Question about using assets for the Affidavit of Support (I-864)

[maeve808 5]

I'll be sponsoring my spouse soon for a CR1 visa. I'm self-employed and currently located outside of the U.S. My self-employment income comes from my online business, so it will continue after relocation to the U.S. However, in addition I would like to show personal assets (savings) on the Affidavit of Support (I-864). In the I-864 instructions it says:

"In order to qualify based on the value of your assets, the total value of your assets must equal at least five times the difference between your total household income and the current poverty guidelines for your household size. However, if you are a U.S. citizen and you are sponsoring your spouse or minor child, the total value of your assets must only be equal to at least three times the difference."

So far on various forums everybody is always talking about having 5 times the assets. So is it true that for a spouse one only has to show 3 times the assets? So for example, if only using assets that would be 3 times $19,387 (2-person household)?

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

yes, for a spouse it is only 3 times. Keep in mind many embassies will not accept foreign/ non-US based assets.

[maeve808 5]

Thanks for you reply. What are foreign/non-U.S. based assets? In our case, it would be the savings account of my spouse. But this account is not located in the U.S. It is located in Europe.

[Barond 0]

I read it the same way - 3 should be enough.

I was about to ask a similar question - hope it's alright that I piggyback on this thread.

We've been living in Denmark. I am Danish, my wife American. We're boving to the US and I am the immigrant, she is the sponsor.

Since she does not yet really have much on an income in the US, and mine does not count -is it "safe" to rely on assets? We sold our house in Denmark, and can show both 3 and 5 x guideline amount (in a Danish bank account).

I'd rather not have to ask her family to co-sponsor, so if it's normal to use assets rather than income, I'll sleep better. It seems that in most cases, the sponsor lives in the US - there is not so much information about US citizens having lived abroad and bringing spouse back with them.

Also, my wife filed income tax returns in Denmark, we cannot show US tax filings for the last 3 years. Does anyone have experience with that?

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Maeve- your assets are foreign, as they are not located in the USA. That makes it more difficult for the US government to get at them should it be needed, thus they often want the security of you having more. IF they accept it at all. Going by your username, I think you may be in Ireland? I know when I did my interview there, they only accepted our US assets, NOT our Irish ones. Still, not a major issue, if it is a savings account simply open a US bank account and transfer the money.

Barond: Not sure if Denmark accepts foreign assets but yes, you can reply on assets only if you have enough, we did that. Your wife was supposed to file US taxes, the IRS requires all US citizens, even if living abroad, to file if they have income. She won';t need to PAY anything, but she will need to file. Check on the IRS website on how to backfile.

[maeve808 5]

We're currently located in Germany and will do DCF in Frankfurt. My spouse already has a U.S. bank account but we're wondering if it's absolutely necessary to transfer all the savings from the European account to the U.S. account (the European savings account generates a better interest rate). We will do it if necessary, but we'd prefer not to. Are there any published guidelines on what USCIS says on this topic?

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

No published guidelines because it is up to each embassy and the CO's discretion.

You may want to ask in our DCF forum to get experience from others who have gone via the US embassy in Frankfurt: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/82-direct-consular-filing-dcf-general-discussion/