Affidavit of Support - Loan to Meet Asset Requirements?

[powerlines 0]

I'm recently married, husband came to visit from the UK on the ESTA visa waiver program and then proposed. We're getting ready to begin the application for his green card. I'm hoping to get a bit of insight about the legality of receiving a loan in order for my total cash assets to meet the 3x income requirement for my affidavit of support. 

 

I have $20K in savings, and no taxable income. I do odd jobs getting paid under the table. My total income is less than $10k per year (so not legally required to file taxes), but I can't think of a way to prove this income, so I'm looking to go full assets for my affidavit of support. I have a family member willing to loan me the money I need to show $60k in cash assets in a savings account. Seems easy enough, but I wonder if there are any rules against this sort of thing. I know I need to present 12 months of account history, but will they even ask where the money came from? How much information do I have to reveal about the origin of the money?

 

[Hypnos 6,576]

It's not unheard of for them to ask for a year's worth of bank account statements to ensure you aren't doing exactly what you're proposing to do.

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1 minute ago, Hypnos said:

It's not unheard of for them to ask for a year's worth of bank account statements to ensure you aren't doing exactly what you're proposing to do.

Right, I'm already expecting to provide my account history for the year. I'm not looking to hide the fact that I'm receiving the money, I'm just wondering if this sort of thing is frowned upon and would result in a denial of the application. 

 

If the money was being gifted to me, rather than being loaned, would that make a difference?

[geowrian 22,337]

Can you legally get a loan and put that on the form? Sure. Will it help show that your spouse will not become a public charge? Likely not.

Sudden, recently acquired assets will raise a big question mark if the money is really yours or if you're just holding on to it until you get approved (and subsequently return it / pay it back). They are quite aware of this move. When using bank assets, they very likely won't accept it without 12+ months of bank statements, and a valid explanation for the sudden influx of money (i.e. "I sold my home." or "Inheritance" or something may qualify...a loan or family member giving money is likely not going to work).

 

Your income under the table won't count. You could amend your taxes and claim it (as you are required to claim it by law, although that's a tax issue), although it won't be sufficient to qualify for the I-864 so it won't help you here.

Does your spouse have any assets to meet the requirements?

 

You should start looking for a suitable joint sponsor, or attempt to obtain employment to meet the requirements.

Edit: Maybe the person willing to loan you $50,000+ outright would be a good person to ask? No money upfront in that case.

Edited March 22, 2018 by geowrian

[powerlines 0]

15 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Can you legally get a loan and put that on the form? Sure. Will it help show that your spouse will not become a public charge? Likely not.

Sudden, recently acquired assets will raise a big question mark if the money is really yours or if you're just holding on to it until you get approved (and subsequently return it / pay it back). They are quite aware of this move. When using bank assets, they very likely won't accept it without 12+ months of bank statements, and a valid explanation for the sudden influx of money (i.e. "I sold my home." or "Inheritance" or something may qualify...a loan or family member giving money is likely not going to work).

 

Your income under the table won't count. You could amend your taxes and claim it (as you are required to claim it by law, although that's a tax issue), although it won't be sufficient to qualify for the I-864 so it won't help you here.

Does your spouse have any assets to meet the requirements?

 

You should start looking for a suitable joint sponsor, or attempt to obtain employment to meet the requirements.

Edit: Maybe the person willing to loan you $50,000+ outright would be a good person to ask? No money upfront in that case.

Thank you for the detailed response. I suspected this would be the case, but hoped it would something they wouldn't care about. What if we were talking about a gift instead of a loan, hypothetically? If I'm not expected to pay it back, would they view it differently?

 

 

[geowrian 22,337]

Just now, powerlines said:

Thank you for the detailed response. I suspected this would be the case, but hoped it would something they wouldn't care about. What if we were talking about a gift instead of a loan, hypothetically? If I'm not expected to pay it back, would they view it differently?

If you can convince them that it's really your money to do what you want with, in theory it can work. But the issue is that's a fairly high bar as there is nothing at all compelling you to not return it the moment they approve AOS.

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4 minutes ago, geowrian said:

If you can convince them that it's really your money to do what you want with, in theory it can work. But the issue is that's a fairly high bar as there is nothing at all compelling you to not return it the moment they approve AOS.

Yeah, I don't know if there'd really be any way to prove or disprove it. 

[CEE53147 559]

You are required to pay FICA (SS) as well as income taxes on earnings.  File amended returns and get right with the IRS.