Questions about Affadavit of Support for family member of Permanent Resident

[Btranquilo 2]

My foreign spouse entered the US on a CR1 visa on September 3, 2015. She petitioned for her five year old daughter who is living in Nicaragua to receive a visa in late September, 2015 and she received the I-797 Approval of Action notice on February 1, 2016. She then received the "NVC Welcome Letter" that includes the NVC Case Number and Invoice ID Number on May 11, 2016.

She has followed up on the NVC letter by choosing me, her spouse, as an agent. On May 20 we received the automated response from NVC confirming the agent form with the indication that it will take two weeks to process and, after that, we can continue the process to pay the fees and submit the visa application form. So far, so good.

Anticipating the requirement for the Affidavit of Support (AOS), Form USCIS I-864 requirement. Here are my questions:

1. My spouse is the petitioner and I read the instructions for the I-864 that she must file the I-864 as the petitioner for her daughter. My spouse works part-time and is a student and her income alone will not be sufficient to meet the 125% of poverty level for two persons (herself and her daughter). We filed "Married Filing Jointly" federal income tax returns for 2014 and 2015. Our combined income and / or my portion of our combined income is sufficient to meet the 125% of poverty guideline for a household of three (me, my spouse and her daughter).

Question: Does my spouse file one I-864 as the sponsor and do I file a separate I-864 as the joint sponsor? Or, is there a way to file one I-864 as the two parents of the daughter now that I am the stepfather of her daughter? Or, does my spouse file one I-864 with the 2015 IRS tax return transcript since our combined income exceeds the minimum 125% of poverty?

Question: If both my spouse and I file separate I-864 support forms are they filed jointly in the same envelope and process? Would we both file a copy of the IRS Tax Return Transcript as documentation for the financial statement?

Somehow it seems awkward and a bit strange to file two separate I-864 support forms if we are married and filed income taxes as Married Filing Jointly.

And, a related question, am I now legally regarded as the Stepfather of her daughter even though her daughter has never lived in the US?

If these questions have already been answered in Visa Journey I apologize for not seeing them. Thanks in advance,

William

[aleful 1,905]

hi

she needs to meet the household size of 3, she needs to include you on her i864 as you are her husband

if she doesn't make enough, you can file the i864A as her household member to combine income

[Btranquilo 2]

Thank you for the prompt response. After I posted the question I realized I had omitted one piece of information that may be relevant. My spouse has her temporary green card and we understand she will need to file for adjustment of status to receive her permanent green card no later than 90 days prior to September 3, 2017. As it relates to obtaining a visa for her daughter via the I-130 application she filed does it make any difference that she is still in her two year green card status?

Thanks in advance for any advice / answer to this question.

William

[newacct 688]

It's not relevant. She is a permanent resident. It doesn't matter if it's conditional or not.

By the way, I don't understand why she petitioned her daughter and not you. You could have petitioned your step-daughter at any time after you married (e.g. at the time you petitioned your spouse, or any time after), and there would have been no wait. But that is moot now.

[Btranquilo 2]

Thanks for the quick response to my question. The decision not to bring her daughter to the US at the same time she came was my wife's decision; she had never been to the US, spoke virtually no English and wanted to live in the US for awhile and get acclimated and learn more English before her daughter lives here. Also, her daughter has a good living situation with family in Nicaragua, I pay for her to go to a good quality child care center, etc.

As to why my spouse is the petitioner and not me; possibly my bad decision as I did not realize there was a big difference in which one of us is the petitioner. My wife wanted her daughter to come here after one / one a half years approximately and it appears as though that can happen unless something unforeseen transpires in the process.

Thanks again for the information,

William

Edited May 24, 2016 by Btranquilo