Looking ahead to the Affidavit of Support

[seau055 4]

Hello All!

Just received our NOA1 yesterday and am looking ahead to steps post-NOA2 (hopefully sooner than the 5 months currently listed). My question is around the Affidavit of Support. Last year I was finishing up graduate school and so my taxes have me earning $0. I recently got hired in early March at a nice paying job (psychologist). Should my letter from my employer and current pay stubs be enough to not worry that my tax documents last year listed $0 in earnings? Anything else I should submit in addition to the letter, pay stubs and bank information ($15k or so) to help? Not sure if it makes a difference or not, but my fiance is from Costa Rica. Thank you all in advance, this forum has been a life saver!

[erinwall 0]

Seau055,

You don't need to worry at all about your income from last year. There is no place on Form I-134 where you need to enter that info, and a letter from your employer is all you should need (you don't even need the pay stubs). I just submitted my AOS (through my fiance when he went for his K-1 visa interview April 28) and there were no issues. Like you, I had very little income in 2013, due to being with my fiance in Africa for most of the year. However, I have a job now, and that was sufficient for the officials. I also listed my savings and the value of my car on my form. I don't have other assets, but if you do, listing those is always helpful. For each thing you list, though, you should submit proof that your claim is valid (such as the Blue Book value for your car, or a statement from your bank showing your savings account balance).

Because of my 2013 income (and my current income, which isn't great), I was worried my fiance's visa would be rejected. But there were no problems at all. He said they barely even looked at the AOS. Just filed it (and didn't even want the supporting documents, like my employer letter!). It's my guess that, by the point you get to the interview stage, they pretty much know if they're going to approve you or not, and unless you do something silly, like not prepare the AOS at all, they're not going to scrutinize it during the interview.

All that is to say: Do a good job with it and include all the documents they request, but don't lose sleep over it. The petition was your biggest hurdle!

I hope that helps,

erin

Edited May 2, 2014 by erinwall

[seau055 4]

Erin,

Thank you so so much! Your response is very helpful and calms any of the worries I had around it. Thanks so much!

Bryan