Affidavit of Support

[Siam Sam 6]

My Thai wife and I plan to file for her Immigrant Visa here in Bangkok this month. Once we get to the interview, I will have to file an Affidavit of Support. Now this is where it gets tricky. My wife is worth much more than I am. Due to the restrictive nature of Thai property ownership laws when it comes to foreigners such as myself, it is quite common for assets to be held solely by the Thai wife.

She owns the condo we live in, which is worth the equivalent of $139,000 the last we checked (probably more now), plus she owns a townhouse from before we met, the value of which I don't know but, being in central Bangkok, is probably worth at least as much as our home. Plus much of our cash is in her name in the form of various savings bonds.

Since by the time we get to the interview stage, our marriage will have been recognized as a legal entity -- and we'll have been married 22 years this April -- can I count her property assets as mine too? Joint property?

Edited January 2, 2016 by Siam Sam

[Siam Sam 6]

Just mention, this is the real weak point of our case. Everything else should be fine, but I personally may be able to scrape together enough cash to cover 125% of poverty level in Hawaii, our planned home, but everything else is in my wife's name including hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property here in Bangkok.

Once we get to the interview stage, they will have recognized our marriage as valid, so will I be able to claim joint property on the Affidavit of Support? Seems silly not to be able to include her property if we're legally married. Again, due to the restrictive property-ownership laws against foreigners in Thailand, my name cannot appear on her property deeds. I could not even "buy" it from her if I wanted to, as being a foreigner, I would have to show the money to purchase it had been transferred to here from abroad. Really.

[Siam Sam 6]

Just to add, I tried the "Ask an Immigration Lawyer" link on this website, but it doesn't seem to work. Freezes up whenever I try to submit my question.

[awaywego 28]

As the intending immigrant spouse, your wife's assets can be listed on the I-864. How this works is in the I-864 instructions.

Others can say more about using foreign assets. We were advised that they are not always accepted, but I do not know the details.

[Siam Sam 6]

The I-864 being the Affidavit of Support? Thanks, I wasn't up on that form's number. Foreign assets are all we've got. We've lived here 22 years, and I have no ties left in the US except for my last close relative, a 95-year-old uncle in California. That's why my wife's not going to try for citizenship -- all of her family is here, and they have no interest in leaving Thailand, so if anything happens to me, she'll just come back here.

Hopefully we'll have enough cash scraped together to please them, but we'd like to list her property too (which is also my property, at least this condo)..

Thanks again!

[Anh map 2,098]

Have you been filing US tax returns? If not, then get the past 3 years sorted out.

For cash or other assets the ratio is 3:1 asset value to income. So you will need about $69k in assets to meet the requirement.

The consulates often don't accept foeign real estate as an asset because it can be difficult to force a sale if the affidavit of support needs to be enforced. Assets held outside of the US are typically valued at a 5:1 ratio.

[Siam Sam 6]

Thanks. We're still trying to decide if we're going to sell our condo or rent it out once we move to the US. But the property in her name will more than cover those ratios. I just hope they prove acceptable.

Income tax no problem. In fact, on my US tax forms, I've already been including her as a spouse, so we can show that..