I-864 - Doubts about my qualification as sponsor

[JMM 0]

Hi! So here's my situation:

I'm USC, wife from Spain

Married over 5 years

From honeymoon 2006 until Jan 2012 lived in Nicaragua, worked as volunteers (no or minimal income on last 3 tax returns)

Feb 2012 came to US (she's on Visa Waiver)

Just received job offer (permanent, approx 24k/yr) from a large bank, starting late March

Minimal assets (her 0, me about $500 at time of filing after filing fees)

Will file I-130, 485, 864, EAD around end of April

When I file I will have been working about 1 month

Do you think I will qualify to sponsor based solely on my income? (sufficient but very recent)

If I apply as sole sponsor and they reject me, where does that put me? Will they give me a chance to add a joint sponsor without starting from scratch or leaving the country?

Thanks!

J

[Counselorette 2]

First of all, if your wife came to the U.S. on a Visa Waiver Program, she will not be eligible to adjust her stats here. She either must have a visa, or you can do consular processing.

Regarding your eligibility to become a sponsor, it is your current income that counts, but it is harder to prove without having enough shown on your last three tax returns, especially your most recent ones. If they find that your income is not sufficient, then the course of action would depend on how you actually filed for your wife's green card (adjustment of status or consular processing).

Anna

Edited March 11, 2012 by Kathryn41
to remove personal information

[max+patricia 24]

Adjusting status while on VWP is very difficult, especially if your wife used VWP with the intent to immigrate. Just being married to a USC prior to entry on VWP shows strong intent for immigration. If asked, did your wife disclose to CBP that she's married to a USC? If not, issues of material misrepresentation come into play which carry a lifetime ban. The other issue you risk is having your petition denied to adjust from VWP, from which there is no appeals process. What will you do if that happens?

Definitely read up before moving forward. There are many threads on this site detailing situations similar to yours. For now though, your income isn't what you should be worried about. Good luck to you.

[Ryan H 3,834]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, & Tourist Visas forum.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

JMM - If they deny you for sole sponsor they will give you a chance to get a co-sponsor. I would have one ready in case they ask - there is a limited time to respond.

If your wife did not intend to immigrate (and it sounds like she didn't based on the fact that you just now received a job offer) then she can adjust. You can choose to ignore the scare tactics above.

[jdh 103]

Indeed...AOS from visa waiver programs take place all the time...it is not unheard of or any more difficult. The only thing you can get in trouble for is literally lying to border patrol...and proving that can be difficult anyways, your conversation with border patrol is not recorded - typically they enter bare minimum info ie your purpose for the trip.

Intent can change, circumstances can change, and if you are married to a US citizen you shouldn't worry about that anyways.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Agree with Harpa - if your wife entered the US on the Visa Waiver program and had no intention of remaining in the US, but while you are here your circumstances changed - eg, the job offer - and you have now decided to remain in the US, that is a legitimate reason to request an adjustment of status from the Visa Waiver visitor program to permanent resident status. It is allowed.

Regarding the sponsorship question, they may decide that your income on its own is not sufficient to qualify since it is of such a recent nature. If so, they will send you a request for a joint sponsorship from someone who does satisfy the income requirements. You may wash to start looking for that now so that if that is the case,you will have someone waiting in the wings and you can then send in the necessary information as requested. It 'may' be that they will accept your income based upon the newness of the job source, but I suspect they will ask for a co-sponsor.

Edited March 11, 2012 by Kathryn41

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

The rule for affidavits of support is that the evidence must indicate that the sponsor will have sufficient income to meet the requirements in the year that the affidavit of support is submitted. The general wisdom on VJ is that this means current annualized income (e.g., weekly paycheck multiplied by 52, or monthly paycheck multiplied by 12, etc.), but it's not that simple. The Adjudicators Field Manual instructs IO's to make the determination based on how much the sponsor is expected to earn in the calendar year that the affidavit of support is submitted, and not how much they are expected to earn in the 12 months starting on the day they submit the affidavit of support. They can presume that the sponsor's income will be sufficient if the prior year's tax return shows sufficient income, and the sponsor's income situation hasn't substantially changed. However, if the prior year's tax return doesn't show sufficient income, and the sponsor began working in the middle of the year, then they will consider only how much the sponsor is going to make by December 31st of that year.

There have been a sufficient number of VJ members in nearly identical situations to confirm that this is the case. They had annualized income that was sufficient, according to the VJ conventional wisdom, but their prior year's tax return was insufficient, and they began working in the middle of the year. USCIS rejected their affidavit of support as insufficient, and they were told to get a joint sponsor.

You need to look at how much you're going to make this year. Nine months at $2K per month is $18K. You need just under $19K to qualify for a household size of two.

Edited March 11, 2012 by JimVaPhuong

[EM_Vandaveer 2,417]

Conselorette & Max and Patricia,

I came on the VWP in June 2011, my plans did change, and got my green card in December. No problems whatsoever. The law allows for this type of thing to happen, otherwise I could not have done it.

[JMM 0]

Thanks to all of you! Very helpful!

[TwoOddOnes 1]

My wife had income in lower than $5,000 for every prior tax year when we filed. We disclosed that on the I-864. She had a new job, that would allow her to sponsor me. We waited 6 months to file, so we could have enough pay-stubs to send (13). We also sent an employment verification letter that stated that she was part time, her hourly wage, and the average amount of hours she worked per week. On the I-864 we put an estimated $19,000 salary though she was probably going to make more. The only RFE we received was because I left page 5 of the I-864 blank. Sent them back a page a lot of "N/A" and we were fine. She actually ended up losing that job while our app was pending. She got a new job, making more, and our IO at our interview took a copy of her new employment verification letter.