Requesting Guidance

[Jennifer2017 0]

I am a 25 year old American citizen by birth and I am living in Ghana with my husband whom is a Ghanaian citizen by birth.  I came here to marry my husband over one year ago and we have lived together as husband and wife for over a year and we have never been separated since I have not travelled back to America.

We married in April 2016 in front of the magistrate along with witnesses of our legal marriage here in Ghana. 

I am now pregnant with our first child and we would like to begin processing for my husband to get his permanent resident green card so that we can build a future and raise our children in America.

Since I have been living outside of the U.S., I have not worked in over a year.  This concerns me because I do not have income to sponsor my husband.  However, my elder sister is married and has a full-time job with enough income to be a joint sponsor for my husband in the affidavit of support.

My husband also has income as self employed plus he owns several plots of land, and owns a car.   He is also building a house for us on one of his lands.  These will be counted as his assets to meet the income requirements.

We have documentation of everything I have stated above.  We have our marriage certificate, wedding photos and photos we have taken together throughout our marriage with witnesses present.  We also have our passports and birth certificates as proof of our nationalities.  We have bank statements, land deeds,  receipts of materials we have purchased for building our house, and a car title to show income and ownership of assets.   Also, I have tax transcripts and bank statements for my sister's income to be considered as a joint sponsor.  In addition, we have a letter from a medical doctor stating that I am pregnant and a copy of my ultrasound scan as proof we are growing our family.

I have given all this information to assist you in understanding me and my husband's individual circumstances so that you can clearly answer my questions and reply with clear guidance as to how we can go about applying for my husband's green card.

Please answer the following questions with details and guidance:

Based on the background information I have provided in this email, does my husband have a good chance of being approved for a United States Permanent Resident Card? 

Can my husband's income and assets be considered to meet the income requirements in the Affidavit of Support?

Can my sister's income be combined with my husband's income and assets to meet the income requirements?

In addition, I have a permanent address in the United States where I was living before I left America in 2016 to marry my husband in Ghana.   My sister and her husband are still living at that address and if my husband is approved for a green card, he and I along with our child will be living with my sister and her husband so we will all be living in the same household.

I hope I have provided enough information to for you to get a clear understanding of our situation and reply with guidance.
 

[millefleur 5,047]

Definitely include any kind of financial document with both of your names on it.

 

As long as your sister is OK with being a joint-sponsor and she meets all the requirements, you should be totally fine. You may not even need to add his assets. You can also combine them if needed.

 

I think the fact that you've been living there for a year already gives you a much stronger chance than couples who live apart. Just be sure to include as much financial co-mingling evidence as possible and don't forget about the 'proof of domicile' part that comes later.

[684117 15]

Your case is very similar to mine. Not here to answer all your questions, but to give guidance that might answer your questions. 

 

- Since you live in Ghana for over 6 months, you are entitled to go through Direct consular filing. (search DCF) and submit your documents to USCIS in Accra. 

 

- You need to prove domicile, as you are not currently in USA. and your sister a a joint sponsor is a must. (Or anyone else) you CANNOT combine assets. the joint sponsor should qualify on his own. 

 

- Yes you can use your husband's assets. that will be on YOUR affidavit of support, which you are also required to file since you are the main sponsor even if you do not qualify. (Even if your assets qualify you, you still need a JS since you do not reside in USA) 

 

- The process is much easier since you are living together currently. ( Expect a visit to your address in Ghana from US marines or any official that will take a tour in your apartment and asks questions_YES IT DOES HAPPEN!!! Especially if DCFing) 

 

- Remember that if you are to live with your sister and her husband, your household size is 5 for now, that is if they don't have kids. if they do add the kids and get the household size. 

 

* If you have any other inquiries please feel free to contact me. I am still in Ghana and would be happy to help you or answer any question on the whole process of DCF. 

[Jennifer2017 0]

On 6/13/2017 at 5:44 PM, millefleur said:

Definitely include any kind of financial document with both of your names on it.

 

As long as your sister is OK with being a joint-sponsor and she meets all the requirements, you should be totally fine. You may not even need to add his assets. You can also combine them if needed.

 

I think the fact that you've been living there for a year already gives you a much stronger chance than couples who live apart. Just be sure to include as much financial co-mingling evidence as possible and don't forget about the 'proof of domicile' part that comes later.

Okay thank you for your reply.  Can you tell me what documents I should use for "proof of domicile"?

[millefleur 5,047]

4 minutes ago, Jennifer2017 said:

Okay thank you for your reply.  Can you tell me what documents I should use for "proof of domicile"?

Anything that shows you maintain a life in the States. Bank accounts, credit cards, mailing address, property ownership, voting records, copy of your driver's license, etc.

[Jennifer2017 0]

8 hours ago, 684117 said:

Your case is very similar to mine. Not here to answer all your questions, but to give guidance that might answer your questions. 

 

- Since you live in Ghana for over 6 months, you are entitled to go through Direct consular filing. (search DCF) and submit your documents to USCIS in Accra. 

 

- You need to prove domicile, as you are not currently in USA. and your sister a a joint sponsor is a must. (Or anyone else) you CANNOT combine assets. the joint sponsor should qualify on his own. 

 

- Yes you can use your husband's assets. that will be on YOUR affidavit of support, which you are also required to file since you are the main sponsor even if you do not qualify. (Even if your assets qualify you, you still need a JS since you do not reside in USA) 

 

- The process is much easier since you are living together currently. ( Expect a visit to your address in Ghana from US marines or any official that will take a tour in your apartment and asks questions_YES IT DOES HAPPEN!!! Especially if DCFing) 

 

- Remember that if you are to live with your sister and her husband, your household size is 5 for now, that is if they don't have kids. if they do add the kids and get the household size. 

 

* If you have any other inquiries please feel free to contact me. I am still in Ghana and would be happy to help you or answer any question on the whole process of DCF. 

Thank you for your reply.  I have emailed the Embassy in Accra about DCF and they told me that I need a residence permit before I can file through DCF at Accra.  I don't have my residence permit and I was advised to file by mail at the US lockbox.  Also, the office stated that they don't require the affidavit of support to make a decision.  When I have done research online about how to get a residence permit the information states that I have to live in Ghana for at least 5 years before I qualify for a residence permit.

 

Also, my sister and her husband do not have children so our household size would be 5.

 

Can you give me further advice about DCF,  residence permit, and the affidavit of support?

 

Also, can you tell me more about the possible visit from US marines to our apartment, will they give us notice or just show up,  and what questions might they ask me and my husband?

 

Thanks for your time.

[Jennifer2017 0]

6 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Anything that shows you maintain a life in the States. Bank accounts, credit cards, mailing address, property ownership, voting records, copy of your driver's license, etc.

Thank you so much for your advice.

[millefleur 5,047]

3 minutes ago, Jennifer2017 said:

Thank you so much for your advice.

You can find tons of threads here on VJ about it. Just search for 'proof of domicile'. Good luck!

[684117 15]

1 hour ago, Jennifer2017 said:

Thank you for your reply.  I have emailed the Embassy in Accra about DCF and they told me that I need a residence permit before I can file through DCF at Accra.  I don't have my residence permit and I was advised to file by mail at the US lockbox.  Also, the office stated that they don't require the affidavit of support to make a decision.  When I have done research online about how to get a residence permit the information states that I have to live in Ghana for at least 5 years before I qualify for a residence permit.

 

Also, my sister and her husband do not have children so our household size would be 5.

 

Can you give me further advice about DCF,  residence permit, and the affidavit of support?

 

Also, can you tell me more about the possible visit from US marines to our apartment, will they give us notice or just show up,  and what questions might they ask me and my husband?

 

Thanks for your time.

 

You are mixing resident permit with maybe indefinite permit or citizenship. 5 years rule apply when you are married to a Ghanaian to get what is called indefinite permit. Or citizenship. Basically you are supposed to have a permit to be living in ghana now. How are you residing here now?! You must get a permit through your husband. It will cost you 300 ghc yearly. This you have to asap. Not for ur petition, but for ur legal status is Ghana, as now you are considered illegal. 

 

Once you sort that out then you can DCF. Whixh is much much faster. Our case took 4 months from filing the I130 to have the IV in hand. 

 

The affidavit of support is a must! Even if you do not make enough you have to file one. You are the main sponsor. Because u cannot qualify you will need your sister as a joint. 

 

The marines visit happens, there are threads about it here for info. I myself was not visited but a friend was. They did not notify him, they first came and spoke to the guard about who lives here, how long have they lived in this house and then went in and said they are on a random visit and only looked around at some framed pictures of my friend and his wife, checked their kids rooms and asked the wife if she knows where her husband keeps their valuables which she said yes and offered to show them but they refused to see. 

[Jennifer2017 0]

9 hours ago, 684117 said:

 

You are mixing resident permit with maybe indefinite permit or citizenship. 5 years rule apply when you are married to a Ghanaian to get what is called indefinite permit. Or citizenship. Basically you are supposed to have a permit to be living in ghana now. How are you residing here now?! You must get a permit through your husband. It will cost you 300 ghc yearly. This you have to asap. Not for ur petition, but for ur legal status is Ghana, as now you are considered illegal. 

 

Once you sort that out then you can DCF. Whixh is much much faster. Our case took 4 months from filing the I130 to have the IV in hand. 

 

The affidavit of support is a must! Even if you do not make enough you have to file one. You are the main sponsor. Because u cannot qualify you will need your sister as a joint. 

 

The marines visit happens, there are threads about it here for info. I myself was not visited but a friend was. They did not notify him, they first came and spoke to the guard about who lives here, how long have they lived in this house and then went in and said they are on a random visit and only looked around at some framed pictures of my friend and his wife, checked their kids rooms and asked the wife if she knows where her husband keeps their valuables which she said yes and offered to show them but they refused to see. 

Thank you so much for your guidance.

[Jennifer2017 0]

In addition, my husband would rather self-sponsor himself and would rather not have a joint sponsor.  Can someone tell me how much income he would need to have in dollars to qualify?  Also,  would he need to have enough income to support me and our child which would make the household size 3?  What documents can he show that he has yearly income from his self-employed business?  Also, how can he combine his assets such as his car,  land properties and house? 

 

I will appreciate any feedback.

[684117 15]

1 hour ago, Jennifer2017 said:

In addition, my husband would rather self-sponsor himself and would rather not have a joint sponsor.  Can someone tell me how much income he would need to have in dollars to qualify?  Also,  would he need to have enough income to support me and our child which would make the household size 3?  What documents can he show that he has yearly income from his self-employed business?  Also, how can he combine his assets such as his car,  land properties and house? 

 

I will appreciate any feedback.

Jennifer, your husband can sponsor himself. It's very easy, you can get documents showing assets and their value. Most important that any asset you show that is not cash money has to have a document of its value and a document or a letter (from lands commission in Ghana for example) that this asset can be sold at any time with no issues. If your household is 3 members. The PG for 2017 is somewhere around 25000$ you need 3 times that to qualify (75000$) in assets. Same applies for cash savings. If he is self employed, he can add his current individual income from Ghana only if the income will keep generating after he travels to USA. 

 

As for the joint sponsor part. I re add. You need a joint sponsor in both cases. Even if you qualify with assets, even if you make a lot of money you will still need a joint sponsor because you so not reside in USA.  

 

Combined, me and my wife make around 15 times the poverty guidelines. Assets that added up to over 30 times the poverty guideline and we were still asked to add a joint sponsor, who actually made less than us, but is continuously residing in the states. 

[684117 15]

To be more specific, the joint sponsor is also needed for 2 other reasons. 1. Your most recent tax return will have 0 in total as you were not working is usa. 2. You are not currently generating an income, so your current individual income is also 0. 

 

Side note: hope you filed taxes for 2016 even if you were not in usa? You are supposed to. If not you only have 1 day to do so as the deadline for us citizens living abroad is June 15th to file taxes. 

[Jennifer2017 0]

44 minutes ago, 684117 said:

Jennifer, your husband can sponsor himself. It's very easy, you can get documents showing assets and their value. Most important that any asset you show that is not cash money has to have a document of its value and a document or a letter (from lands commission in Ghana for example) that this asset can be sold at any time with no issues. If your household is 3 members. The PG for 2017 is somewhere around 25000$ you need 3 times that to qualify (75000$) in assets. Same applies for cash savings. If he is self employed, he can add his current individual income from Ghana only if the income will keep generating after he travels to USA. 

 

As for the joint sponsor part. I re add. You need a joint sponsor in both cases. Even if you qualify with assets, even if you make a lot of money you will still need a joint sponsor because you so not reside in USA.  

 

Combined, me and my wife make around 15 times the poverty guidelines. Assets that added up to over 30 times the poverty guideline and we were still asked to add a joint sponsor, who actually made less than us, but is continuously residing in the states. 

Okay thank you for this information.  Unfortunately, my sister is the only person working in her household as her husband recently quit his job.   My sister's income is not enough to meet the income requirements for a household of 5.  My husband and I were considering sending our savings into my sister's bank account so that she would have enough to qualify.  Besides my sister, I don't know anyone else who would be qualified and willing to be a joint sponsor.

[Jennifer2017 0]

42 minutes ago, 684117 said:

To be more specific, the joint sponsor is also needed for 2 other reasons. 1. Your most recent tax return will have 0 in total as you were not working is usa. 2. You are not currently generating an income, so your current individual income is also 0. 

 

Side note: hope you filed taxes for 2016 even if you were not in usa? You are supposed to. If not you only have 1 day to do so as the deadline for us citizens living abroad is June 15th to file taxes. 

Yes I have already filed my taxes for 2016 and I received my tax transcript which shows that I had no earnings for 2016.