Getting a Joint Sponsor or New Job Prior to Interview

[SarahBear 4]

Hi All,

We got our interview date yesterday (Mid October) and we're over the moon. I am here to solicit advice on what to do about our somewhat unique situation with the I-864.

As of today I have a remote part time job based in the US that I do from Canada. I'm paid in USD and that job and income stream will continue after my husband and I move to the US. Problem is, the job is only part time and we're about 13K short in yearly income required by USCIS to sponsor my husband based on our family size.

Between checking/savings/401K/IRA accts we have around 60K in assets that could potentially be used to help us make up the difference in income. Nobody at USCIS or the NVC can give me a straight answer on whether or not I can use funds in retirement based accounts to meet the income requirements because it's "at the discretion of the officer reviewing the case."

The only person I could possibly get to be our joint sponsor is my sister, and I really don't think she wants to sign up for being a joint sponsor for us for reasons I don't want to get into here. My parents don't make enough to qualify and I don't have any close friends in the US to ask. So obviously it would be a lot better if we could use on our assets to help us meet the income requirement, but I am feeling nervous about this and would hate to be denied at the interview because of lack of US funds.

The good news is I have a phone interview today for a full time job in the US with my former employer (woohoo!) and I guess at this point I could potentially have a new job by interview time which would be more than enough to meet the income requirements. Anyway, this brings me to my questions:

1. If I have a new job by interview time, do I have to send my husband to the interview with a new I-864 reflecting my new yearly income or would I need to submit a new I-864 right after accepting the job offer? I'll be sure to get a letter of employment from the company too.

2. If I still don't have a new job by the time he goes to the interview, and the officer looks over our financials and says I can't use my retirement funds to meet the income requirement, then would it be possible (if my sister would agree to it) to bring a completed I-864 from a joint sponsor to the interview just in case we're looking at being denied otherwise and use that to meet the income requirement, or would we need to submit that in advance of the interview?

Also, if any of you have successfully used 401K/Traditional IRA assets to meet the income requirements, or know of anyone who has done this, could you please share your experiences? Does anyone have any thoughts on whether or not MTL will let me use those funds? I am 30 if age makes any difference.

Thanks in advance - you guys have been lifesavers!

[NikLR 13,227]

Yes your husband would have to take an updated I-864 to the interview. But because it's new, even if you make over the requirements, it's still iffy. They may still ask for a joint sponsor. If you do not meet sponsorship requirements (via assets or the new job being so new) they will issue a 221g and you'll have to submit a joint sponsor after the interview, if approved. I don't know if they'd accept it at the interview, but you can try if she's willing.

I think the main requirement for assets is you have to be able to liquidate them within a year. As I understand it, and I could be wrong, a 401k comes with some extremely high penalties when you liquidate it. Take that into consideration. If you want to, ask a mod to move this post to the IR1/CR1 forum where people like pushbrk or RyanH can look at it. They are, IMHO, the I-864 gurus. You could also try to PM them so as not to get incorrect replies as well.

Edited September 11, 2013 by NLR

[SarahBear 4]

Yes your husband would have to take an updated I-864 to the interview. But because it's new, even if you make over the requirements, it's still iffy. They may still ask for a joint sponsor. If you do not meet sponsorship requirements (via assets or the new job being so new) they will issue a 221g and you'll have to submit a joint sponsor after the interview, if approved. I don't know if they'd accept it at the interview, but you can try if she's willing.

I think the main requirement for assets is you have to be able to liquidate them within a year. As I understand it, and I could be wrong, a 401k comes with some extremely high penalties when you liquidate it. Take that into consideration. If you want to, ask a mod to move this post to the IR1/CR1 forum where people like pushbrk or RyanH can look at it. They are, IMHO, the I-864 gurus. You could also try to PM them so as not to get incorrect replies as well.

Thanks so much! This info is super helpful!

You're right that the assets must be liquidated within a year. In theory, if I wanted to, I could cash out all of my retirement accounts this week, fly to Vegas and put everything down on one game of blackjack if I wanted to, but I would have to pay income tax on the full amount I took out, and I would have a 10% early withdraw penalty assessed on anything I withdraw on top of the income tax.

So yes, I would have to pay more in taxes, but I could take the funds out of the account with just a little paperwork and processing time. I just don't know if a consular officer will think that is OK or not...

I think I will PM the folks you suggested and get their 2 cents. If they respond I'll post their answers here in case anyone else is in the same boat I am. Thanks NLR!

[SarahBear 4]

Pushbrk came back and said he thinks it could go either way 50/50. Haven't heard back from RyanH yet.

I don't know if this is even possible, but is there anyone at MTL I could maybe e-mail or call to explain my situation and ask if they think our assets are enough to cover us? We really don't want to be put into AP limbo and it would be better to get a stern NO on our scenario now when we may still have time to submit a joint sponsor before the interview... Ugh, this is killing me.

Edited September 11, 2013 by SarahBear

[NikLR 13,227]

No you have to wait for the interview... that's just kinda how it works.