Question of using assets as fulfillment of I864

[harrysuen 0]

Hi everyone

I have some concerns about filling I-864

I'm an intend immigrant currently holding F1 visa, My wife is a U.S citizen.

We are currently planning to file I-864, however my wife's income from last year is about $1000 only, as she was unemployed and helping her dad did farm work. My on-campus employment brought me around $5000, last year. I notice that we are far away from poverty line.

However I have 2 ways to use asset to fulfill the requirement.

1. My mom in China would willing to offer me $60,000 USD as a gift. which can be transfer into my U.S checking account. However if she sent me the money right now we would not have 12month record, I'm not sure if they will consider the bank statement with such a short history. and if my mom write a statement which can proof she offer the money as a gift, and shows he transfer receipt would it increase the chance of they accepting it?

2. I have a apartment in china, which is joint ownership of both my parents and i hired a certified consultant and they sent me a report saying my share of the apartment would worth $100,000. Do you guys think they will consider my apartment as fulfillment? would it be help if my parent writing me a statement authorizing me rights to converting the apartment into cash anytime i want, would it be help?

Thanks for you time. I would really appreciates your answer.

[Michael and Ganna 104]

When you use assets only, you must have mounds of support documents. You must also show the assets are stable. They prefer US assets so they can be seized if there is default of support. So ask yourself, how would the US government seize 1/3 interest of a apartment located in China?

And for your first question you will need to show the 60K has been in the account for a while....and there is a gift tax. The first 20k it tax exempt.

[Michael and Ganna 104]

Can you get her parents to co-sponsor the 864 ?

[aaron2020 11,651]

There would be no gift tax. Parents are no residents and non citizens so there would be no basis for a gift tax.

[harrysuen 0]

When you use assets only, you must have mounds of support documents. You must also show the assets are stable. They prefer US assets so they can be seized if there is default of support. So ask yourself, how would the US government seize 1/3 interest of a apartment located in China?

And for your first question you will need to show the 60K has been in the account for a while....and there is a gift tax. The first 20k it tax exempt.

thanks for replying.

i just want to see, if i paid gift tax or use other way to proof the ownership of the 60k, would they approve, even if that i don't have a 12month long statement? Or do you think it would be easier that if i just covert the 60k cash into other form of asset, for example i can buy a house, or investing stock or bonds?

Edited June 23, 2016 by harrysuen

[Michael and Ganna 104]

We used assets only. We also have foreign assets but did not include them. We provided documentation from inception (1999) on our large brokerage account including a certified letter stating we were Vip clients and our average account balance was in excess of 1M since opening.

Our large primary home has a value of over 4M and is paid for. We had an appraisal done for the current market value and provided a certified copy of the deed. We also have rental properties and provided the deeds for them as well. We have 2 active checking accounts that have large balances. We had the bank write letters stating our average balances for three years and it was certified.

It was a headache to gather all the paperwork and supporting documents. We thought we would have problems since I have no employment and our taxes show negative income for the last 3 years. I have read having a great CPA can be harmful while filing the I-864, but when the consulate read the tax schedules on the transcripts they asked a few questions and approved my wife's visa.

I think there is a couple here on VJ from Sweden that used assets only, maybe they will chime in and give some advice as well.

[Michael and Ganna 104]

Aaron cleared the fact that there is no gift tax if given by a non-resident. Also I think you will have to prove that liquifying any asset will not cause a hardship on your family. It is my opinion that you will be required to have a co-sponsor given your current situation. You stated your in-laws are farmers. Can they help you? I know that a good CPA will always work hard to show losses in an agriculture business. Maybe talk to them to see if they can help. Or if they qualify as being your co-sponsor

[harrysuen 0]

Aaron cleared the fact that there is no gift tax if given by a non-resident. Also I think you will have to prove that liquifying any asset will not cause a hardship on your family. It is my opinion that you will be required to have a co-sponsor given your current situation. You stated your in-laws are farmers. Can they help you? I know that a good CPA will always work hard to show losses in an agriculture business. Maybe talk to them to see if they can help. Or if they qualify as being your co-sponsor

Once again thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, they would not welling to help and clearly they are being very sensitive and avoiding any questions regarding tax and IRS. I basically have some idea why they do not want to do that. But my wife had all her W2 from past years and being filing taxes. Just she had a bad year last year. So the only way is to find Joint sponsor or using asset. The worse case i will leave the money in the bank for a few month ,since my current I-20 valid till April 2017, or covert the cash into other form of assets.

[marymon 15]

I used assets only and got approval on June 14th 2016. I got a checklist from NVC after case closed but it was not a real checklist , it was just a suggestion. We continued with our assets only. We didn't have a joint sponsor.

We transferred money a few thousands over about 3x poverty guide line to US bank account and the rest were in our Irish bank account. I submit our house appraisal, deed and car title. CO looked at US bank statements only. It depends on your CO's decision.

Good Luck.

Edited June 23, 2016 by marymon