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Worried about i864 Affidavit of Support

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: United Kingdom
Timeline

Ok, so long story short, I am the foreign national (United Kingdom). My fiancée lives in the US and is a natural born US Citizen.

Her folks were originally willing to sponsor our petition, but now it seems they won't be able to due to paperwork and stuff. Anyways, no biggie. My fiancée just needs a job instead.

As far as my side of things goes, I'm employed full-time as a waiter in the UK, and I'm looking to get married on a K1 sometime at the end of the year (or whenever it's due), I can meet USD$9,000 by then. We're filing our petition with the first package a week from now, after spending the best part of January collecting all the documents we need.

I'm just in the dark about how much we need to be able to support ourselves on when filing the Affidavit of Support - she currently isn't working, and has had no employment history to speak of. We're hoping by the time it comes to filing the affidavit that she would already have a couple of pay stubs and be in continued employment at that time.

I have read that falling short of the 125% poverty guideline ($19,387), that gap will be tripled before you can match their requirements. So if the US Citizen has an income of $15,000 per annum and $2,000 savings, she will need (19387 - 15000 - 2000) x 3, which is $7,161. An extra seven grand in savings! Is this true? Or could she start a regular job earning about $800 per month (a hypothetical $10k/pa) with the rest coming from my savings?

As a hypothetical situation, we're supposing she'll have $7,000 - $8,000 by the end of the year, and I'll have about $9,000 in savings, leaving us about $2,500 short. Does this mean we actually need to have an extra $7,500 in savings (that $2,500 gap, tripled) before they will entertain approving the affidavit? And if so does that also apply to the $9,000 earned in Sterling GBP in my own country, as that's essentially just savings I'll be transferring to her US bank account in US Dollars?

That would mean over $30,000 in savings! Who has that kind of money?

Sorry for the wall of text! Please help clear my head about this, because it's looking at being another 2 years before we can even file, never mind the other headaches which will come later. sad.png

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: United Kingdom
Timeline

I don't like to reply to my own topic just after I post it, but I did a little more digging and it turns out the poverty line we need to meet for a K1 ought to be 100%, not 125% since my fiancée is sponsoring her spouse. That makes things a little easier. Is my math correct here?

On a $10,000 per-annum salary, with the poverty line at 100% of 15,510, that leaves $5,510 which will be being filled in with savings. Because they are savings (or 'assets'), they are counted as being worth a third and therefore we must have three times as much in order to qualify. 5,510 x 3 = 16,530.

So, if she gets a job which pays $10,000 a year (she'd be looking at part-time due to family commitments), we'd need to cover $16,530 in savings, which is currently around £10,117.

If my numbers look good, then that's less of a panic, since that's only a few extra months on the 9 months I was originally expecting to save (the average processing time for the K1). That extra 25% really makes a difference!

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: United Kingdom
Timeline

I don't like to reply to my own topic just after I post it, but I did a little more digging and it turns out the poverty line we need to meet for a K1 ought to be 100%, not 125% since my fiancée is sponsoring her spouse. That makes things a little easier. Is my math correct here?

On a $10,000 per-annum salary, with the poverty line at 100% of 15,510, that leaves $5,510 which will be being filled in with savings. Because they are savings (or 'assets'), they are counted as being worth a third and therefore we must have three times as much in order to qualify. 5,510 x 3 = 16,530.

So, if she gets a job which pays $10,000 a year (she'd be looking at part-time due to family commitments), we'd need to cover $16,530 in savings, which is currently around £10,117.

If my numbers look good, then that's less of a panic, since that's only a few extra months on the 9 months I was originally expecting to save (the average processing time for the K1). That extra 25% really makes a difference!

The guidelines are there for a reason. Only her income is going to count for the purposes of the affidavit. She needs to be making the income, or be able to show she has enough in savings to meet the requirements, or otherwise have a co-sponsor. She also needs to be able to show that the savings are money that she's earned, not just put in there as a one time lump sum or loan. Your income will not count for this. In the UK it's possible to do what they call self sponsoring, but it will take a lot more than $9000.

You also need to think about what life will be like with almost no income once you're here. Believe me when I say that money goes faster than you'd believe, and the period before you can work is long, and the filings costs are expensive.

November 14th, 2013: She's here!

December 12th, 2013: Picked up marriage license.

December 14th, 2013: Wedding

6gai.jpg

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For a K1 in London, they don't do all that math really for a fiance's i-134 Affidavit of Support. And there are no exact numbers written into the Foreign Affairs Manual. You are quoting rules laid out for the I-864 Affidavit of Support. If you can convince the London officer with some good income and assets then they approve. A $10k salary isn't encouraging but some hefty savings on your part could convince them. It is actually a subjective decision in London. If her income met the 100%, and a bit of savings on top you would have a better chance. But trying to scrape together everything to barely reach a total in the 100% range may or may not be convincing. London will consider your savings.

The bigger issue is after your marriage when you apply for adjustment of status (greencard). Ideally you want to do that quickly so you can get a job and driver license. She will do the I-864 with stricter rules and the 125% requirement. Your savings will again count because you are married and your money becomes part of the pot. But your savings will get eaten up by the cost of required fees as well as transportation to London twice plus flight to the US.

Costs

K1 London route = $1680 + £280

$340 (USCIS) I-129F petition

£45 (ACPO) Police certificate just before petition approval

£235 (Knightsbridge Doctors) medical exam. Pay at exam.

$240 (Embassy) Visa fee prior to interview. Online pay.

$30 Courier fee if home delivery, $0 to pick up at a depot. Online.

$1070 (USCIS) Adjustment of Status/Work Authorization/Advance Parole

England.gifENGLAND ---

K-1 Timeline 4 months, 19 days 03-10-08 VSC to 7-29-08 Interview London

10-05-08 Married

AOS Timeline 5 months, 14 days 10-9-08 to 3-23-09 No interview

Removing Conditions Timeline 5 months, 20 days12-27-10 to 06-10-11 No interview

Citizenship Timeline 3 months, 26 days 12-31-11 Dallas to 4-26-12 Interview Houston

05-16-12 Oath ceremony

The journey from Fiancé to US citizenship:

4 years, 2 months, 6 days

243 pages of forms/documents submitted

No RFEs

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