I-864. Quitting Job during AOS for fully funded PhD

[Jsngibbons 0]

Hi All,

 

Here is my situation:

 

1. I currently work at a legal consulting firm, and earn $67.5K a year.

2. I will be leaving my job on 8/1/2017 to pursue a PhD in another state.

3. My PhD program has been guaranteed to be fully funded for five years with a stipend of $25k in my first year as detailed by my acceptance letter on the department's letterhead.  

4. I will not receive my first paycheck from the university until the end of September.

5. I am planning on filing on 7/1/2017, a month before I leave my current employment.

 

Questions:

 

1. Should I disclose that I will be pursuing alternative employment, and provide a mix of my income from my current job and my upcoming employment as a PhD student under current annual income?

2. Should I provide my current salary, minus the portion I won't receive since I will be quitting, ignoring all income from my stipend, and disclose that I am leaving my job to attend the program?

3. Should I just provide my annual salary, not disclose I am leaving for this program, and then give a new i-864 for when my interview is with my updated income?

 

Concerns:

 

1. I definitely don't want to conceal a material fact.  I know I will be quitting to attend this program.

2.  I won't have any evidence the university is paying me until the end of September, which could feasibly be after my interview date.

3. I have already put that the applicant's intending address is in the new state, even though we have yet to move, so they know I am leaving, which could suggest I will be finding other employment.

 

Thanks,

Petitioner

 

[Coco8 1,042]

1 hour ago, Jsngibbons said:

1. I currently work at a legal consulting firm, and earn $67.5K a year.

2. I will be leaving my job on 8/1/2017 to pursue a PhD in another state.

3. My PhD program has been guaranteed to be fully funded for five years with a stipend of $25k in my first year as detailed by my acceptance letter on the department's letterhead.  

4. I will not receive my first paycheck from the university until the end of September.

5. I am planning on filing on 7/1/2017, a month before I leave my current employment

4 does not matter. What matters is what you'll annual income will be. For a household of 2 that is enough. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Jsngibbons said:

1. Should I disclose that I will be pursuing alternative employment, and provide a mix of my income from my current job and my upcoming employment as a PhD student under current annual income?

2. Should I provide my current salary, minus the portion I won't receive since I will be quitting, ignoring all income from my stipend, and disclose that I am leaving my job to attend the program?

3. Should I just provide my annual salary, not disclose I am leaving for this program, and then give a new i-864 for when my interview is with my updated income?

 

I would provide your income at the moment of the submission of the forms and attach a note explaining that you will be pursuing a PhD program starting X date. Have the program write you a letter stating that you will have X stipend, that you will have health insurance and your spouse can be added to your plan (that is usually the case for some extra small fee), and that they are prepared to fund you for 5 years. You probably need to provide back tax returns and pay stubs too.

 

Anyway, that is what I'd do. 

 

Doing (2) seems confusing and it is hard to calculate. Doing (3) you might get an RFE which could slow down the process and they probably do brackground checks and might find out you don't work there anymore. 

 

What matters is that the 25K is enough to meet the requirement. I've seen people on VJ find a job and submit right after their first month and they still made it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2017 by Coco8