221(G) Job Offer Required for Petitioner

[SGtotheUSA 0]

My wife and I live in Singapore but would like to move to the States (Dallas) in the next couple of months. We’ve been together for 4 ½ years, lived together in Singapore for 4 of those years, and have been married for 2 years. We have one daughter together and neither of us have previous marriages or children.

The whole CR-1 process has been a bit slow going mainly because I needed to prove my intent to reestablish domicile after living abroad for 10 years. This has been a bit difficult since I’ve been working with my present employer to get a new role in the US but I only have a conditional job offer in the form of an email from my manager.

My new role in Dallas was originally supposed to start in June / July 2014. However, there have been delays and now we’re looking at August / September. To date I still do not have firm job offer for HR.

Despite this, after submitting a number of additional documents to help prove my intent to reestablish domicile, we finally managed to get to the CO interview stage on May 20th.

At the end of the interview, my wife was given a 221(G) with two requests for additional documentation:
1. Previous passport to verify first visit to Singapore, which is not a problem
2. Letter from petitioner’s employer confirming employment availability in the U.S.

The first request is not a problem. The second request is a problem since as I stated above I don’t have a firm job offer. When the consular officer asked my wife about me providing a job offer letter to them, my wife did not understand the complexity of the situation and so she assumed that getting a letter from my company wouldn’t be a problem. She was wrong.

Despite these delays, my wife and I are committed to moving to America and have decided to move to Dallas in September either with or without a job.

Given this, does anyone have any suggestions on how I should respond to the CO’s request for an Employment Letter?

If the issue is my ability to support our family, we have more than enough assets to meet the 3 times 125% Poverty Level criteria on the AOS.

Thanks in advance.

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

If assets is not a problem, just show them.

[SGtotheUSA 0]

If assets is not a problem, just show them.

Is it that simple?

Is that the rationale for requesting an offer letter?

Here is what I was planning to do:

1. Write a letter explaining the situation

2. Attach the email with the conditional job offer from my manager

3. Amend my AOS I-846 to include assets

4. Attach bank and investment account statements supporting the assets in the I-846

Do I need to change my current individual annual income to $0? (I-846 Part 6, Line 5)

Should this address their doubts?

Thanks

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

It is that simple, they likely did not ask about assets because people usually list them if they have them- and frankly, with the around $80'000 of easily liquidated assets needed for a family of three, the majority of people don;t have them.

[SGtotheUSA 0]

It is that simple, they likely did not ask about assets because people usually list them if they have them- and frankly, with the around $80'000 of easily liquidated assets needed for a family of three, the majority of people don;t have them.

Thanks so much. I hope it really is that simple.

[pushbrk 12,911]

Unfortunately, it's not. The liquid assets can solve the qualification as sponsor problem but do NOT solve the domicile problem. What was the "reason" they gave for these two requests? If it had to do with domicile, liquid assets don't solve that problem. The foreigner does not get to "move to the USA" until they have the immigrant visa in hand. If the visa is not issued by then, you don't "move". The petitioner can move, with or without a job. THAT would solve the domicile problem by simply moving and establishing a domicile in the USA.

Do the assets you mention meet the "liquid" definition in the I-864 instructions?

Edited May 25, 2014 by pushbrk

[SGtotheUSA 0]

Unfortunately, it's not. The liquid assets can solve the qualification as sponsor problem but do NOT solve the domicile problem. What was the "reason" they gave for these two requests? If it had to do with domicile, liquid assets don't solve that problem. The foreigner does not get to "move to the USA" until they have the immigrant visa in hand. If the visa is not issued by then, you don't "move". The petitioner can move, with or without a job. THAT would solve the domicile problem by simply moving and establishing a domicile in the USA.

Do the assets you mention meet the "liquid" definition in the I-864 instructions?

The domicile issue was raised by the NVC in a checklist on 25-Jan-2014 after I first submitted the I-864. Since I didn't have a firm job offer, I responded to the domicile issue with a number of documents as recommended by others on this forum. (Emails regarding preschools, confirmation of temporary housing, moving quotes, etc.)

Unfortunately, I made a typo when I resubmitted the I-864 and used my 1040 adjusted gross income instead of my total gross income per the instructions. I received another checklist on 19-Mar-2014 where they highlighted this mistake but they no longer mentioned the issue of domicile, which made me believe that I had provided sufficient information.

In this second checklist, the NVC also confirmed that they were forwarding our case to the consulate. Since there was still a discrepancy on the I-864, they asked me to give the revised I-864 to my wife so she could pass it to the CO during the interview. When my wife tried the pass the I-864 during her interview, the CO said that he didn't need it.

With regards to the job offer, the CO didn't tell my wife why he needed the job offer or if he did tell my wife, she didn't understand.

In this case, I am left to speculate that it is probably one of two things:

1) Not having a guaranteed job in America invalidates my income

2) The CO not understanding that the issue regarding domicile had already been resolved based on my second I-864 submission with the additional documentation.

Since the CO returned all of the domicile evidence to my wife after the interview, I am guessing that it's the first reason.

With regards our assets, I have confirmed that our assets meet the liquid definition in the I-864 instructions.

They requested her old passport because the Singapore Police Certificate issued to my wife does not cover her entire stay in Singapore. The Singapore Police refused to include dates when my wife was here on a tourist visa. The CO asked for revised Police Certificate but my wife explained the situation and so he requested a copy of her old passport that includes a stamp showing when she first arrived in Singapore. I assume that he is trying to verify the dates we provided to them on the DS260. Since the tourist visa stamp in her passport matches the dates on our application, I don’t anticipate further problems.

Thanks so much

[pushbrk 12,911]

I see. Then, I tend to agree that the remaining issue is that without a job offer, your income was not considered to be continuing in the USA. Did you document the liquid assets? If not, do so with several months of account statements, along with with an explanation you wish to sponsor based on assets alone, and you'll probably have your visa in short order.

One issue HR might have in extending the offer, is that they you are not currently authorized to work in the USA. You will be, the day you enter with your IR1 visa though.

[SGtotheUSA 0]

I see. Then, I tend to agree that the remaining issue is that without a job offer, your income was not considered to be continuing in the USA. Did you document the liquid assets? If not, do so with several months of account statements, along with with an explanation you wish to sponsor based on assets alone, and you'll probably have your visa in short order.

One issue HR might have in extending the offer, is that they you are not currently authorized to work in the USA. You will be, the day you enter with your IR1 visa though.

Thanks!

In my previous AOS submissions, I didn't mention or document any assets because I thought they were optional. However, if I were in their shoes, I wouldn't consider someone's salary if that person wasn't going to have a job.

With regards to the job offer, I'm a US citizen and so I don't think that the issue with the job offer is related to visas. My new boss just wants to line up my replacement before giving me the offer.

I'll go ahead and submit the documentation as you suggested.

Do you think I should mention the previous documentation I sent to the NVC regarding domicile in case the CO wasn't looking at the most recent checklist? I want to be thorough but if it adds more confusion, that isn't good either.

I'll submit the documents tomorrow. Wish me luck.

[pushbrk 12,911]

I would definitely submit a new I-864 with documented assets.

[SGtotheUSA 0]

Last week I submitted the revised I-864 along with verification of my assets as suggested.

I haven't heard back from them but my wife received an email asking her to send her passport to the embassy.

It seems like a positive sign. Are we most likely in the clear? How long does it typically take to know for sure? Thanks

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

Sounds good! Usually it takes about 2 weeks to get the passport with visa in it back, but not sure on your country specifically.

[SGtotheUSA 0]

Thanks everyone for your help!!! We received our approved visa on June 10th!