I-864 question (income continuing from same source) for F1 student

[qwertystudent 0]

Hi,

I am an F1 student, doing a STEM PhD. I will graduate in mid-2013. My wife is a PhD student in her humanities program and is a US citizen. We have been married for 17 months, and are considering applying for permanent residency soon.

We are looking at the details of form I-864, particularly at using my income (I being the intending immigrant) to meet the income requirements. Our combined income exceeds the threshold of 125% of the poverty line, but my wife's income alone is not sufficient to meet the threshold. Therefore, we will need to include my income (as the intending immigrant).

However, the instructions for I-864 state that the income of the intending immigrant must continue from the same source after permanent residency is given. My income will continue from the same source only up to the summer of 2013, which is when I am due to graduate. (It is now April 2012). Is this a long enough duration to allow us to count my income as continuing from the same source after getting permanent residency? I will have 12+17=29 months of post-completion OPT available to me past mid-2013, but again there is no possibility of showing that my income will continue indefinitely from the same source even if we apply after I start OPT.

Generally, how long into the future must the income of the intending immigrant continue from the same source? Are there clear rules about this? If this is up to the judgement of the immigration officer, are there guidelines as to what they expect?

We are considering waiting for 7 more months before applying for permanent residency, so that we don't need to petition for removal of conditions on permanent residence in the future. This of course would mean that my current income would continue into the future for 7 months *less* from the time of application than if we applied immediately. Is it possible to determine the best course of action here?

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for taking the time to think about this.

Edited April 29, 2012 by qwertystudent

[Little_My 464]

I don't think there is any clear limit for how long the income must continue from the same source, if the intending immigrant's income is used to qualify. I think the main reason for this rule is to prevent intending immigrants to use income that is coming from, for example, foreign based employment that will obviously end once the immigrant permanently moves to the US.

If you used your income to qualify, you would have to produce some sort of letter or contract from your employer that shows that your work contract with them is ongoing, and will continue past filing. If you would only be able to show that the income is continuing from the current employer for roughly 6 or 7 months from when you originally file the AOS papers, then I think it would be a good idea to find a joint sponsor, just in case.

[qwertystudent 0]

Dear Little_My,

Thank you for your reply!

qwertystudent

I don't think there is any clear limit for how long the income must continue from the same source, if the intending immigrant's income is used to qualify. I think the main reason for this rule is to prevent intending immigrants to use income that is coming from, for example, foreign based employment that will obviously end once the immigrant permanently moves to the US.

If you used your income to qualify, you would have to produce some sort of letter or contract from your employer that shows that your work contract with them is ongoing, and will continue past filing. If you would only be able to show that the income is continuing from the current employer for roughly 6 or 7 months from when you originally file the AOS papers, then I think it would be a good idea to find a joint sponsor, just in case.