affidavit of support section 3 Q.8b

[Horus 6]

So this part I was a little fuzzy on and google wasn't helping me any, section 3 Q.8b under the real estate section where it asks if you have any mortgages or any other debts amounting to ____

 

It's confusing because I'm someone who's generally pretty picky when it comes to verbiage in documents, and while it is under the "real estate section" the wording sounds like they want to know about any and all debts you might legally owe irregardless of whether or not they're involved in real estate, this feeling became stronger when i saw no other sections on the sponsorship form asking about debt on the sponsors part. 

 

So my questions is, should I put my student loan debt in there (relatively small, about 30k), or does someone know if that section is reserved specifically for real estate related debts other than mortgages only?

[TimAnlle 0]

I am working through this same form, at least for me it is the I-134 (I have heard there are other Affidavit of Support forms out there, so I just want to make sure we are talking about the same thing. My I-134 has the same numbering sequence for the section you are asking about, so I think we are OK.)

 

I took it to mean ANY OTHER debt, regardless of whether or not it was real estate related. I too have a student loan and I included it there. It is good to be "picky" about verbiage the way you are. I am that way too, although I have relaxed "a little" as I fill out more forms on this process. It seems that those who write the forms are either so legally trained that no one can figure out what they are saying; or on the other hand appear to have relatively little self-awareness of the ambiguity of their own writing. I'm sure that creating a form for the government would be hard as there are so many inter-locking programs whose various regulations they must take into account.

 

So, to be conservative, I took it to mean ANY OTHER debt. After reading your question, though, I might add an addendum on the form where it gives you space at the end and simply note that the debt I included is a student loan, and that I added it in the interest of open and honest reporting since I didn't know if the section meant real-estate only debts, or ALL debts. I doubt anyway that there would be some bureaucrat out there who would reject the Affidavit on the basis that "...petitioner claimed real estate debt of $xxxxx.xx, but no such debt exists in public record; ironically, petitioner does have student loan debt in the exact same amount as claimed in section 8b; but since section 8b's section makes it clear that anything under it pertains only to real estate, we must deny this affidavit based on falsification of data." haha! sorry, I had to write that out. That is probably the worst nightmare scenario of people like us who are very concerned about verbiage. I'm not making fun of you - just trying to make it light! 

Bottom line, I would include it in that section to be conservative, and then write a brief note about why you included it.