Need to update I-864 for interview?

[elizabethquestion 13]

Hi all,

 

I just received my request for interview. Do I need to update the I-864? 

When I submitted, my husband had a low paying job and I had a higher paying job through OPT. Even though our combined income more than met the threshold, they didn't accept it due to my job being tied to my student visa. We got a joint sponsor which was accepted.

 

Now, my husband lost his job (due to COVID), and I have the same job on my new EAD. Am I able to re-submit and essentially sponsor myself, or would they still not accept that? If they won't accept that, do I still need to update the form to reflect my husband's income as 0 or does that not matter since we still have the joint sponsor?

 

Thanks!

[eckoin 211]

Interesting.  Also paging @Baba+7917 since they're in a similar boat. 

 

How long have you been employed with the same company?  If I were you, I would prepare two new forms: 

 

1. I-864 with your spouse's updated income, and your updated income.  

2. The sponsor's forms, if they were changed.  It'd be nice to get a fresh signed copy, but if it's identical and kind of a pain to do, you can just skip it. 

 

The interviewer will ask where you both work, and if anything changed.  You will answer truthfully, and let them know that you have an updated I-864 with your current household income.  They may not want it, because your sponsor's income is fine as is, and care not at all.  In that case, you could ask if you could replace the I-864s they have, with the updated one, that shows your current household income (bring six most recent paystubs and a letter from your employer similar to the one you originally submitted, presumably), and effectively remove your joint sponsor from the equation.  They may accept that or reject that... but you could certainly try, and definitely get an updated I-864 but don't volunteer it until they ask about your current employment.  

 

If, on the off chance, they don't ask about current employment, I would personally drop it. 

Edited October 26, 2020 by eckoin

[Baba+7917 0]

11 minutes ago, eckoin said:

Interesting.  Also paging @Baba+7917 since they're in a similar boat. 

 

How long have you been employed with the same company?  If I were you, I would prepare two new forms: 

 

1. I-864 with your spouse's updated income, and your updated income.  

2. The sponsor's forms, if they were changed.  It'd be nice to get a fresh signed copy, but if it's identical and kind of a pain to do, you can just skip it. 

 

The interviewer will ask where you both work, and if anything changed.  You will answer truthfully, and let them know that you have an updated I-864 with your current household income.  They may not want it, because your sponsor's income is fine as is, and care not at all.  In that case, you could ask if you could replace the I-864s they have, with the updated one, that shows your current household income (bring six most recent paystubs and a letter from your employer similar to the one you originally submitted, presumably), and effectively remove your joint sponsor from the equation.  They may accept that or reject that... but you could certainly try, and definitely get an updated I-864 but don't volunteer it until they ask about your current employment.  

 

If, on the off chance, they don't ask about current employment, I would personally drop it. 

@eckoin thanks for tagging me!

[elizabethquestion 13]

27 minutes ago, eckoin said:

Interesting.  Also paging @Baba+7917 since they're in a similar boat. 

 

How long have you been employed with the same company?  If I were you, I would prepare two new forms: 

 

1. I-864 with your spouse's updated income, and your updated income.  

2. The sponsor's forms, if they were changed.  It'd be nice to get a fresh signed copy, but if it's identical and kind of a pain to do, you can just skip it. 

 

The interviewer will ask where you both work, and if anything changed.  You will answer truthfully, and let them know that you have an updated I-864 with your current household income.  They may not want it, because your sponsor's income is fine as is, and care not at all.  In that case, you could ask if you could replace the I-864s they have, with the updated one, that shows your current household income (bring six most recent paystubs and a letter from your employer similar to the one you originally submitted, presumably), and effectively remove your joint sponsor from the equation.  They may accept that or reject that... but you could certainly try, and definitely get an updated I-864 but don't volunteer it until they ask about your current employment.  

 

If, on the off chance, they don't ask about current employment, I would personally drop it. 

Thanks, this is in line with what I was thinking - bring the updated form but don't offer it unless they ask. I have been at my job for 1.5 years and can certainly bring some more recent paystubs (I submitted them with the original application, too). Appreciate the advice!

[eckoin 211]

Just now, elizabethquestion said:

Thanks, this is in line with what I was thinking - bring the updated form but don't offer it unless they ask. I have been at my job for 1.5 years and can certainly bring some more recent paystubs (I submitted them with the original application, too). Appreciate the advice!

Gotcha - so it's been at least more than 1 year, and hopefully you have joint tax returns for 2019 that show a good bulk of that.  I would definitely go with your plan, but I'm 97% certain that this question will come up, and if it does, I don't see why you wouldn't throw it out there.  If there's any pushback, just let it go. 

 

I'm curious if you still have a copy of the RFE you received.  Was it specific to your income being tied to F status (some sort of OPT I assume), or was it a generic one?  Did you submit a letter from your employer? 

 

I ask because I've long read that OPT income is a sore spot for USCIS, but I've only seen one RFE directly related to it, so I'm curious.  I was kind of in your shoes when I applied, but it was a work status so they didn't seem to mind.  Just wondering!

[elizabethquestion 13]

7 minutes ago, eckoin said:

Gotcha - so it's been at least more than 1 year, and hopefully you have joint tax returns for 2019 that show a good bulk of that.  I would definitely go with your plan, but I'm 97% certain that this question will come up, and if it does, I don't see why you wouldn't throw it out there.  If there's any pushback, just let it go. 

 

I'm curious if you still have a copy of the RFE you received.  Was it specific to your income being tied to F status (some sort of OPT I assume), or was it a generic one?  Did you submit a letter from your employer? 

 

I ask because I've long read that OPT income is a sore spot for USCIS, but I've only seen one RFE directly related to it, so I'm curious.  I was kind of in your shoes when I applied, but it was a work status so they didn't seem to mind.  Just wondering!

I don't think I have a copy of the RFE but it was generic about my sponsor (husband)'s income not being sufficient. It didn't acknowledge my income at all, even though I submitted a letter from my employer, 6 months of paystubs, etc. So, I assumed they just wouldn't consider it at all because it was OPT. 

[eckoin 211]

Just now, elizabethquestion said:

I don't think I have a copy of the RFE but it was generic about my sponsor (husband)'s income not being sufficient. It didn't acknowledge my income at all, even though I submitted a letter from my employer, 6 months of paystubs, etc. So, I assumed they just wouldn't consider it at all because it was OPT. 

Huh, good to know.  There's one RFE floating around from years ago, that had a list of all accepted statuses for this sort of purpose, and only OPT was omitted.  Makes sense.  Good luck!

[Emily8460 13]

On 10/26/2020 at 10:07 PM, elizabethquestion said:

Thanks, this is in line with what I was thinking - bring the updated form but don't offer it unless they ask. I have been at my job for 1.5 years and can certainly bring some more recent paystubs (I submitted them with the original application, too). Appreciate the advice!

Hey what ever happened? did the officer ask? Did you give updated i864? We have a similar situation for our interview Wednesday 

[elizabethquestion 13]

25 minutes ago, Emily8460 said:

Hey what ever happened? did the officer ask? Did you give updated i864? We have a similar situation for our interview Wednesday 

Hi - I don’t think he ever asked and I don’t remember giving an updated form. I think since we had a joint sponsor, he wasn’t concerned about our work situations and never asked for an update. 

[Chancy 6,241]

On 8/21/2022 at 8:03 PM, Emily8460 said:

We have a similar situation for our interview Wednesday

 

Based on your post history, your interview will be a visa interview at a consulate.  Not the same as OP who had AOS interview in the US.  USCIS and DOS follow different rules.