K1 or IR1/CR1 Visa - Questions regarding employment before and after immigration

[heartmango 0]

Hi, I'm new here and someone who hasn't started the immigration process yet but is a UK fiance to a US Citizen. We have a specific situation regarding employment that I feel a little uncertain about after looking over a lot of information on this site and elsewhere on government sites.

An explanation of how things are for us: My US fiance does office work for his father's company in its US based branch. He has his own income from this work to support himself. What we were also looking to do in the near future before we begin the immigration process is to employ me on a contractual basis but under their UK based branch and, once I am in the US and am legally able to work under an EAD (and once I'm on permanent residence), employ me in the same US branch my fiance works at and work together as we live together to make up our household income.

From here...

Household income means the income used to determine whether the sponsor meets the minimum income requirements under sections 213A(f)(1)(E), 213A(f)(3), or 213A(f)(5) of the Act. It includes the income of the sponsor, and of the sponsor's spouse and any other person included in determining the sponsor's household size, if the spouse or other person is at least 18 years old and has signed the form designated by USCIS for this purpose, on behalf of the sponsor and intending immigrants. The “household income” may not, however, include the income of an intending immigrant, unless the intending immigrant is either the sponsor's spouse or has the same principal residence as the sponsor and the preponderance of the evidence shows that the intending immigrant's income results from the intending immigrant's lawful employment in the United States or from some other lawful source that will continue to be available to the intending immigrant after he or she acquires permanent resident status. The prospect of employment in the United States that has not yet actually begun will not be sufficient to meet this requirement.

Based on this...

As I understand it in the fiance based process, my income that I generate through this work does not contribute to his own taxable household income and therefore he must meet the affidavit of support requirements on his own on his end (unless we did a joint sponsorship through his Dad). We can share our income however we want but it is defined as our own separate income from two completely different places and that mine doesn't matter until it's the income I make based on my future employment in the US.

I also understand that if instead we went for the spouse based process that if we were married, I was employed through their US branch and it made up my spouse's income that this could be counted as my US spouse's total taxable household income the entire time.

So, my questions!

If we went the fiance route, me being employed to the company through its UK branch until I am employable in the US, should we make sure to be as clear and distinct about what's going on and what we are planning to do to avoid any problems?

Would it be a good idea to say, for example, expand on details on employment in the form through an attachment?

Since we are working through the same company but through different branches and this could cause confusion at face value, anything to make it as clear as possible that I am working and being paid through the UK based branch and that I have my own income through them but that we understand and only intend to be basing my spouse's sponsorship off his own US branch paid taxable income? Include that we also intend to have me move over to working for the US branch once I am legally employable in the US? Perhaps also have company letters to provide evidence?

I feel like that they should understand that it only makes sense for me to start working for that branch instead when I move here, but if there could be any potential issues or suspicions from all the officials processing this stuff I'd like to know. It'd be amazing if I could hear from anyone who's been through the same thing or something similar.

If any of this could be a problem at all, would it be a good idea to instead go the IR1/CR1 route, get married and go through that while I'm employed through their US branch? Or is this unnecessary?

I want to be clear in the application process as to not cause any issues, confusion or any delays or stops in the process and any suggestions of what we could/should provide as supporting evidence would be extremely helpful. I definitely don't want to get in trouble over anything that could come up and I want to cooperate as best I can to finally live with my future spouse! If there could be problems with doing any of this, please let me know!

Thanks!!

Edited July 20, 2016 by heartmango

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

~ Moved from "Working & Traveling During US Immigration" to "What Visa Do I Need - Family Based Immigration" ~

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

This is London specific because each consulate varies a bit.

London is pretty flexible on an I-134 for a fiancé visa --K1. They can be because there is nothing specific in the law. They have approved on 100% of the poverty level before. That is only $16,020. Dad needs to give him a raise if he isn't making more than that

If you have any savings to show of your own, they will look at that as well when deciding if you will become a public charge. Or Dad could just fill out an I-134 for you instead and be done with it. It is not legally binding.

Once you marry on the fiancé visa, you have to adjust status to get a greencard. There's a new affidavit of support. I-864 for that application. The rules are specific and not flexible. It is 125% of the poverty level --$20,025. But you will be the spouse as you say. But the catch is, you will have no US income at the time you are submitting this application. If you put down your soon to be income, they will require proof that it is legally earned in the U.S...so would need a copy of your work authorization with the proof of income. You won't have work authorization at the time this form is filled out and submitted. So no, you can not be part of his household as a wage earner at that point in time.

---------

Switch gears to spouse visa CR1. For that visa the affidavit of support is the I-864. London is not flexible because there are strict rules written in immigration law. Everything I said above about the I-864 for adjustment of status applies. You will not have a US job or be authorized to work in the US when you haven't even gotten the visa yet. You will be authorized to work the day you enter on your visa. If your your income in the UK will continue from the same source once you enter the US (on a spouse visa) then it can count. How you could wrangle that may be up to Dad to figure out if US branch and UK branch qualify as same company, same source. It would require documentation in writing from the boss. You can find the specific instructions for Form I-864 at USCIS.gov under "Forms" tab. It gives a pretty good detail on "how the intending immigrant can help" on the I-864.

[heartmango 0]

This is London specific because each consulate varies a bit.

London is pretty flexible on an I-134 for a fiancé visa --K1. They can be because there is nothing specific in the law. They have approved on 100% of the poverty level before. That is only $16,020. Dad needs to give him a raise if he isn't making more than that

If you have any savings to show of your own, they will look at that as well when deciding if you will become a public charge. Or Dad could just fill out an I-134 for you instead and be done with it. It is not legally binding.

Once you marry on the fiancé visa, you have to adjust status to get a greencard. There's a new affidavit of support. I-864 for that application. The rules are specific and not flexible. It is 125% of the poverty level --$20,025. But you will be the spouse as you say. But the catch is, you will have no US income at the time you are submitting this application. If you put down your soon to be income, they will require proof that it is legally earned in the U.S...so would need a copy of your work authorization with the proof of income. You won't have work authorization at the time this form is filled out and submitted. So no, you can not be part of his household as a wage earner at that point in time.

---------

Switch gears to spouse visa CR1. For that visa the affidavit of support is the I-864. London is not flexible because there are strict rules written in immigration law. Everything I said above about the I-864 for adjustment of status applies. You will not have a US job or be authorized to work in the US when you haven't even gotten the visa yet. You will be authorized to work the day you enter on your visa. If your your income in the UK will continue from the same source once you enter the US (on a spouse visa) then it can count. How you could wrangle that may be up to Dad to figure out if US branch and UK branch qualify as same company, same source. It would require documentation in writing from the boss. You can find the specific instructions for Form I-864 at USCIS.gov under "Forms" tab. It gives a pretty good detail on "how the intending immigrant can help" on the I-864.

I think I forgot to clarify this but it's not a concern about whether or not he'll meet the 125% poverty guideline with his own income and whether or not I can contribute my own. That's something that can be met comfortably on his end! I understand that in the K-1 process when applying for an AOS and EAD I obviously won't have my own work yet so it's only about what my US fiance earns as taxable income the whole way through. That's not really a problem.

My concerns were more about how our employment would look on paper, wanting to be clear that though it is through the same company that our contracted work and income is separate, that we are petitioning the affidavit of support based only off my US fiance's own earned income from work and how we can clearly define our situation. If it's possible to include attachments detailing how my US fiance is employed and how we're employed through separate branches (US and UK respectively) or if there could be any potential issues I should be aware of. Making sure that it's OK for me to have worked through their UK branch and then to transition into working for the US branch once I'm legally employable in the US. I wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be any problems I wasn't aware of with having intent to do that.

About the CR-1, I assumed based off the excerpt I quoted ("unless the intending immigrant is either the sponsor's spouse"..."and the preponderance of the evidence shows that the intending immigrant's income results from the intending immigrant's lawful employment in the United States or from some other lawful source that will continue to be available to the intending immigrant after he or she acquires permanent resident status") that you could be employed by a US company while living overseas as a non US citizen but have it go towards the taxable household income for someone you're married to who's based in the US and a US citizen? Can you not do that? Is there something else to it?

Edited July 20, 2016 by heartmango

[NikLR 13,227]

Basically what i think you're asking is; will it look bad if i am earning income before I get my EAD because I will be working for the UK branch of his father's business?

And

Do I have to count my foreign earned income, that I make working for his father's UK branch towards fhe household income?

[NikLR 13,227]

When you file taxes in the USA you are supposed to count all income, foreign and domestic, earned for that year. If you qualify for a foreign exemption or tax credit, you would not pay taxes towards that foreign income, but you are supposed to include it anyhow. USC and LPR file taxes in the USA no matter where their income is earned.

[NikLR 13,227]

Either way im unsure how this affects your decision on what visa to get? Is working in the USA before EAD under a UK branch shady? Yes. Can you do it? Technically yes. Will it count against you? No. Raise suspicion? Maybe.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

You kinda lost me with your long plot. You are discussing your income and if it looks dodgy listing it?? There is no reason to list your income anywhere on any immigration form. Your fiancé or spouse has to list his as the financial sponsor. Adding a household member's income is merely an option on the I-864 if the sponsor can't show enough income on his own.

You will list any employment you have as biographical information only when asked, but that does not include salary. If you adjust status as a K1, your biographical information changes to "married, new last name, new US address, and unemployed" for the application.

Edited July 20, 2016 by Nich-Nick

[heartmango 0]

Hi again,

I think I must have not worded things very clearly in my posts! But I can see where I went wrong now the next morning lol. I'm really sorry about this, I've been anxiously going through a ton of information over the past few days and I guess did a really poor job of condensing my all over the place thoughts. Let me try again...

NLR, it wasn't exactly what I was asking but this is actually a helpful clarification about where I would stand with my UK based branch employment once I'm in the US and waiting for my EAD. I figured it would probably come to that they expect you to not be doing Any work during the period no matter wherever the work is based and whether you were employed by them before already. I think people talk about it like, you can do this but you shouldn't really...but I did worry about coming off in the application process like I could do this and if I should express understood intent that I'll be waiting until I can be on my EAD and employed by the US branch.

Edit: I also understand that working for the UK branch my foreign earned income doesn't count before I'm settled in the US but once I am would be able to be counted if I wanted to continue working for it to contribute to our earned taxable household income. But by that point, I'd be employed by the US branch anyway.

Edited July 20, 2016 by heartmango

[heartmango 0]

I think where I might have gone wrong is talking about household income this and that, but I was trying to say that I understand that for all we'll file during the whole process including AOS it's all about my US fiance's income and that this wasn't a concern on my end. He'll be meeting all the requirements with his own income.

It was about listing our employment and on paper if we both listed just -insert same company name here- as our employment and have no further clarification, if this would raise any issues by whoever is processing the application. If that's the case, should we include attachments explaining both our employment, that it's only about my fiance's income from the US branch, that my fiance is hired by the US branch and me the UK branch and that once I am in the US and have an EAD I would be working for the US branch as well.

I was then also saying if this is straight up just a bad idea somehow and if I should marry my fiance, work long distance in the UK for the US branch (if that's even possible) and earning shared household income for my US spouse and going through the CR-1 process like that. But maybe I was a bit dumb to start thinking about that...lol

Hopefully I explained it better this time.

Edited July 20, 2016 by heartmango

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

You are seriously over thinking this. Part of his petition package (either visa) includes a Form G-325A https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/g-325a.pdf collecting biographic info from him and another from you.

One section is employment last five years.

His: Disney Cruise Ship, Waiter, Oct 2014 to present

Hers: Disney Cruise Ship, Dancer, Aug 2015 to present

WHO CARES if you both work for Disney??!!

Another section is your parents' names.

His: Smith Mary - 12/1/1950 - Houston, TX

Hers: Smith Mary - 6/6/1953 - Glasgow, Scotland

OMG!!! Do I have to explain that it is a coincidence that our mothers have the same name???

No, just fill out the forms and don't explain anything you think they might think. Answer the questions exactly as presented and don't over think. This is not nearly as hard as you are dreaming up in your head. It just takes a long time.

[mallafri76 1,012]

You're really overthinking this. When you put the employment in, you also put the address for the employer. So e.g. your fiance is working for Company X in LA USA and you work for Company X in London UK. US immigrations will know the difference. There are lots of companies who have branches and offices all over the world.

If you want to be able to work as soon as you enter the US, CR-1 is the way to go. If you want to get to the US faster but don't mind not working for awhile, then do the K-1.

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

If you want to be able to work as soon as you enter the US, CR-1 is the way to go. If you want to get to the US faster but don't mind not working for awhile, then do the K-1.

I'm not sure if you ever directly asked about this in your posts, above, but mallafri76's point above is a good one to consider in choosing btwn K-1 and CR-1. Your work can be relatively seamless and uninterrupted if you choose CR-1 as you can work at the UK branch up until your date of departure, and then your CR-1 allows you to work at the US branch as you wait for the green card, although there may be a delay in receiving your U.S. paychecks prior to receiving a Social Security # (2 to 6 weeks).

If you choose a K-1, upon entrance to the U.S., you would have to wait until you got married, further wait until you file the AOS, and then wait, on average, 3 additional months before receiving the EAD, work authorization.

[heartmango 0]

Yeah you're right, I have been seriously overthinking. We can both work for the same company and it would make sense for me to leave the UK branch once I have my visa and transition over to the US branch once I have my EAD, but those aren't really specifics that are relevant during any point in the application process. All they care about is what the US petitioner is earning in taxable income that can meet the poverty guideline and provide what's asked of them during the application (and if not, who's the joint sponsor).

I'm still in the US right now (am leaving in a few days) and we're seeing my fiance's dad today just to hang out and plan stuff more, I can go over it with him but things are probably going to be pretty straightforward in our case. I'll come back if we encounter any more specific issues?

For now, no more worries

[heartmango 0]

I'm not sure if you ever directly asked about this in your posts, above, but mallafri76's point above is a good one to consider in choosing btwn K-1 and CR-1. Your work can be relatively seamless and uninterrupted if you choose CR-1 as you can work at the UK branch up until your date of departure, and then your CR-1 allows you to work at the US branch as you wait for the green card, although there may be a delay in receiving your U.S. paychecks prior to receiving a Social Security # (2 to 6 weeks).

If you choose a K-1, upon entrance to the U.S., you would have to wait until you got married, further wait until you file the AOS, and then wait, on average, 3 additional months before receiving the EAD, work authorization.

It's something we've been thinking about But K-1 is looking like our most likely route