I-864 Spouse's income

[grace413 1]

Hi,

I had some questions with meeting the I-864 requirements.

My husband and I are both in college for another year, and until we are settled with our own post-college jobs and incomes, his parents will be continuing to help support us financially at approximately $2,000/month.

We have no cosigner, so I will be the sole sponsor for my husband. My current income is about $14,000, as I can only work part time jobs with school (I have only been working "real jobs" for the past two years). We have approximately $35,000 in combined assets (cars, bank, etc.). I understand that assets count at 1/3 of their actual value for supplemental income. I also have a good financial aid package including scholarships, but I haven't been able to find out a lot of information as to whether that would count as supplemental income, too.

Is there a good chance that we would be able to qualify for the income requirement without using his parents' support? We are trying to do everything on our own and I'm really hoping to get through the application process without any snags.

Everything else is in good status; he has had no overstays and has been here for about 3 years now. We both have totally clean records and everything.

Any help would be really appreciated!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Hi,

I had some questions with meeting the I-864 requirements.

My husband and I are both in college for another year, and until we are settled with our own post-college jobs and incomes, his parents will be continuing to help support us financially at approximately $2,000/month.

We have no cosigner, so I will be the sole sponsor for my husband. My current income is about $14,000, as I can only work part time jobs with school (I have only been working "real jobs" for the past two years). We have approximately $35,000 in combined assets (cars, bank, etc.). I understand that assets count at 1/3 of their actual value for supplemental income. I also have a good financial aid package including scholarships, but I haven't been able to find out a lot of information as to whether that would count as supplemental income, too.

Is there a good chance that we would be able to qualify for the income requirement without using his parents' support? We are trying to do everything on our own and I'm really hoping to get through the application process without any snags.

Everything else is in good status; he has had no overstays and has been here for about 3 years now. We both have totally clean records and everything.

Any help would be really appreciated!

If you read through the instructions, it will explain it pretty well. See Assets p. 9. http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-864instr.pdf

For two people, the poverty level is $19, 387 http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-864p.pdf

Your income is $14,000

Your shortfall is $5,387

$5,387 x 3 = $16,161 that you need to come up with in combined assets.

If you each have a car, you should only count one of them. It has to be net value considering anything you might still owe on it and the market value.

[grace413 1]

If you each have a car, you should only count one of them. It has to be net value considering anything you might still owe on it and the market value.

We own both cars outright with no loans or anything. Also, the cars are still in our separate names.. should we take a trip to the DMV to put things in both names?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

We own both cars outright with no loans or anything. Also, the cars are still in our separate names.. should we take a trip to the DMV to put things in both names?

I think the point mentioned in the instructions is that it can't cause you undue hardship to liquidate an asset...like if you listed your cars and your home, then you'd be homeless without transportation, a hardship. When you send in proof of ownership, you might mention it is one of two vehicles..

Joint things are always good for proving you co-mingle your finances, so not a bad idea for general marriage based immigration evidence. Not necessarily an I -864 requirement. When you have to remove conditions on the 2year greencard, you will need to show joint ownership and co-mingling of assets covering the whole 2+ years of your marriage, so the cars are a start.

Edited April 22, 2013 by Nich-Nick

[grace413 1]

I think the point mentioned in the instructions is that it can't cause you undue hardship to liquidate an asset...like if you listed your cars and your home, then you'd be homeless without transportation, a hardship. When you send in proof of ownership, you might mention it is one of two vehicles..

Would that be mentioned on a cover letter or additional letter for the I-864 package?

Thanks so much for your answers. This is helping a lot!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Would that be mentioned on a cover letter or additional letter for the I-864 package?

Thanks so much for your answers. This is helping a lot!

I may be a bit unconventional with things, but I never got an RFE, so I'll throw my thoughts out to you.

First, I think the contractors that open the mail, throw out the cover sheets and assemble a new folder, so the adjudicator never sees your cover sheet. It's just a nicety. No proof but only my hunch.

In all my evidence (photocopies) submitted from K1 to citizenship, I tried to connect the dots for whomever was looking at my stuff. I used a light yellow highlighter to highlight dates or our names for example or a bank balance, salary figure, or whatever was important to notice. Then I used red Sharpie to write in the best blank area I could find, a little note about what I was showing if it wasn't super obvious. Examples--

Joint checking account apr 2013

Joint credit cards

Credit card bill showing XX in Harrod's London on 1-2-2013,

Credit card bill showing YY in Harrod's London on 1-2-2013, (we had to prove we met in person for fiancé visa.)

So with my method, I would make a photocopy of the title and write in the leftover blank area (in Red)

"Clear title to 2004 Ford Mustang owned by XX. One of two cars we own"

THEN I would print out a Kelly Blue Book value to put next, highlight the price in yellow and note

"value of 2004 Ford Mustang"

But you might not feel comfortable writing on your evidence so you might want to add an asset summary type page behind the I-864 form

SUMMUARY OF ASSETS

$25,123 Savings account at Chase Bank

$9,876 certificate of deposit at Bank of America

$10,123 Ford Mustang, ONE of two cars we own

$XX,XXX total assets

Ok, some random thoughts and ideas to consider, but you do it the way you think is best. I really did use red Sharpie so it would boldly pop out. For the citizenship application I used orange because the red had gone dry. And I was tired of applications and USCIS so didn't even bother with a cover sheet on that one. Still got approved.