AOS Interview - Affidavit of Support change of job

[shoesoff 6]

Hey everyone,

 

I received my interview appointment letter today, only 2 weeks after my EAD came through (feels surprisingly quick??!) and I/we have our interview scheduled for October 10th, a little over a month away.

 

We only just opened the letter and read through everything but I instantly had a pretty important question.

 

My wife filled out the I-864 Affidavit of Support and we submitted that with the I-485 application back in March. I understand that I don't need to bring a new I-864, having already submitted one (though I will of course bring a copy just in case) BUT in a weeks time my wife will be leaving her job to start a new business. Are they going to ask us/her whether her information for the original I-864 is still up to date? Will we need to provide proof of income for the new business? It's a start-up so besides the money we have to put in the business in the first place, we won't have any evidence of income to show. Is that going to be a problem? She potentially has the option of staying on at her old job for another few weeks so that she would technically still be employed there at the time of the interview. It's not ideal as our new business really needs us to focus fully on getting everything set up for our proposed launch mid October.

 

I guess I'm trying to find out whether my wife has to stay at her job and/or, whether us starting a new business is going to be a problem in the interview, having already submitted the I-864 with information about her current (soon to be old) job.

 

We would really appreciate any help or guidance you may have on this one. We weren't expecting the interview anywhere near as soon as it is and although it's great that it's happening so quickly, it's coming at a super awkward time with our financial situation...

Thank you in advance,
Peter.

[geowrian 22,337]

13 minutes ago, shoesoff said:

Are they going to ask us/her whether her information for the original I-864 is still up to date?

Possibly. More likely they may ask where she works. This would then likely be followed up asking for an updated I-864 since she had a change of employment.

 

13 minutes ago, shoesoff said:

Will we need to provide proof of income for the new business? It's a start-up so besides the money we have to put in the business in the first place, we won't have any evidence of income to show. Is that going to be a problem?

If requested for a new I-864, then yes. Unfortunately, you have no proof of income of the new business...self-employment income is based on your tax returns (it's only revenue before filing taxes). Until she files 2018 federal taxes (in 2019), she won't have evidence of her current income.

 

13 minutes ago, shoesoff said:

She potentially has the option of staying on at her old job for another few weeks so that she would technically still be employed there at the time of the interview. It's not ideal as our new business really needs us to focus fully on getting everything set up for our proposed launch mid October.

This would likely be the safest course of action unless you have a joint sponsor to present (again, only if requested).

Edited September 9, 2018 by geowrian

[TNJ17 1,329]

I would not advise changing jobs so close to the interview. They will ask you about her employment and you must answer truthfully and the old I-864 will not be accurate and you will be required to submit a new one. You are very close to the interview and I suggest your wife stays with her old job so you don’t have any issues. 

[shoesoff 6]

Thanks for the responses. We really appreciate your input.

 

It's looking like we have 3 options going forward, one of which probably isn't too feasible.

 

1. My wife stays at her job, with reduced hours, for another month. We don't need the new I-864 and are able to simply tell the USCIS folks that she is still at the same job.
Issues here are at that we are already leasing our business property and would be jeopardising our launch schedule, ultimately putting more strain on us financially (surely not great considering we're trying to prove I wont be a burden to the state). Also, if they ask her about her plans long term at her job, we're not going to lie and will say that we're starting this business. Which raises more questions for them I bet. Would it just mean we'll need a new I-864 anyway? Not sure how that would even work as we'd only be able to demonstrate her income for the 2017 tax year (which wasn't much as we were not working and down in California sorting the wedding.

 

2. We have savings. Not quite 30k but with the money we are putting into our business, it would be a substantial amount. We'd need to fill out a new I-864 with the assets listed but if I'm correct, savings need to have been established long term. So if there's suddenly a bunch of money in our US savings account, that's just going to look dodgey, right? Especially if it's coming from my UK bank account? This is the one that doesn't seem likely.

 

3. We ask my wife's mom to sponsor us. She is plenty established and can very easily show the financial requirements for the Affidavit of Support. It's a big ask, but would be the most sensible in terms of us being able to be completely honest about our current work/business plans.

Issues here are about the business. Is us starting a new business (we've started, not much we can do to stop it now!) going to be a big issue in the interview? If the support from my mother in law is there anyway, does that lessen the pressure on our current financial situation?

I apologise for the big questions. We obviously don't want to muck this up so I really appreciate any thoughts, support or guidance you might have.

Thank you again,
Peter.

[geowrian 22,337]

3 hours ago, shoesoff said:

1. My wife stays at her job, with reduced hours, for another month. We don't need the new I-864 and are able to simply tell the USCIS folks that she is still at the same job.

Issues here are at that we are already leasing our business property and would be jeopardising our launch schedule, ultimately putting more strain on us financially (surely not great considering we're trying to prove I wont be a burden to the state). Also, if they ask her about her plans long term at her job, we're not going to lie and will say that we're starting this business. Which raises more questions for them I bet. Would it just mean we'll need a new I-864 anyway? Not sure how that would even work as we'd only be able to demonstrate her income for the 2017 tax year (which wasn't much as we were not working and down in California sorting the wedding.

 

2. We have savings. Not quite 30k but with the money we are putting into our business, it would be a substantial amount. We'd need to fill out a new I-864 with the assets listed but if I'm correct, savings need to have been established long term. So if there's suddenly a bunch of money in our US savings account, that's just going to look dodgey, right? Especially if it's coming from my UK bank account? This is the one that doesn't seem likely.

 

3. We ask my wife's mom to sponsor us. She is plenty established and can very easily show the financial requirements for the Affidavit of Support. It's a big ask, but would be the most sensible in terms of us being able to be completely honest about our current work/business plans.

Issues here are about the business. Is us starting a new business (we've started, not much we can do to stop it now!) going to be a big issue in the interview? If the support from my mother in law is there anyway, does that lessen the pressure on our current financial situation?

1. This is the safest route IMO. But yes, if they were to probe further (unlikely), they could still request a new I-864 at that point. It sounds like you would need to find a joint sponsor at that point.
2. Assets must be at least 3x the income gap level for a spouse. A sudden large deposit of funds can be questioned by the CO, but generally they accept it with an explanation + documentation. The main thing they look out for are loans or family members putting in money just to meet the requirements, then paying/taking the money back after approval.
3. Having a new I-864 + joint sponsor's I-864 in the back pocket would be wise. Again, you don't need to even show this unless they request a new I-864.

[shoesoff 6]

Hello again,

 

Just wanted to update with what's going on and hopefully get a little bit more feedback on our final options moving forward.

 

My wife is currently working the same position for 30 hours a week (down from 40) which, if I understand correctly, would require a new I-864.

She has the option to either continue at the 30 hours (using some time off to supplement here and there) through to the interview or drop below 30 hours with a new job title. At 30 hours, this would mean that the original I-864 is correct in terms of the job title. If they ask 'are you still working at the same place' - she would say yes, and in theory, no issues. But if they ask if anything has changed at work, and she says she has reduced her hours because she is about to step away to focus on the new business, that will likely raise questions that would require a new I-864, correct?

 

We are, 100%, getting a co-sponsor. Her mom's Affidavit of Support will provide more than enough to cover the income requirements (in fact they would make our own I-864 redundant!) so I guess my question is:

Should my wife stay at 30 hours, keeping the same title and therefore being as close to the original I-864 details as possible.

Or, because we would need to update the I-864 anyway, should she step back (as she was planning to do) down to a different job title and get the Employment Letter and some recent pay stubs going as soon as possible as evidence to support that new I-864.

Again, both options will be fully supported by a co-sponsor. One just means she is stuck at a job she doesn't want to be at for an extra 3 weeks when she wants to be at our new business getting things ready to go.

 

And finally... From the few things I've read about the interview (I'm being pathetic and not reading everything because I don't want to scare myself with horror stories...) am I right in thinking that the worst case scenario would be that we would have to fill out any missing paperwork and submit it after the interview, simply delaying the process? Or am I being naive and our dream of opening a business is actually something that could jeopardise our application?

 

Again, we really appreciate any help or advice you can spare.

We're very glad to be getting this whole thing done and over with in the next few weeks, even if the timing does seem incredibly inopportune!

 

Cheers,
P