Embassies and consulates too far away / Income requirement

[microcebus 40]

Hi all, I’m just now really starting to research the K-1 visa process.  There might be some pretty significant barriers to getting us approved.

 

I am an American living in the US.  My girlfriend is a Singaporean citizen and a permanent resident of Australia.  She travels back to Singapore each year to see her family.  

 

We met in person earlier this year, and later this year we will meet in person again.  If and when we get married, we would both be in our 30s, so we don’t want too long of a delay.  We're talking about applying for the K-1 visa within the next 6 months, with a goal of getting married by the end of 2018.

 

As far as my work: I am a full-time self-employed, mostly hourly freelancer with an LLC.  For tax year 2016, I made just under U.S. $75,000.  Earlier in 2017, I did an expensive and intensive training program for my business.  I wasn’t earning much at all during that period.  Client work has been slower this year too, so I am probably not turning a profit this year in my business.  I probably won’t exceed $20k in revenue even though business is improving now, which puts me under poverty level.

 

First, I have 3 questions about the K-1 visa and the I-129:

 

1. The K-1 visa’s I-129 form requires her to file a form with a U.S. embassy or consulate.  Does she have to file it in person, or can she mail it?
2. Australia is big, and she doesn’t live within driving distance of a U.S. embassy or consulate.  She probably won’t be able to take off from work to go to one either.  Should she get her application processed in Australia or Singapore?
3. At what points in the process would she need to travel to an embassy or consulate?  Is there a way to combine these so that it doesn’t cost us too much or take too much of her time?

 

Second, I have 4 questions about the income requirement and qualifying quarters:

 

1. Can I use my return from tax year 2016 instead of tax year 2017 for my income requirement?  (And does this depend on when I file the visa application?)
2. If I have to use tax year 2017’s income, and I were to get another job soon or early next year, when would I be able to get a K-1 application for her approved?
3. Does Singapore or Australia accept joint sponsorships?
4. Due to layoffs and health problems, I had several gaps in my work history - some full quarters that wouldn’t have qualified.  If that happens again, does that mean she would have to leave the US - even if she’s working here?  Can some form of insurance keep that from happening?

 

I’m sorry to ask so many questions at once.  I’m trying to figure out what is common knowledge and what I’d need to ask a lawyer about.

[geowrian 22,337]

1. The I-129F (not an I-129) is filed at the Dallas, TX lockbox. It is not filed at the embassy.
2. She can interview at either location as she has legal status in both countries. Typically you would interview at wherever you currently reside. You can transfer the case to a different embassy, if needed, later.
3. She only needs to go to the embassy/consulate for the interview (or if they request it, but that's uncommon). She will need to go through a medical at an approved facility by a panel physician. The acceptable locations for this are different for every country, and many countries only have 1 or maybe 2 places.

 

1. For the K-1 visa, you will need to show the most recent tax year's return. So if she interviews in 2018, that would be 2017. You can show more years to improve your case, but if the most recent year's return shows insufficient income, that will definitely hurt your case as a freelancer. Having a joint sponsor ready may be needed.
2. Depends on the job and circumstances. They use the I-134 as a guideline for determining the public charge concern. Current income is still king. With self-employment, tax returns are typically the go-to as a basis for determining current income. If you had a salary/wage job, showing current income is simpler, and people have been approved even with no income on the prior year's return.
3. Defer...I'm not familiar enough with those embassies to answer that confidently.
4. No - once she gets the K-1 visa, your working status / income doesn't matter for the K-1 (but WILL matter for the I-864 for AOS shortly afterwards). Once she gets the green card, your working status no longer matters in terms of her status.
   1. As a note, she cannot work in the US until she gets an EAD or green card. ETA: ~4 months after filing them concurrently with her AOS application.

Edited October 5, 2017 by geowrian

[RJandHamid 1,133]

1. The petitioner (the US citizen) will file the I-129F forms. They are mailed to the Texas lockbox. 

2. She should select the embassy in the country where she primarily resides. If she is a permanent resident in Australia, it would make sense for her to have her interview there.

3. She will need to go to the US consulate in Sydney for her interview. This will happen toward the end of the K1 process, so you have a lot of time to plan for this. She will also need to do a medical exam prior to the interview, and the consulate in Sydney can provide you with the list of physicians that they accept located in different cities.

 

Income questions:

 

1. For the tax returns, it will depend on when you file. With current processing times being around 6-9 months, you will most likely need to provide your 2017 tax returns. This will only be needed at the interview stage, you do not need to provide any income documentation with the I-129F petition.

2. The US consulate in Australia allows for joint sponsors if you do not meet the income level. This would be your best option if you think you will not meet the income requirement, but there is no rule that you need to maintain a certain income during the entire duration of the petition, especially if you have a joint sponsor.

3. Joint sponsors are allowed in Australia, not sure about Singapore however. 

4. Once she is here in the US, she is here to stay. You do not need to maintain an income level to keep her here, but you will need to file another affidavit of support (you can use a joint sponsor here as well). You will need to file for her adjustment of status once she arrives and you marry. Keep in mind that the cost to file for AOS is currently $1225.

Edited October 5, 2017 by RJandHamid

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Just to add:

 

Your girlfriend has to get police certificates from all countries (Singapore & Australia) she has lived in since 16 years of age or older.

So she should be prepared to research the process of obtaining Singapore police certificate while having K1 visa interview at  US consulate in Australia.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/family/fiance-k-1.html

[microcebus 40]

2 hours ago, geowrian said:

1. For the K-1 visa, you will need to show the most recent tax year's return. So if she interviews in 2018, that would be 2017. You can show more years to improve your case, but if the most recent year's return shows insufficient income, that will definitely hurt your case as a freelancer. Having a joint sponsor ready may be needed.

1. Depends on the job and circumstances. They use the I-134 as a guideline for determining the public charge concern. Current income is still king. With self-employment, tax returns are typically the go-to as a basis for determining current income. If you had a salary/wage job, showing current income is simpler, and people have been approved even with no income on the prior year's return.

2 hours ago, RJandHamid said:

3. She will need to go to the US consulate in Sydney for her interview. This will happen toward the end of the K1 process, so you have a lot of time to plan for this. She will also need to do a medical exam prior to the interview, and the consulate in Sydney can provide you with the list of physicians that they accept located in different cities.

 

Income questions:

 

1. For the tax returns, it will depend on when you file. With current processing times being around 6-9 months, you will most likely need to provide your 2017 tax returns. This will only be needed at the interview stage, you do not need to provide any income documentation with the I-129F petition.

2. The US consulate in Australia allows for joint sponsors if you do not meet the income level. This would be your best option if you think you will not meet the income requirement, but there is no rule that you need to maintain a certain income during the entire duration of the petition, especially if you have a joint sponsor.

3. Joint sponsors are allowed in Australia, not sure about Singapore however. 

 

1 hour ago, Merrytooth said:

Just to add:

 

Your girlfriend has to get police certificates from all countries (Singapore & Australia) she has lived in since 16 years of age or older.

So she should be prepared to research the process of obtaining Singapore police certificate while having K1 visa interview at  US consulate in Australia.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/family/fiance-k-1.html

One of the approved doctors for the medical exam is within an hour's drive of her, so that's good.  She might have already seen that doctor at some point.  I'd have to check with her.

 

I have over 5 years of experience (each) in 2 different tech fields, and I live in a high cost of living area.  If I got a new job in either field, making $100k+ per year (or at the very least, my old salary of over $70k/year) wouldn't be out of the question.  But I'm still self-employed because I enjoy working remotely and most companies (with their 2 weeks a year of paid time off) wouldn't allow me to make a trip to see her.  If I were to get a new job toward the end of this year or in January, could that help our case at all?  If they don't look at this until the interview stage, this is a long time to leave us hanging - especially since, if we get rejected, we'd have to wait 2 years and would only get one more chance.  I don't want to put her through that, and I don't expect she'd want to go through it either.

 

I'm also wondering about who our joint sponsor could be.  I don't know if my mom's income is high enough to sponsor us.  My dad's is definitely high enough, but he might not be able or willing to sponsor us for other reasons.  My other family members who could sponsor us all live in other states.

 

Edit: She already has police certificates in both Singapore and Australia.  For what it's worth, she saw me in the US and already has ESTA too.

Edited October 5, 2017 by microcebus
forgot to respond to a quoted post

[geowrian 22,337]

3 minutes ago, microcebus said:

I have over 5 years of experience (each) in 2 different tech fields, and I live in a high cost of living area.  If I got a new job in either field, making $100k+ per year (or at the very least, my old salary of over $70k/year) wouldn't be out of the question.  But I'm still self-employed because I enjoy working remotely and most companies (with their 2 weeks a year of paid time off) wouldn't allow me to make a trip to see her.  If I were to get a new job toward the end of this year or in January, could that help our case at all?  If they don't look at this until the interview stage, this is a long time to leave us hanging - especially since, if we get rejected, we'd have to wait 2 years and would only get one more chance.  I don't want to put her through that, and I don't expect she'd want to go through it either.

They look at the totality of the circumstances for the public charge concern. If you had a different job in January and interviewed 6+ months after that, you would probably be fine. To be clear...I'm not suggesting quitting your freelance work just for immigration...it is what it is...but they put a more emphasis on tax returns with self-employment to show current income. Only you know what if best for your circumstances as a whole.

 

If the visa was refused due to the public charge concern, she would be issued a 221g to provide additional documentation of your income or to get a joint sponsor (or  anew one if the one you had was insufficient). It doesn't mean the case ends there...you can send more documentation afterwards. This is not optimal, obviously, and if it it takes over 6 months from the medical to them reviewing the updated documentation, a new medical will be needed (since the K-1's validity is tied to the medical).

 

3 minutes ago, microcebus said:

I'm also wondering about who our joint sponsor could be.  I don't know if my mom's income is high enough to sponsor us.  My dad's is definitely high enough, but he might not be able or willing to sponsor us for other reasons.  My other family members who could sponsor us all live in other states.

Where they live doesn't matter...any USC or LPR can be a sponsor. Some COs like to see close family members, but I don't know her embassy's stance on it.

 

3 minutes ago, microcebus said:

Edit: She already has police certificates in both Singapore and Australia.

Police certificates must be within the past 6 months as of the interview (or you must have not entered again since you obtained them).

[Merrytooth 5,748]

5 minutes ago, microcebus said:

 

 

 

What is your household size? Look here: https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p

 

You can file I-129F petition now. The I-134 will be submitted during the K1 visa interview stage. 

So you will have a few months to get your finances in order, like get a new job or second job to meet the poverty line.

 

My then BF lost his job right after I-129F was approved.

 

We dragged the K1 visa interview as long as we could till he got a new job with new pay stubs/letter of employments/bank statements for I-134.

 

[microcebus 40]

2 hours ago, Merrytooth said:

 

What is your household size? Look here: https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p

 

You can file I-129F petition now. The I-134 will be submitted during the K1 visa interview stage. 

So you will have a few months to get your finances in order, like get a new job or second job to meet the poverty line.

 

My then BF lost his job right after I-129F was approved.

 

We dragged the K1 visa interview as long as we could till he got a new job with new pay stubs/letter of employments/bank statements for I-134.

 

Our household would just be us.  We're not engaged yet, just boyfriend and girlfriend.  We have to get engaged before we file the petition, right?

[geowrian 22,337]

1 hour ago, microcebus said:

Our household would just be us.  We're not engaged yet, just boyfriend and girlfriend.  We have to get engaged before we file the petition, right?

Yes...although being engaged just means agreeing to marry (within 90 days of entry for the K-1). No rings or formal arrangement is needed.

[microcebus 40]

17 hours ago, geowrian said:

Yes...although being engaged just means agreeing to marry (within 90 days of entry for the K-1). No rings or formal arrangement is needed.

Interesting.  So we could actually request that visa right now if we wanted.  Although since it's near the end of the tax year, we'd still need to work out the details of the joint sponsor.

 

21 hours ago, geowrian said:

Where they live doesn't matter...any USC or LPR can be a sponsor. Some COs like to see close family members, but I don't know her embassy's stance on it.

If any US citizen or permanent resident can be sponsor, what's the effect on the approval?  It seems capricious that some embassies/consulates would accept my using an out of town family member or a close local friend as a sponsor and others wouldn't.

[geowrian 22,337]

9 minutes ago, microcebus said:

Interesting.  So we could actually request that visa right now if we wanted.  Although since it's near the end of the tax year, we'd still need to work out the details of the joint sponsor.

Correct.

Quote

If any US citizen or permanent resident can be sponsor, what's the effect on the approval?  It seems capricious that some embassies/consulates would accept my using an out of town family member or a close local friend as a sponsor and others wouldn't.

The I-134 (for the K-1) is not enforceable and just used as a guideline for the CO. The I-864 (for AOS afterwards) is enforceable and has more defined minimums and rules as to what is accepted or not. Basically, for a K-1, they want an assurance that the beneficiary won't become a burden since they cannot require somebody to take care of them. Some COs are just more strict on this than others.

Edited October 6, 2017 by geowrian

[SandiB 48]

On 10/5/2017 at 12:52 PM, microcebus said:

We met in person earlier this year, and later this year we will meet in person again.  If and when we get married, we would both be in our 30s, so we don’t want too long of a delay.  We're talking about applying for the K-1 visa within the next 6 months, with a goal of getting married by the end of 2018.

This is the something I haven't seen people mention, but given current processing times, if the goal is to marry before the end of 2018, it would be good to file within the next few months I think. K-1 processing times are high right now, and no ones sure if they will get better or worse. 

[microcebus 40]

On 10/5/2017 at 6:03 PM, geowrian said:

They look at the totality of the circumstances for the public charge concern. If you had a different job in January and interviewed 6+ months after that, you would probably be fine. To be clear...I'm not suggesting quitting your freelance work just for immigration...it is what it is...but they put a more emphasis on tax returns with self-employment to show current income. Only you know what if best for your circumstances as a whole.

 

If the visa was refused due to the public charge concern, she would be issued a 221g to provide additional documentation of your income or to get a joint sponsor (or  anew one if the one you had was insufficient). It doesn't mean the case ends there...you can send more documentation afterwards. This is not optimal, obviously, and if it it takes over 6 months from the medical to them reviewing the updated documentation, a new medical will be needed (since the K-1's validity is tied to the medical).

 

Where they live doesn't matter...any USC or LPR can be a sponsor. Some COs like to see close family members, but I don't know her embassy's stance on it.

 

Police certificates must be within the past 6 months as of the interview (or you must have not entered again since you obtained them).

Hi, sorry to bump this again.

 

My parents have informed me that they are not willing to be joint sponsors for us.

 

They did suggest one thing.  There might be enough money in my bank accounts to cover for the rest.  I have over U.S. $100,000 in my bank accounts, plus some money in retirement savings.  My girlfriend and I would have enough there to live at poverty level for several years, even if neither of us worked at all (and both of us plan on working, when she's able).  My dad said there are people who are a lot worse off than I am who are doing visa sponsorships.  One of my friends was able to successfully sponsor his wife even though his business seems to be barely staying open.

 

I ran my expected income and savings numbers through RapidVisa's calculator this week.  But it told me that I didn't have enough assets.  I think their calculator is actually broken, though.  As someone with a software testing background, I experimented with the calculator more.  Even when I added another zero to my bank balance, it gave me an identical error message saying that I needed another $3000 (roughly) in assets.  It seems like my savings has no effect at all on it, and that doesn't seem right!

 

Would I have enough money in savings to be able to do my own sponsorship?