I-134 Question

[vamos 0]

As my wife (USC) and I both live in my native Scotland my wife's father has agreed to be our co-sponsor for the I-134. However, as we have a decent amount of money saved our selves, my wife also wants to complete an I-134 herself. I may be mistaken, but I'm under the impression that it wouldn't be a problem to do this as the guidlines do not mention anything about current domicile.

I know that it wouldn't be possible to include any salary details as obviously my wife will be leaving her job once we return to the U.S. There is, however, something which I'm not sure of and I hope it isn't a problem; no. 8 on the form states:

"I have on deposit in savings banks in the United States:"

My wife's savings are all in her UK bank account and she closed her US account when she left to marry me. So, although I wish it was, it won't be an option to simply transfer the money.

I know most people's situations here differ to ours, in that the petitioner is usually already in the US, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Reba 2]

As your wife will be your primary sponsor anyway, she is required to fill out the affidavit of support, whether or not she has a US income.

[vamos 0]

In which case, how to get around the "savings banks in the United States" part? Would savings in non-US bank accounts be considered "other assests".

[CutienPurg 0]

One of the criteria your wife will need to meet in addition to being financially solvent to sponsor you, will be domicile. One of the ways she can meet the domicile " test" is by setting up a bank account and transferring money to the United States ( as part of a combination). If you have in the area of $50,000.00 US in cash, that would probably be enough to do the job.

Potentially the cash could be seen as your asset and assets of the intending immigrant can be used. Your asssets do not need to be in the US.

From the UK Consulate website;

Some/all of these assets are outside the United States; is this OK?

Yes. However, the assets must be readily convertible to cash within 12 months and you must be able to demonstrate the ability to take the money or assets out of the country where they are located. Many countries have strict regulations that severely limit the amount of cash or liquid assets an individual may take or send abroad. If you are resident in the United Kingdom, you should visit the Customs´ home page on this website for further information.

Edited March 1, 2007 by CutienPurg

[vamos 0]

Thanks for the information. However, what you've posted is about the I-824, not the I-134.

[CutienPurg 0]

yup you're right.......but if you're looking for a rule of thumb to go by and considering there doesnt seem to be any hard fast rules on the I-134, the reccomendation has typically been to use the same rules that would apply to the I-864.

[vamos 0]

I'm hoping that the lack of strict guidelines will work in our favour as it would be extremely inconvenient and a financial set back for my wife to go back to the US just to open a bank account. Regarding the outlandish sum of money you mentioned, we've got savings, but we're not rolling in it, that's why we've opted to have a co-sponsor.

Edited March 1, 2007 by vamos

[CutienPurg 0]

hmmm......Im wondering if , since she is a US citizen and posseses a SSN, would it be possible for her to open a US account from overseas?

The amount of money I mentioned was what it seems it would take for you to not require a sponsor ( I somehow got the impression you wondered if that would be an option) by using your own assets....

household of 2- $16,500 x 3= $48,500.00

Bottom line is , however you decide to use your cash assets, its not required they currently be in a US bank.

[vamos 0]

Well if the rate of exchange keeps going the way it seems to be heading, we should have that in about a week!

I'm almost 100% certain that it wouldn't be possible to set up an account from overseas; they'd have no method of truly verifying identity and I'm sure if it were possible it would be a huge target for fraudsters.

Over the cash/bank account issue, I still think it'd be hard to get around the fact that the actual question states "US bank account".

[aussiewench 9]

Vamos,

Do a search when you can on self sponsorship in London.

Whilst there is no hard and fast rules regarding the I-134, it is a totally different fish. For one there is no joint sponsorship ruling as there is for the I-864. All one needs to show is that the applicant wont become a public charge. This can be done in London with self sponsoring. Check with others from London for the specifics as the search function is malfunctioning so I am unable to link to the relevant information.

Edited March 1, 2007 by aussiewench

[CutienPurg 0]

Well if the rate of exchange keeps going the way it seems to be heading, we should have that in about a week!

I'm almost 100% certain that it wouldn't be possible to set up an account from overseas; they'd have no method of truly verifying identity and I'm sure if it were possible it would be a huge target for fraudsters.

Over the cash/bank account issue, I still think it'd be hard to get around the fact that the actual question states "US bank account".

The only reason i would be inclined to disagree with on the bank account issue ( and I honestly have no 1st hand experience with this as of yet , so really it's a 'for what it's worth' opinion) are 3 reasons;

1) London has been known to allow for self sponsorship. So one would assume at the time of interview , the intending immigrants funds would be in a non US bank

and

2) The intending immigrants assest can be used so again you could assume at interview time those would also be somewhere other than the US.

and

3) The wording on the I-134 is directed to the USC living in the US , even though it doesnt apply word for word to your situation.

I should qualify that I'm approaching this from the mindset that your wife's assets in a foreign bank could reasonably be considered as your assets in a foreign bank.

Another point I think we've missed is the fact that there isnt a co-sponsor provision which Im just noticing Aussie brought to light as I type this( Hey there Aussie ). So if you lack the funds to self sponsor or have your wife sponsor, where those funds are being held has quickly become moot.

I truly do wish you luck, however this goes.

[vamos 0]

Thankyou both for your advice, it's much appreciated. Unfortunately, self-sponsorship will not be so straight forward for me as most of our savings are in my wife's bank account as we use my account for most active purposes. When we approached my bank about adding my wife to my account we were refused as my wife did not have a credit rating in the UK at the time. Admittedly this was quite a while ago but we decided against trying again as my wife got a very basic account which we never really touch and this made it easy to save money and consider it off limits. I wonder if, going down the self-sponorship route, they will accept bank statements from my wife without an I-134 being filed.

[Yodrak 7]

Reba,

Not necessarily for a K visa. A K visa applicant may not need any sponsor at all, although most do. And when they do it need not be the petitioner.

Yodrak

As your wife will be your primary sponsor anyway, she is required to fill out the affidavit of support, whether or not she has a US income.

[vamos 0]

I called the embassy about the issue of providing my wife's bank statements at the interview (without filing the I-134) and was told that most likely it'll be ok as she will be there but send an e-mail to make sure. I'm still waiting for a reply but I was just wondering if anyone else has had experience of doing this for their K3 (or K1 for that matter).

Another thing we need to decide with regards to the I-134 is whether we want to go with having a second sponsors (other than my father-in-law). As my father-in-law's girlfriend may be willing do this for us also. This is a bit of a dilemma for my wife and I as neither of us have met her since they've only been together for about 6 months. They do live together but we feel a bit uncomfortable allowing her to do this. Furthermore, I know that questions are sometimes asked about the co-sponsor(s) and I was wondering if anybody thinks that this would to tenuous a link to have someone as a sponsor.

Would the visa be flat-out denied if we just went with my father-in-law's earnings and our savings and just miss the mark, or would they allow us to then to furnish information on a further sponsor if necessary?

[Yodrak 7]

deleted - duplicate post

Edited March 8, 2007 by Yodrak