Request for initial evidence i485 (i864 question) Please advise.

[stello 0]

Hi all.

A little background info to hopefully help someone answer this question.

I am a USC, and recently filed i485 and i130 concurrently for MY birth parents who are currently in the US (arrived about 5 months ago on a B1B2 visa).

I do not make enough money to sponsor them, but my spouse makes more than enough, so we filed an i864 with my name on it, and included my spouse as a household member and listed her income etc along with mine on page 5 (part 6).

We also filed an i864A listing my spouse as the household member and myself as the sponsor.

We filed individual forms for each parent, sent in individual packets including all supporting documentation.

We just received a notice "Request for initial evidence (I-485)" from USCIS stating the following:
Form I-864 Affadavit of support was submitted from a joint sponsor; however, the names listed on page 1 and page 3 are not the same.

On the i864 I put my name in Part 1 (page 1) and checked box 1a (as the petitioner and relative).
On page 3, part 4, I also put my name, as the sponsor.
So both names are the same.

I'm guessing I am misunderstanding the relationships between sponsor/petitioner/joint sponsor/household member. Can anyone help clarify how we SHOULD have filled out the I864?

Thanks very much!

[teeak 224]

Hmm, the way you're saying you completed it, is the correct way.

Is that line the only thing the RFE said?

[arken 4,197]

The RFE says, "Form I-864 AOS was submitted from a joint sponsor;......" which implies 1d is checked on Page 1. You are saying you checked 1a on Page 1 along with your name. Seems like there is a confusion. You might wanna call USCIS first and clear the contusion about why RFE says so when you (not the joint sponsor) submitted the i-864. There are some cases where RFEs have been issued mistakenly.

Edited October 22, 2015 by arken

[stello 0]

Hey Teeak and Arken,
Thanks for the feedback.
Yeah that was the one single line. I just got off the phone with USCIS and they're equally confused, they suggested I make an appointment at our local office and go in with my parents to figure out what's going on.

Appointment set for November 5th. Will try remember to update this post once we go to the appointment.

Edited October 22, 2015 by stello

[steftlin 10]

I got the same RFE too and i filled out my form correctly too... i'm interested and seeing what you find out

[stello 0]

So we had our appointment at USCIS this morning, the lady we spoke to basically told us they cannot advise regarding our case and that the USCIS help line should not have told us to make an appointment with them.

She just gave us a list of charities that can help with immigration paperwork in our area.

We did stop in at one attorney's office on the way home that offered free consultations. After 2 minutes of establishing what our issue/question was they told us they would charge $1050 to rectify the Request for initial evidence and refused to even glance at the i864 we had with us.

Oh well. Trying the free helplines first.

Any suggestions from anyone?