Bankruptcy Chapter 13 of our only joint sponsor

[Coleman21 6]

I have just posted a different question, but here I have a question regarding our joint sponsor.

I am adjusting my F-1 status to permanent residency based on marriage to an US citizen. My husband doesn't have a job at this point and neither do I. I got EAD last week and have been applying for jobs but our interview is coming up on August 6th, which is pretty soon.

My concern is that our only joint sponsor (my husband's stepfather whom we live with now) is the only person who has income, but he's been in chapter 13 bankruptcy. I made sure before filing application for green card that bankruptcy doesn't matter as long as he makes enough income, and I do see many forums here saying bankruptcy doesn't affect. However, his bankruptcy is subtracting money directly from his pay checks. Paystubs show how much you actually bring home, as well as how much you earned, right? We calculated his income based on his gross income because I learned that's what USCIS looks at when we estimate this year's annual income, but if they can see great difference between his gross income and the actual money he brings home, would they question us? If we tell them that's because of his chapter 13 bankruptcy, would they deny us, especially if my husband and I won't have got a job by the time of the interview?

Thank you for your answers in advance.

[hmh33 117]

Even if they reject the I-864, they won't deny you outright, they'll give you a chance to find another joint sponsor.

[Coleman21 6]

Thank you for your answer. Do you know how long they would wait?

Also, my letter from USCIS tells us to bring paychecks from the recent 2 months. Do they care a lot about those paychecks? My only joint sponsor hasn't been working much lately because he had an injury. When I called the USCIS the lady on the phone said it wouldn't be a big problem, but I'm still worried. I see you already got green card. Did your interviewer look at paychecks from the past 2 months? Did they calculate really throughly the annual income for the year?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

The I-864 is about current income, and must be approvable both at the time of application and at the time of approval. So if the co-sponsor isn't working anymore, you have a problem. There is a chance they won't ask, but a good chance they will. Did the co-sponsor make enough this year already to qualify?

Edited July 24, 2013 by Harpa Timsah

[Coleman21 6]

The I-864 is about current income, and must be approvable both at the time of application and at the time of approval. So if the co-sponsor isn't working anymore, you have a problem. There is a chance they won't ask, but a good chance they will. Did the co-sponsor make enough this year already to qualify?

That's what I thought. My joint sponsor's estimated income was more than the requirement at the time of application, which was two months ago. He's still working but his working hours are less than before, so his estimated income must be lower than the time of application. But not sure if it's lower than the requirement, since I haven't looked at his paystubs. He now gets electric pay stubs so we are going to print them out when the interview day is closer. It's on August 6th. He works for shingle company though, so my husband says he can explain to the interviewer that his working hours would increase in the fall and even without his injury he would have more time off work in summer. Meanwhile we're trying to get one of my joint sponsor's dependent's copy of his marriage license and affidavit of residence that show he's no longer a dependent, because he got married after my joint sponsor filed the most recent tax return. So hopefully our household size will go down to 6 from 7. But I was worried about how much the immigration would look at his bankruptcy. His paystubs show his gross income. Is that the only thing the immigration looks at? His paystubs also show how much he gets after tax and bankruptcy payment is reduced from his paychecks. Will the immigration look at it closely? And having days off from work because of injury really lower his estimated annual income for this year? He worked at a shingle company till last year too but it was a different company.