Do I need a joint sponsor?

[peteagus 1]

46 minutes ago, MattAndOana said:

Apparently this is what is happening to us as well.  I called NVC again today, and the agent I spoke to said the reason we are in administrative processing is because I can't have a joint sponsor who lives at the same address.  So all the things I've posted here regarding the AOS documents are essentially true:

• they won't accept my joint sponsor
• they want me to add my parents as my household members
• our case is definitely in administrative processing (since Feb 27)
• all we can do is wait and see

@peteagus How long did this shake up take for you?

 Sorry to hear it. We redid the AOS as requested and they accepted it within 2 weeks. 

 

Two thigs worth mentioning:

 

1. My case is for my wife and two step kids, and NVC only requested this for one of the three cases (wife and stepson were already documentarily qualified when this happened). So I don’t think you did something wrong here’s, just that NVC aren’t interpreting this consistently. 

 

2. Once AOS was accepted, NVC questioned whether I had maintained US domicile - again only for one of the three cases. Not saying this will happen to you... but we do both live abroad, similar AOS situations, and using parents’ as permanent address. Might save you a few days to upload proof of maintaining domicile now rather than later! 

 

Good luck

[MattAndOana 10]

15 hours ago, peteagus said:

We redid the AOS as requested and they accepted it within 2 weeks.

That's a similar timeline to what I've seen elsewhere, but that's after re-submitting documents.  Did your case go into administrative processing?  If so, for how long?

 

15 hours ago, peteagus said:

Might save you a few days to upload proof of maintaining domicile now rather than later! 

I sent detailed documentation about my US domicile with the original documents.

[peteagus 1]

21 minutes ago, MattAndOana said:

That's a similar timeline to what I've seen elsewhere, but that's after re-submitting documents.  Did your case go into administrative processing?  If so, for how long?

 

I sent detailed documentation about my US domicile with the original documents.

No AP - but maybe I'm not understanding the question. "Administrative Processing", at least as far as I understand it, is something that would occur after the interview at the consulate, where the interviewing officer would require additional information. 

 

We had to resubmit maybe a half dozen documents in total for my 3 family members - NVC response time was roughly 2 weeks each time. I was told they're required to review resubmitted documents within 3 weeks.

[MattAndOana 10]

Just now, peteagus said:

"Administrative Processing", at least as far as I understand it, is something that would occur after the interview at the consulate, where the interviewing officer would require additional information.

I had the same understanding until I talked to NVC on the phone.  They use the terms "administrative processing", "supervisor processing" and "supervisor review" interchangeably to mean "the case is locked until a supervisor intervenes to either add or remove a joint sponsor / household member".  This is also used to make the processing time more opaque, since agents will not say how long these things take.  They claim each case is different in complexity.

[NikLR 13,232]

17 hours ago, MattAndOana said:

Apparently this is what is happening to us as well.  I called NVC again today, and the agent I spoke to said the reason we are in administrative processing is because I can't have a joint sponsor who lives at the same address.  So all the things I've posted here regarding the AOS documents are essentially true:

• they won't accept my joint sponsor
• they want me to add my parents as my household members
• our case is definitely in administrative processing (since Feb 27)
• all we can do is wait and see

@peteagus How long did this shake up take for you?

@pushbrk

[pushbrk 13,167]

2 hours ago, NikLR said:

@pushbrk

Call and talk to a supervisor.  Being at the same address does not disqualify one from being a joint sponsor instead of a household member, UNLESS the incomes must be combined in order to qualify.

[MattAndOana 10]

3 hours ago, pushbrk said:

Call and talk to a supervisor.

Called and asked to talk to a supervisor.  Agent tried and said he couldn't find one, but took my US number and said he put in a request for a supervisor to call me back.

 

This should be an interesting turn of events if I get a call back. Waiting with bated breath...

[MattAndOana 10]

@canadavisa22 @peteagus @pushbrk @NikLR  If any of you are interested in how this played out, here is the run down:

• Amazingly, an NVC supervisor called me back.  Less amazingly, when the agent asked me what time I would like a call back, I said before 5pm (which is midnight here).  Obviously, he was just filling in a form, and I don't think "before xx:xx" was an option, so he chose "5:00pm".  The supervisor called me at exactly 5pm (midnight) last night.
• Supervisor review lasted 7 days.  They put our case there on Feb 27, and yesterday, March 6, they updated our case.
• Most agents I spoke to gave me an accurate representation of what was going to happen: they put me in supervisor review because they had to remove a joint sponsor.  This is exactly what happened: they removed my father as joint sponsor and my mother as his household member, and requested that they be added as my household members.
• The supervisor insisted that this was happening solely because we have the same address.
• All of my AOS documents were approved after supervisor review, except one: the refused my 2017 tax return and foreign earnings statement (I do not have W2s as I worked in a foreign country) and requested I replace that with a tax transcript.  I would have submitted transcripts in the first place, but the government shutdown meant I could not get into the IRS e-services portal.
• Two caveats to the other documents getting approved:
  • They did approve my 2016 and 2015 tax return + foreign earnings statements.  Possibly since these are optional, and the most recent year is required, they are more strict about using transcripts when there is no W2.  Or they are only accepting transcripts despite what all their instructions say (would not surprise me at this moment).
  • Since my I-864 was approved, with my current income and liquid assets, I told the supervisor that it was pointless to add my parents as my household members.  He agreed and instructed me to add a note when resubmitting documents that I would not add my parents financial documents and I-864As, and to proceed despite the requests to do so. 
    • This last bit is the only thing that worries me, as it seems doing things that are not to the letter is getting me in trouble.

 

[NikLR 13,232]

I feel like the NVC is asking for different things than would be required at the consulate level.  Thanks for the update. 

[canadavisa22 202]

3 hours ago, MattAndOana said:

@canadavisa22 @peteagus @pushbrk @NikLR  If any of you are interested in how this played out, here is the run down:

• Amazingly, an NVC supervisor called me back.  Less amazingly, when the agent asked me what time I would like a call back, I said before 5pm (which is midnight here).  Obviously, he was just filling in a form, and I don't think "before xx:xx" was an option, so he chose "5:00pm".  The supervisor called me at exactly 5pm (midnight) last night.
• Supervisor review lasted 7 days.  They put our case there on Feb 27, and yesterday, March 6, they updated our case.
• Most agents I spoke to gave me an accurate representation of what was going to happen: they put me in supervisor review because they had to remove a joint sponsor.  This is exactly what happened: they removed my father as joint sponsor and my mother as his household member, and requested that they be added as my household members.
• The supervisor insisted that this was happening solely because we have the same address.
• All of my AOS documents were approved after supervisor review, except one: the refused my 2017 tax return and foreign earnings statement (I do not have W2s as I worked in a foreign country) and requested I replace that with a tax transcript.  I would have submitted transcripts in the first place, but the government shutdown meant I could not get into the IRS e-services portal.
• Two caveats to the other documents getting approved:
  • They did approve my 2016 and 2015 tax return + foreign earnings statements.  Possibly since these are optional, and the most recent year is required, they are more strict about using transcripts when there is no W2.  Or they are only accepting transcripts despite what all their instructions say (would not surprise me at this moment).
  • Since my I-864 was approved, with my current income and liquid assets, I told the supervisor that it was pointless to add my parents as my household members.  He agreed and instructed me to add a note when resubmitting documents that I would not add my parents financial documents and I-864As, and to proceed despite the requests to do so. 
    • This last bit is the only thing that worries me, as it seems doing things that are not to the letter is getting me in trouble.

 

Could you recap your situation? 

Is the reason you have the same address because you found work back in the US and would be living with your parents hence the same address?

I'm just curious because I also work abroad, will be returning to find work and be living with my parents. We also have liquid assets but I'd potentially like to use their income just in case. Would you advise not trying to do both then? That kind of seems where all the trouble started for you, but surely this must be extremely routine for people returning from abroad.

[MattAndOana 10]

Just now, canadavisa22 said:

Could you recap your situation? 

I live in Romania with my wife, work remote for a US company, and have kept my parents' address as my de facto US address since 2010 (i.e.: all bank accounts, credit cards, voting records, loans, taxes, and driver's license are current and registered at that address).  On my I-864, I put Romania as my physical address, US as my mailing address and listed US as my domicile (I cannot remember the details of why I chose this format, but I remember it being the most sensible thing to me at the time.)  We also listed their address as our intended address upon immigration, and included a signed affidavit from my parents attesting to the fact that they own the house and will let us stay there indefinitely when we arrive (as well as evidence of all my records with my US address to prove my intent to re-establish domicile).

 

In spite of all that evidence (which was all accepted in my AOS documentation by the way), everyone I spoke to at NVC, including the supervisor, could not understand that I don't currently live with my parents.  Whether or not that matters is a different debate, but it still seems to have led every one of them to the conclusion that my parents are essentially my household members.

 

6 minutes ago, canadavisa22 said:

Would you advise not trying to do both then?

I don't know what I would advise any more.  If I could go back and do things over, I would file myself as the sole sponsor and not even try for a joint sponsor.  That is considering what I know now though.  At the time, and at the advice of seasoned VJ members, I chose to go the belt and suspenders approach, which I thought would eliminate any doubt of my wife having sufficient financial support. I don't know if I would advise anyone to file the people currently living at their intended residence in the US as household members.  That seems counter to what NVC publicly advises, even though it lines up with what they have told me.  Perhaps there is something in my situation that is triggering this response specifically for me.

 

8 minutes ago, canadavisa22 said:

surely this must be extremely routine for people returning from abroad

Apparently NVC dealing with petitioners who live abroad with their spouses is the thing that is not so routine.  Really any number of things could have happened here that NVC is not telling me.  Maybe someone screwed up and tried to process my paperwork wrong and they had to put me into supervisor review to fix it.  Maybe mine and my dad's name are too close (we have the same middle and last name).  Maybe the fact that all four of us (me, wife, mom, dad) have the same last name and same US address is so uncommon these days, they figured we are one financial unit.  Who knows.  I am through try to understand or anticipate the nuances of this process.  I just hope they accept my tax transcript and don't try to force me to add my parents as household members, which is possible and not difficult, but seems absurd at this point.

[MattAndOana 10]

50 minutes ago, NikLR said:

I feel like the NVC is asking for different things than would be required at the consulate level.

Yes, and I feel like I was trying to anticipate what the consulate might ask me to do; and now that I've gone back on that and tried to provide what NVC requested, it worries me that the consulate will ask for a joint sponsor after the interview.  That will be a fun can of worms to open again.

[NikLR 13,232]

1 hour ago, MattAndOana said:

Yes, and I feel like I was trying to anticipate what the consulate might ask me to do; and now that I've gone back on that and tried to provide what NVC requested, it worries me that the consulate will ask for a joint sponsor after the interview.  That will be a fun can of worms to open again.

Bring your joint sponsor stuff to interview. 

[MattAndOana 10]

29 minutes ago, NikLR said:

Bring your joint sponsor stuff to interview.

Time to see about a rolling file cabinet.  😂 . But seriously though, I am absolutely doing that.  I'll take everything that I can in original and copy.  Probably print-outs of all the NVC messages too for good measure.

[MattAndOana 10]

On 3/7/2019 at 7:13 AM, NikLR said:

I feel like the NVC is asking for different things than would be required at the consulate level

Well, the plot thickens.  Today, we got case complete at NVC, so hooray!

 

But...we also got a note saying that I do not meet the financial requirements to sponsor my wife, and that the CO at the embassy would make the final decision.  They of course noted that I could prepare a joint sponsor to save time!  You have got to be kidding me!!!!!

 

For one, I make more than enough to cover the 125% poverty line requirements.  I also have liquid assets (proof of which I sent to NVC) that push my current yearly total over 100k.  How on earth do I not qualify as financial capable of supporting my wife?  I have a good job, zero debt, excellent credit, a rent-free place to live in the US and enough savings to get us through a year in case of emergency.  If I don't qualify, who does?!?

 

For the record, I am going to take my parents' documents with me, both as joint sponsor and as my household member, to the embassy.  It's absurd that it's come to this, but @NikLR is absolutely right, the NVC seems to be asking for VERY different things than would be required at the consulate level.  The worst part is the incompetence is starting to grate on my nerves.