Income Requirements for K-1 Visa

[Kathryn Baer 1]

So I know my fiance needs to make 125% of the Poverty Guidelines (file:///C:/Users/Kathryn%20Banman/Downloads/i-864p.pdf) 

But, he has only had full-time employment since September 2016. His W2 for last year is about $7000 (so for 3.5 months of work). He would make the Poverty Guideline, but because he was in school and obtained full-time employment last year, and it's his first time filing for taxes, do you think there's any way it would work when proving he can provide for me when we go in for the interview? Or would we have to get co-sponsorship?

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

For K-1 it is I-134 form, and 100% poverty guideline.

 

125% and I-864 is for AOS.

 

You have asked about this before if I recall correctly with his job situation.  

 

 

I would re-read this about his income

[Kathryn Baer 1]

1 minute ago, Dee elle said:

He needs to show ongoing earnings consistent with the 2017 guidelines.. he needs to show he has filed taxes for the past 3 years. 

And if he hasn't filed for the past 3 years, we would have to get a co-sponsor? 

[Kathryn Baer 1]

2 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

For K-1 it is I-134 form, and 100% poverty guideline.

 

125% and I-864 is for AOS.

 

You have asked about this before if I recall correctly with his job situation.  

 

 

I would re-read this about his income

Oh yes, that's correct. Off topic, you've answered like all my questions so I'm hoping you can answer this one as well.

 

Is there a certain time frame in which you're able to schedule the interview (like if we need to delay it in order to get some stuff together). Do we have a few months to schedule the appointment? Can we schedule it months in advance (once we are able to schedule)? Can we delay with submitting package 4 for a set amount of time? Some issues have come up but we're not wanting to start over with the process and were wondering if it in any way works to kind of put things on hold for a little while. 

[Lemonslice 4,917]

3 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

For K-1 it is I-134 form, and 100% poverty guideline.

 

125% and I-864 is for AOS.

 

You have asked about this before if I recall correctly with his job situation.  

 

 

I would re-read this about his income

I could be wrong, but I think the Montreal consulate goes by 125% for I-134 also; would have to read recent reviews.  Less than a year of work is not a long history, they might request a co sponsor.  Good thread here; 

 

[KimchiLumpia 315]

58 minutes ago, Kathryn Banman said:

Oh yes, that's correct. Off topic, you've answered like all my questions so I'm hoping you can answer this one as well.

 

Is there a certain time frame in which you're able to schedule the interview (like if we need to delay it in order to get some stuff together). Do we have a few months to schedule the appointment? Can we schedule it months in advance (once we are able to schedule)? Can we delay with submitting package 4 for a set amount of time? Some issues have come up but we're not wanting to start over with the process and were wondering if it in any way works to kind of put things on hold for a little while. 

If you read your NOA2 I-797 form, there are validity dates on your K1 Visa application approval.

 

Our K1 Visa approval is valid until June 6, 2017.  From reading other VJ members' recommendations, the interview should be scheduled before your validity date ends.  

 

My fiance and I just scheduled our Montreal interview online last night.  They only had options to schedule the last Wednesday in March and all Wednesdays in April.  There was no option to schedule in May yet.

   
 

Edited March 10, 2017 by KimchiLumpia

[Scandi 4,173]

If you need to extend the validity of your NOA2 I suggest you contact the embassy to inform them of this, however, most embassies extend it automatically. I would call anyway to make sure and be on the safe side.

 

The validity of the i-129f approval can be extended up to a year, 4 months at a time.

[USC1961 251]

17 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

I could be wrong, but I think the Montreal consulate goes by 125% for I-134 also; would have to read recent reviews.  Less than a year of work is not a long history, they might request a co sponsor.  Good thread here; 

 

Hypothetical question here:  Suppose someone in this situation gets approved for a K-1 and they are making the required 125%.  But then they AOS without a long work history.  Denial or approval for AOS?  According to what I have read they want last three years of tax returns, but only go off of current income. 

[usmsbow 802]

4 hours ago, Cruise77 said:

Hypothetical question here:  Suppose someone in this situation gets approved for a K-1 and they are making the required 125%.  But then they AOS without a long work history.  Denial or approval for AOS?  According to what I have read they want last three years of tax returns, but only go off of current income. 

You should be approved for AOS, assuming the evidence you provide shows your current income is the required amount or above. 

[Ash.1101 1,756]

23 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

I could be wrong, but I think the Montreal consulate goes by 125% for I-134 also; would have to read recent reviews.  Less than a year of work is not a long history, they might request a co sponsor.  Good thread here; 

 

Agree'd. Montreal does 125%, and for anyone else reading this, each consulate differs on if they use 100% or 125% and they are allowed to do this, for a while Manila wasn't even accepting cosponsors, now they aren't even asking for the I-134 for most people. They can literally change their minds on this portion of things when ever they want without reason.


Also note that all financial documents and proof are up to the discretion of the CO. As I've said before, while most people don't run into this, I was unemployed during the K-1 visa, and we used my mother as a cosponsor. She made more than the needed amount, provided Tax return, W2, paystubs, and an employer letter, but since I was unemployed the CO didn't feel comfortable and asked for a second cosponsor. We technically met the requirements, but consular discretion is fully allowed on almost all parts of the K-1 process including the financial ones. If they have any reason to question your financial abilities they can simply hand you a 221G with considerations. In our case the CO told my husband (then fiance) that everything looked great and all they needed was a second cosponsor, once we found one, his visa was approved within 6 days of the consulate receiving the information, one of the fastest responses yet.

Ironically, the reason I couldn't work is because there was no one to watch my daughter while I worked, she's special needs so day care was out of the question due to waiting lists. Once my husband came in on his K-1 visa, I had a job within a couple of months and am now working my way up to a manager position, we make over what's needed for our household together, we just work night and day, myself during the day, husband at night so someones always home with my daughter.


But again, never rule out consular discretion. We assumed we would be fine since we had a cosponsor that met what was needed because that's what VJ always says, we were heavily surprised when it didn't come out the way we wanted it too.






With all that said, we AOS'd with my mother as a cosponsor again, and with me only having worked for about 2 months with a long work history gap prior. AOS went fine, no issues.

Edited March 11, 2017 by Ash.1101

[Ash.1101 1,756]

6 hours ago, Cruise77 said:

Hypothetical question here:  Suppose someone in this situation gets approved for a K-1 and they are making the required 125%.  But then they AOS without a long work history.  Denial or approval for AOS?  According to what I have read they want last three years of tax returns, but only go off of current income. 

Sometimes they will send an RFE if last years tax return wasn't enough, in that case you can either find a cosponsor or double up on current income proof. But generally if you meet the minimum requirements, you're fine usually as long as you can prove it. As I said above, K-1 allows the CO to use consular discretion, meaning even if you meet those minimum requirements, if they have any worry or doubt, they can ask for more financial proof with a 221G With Considerations.