MTL interview, petitioner currently unemployed, we have a cosponsor

[shucks 1]

I have my interview at the Montreal consulate soon and unfortunately the petitioner has been unemployed for a few months, 2 of those months were spent here visiting me so he was unable to work. So we have a cosponsor, his mother. What are my chances that I will be denied based on this?

[Udella&Wiz 325]

If she meets the appropriate limits, you shouldn't be denied...its a matter of numbers. Plenty of people have a co-sponsor. Perhaps someone else can speak specifically to a situation where the petitioner is entirely unemployed?

[canuk2usa 7]

In our case petitioner has been unemployed for last couple of years. So, we are using only petitioner's cash assets to satisfy the 864. Our case is complete now, but hoping during interview the CO will be ok with it.

[shucks 1]

If she meets the appropriate limits, you shouldn't be denied...its a matter of numbers. Plenty of people have a co-sponsor. Perhaps someone else can speak specifically to a situation where the petitioner is entirely unemployed?

thank you so much for your reply! Also I would definitely benefit, at least for piece of mind, if I had heard of someone in a similar situation. His mom makes well over the limit thankfully!

[Ash.1101 1,756]

Reposting this for you here:

It'll be up to the CO. Did your fiance work last year and have a tax return? I didn't have a tax return or anything because I didn't work last year either. We used my mother as the cosponsor, she made 24000 last year, 27000 this year, the line for 125% is 19912$.

Either way, at the end of the day it's up to the CO and all you can do is pray and hope. A lot of people I've talked to here on VJ believe that myself and the two other people who were all refused for financial reasons just hit a really bad week to do the interview. We don't know if they just went really hard on the proof or what happened, but for some reason THAT one week in September they focused harder than normal on financials.


Now you don't get denied 100% because of this, if for some reason the CO does decide that it's not good enough for what ever reason, then they ask you to find another cosponsor. In our case our 221(g) states we have a year from recieving the 221(g) to find submit the required docs they asked for (I-134 and supporting documents).

We went in thinking we weren't going to be denied and the interview went GREAT up until he pulled out the financials. VJ has a really bad habit of repeating "Oh just get a cosponsor, you'll be fine" without mentioning that at all times the consulate officer can use their own discretion and ask for ANOTHER cosponsor. It isn't until you're kicked back that people come out of the woodwork and say that it happened to them too. I used to repeat the same thing too, until it happened to us.

I wish you the best of luck and think positive!

As a quick over view: I am unemployed, we had a cosponsor (my mother) who provided Tax return, W2, employer letter, paystubs, and the I-134. She made 27000 a year, she only needed to make 19,912$ a year to fufill the Poverty line 125% requirements. We were refused the visa, told that the CO didn't feel comfortable, and to just send in another I-134 from another person to be the cosponsor, along with supporting docs and the visa should be issues.


Luckily today, we are being sent the paperwork from our new cosponsor, hopefully have this sorted out and my fiance here in December!

Edited October 26, 2015 by Ash.1101

[shucks 1]

oh my god, thats so heartbreaking! to make it that far and be told you need to do more, I'm so glad they gave you that option! good luck! I am hoping that his mom makes enough to satisfy the requirements I'm so nervous

Reposting this for you here:

It'll be up to the CO. Did your fiance work last year and have a tax return? I didn't have a tax return or anything because I didn't work last year either. We used my mother as the cosponsor, she made 24000 last year, 27000 this year, the line for 125% is 19912$.

Either way, at the end of the day it's up to the CO and all you can do is pray and hope. A lot of people I've talked to here on VJ believe that myself and the two other people who were all refused for financial reasons just hit a really bad week to do the interview. We don't know if they just went really hard on the proof or what happened, but for some reason THAT one week in September they focused harder than normal on financials.


Now you don't get denied 100% because of this, if for some reason the CO does decide that it's not good enough for what ever reason, then they ask you to find another cosponsor. In our case our 221(g) states we have a year from recieving the 221(g) to find submit the required docs they asked for (I-134 and supporting documents).

We went in thinking we weren't going to be denied and the interview went GREAT up until he pulled out the financials. VJ has a really bad habit of repeating "Oh just get a cosponsor, you'll be fine" without mentioning that at all times the consulate officer can use their own discretion and ask for ANOTHER cosponsor. It isn't until you're kicked back that people come out of the woodwork and say that it happened to them too. I used to repeat the same thing too, until it happened to us.

I wish you the best of luck and think positive!

As a quick over view: I am unemployed, we had a cosponsor (my mother) who provided Tax return, W2, employer letter, paystubs, and the I-134. She made 27000 a year, she only needed to make 19,912$ a year to fufill the Poverty line 125% requirements. We were refused the visa, told that the CO didn't feel comfortable, and to just send in another I-134 from another person to be the cosponsor, along with supporting docs and the visa should be issues.


Luckily today, we are being sent the paperwork from our new cosponsor, hopefully have this sorted out and my fiance here in December!

[Ash.1101 1,756]

They'll always give you the option so that's a good thing! But yeah we were absolutely crushed. It never clicked to me that the CO could just "have a bad feeling" about the financials and go ahead and ask for more, so we thought we were going in with no problems having a cosponsor who met more than the 125% requirement. So now I do make sure to warn others that even though it may not happen, it has happened and to just be aware.

Luckily again, they should ALWAYS give you the option to find another cosponsor since you're not being refused for something that would keep you out of the US like crime or anything like that.

And yeah! I'm stalking the tracking number for our new cosponsors papers til it gets here then overnight it to my fiance!

Personally though, I think you'll be okay. Again, it was a weird week for at least three VJers who all got kicked back and asked for another cosponsor, probably more that aren't on VJ. But the weeks before and after that have gone as normal.

[canuk2usa 7]

reluctantly, I'm getting a 864i prepared by an additional sponsor with sufficient W2 income. I'm thinking to first insist during interview that our original assets-only i864 is sufficient, but if the IO keeps insisting, as last resort, I will take out and give him joint sponsor i864. I hate over providing things. What do you think?

[Ash.1101 1,756]

reluctantly, I'm getting a 864i prepared by an additional sponsor with sufficient W2 income. I'm thinking to first insist during interview that our original assets-only i864 is sufficient, but if the IO keeps insisting, as last resort, I will take out and give him joint sponsor i864. I hate over providing things. What do you think?

I think that's a good plan! We would have done the same had we known that we'd be doing this now for sure!

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Just a follow-up question (frankly none of my business so tell me if I'm being nosey) - in light of the fact that the petitioner is unemployed (which of course can be temporary), there is an upcoming hefty cost of the next phase (Adjustment of Status - AOS) and the months of unemployment until you are authorized to work, this sounds like it could be a rough time financially?

[Ash.1101 1,756]

It would be in most cases yes, and you're not nosey! =D

In my case, my fiance has around 17000 CAD (about 13000 USD) saved up that we will be using until he can work. I also plan on working full once he's here so we don't use more of his savings than needed. Out side of that 13000 USD, we have the money set aside for AOS which we plan on sending out within a couple of weeks of marriage.


Luckily for me, my fiance went to college for accounting, we've planned out our finances in the case that it takes longer than it should for him to find a job, any surprise expenses, etc! =] He's also a bit of a scrooge about money, pinching pennys everywhere he can.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Ash.1101

[Ash.1101 1,756]

Since I cant edit, I do absolutely agree with you though and I understand why they scrutinize when petitioners are unemployed! You def have to be prepared financially 100%.

I'm sure a lot of CO's have people tell them they'll be okay, they need more proof than talk. Saddly, the CO said he didn't want to see my fiances savings account of 17000 CAD, but again, it's not the foreigners job in their eyes to take care of themselves per se, so again, I understand where they're coming from.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Ash.1101

[Melibelle 10]

reluctantly, I'm getting a 864i prepared by an additional sponsor with sufficient W2 income. I'm thinking to first insist during interview that our original assets-only i864 is sufficient, but if the IO keeps insisting, as last resort, I will take out and give him joint sponsor i864. I hate over providing things. What do you think?

I (the petitioner) quit my job about 3 weeks before our interview (crazy, I know, but I couldn't take it!), but also knowing that I was pretty well in the clear based on assets. I hoped the financials wouldn't come up during our interview but I prepared an i864 for my assets just in case and sure enough the officer asked. I provided about a year's worth of bank statements (to show the money was mine and had been mine for some time) and calculated the cash out value of my 401k and provided statements for that as well. I think she looked at the bank statements alone, but still, we were approved at our interview. So, unless you're really borderline on the money, I'd say you shouldn't worry. Just bring some docs to show you still have those assets. Also, if you provided your assets during your initial application and didn't get an RFE, then they probably deemed that sufficient.