Affidavit of Support: Question about house appraisal

[kaczkl25 0]

We already filed sent in our I-130 and in a few months will be using a joint sponsor to file the Affidavit of Support. However, the person we are using does not make a high enough income so they will have to show they have other assets. We will need to have them show the appraised value of their house to prove that they have enough assets to be a sponsor.

On the document it says the house appraisal must be recent, but does not say how recent. Does anyone know how recent the house appraisal needs to be or where I could find that information?

Thanks in advance.

[Ryan H 3,813]

If the house they are planning to show as an asset is their primary home, then it will be disallowed. Liquidating your primary home in the event that the terms of the I-864 are not met is considered an extreme and undue hardship.

[kaczkl25 0]

Thank for you the information. I didn´t know that. They own a small business with a piece of real estate, but that real estate is not paid off yet. Will listing that help the application or hurt it? (considering it´s not paid off yet)

[Zedayn 485]

If the house they are planning to show as an asset is their primary home, then it will be disallowed. Liquidating your primary home in the event that the terms of the I-864 are not met is considered an extreme and undue hardship.

Not true. You can use the net value in your primary home (Total appraised value - debts owed on it such as mortgage, liens, etc.)

From I-864 instructions, page 7 (http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-864instr.pdf):

You may include the net value of your home as an asset. The net value of the home is the appraised value of the home, minus the sum of any and all loans secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other lien on the home.

[kaczkl25 0]

Great, thank you for letting me know. So back to the original question then, how recent does the appraisal have to be?

[Ryan H 3,813]

Great, thank you for letting me know. So back to the original question then, how recent does the appraisal have to be?

The poster who disagreed with me failed to quote this section of the instructions:

Only assets that can be converted into cash within one year and without considerable hardship or financial loss to the owner may be included.

I will amend my original statement to say this. It's going to be up to the CO to determine whether or not the possible sale of the primary home will constitute considerable hardship or not (it's the CO that actually approves the I-864, not the NVC).

To answer your question, while there is no stated timeframe as to when an appraisal should be done, a good rule of thumb is to have it done within the last 6 months prior to submission of the I-864.