apply the I-864 rules for a K visa. According to those rules, you couldn't list your truck unless you own more than one vehicle. The general rules for assets is that you must be able to convert it to cash within 12 months without undue hardship or financial loss. Selling your only vehicle would make you a pedestrian, which is considered undue hardship. Cashing out your 401(k) before you're old enough to retire comes with heavy penalties, which would be considered financial loss.

It's likely the consulate will want more than just a W2. They usually want either a copy of a complete tax return or an IRS transcript of the return. A complete tax return would be every form and supporting document, just as you would send to the IRS when filing a paper return. Transcripts are easier. They're free, and you can get them within two weeks just by calling the IRS.

[Hiker 9]

Oh good.... I don't want to have to bother with getting my house and vehicle appraised just so I can "prove" what they are worth. I hope they only want the tax return transcripts. I could send the original tax stuff I filed too, but that is like 50 pages long per year. And, quite frankly, I don't see how the original tax returns actually prove anything, since the tax preparation web site I use lets me fill out and print the PDF files before actually filing them (and without actually filing them too). But, actual stuff mailed from the IRS I would hope is more convincing. That, combined with W-2 forms that match what I filed, I'd expect to be more impressive.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Oh good.... I don't want to have to bother with getting my house and vehicle appraised just so I can "prove" what they are worth. I hope they only want the tax return transcripts. I could send the original tax stuff I filed too, but that is like 50 pages long per year. And, quite frankly, I don't see how the original tax returns actually prove anything, since the tax preparation web site I use lets me fill out and print the PDF files before actually filing them (and without actually filing them too). But, actual stuff mailed from the IRS I would hope is more convincing. That, combined with W-2 forms that match what I filed, I'd expect to be more impressive.

Just use the transcripts. Consulates actually prefer them because they demonstrate that a tax return was actually filed, and they show the amounts which were recorded by the IRS. Transcripts also have a tracking ID which can be verified by the consulate with the IRS, making them somewhat difficult to forge. Everything else, including W2's, you could conceivably download from the IRS website and write anything you like into them.

[Hiker 9]

Could Philippines perhaps be different and require more than just the transcripts? People in the Philippines-specific group seem to be including W2 and tax returns also, plus bank account evidence. I hope I don't need the tax returns, since they are PDF files created from electronically filing. This would require they be signed by the ex-wife (they were joint), and that is impossible.