I-864 Spouse quitting job soon

[apples20 0]

Hi there,

My wife and I are getting ready to file I-130 + I-485 + I-864 etc. She is the American Citizen and we've both been living together in the US for the past four years. I'm on a diplomatic visa at present (Filing I-508 and I-566 too).

We have completed the I-864 form with both of our incomes and have included her tax returns. My income thus far has been exempt from US taxation so I have included evidence of this and a letter from my employer stating that my employment situation will not change once I become a lawful permanent resident. We have both included six months of pay stubs.

My wife will be resigning from her job to start law school in mid August, and we plan to file in the first week of next month. Are we doing this the right way? I'm slightly paranoid!

Should we attach a letter stating that she will be resigning in mid August to attend law school? We have other financial assets we could include to quality under the asset category though we easily qualify based on my salary. We also have people we could ask to sponsor us. Based on the instructions for I-864 I am allowed to include my income and I have proof that it will continue from the same source once I'm an LPR. I'm mainly concerned about whether we should disclose that she will be resigning, because we could get to the interview stage and she may be in school.

Also. We have been dating everything in advance to 6 July as we expect to be able to mail everything off then. If for some reason it doesn't get mailed until say, the 15th, I'm assuming this won't be a problem?

Thanks in advance!

Edited June 23, 2012 by apples20

[Ryan H 3,834]

Moved from AOS from Family Based Visas to AOS from Work, Student, and Tourist visas; this is the category in cases of concurrent filing of an I-130 and I-485.

[X Factor 1,112]

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Edited June 23, 2012 by kennard

[apples20 0]

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Edited June 23, 2012 by apples20

[Little_My 464]

If your income alone is sufficient and you can prove it will continue from the same source after you receive the GC, then why would you bring in a co-sponsor? A co-sponsor is only needed if the primary sponsor's income (i.e. the US citizen spouse) is not enough alone to meet the poverty line requirement. Your wife must fill out the I-864 as the primary sponsor, but it won't matter that her income might stop/decrease if yours is enough. If she is currently employed, you can use her income together with yours, and then if by the time of the interview she has quit her job, you bring updated financial documents with you to the interview to show that your income alone is over the poverty line requirement.

[apples20 0]

Thanks for your response! Should I take a new I-864 to the interview showing my wife's income as zero? I would also supply an updated letter from y employer confirming my employment will continue.

[grrrrreat 109]

Thanks for your response! Should I take a new I-864 to the interview showing my wife's income as zero? I would also supply an updated letter from y employer confirming my employment will continue.

I would leave off her income from the I-864 in the first place. On question 23, just include your income. Then, she should include a written statement saying that (1) your income will continue from the same source after you become an LPR, and (2) although she is employed right now, she will be resigning in August, so only your income is included in Question 23.

Note that the instructions for question 23 asks for the "income that you are using to meet the requirements of this form". Your adjustment won't be complete until after she resigns, so there's no way you could use her income to meet those requirements.

Add in your evidence that your employment will continue and the explanation for why you haven't filed taxes, and your I-864 should be good to go.

If your income alone is sufficient and you can prove it will continue from the same source after you receive the GC, then why would you bring in a co-sponsor? A co-sponsor is only needed if the primary sponsor's income (i.e. the US citizen spouse) is not enough alone to meet the poverty line requirement. Your wife must fill out the I-864 as the primary sponsor, but it won't matter that her income might stop/decrease if yours is enough. If she is currently employed, you can use her income together with yours, and then if by the time of the interview she has quit her job, you bring updated financial documents with you to the interview to show that your income alone is over the poverty line requirement.

Since the U.S. citizen spouse is resigning so soon (i.e., well before the adjustment is complete), I would just leave her income off I-864. The instructions for question 23 say that you should put just the income that you are using to satisfy the requirements, so her income won't count. My advice would be different if (1) the adjustment might be complete before the U.S. citizen resigns, or (2) the immigrant doesn't have enough income on his own to satisfy the requirements. In that case, you'd have to file the form as is now and hope that you can get another sponsor before the interview, if necessary.

Edited June 25, 2012 by grrrrreat

[apples20 0]

Note that the instructions for question 23 asks for the "income that you are using to meet the requirements of this form". Your adjustment won't be complete until after she resigns, so there's no way you could use her income to meet those requirements.

Since the U.S. citizen spouse is resigning so soon (i.e., well before the adjustment is complete), I would just leave her income off I-864. The instructions for question 23 say that you should put just the income that you are using to satisfy the requirements, so her income won't count. My advice would be different if (1) the adjustment might be complete before the U.S. citizen resigns, or (2) the immigrant doesn't have enough income on his own to satisfy the requirements. In that case, you'd have to file the form as is now and hope that you can get another sponsor before the interview, if necessary.

I appreciate your comments. After some reflection I would not be comfortable listing my income (intending immigrant) on line 23 because it states "My current individual income is" - my, being the petitioner. So if I was to exclude her income then that should probably be $0.

I think I will include her income and pertinent evidence along with my income and evidence. I will also include a letter from her stating that she plans to resign in August to attend law school and will note that this won't be a problem for qualification seeing as the intending immigrant's income is included, and will meet the requirement on its own standing. I'll attach the law school acceptance letter as evidence.

My reasoning for doing it this way is that she will continue to earn a salary after the filing date, and it seems strange not to include the petitioners income when there is some to include. I see this as being completely honest and transparent. I don't see this method having a negative impact on the process. Thoughts?

Edited June 26, 2012 by apples20

[grrrrreat 109]

I appreciate your comments. After some reflection I would not be comfortable listing my income (intending immigrant) on line 23 because it states "My current individual income is" - my, being the petitioner. So if I was to exclude her income then that should probably be $0.

I think I will include her income and pertinent evidence along with my income and evidence. I will also include a letter from her stating that she plans to resign in August to attend law school and will note that this won't be a problem for qualification seeing as the intending immigrant's income is included, and will meet the requirement on its own standing. I'll attach the law school acceptance letter as evidence.

My reasoning for doing it this way is that she will continue to earn a salary after the filing date, and it seems strange not to include the petitioners income when there is some to include. I see this as being completely honest and transparent. I don't see this method having a negative impact on the process. Thoughts?

This idea sounds okay. You're providing all relevant information and enough to allow USCIS to adjudicate your I-864. The only quibble is the relevant date for I-864 purposes is the interview, not when it's filed. I wouldn't worry about including your income on line 23, but either way will work out provided you send evidence of your own income and an explanation about the whole matter. I'd leave off the law school letter--they don't need evidence about why she's resigning, since it's not part of the analysis.

[apples20 0]

Thanks, much appreciated.