Affidavit of support

[Zabalex 0]

Hello everyone!

So my wife (the U.S. citizen) will be filling out the I-864 form soon and we wanted to confirm something.

She hasn't been working in the US for the past 3 years I believe and currently is teaching English in South Korea. (for just one month so far) Now, what we heard before is that the alternative way to submit the affidavit of support if a U.S. citizen doesn't have a job would be to provide the evidence of a certain amount of money in her bank account. Which, as far as I can remember, should be 4 times the annual salary (which should be %125 of poverty line). Is this correct?

And if it is, how should we fill out the form? Just leave the income fields empty or put $0 in there and attach a bank receipt to the form?

I am sorry if this is all very wrong, just trying to straighten things out at least a bit.

Thank you for your time.

[Wingnutfish 18]

Have you checked the official instructions for the I-864 Affidavit of Support form?

[Zabalex 0]

Well, I am reading now, but I still have some questions. The reason I ask this question again is because a fellow forum poster told me this almost a year ago:

You would put $0 in each year and have a letter to explain she wasn't required to file she was student.

Yes you can use strictly assets like stated 3 X what you need. Since you have 0 its now $19388 X 3=$58164 you would need deposited in the bank.

I just wanted to clarify if that's true.

Also, since I am reading the official instructions now I'd also like to inquire about this part:

Assets of the Intending Immigrant.

You may use the assets of the intending immigrant regardless of where he or she resides. The intending immigrant must provide evidence of such assets with this form. Form I-864A is not required to document the intending immigrant's assets.

Does this mean I, as an intending immigrant, can provide a bank statement with a certain amount of money in my account in order to fulfill the affidavit requirements?

I am really sorry if all these questions are annoying. We just got our NOA2 today and currently are reading up on all the information again (we did this before a year ago, but tried to focus on the first part, which was the I-130 package at the time). Don't want to appear as panicky, but as I am researching this I also have a need to consult someone in a similar situation, just to make sure I read everything right, which is why I posted this.

Thank you.

[Zabalex 0]

Well, I read the information here http://www.***removed***/affidavit-of-support/using-assets-meet-income-requirements.html

And have a question now. Since that website says that I can use a bank account as an asset and that it doesn't have to be a petitioner's bank account, but can also be an intending immigrant's bank account I wanted to ask this:

What if my mother (beneficiary's) provides a bank statement from her account with the required amount of money and a paper saying she's giving me these money as gift. (that can be translated and notarized) Would that count as proof enough? It wouldn't be a lie or anything. That's the actual situation. My mother has a certain amount of money she is willing to give to me and my wife (the petitioner) for our future life together in the US. Now I am trying to understand if it's absolutely necessary to transfer the money to my wife's account or if what I said would be proof enough.

The problem is I don't have my account in Russia and right now my wife and I are living in Korea together and I can't register a bank account from here.

Thank you for your time.

[Ryan H 3,812]

When using assets, a CO will want to see statements going back X amount of time (usually 6 months) that show the cash was there. They have the discretion to disallow a recent large deposit.

[nightingalejules 678]

If you are allowed to use your savings for the affidavit of support (I'm not sure of this b/c we're in no position to do this!, but it makes sense to me because you're married - so presumably what's hers is yours and what's yours is hers), then it must be YOUR savings, not your mother's. She would need to officially give it to you as a gift. A bank statement of an account that isn't yours would certainly not mean anything.

I don't think you'd have to transfer the money to your wife, but the money would have to be in your name and/or your wife's name, no one else's.

I understand that this is a hassle, but you'll figure out a way to make it work.

If you are questioneed about it (and you probably will be), explain to the officer (as you explained to us) that it was an extremely generous wedding gift.

Edited February 27, 2014 by nightingalejules

[Zabalex 0]

When using assets, a CO will want to see statements going back X amount of time (usually 6 months) that show the cash was there. They have the discretion to disallow a recent large deposit.

Ah, I see. Yeah, that link I posted says they want a bank account deposit/withdrawal history for the past 12 months. I do understand that a recent large deposit may seem suspicious. However, I wonder how old does the deposit have to be to seem valid? Because we are about to transfer the money to either my wife's account or somehow to mine. And our case has yet to be delivered to the NVC. So, let's say, if we get the bank statement now and the interview would only happen about 3 (maybe more) months after that would it be a problem to have a slightly old bank statement then? Can they ask for a more recent one? As far as I know the bank statement has to be in the same AOS package as the I-864 form which will be sent well ahead of the interview.

If you are allowed to use your savings for the affidavit of support (I'm not sure of this b/c we're in no position to do this!, but it makes sense to me because you're married - so presumably what's hers is yours and what's yours is hers), then it must be YOUR savings, not your mother's. She would need to officially give it to you as a gift. A bank statement of an account that isn't yours would certainly not mean anything.

I don't think you'd have to transfer the money to your wife, but the money would have to be in your name and/or your wife's name, no one else's.

I understand that this is a hassle, but you'll figure out a way to make it work.

If you are questioneed about it (and you probably will be), explain to the officer (as you explained to us) that it was an extremely generous wedding gift.

Yeah I think I am allowed to use my account as well and it does make sense to me that the money should be in my name, not my mother's. Guess I have to figure how to make an account now and get all the right papers saying she gave the money to me. I am also not sure if the bank account should necessary be russian. I recently opened an account here in Korea so perhaps I can use that one. Yeah, I understand I'll have to explain it, but we do seem to have plenty of proof of a bone fide marriage on our hands. (or at least I sure hope so!)

Thank you very much for your replies!