F1 Student I-864 RFIE

[denvercoder 2]

Hello,

 

I am filing for AoS from F-1 based on marriage to a USC. My spouse is a student and has no income, so I used my income as a graduate student (I'm a PhD student employed as a research assistant by the university) to reach 125% of the poverty level for our household (size 2). 

 

I received an RFIE on I-485 shortly after completing the biometrics. Specifically the RFIE was on I-864, they only asked for one thing: to prove that the income I was using to complement the household income was from a lawful source and I was legally able to receive that income during this year.

 

So I sent in my I-20 (which I had already sent in the original packet, but not as specific evidence for I-864), and a letter from the university stating that I was a full time student all year (maintaining valid F-1 status) and that they will continue to pay me until the end of my PhD program (1 more year of funding guaranteed).

 

I am wondering if the fact that they only requested proof that I was lawfully able to work in the RFIE means that they accepted my income, specifically relating to the requirement of I-864 ("the income must continue from the same source after obtaining the green card"). I am fearful of obtaining another RFIE or RFE stating that my income is not eligible given that it does have an end date (even though it may be extended).

 

In hindsight I should really have found a joint sponsor for the I-864 and gone with that.

 

My timeline is:

Filed for marriage (to USC) based AoS from F-1: September 17th (filed I-485, I-130, I-131, I-765)

Received (MSC): September 20th

Biometrics done (walk-in): October 10th

RFIE on I-485 received: October 21st (saturday)

Response to RFIE sent: October 23rd (monday)

Edited October 24, 2017 by denvercoder

[kababci 1]

Denvercoder!

 

I also applied for AOS from F-1 earlier this year and received the exact same RFIE you did. I had included my PhD scholarship letters and I-20 in my original submission but this still resulted in me receiving in an RFIE. 

 

Assuming your letter is the same as mine, your understanding is correct. They want to ensure that the income was from a lawful source and that you earned it while able to work. Being a research assistant at your own university while doing a PhD there is automatically allowed according to USCIS and ICE. 

 

In response to this letter I sent: 

 

0) A cover letter explaining all of the below and how it demonstrates what they want

1) A copy of my I-20 including the section about student employment, highlighted.

2) A letter from a DSO at my school stating that I am an in-status F1 student, that I have been for the entirety of my duration here and that as such I was and remain entitled to on-campus employment.

3) A copy of my I-9 submitted to the university when I started working.

4)  The letter from my hiring department that I used to obtain a social security card

Both of my 2 years (I've only been here 2 years) tax returns and W-2s to show that all my US earned income came from the university I am employed at as a teaching assistant.

5) All my US tax returns and W-2s, which showed that all the income I earned in the USA came from the same source, my university. 

6) A printout of ICE's website that states that F-1 students are automatically permitted to work on campus.

7) A copy of CFR 214.2 (9)(i), the regulation that governs on-campus student employment, with the relevant lines highlighted.

 

In my cover letter I explained how all 7 of these pieces of information show that I was authorized to earn and my employment was from a legal source. I even took all of this to an infopass appointment, where the immigration officer told me he was wrong until he read items 6  and 7, apologised and said I was right! 

 

Since responding to this RFE my EAD has been issued and my case is "ready to be scheduled for an interview."

 

 

[denvercoder 2]

kababci, thank you for your reply! I'm very happy to know that someone in a pretty much identical situation was able to use the student salary for household income.

 

I did not submit as much evidence as you did, given that in my original I-864 I had already sent in the tax transcripts for the previous three years (all of which I have made above 125% of poverty level for my household size) I didn't re-submit those.

 

All I sent in was:

 

1) Explanation Sheet

2) Latest I-94

3) Passport F-1 visa and entry stamp

4) Letter from University stating I have maintained full time status as a Student ever since I got here

5) I-20 Form

6) Employment Offer letter from university stating 20h/week work offer

7) Statement from university that my funding will continue for another year

 

In the explanation sheet I pointed out that I am able to work because I have maintained valid F-1 status and am employed on-campus at 20h/week with a valid I-20. I hope that is enough for the immigration officer to realize that it's exactly the requirement for student employment. 

 

Do you know if your EAD was considerably delayed due to this RFIE?

 

Thank you!

 

[kababci 1]

I also didn't resubmit form i-864 and the IO I met at infopass said it wasn't necessary. It sounds to me like the information you submitted should be fine. The bad news is that my online tracker didn't change for I-485 at all since I submitted the RFIE, it still just says "RFE Received on XXXX" BUT my EAD was issued and when I visited USCIS for an infopass last month I was told by the IO that I was ready to be scheduled for an interview.

 

Apparently RFIE either pauses or restarts the clock on EAD processing. I came to the conclusion it only paused it, but you will find plenty of people arguing about it on the forum.

 

My EAD was processed almost exactly 4 months after my application was received ( April 28th - August 26th) which seems to be normalish at the moment, there are lots of people on here taking even longer than that so while it felt like the RFIE slowed me down, I'm not sure it actually did. 

 

 

[denvercoder 2]

Thanks! My response to the RFIE was delivered today, I'll update here on how it goes moving forward. Hope it only paused the process as well.

[Hazhartkd 16]

Can you please share your experiences after your RFIE? I have the similar situation and I want o know if it worked already for you. I have taxes for threee years as a graduate research assistant.

[elmers 293]

21 hours ago, Hazhartkd said:

Can you please share your experiences after your RFIE? I have the similar situation and I want o know if it worked already for you. I have taxes for threee years as a graduate research assistant.

It should work if you send in the documents mentioned in one of the posts above. I adjusted from J1 but got RFIE for basically the same reason. In addition to the documents above (minus #6 and #7 as they weren't applicable to me), I also included recent I94, letter from employer, and 6 month pay stubs. See my signature for timeline. Good luck!

[Hazhartkd 16]

3 hours ago, elmers said:

It should work if you send in the documents mentioned in one of the posts above. I adjusted from J1 but got RFIE for basically the same reason. In addition to the documents above (minus #6 and #7 as they weren't applicable to me), I also included recent I94, letter from employer, and 6 month pay stubs. See my signature for timeline. Good luck!

Thank you so much for your information. Which center did you apply? And do you remember what documents you didn't include at first submission that they requested for? (I mean before RFIE, what did you include and what didn't you include?)

[elmers 293]

18 hours ago, Hazhartkd said:

Thank you so much for your information. Which center did you apply? And do you remember what documents you didn't include at first submission that they requested for? (I mean before RFIE, what did you include and what didn't you include?)

I sent my documents to Chicago lockbox. I did send in all documents they asked for with my I485 form, so nothing was technically missing from the application packet as a whole since I sent all forms and documents as a single big packet. But I made the wrong assumption that one copy each of my documents was enough for the whole packet. Probably did not cross my mind where they in fact ask supporting documents for each form. In other words, treat every form as standalone and attach your documents with each form and you will be fine.