I-134 concerns

[bonded23 0]

I am preparing to file an I-129F and am very worried about the I-134 Affidavit of Support. I, the American citizen sponsoring my Thai fiancé, have not worked at all during the past 9 years after suffering a severe trauma brain injury resulting from a bicycle accident in 2004, and my disability payments are just barely above the poverty level for one person and below the 125% level for one person. The required income needed is based on a 2 person household, right? My income is well below that. I have other assets like money in the bank and I receive monthly income for the repayment of a loan I made, are these things going to be able to get me to an acceptable I-134 level? I have no Joint sponsor available and understand the US Consulate in Thailand would not accept one anyway. Do I stand any chance of the US Consulate in Thailand approving my fiance’s K1 visa? They seem to be hell-bent on denying every visa that they can.

[slowlyman 118]

Well, a couple things

1) USCIS is the authority which will need to approve your application before it even goes to the Embassy. That is your first of many stops along the journey.

2) I was not aware Thailand will not except a co-sponsor. Someone will chime in I'm sure, to clarify

3) You DO need to meet the income requirements one way or the other. You will NOT be approved without the minimum income. If a co-sponsor is not an option, I'm not sure what else you could do.

4) I wouldn't say the Consulate is "hell bent" on denying as many visas as they can. Many are approved everyday. But they do have rules, and you can play by their rules or get denied.

5) I assume you have met the beneficiary in person within the last two years?

This is just a constructive statement, please don;t take it personally. But this process is expensive. Expect to spend a few thousand dollars just in fees and misc. expenses in the first year. Additionally you will have airfare at about 1,700.

How will you be taking care of the beneficiary in regard to healthcare? If you are not working, you will need to provide insurance out of your own pocket. For me that's about 1,000 / month. Remember the beneficiary will not be eligible for any kind of public aid. YOU are responsible.

Sorry if I sound harsh, but the K-1 is a long, arduous, and expensive journey. You need to find an answer to the financial questions before starting.

Good luck. I hope you can find an answer.

Edited July 5, 2013 by slowlyman

[Karee 4,191]

I agree with everything Slowlyman said. Generally they do not accept co-sponsors for K visas. However, I have seen them make exceptions for certain situations like university students etc. That doesn't seem to apply in your case. I think they will accept assets in place of income if they are somewhat liquid assets. It's either 5 to 1 or 3 to 1. I can't remember. That would mean you would either need to have 5 times the assets needed or 3 times the assets. So 5 times would be roughly $100k USD in assets.

[Ning 619]

I am preparing to file an I-129F and am very worried about the I-134 Affidavit of Support. I, the American citizen sponsoring my Thai fiancé, have not worked at all during the past 9 years after suffering a severe trauma brain injury resulting from a bicycle accident in 2004, and my disability payments are just barely above the poverty level for one person and below the 125% level for one person. The required income needed is based on a 2 person household, right? My income is well below that. I have other assets like money in the bank and I receive monthly income for the repayment of a loan I made, are these things going to be able to get me to an acceptable I-134 level? I have no Joint sponsor available and understand the US Consulate in Thailand would not accept one anyway. Do I stand any chance of the US Consulate in Thailand approving my fiance’s K1 visa? They seem to be hell-bent on denying every visa that they can.

You posted this question yesterday as I remember. The day of the week will change but the answers that are correct will remain the same.

This issue of support will be the most important aspect other than the SSM concept of which I know very little.

Please see my response to your post yesterday to gain some insight into what has been accepted in a few other cases. If I haven't been clear enough feel free to ask any related questions.

The embassy has accepted co sponsors in at least 3 cases I helped with. We used a strategy as I explained yesterday. I actually wrote the letter for one case. Those former students fiancées were all granted visas.

Slowlyman and Karee are correct in what they offer with the exception of # 2 by S M. However they do not accept co sponsors in most cases. You must offset that by understanding, attitude and presentation of fact while following the procedure and the laws. This requires thought and patience to have any chance of success.

Is the embassy hell bent on denials? Ridiculous if you had any idea of how many cases they deal with ( 700 ) per month. Many of those are K 1 s.

What will you do if you aren't allowed a co sponsor? Marry in Thailand; then find co sponsor which is always allowed in C R 1 cases. Or simply move to Thailand where you will find its easy to marry same sex and to thrive in our culture where this is nothing new nor different. Thais are very used to what you want to do.