Can Immigrant Spouse Income Satisfy Support Requirement?

[CP7 0]

Good evening,

I would really appreciate it if anyone could share their opinion/experiences on related current acceptable trends for a married couple in a scenario similar to the one I explained below, petitioning for a foreign spouse’s permanent residency.

 

It has been a very strange past year and a half due to Covid.

I would like to know what if any changes have occurred to the adjustment of status/permanent residency application process due to what Covid has done to our society.

In the past, normally one would petition for adjustment of status and they would support their spouse and provide stability and security for them and demonstrate that in their petition.

I am curious to know have there been areas of the process that the requirements have become easier to satisfy or are more flexible when considering one’s relatives immigration through marriage petition?  Or have they become stricter?

 

The scenario I am in is a little complicated due to Covid and I would like someone’s opinion if my scenario and future petition would possibly set off any red flags or possibly be denied and what adjustments could I make to avoid a possible scenario or denial?

 

My scenario is as follows:

I am a natural born American citizen.

I was once married abroad to a foreign national in 2007 and successfully completed the K-1 visa process and adjusted it to US permanent residency.  After a couple of years, I was tired of the same job and same city and I wanted to relocate.  As crazy as it sounds, we decided to leave the USA and live abroad.  She surrendered her green card since we no longer needed it.  Sadly, after about 7 years of marriage, she didn’t want to have children and we seemed to want different things in life so we decided to go separate ways and got divorced. 

Eventually, I returned to the USA and have lived here ever since.

 

I currently am engaged to an amazing woman and my fiancé studies at a university and legally works with accounting, however coincidentally she is not an American citizen.

I would like to know have the permanent residency requirements been looked at differently by adjudicators since our current economy and everyday life have been far from a normal year due to Covid?  I ask this because coincidentally I was laid off from my job right before Covid.  I began studying and developing a business plan and developing products.  I was in the process of organizing and starting a brewery business but then the entire country got shut down in the middle of launch and after months of waiting for things to improve, they only got worse and I decided to go in a different direction.   So I decided instead of trying to start a business that relied on public interaction and exposure during a hectic worldwide situation, to not let the down time keep me from accomplishing something good for my family.  So I utilized the scenario Covid had created to give back to my family and help out on my family’s farm and renovate and transform it into something less labor intensive, more lucrative and with a brighter future.  I also provided care for my nieces and nephews since Covid created a huge mess for working parents and school and daycare and the workplace.   During that time is when I met my fiancé. 

 

Luckily, Covid didn’t have an effect on my fiancé and she works full time and studies and together we were ok.

Considering what Covid had done to mine as well as many other people’s lives, is a combined income viewed as acceptable in regards to the proof of financial support/income requirement?

I collected unemployment and I imagine that normally doesn’t look attractive on an affidavit of support petition.  What is your opinion?  Or doesn’t it really make a difference since they are more focused on and concerned about a valid, strong and happy marriage?

 

Also I would like to know if I were to petition for adjustment of status/permanent residency for my future wife, would our combined income be considered to satisfy the income requirement since she is already legally here in the usa and working?  How would it be viewed by an adjudicator that my foreign future wife makes more money in the USA than I do at the moment?

 

If my Affidavit of Support didn’t satisfy the income requirement, would it really matter since my wife currently earns 2-3 times the requirement?  How would this look to an adjudicator viewing our case and deciding whether or not to deny our request for permanent residency? 

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

All the best, CP

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

This is what USCIS states regarding your question about income for sponsorship:

 

"You may count the income and assets of members of your household who are related to you by birth, marriage, or adoption. To use their income you must have listed them as dependents on your most recent federal tax return or they must have lived with you for the last 6 months. They must also complete a Form I-864A, Contract Between Sponsor and Household Member. If the relative you are sponsoring meets these criteria you may include the value of their income and assets, but the immigrant does not need to complete Form I-864A unless he or she has accompanying family members. You may count the assets of the relatives you are sponsoring."

 

Source: https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/affidavit-of-support

Edited September 5, 2021 by Allaboutwaiting

[HRQX 4,145]

8 hours ago, CP7 said:

would our combined income be considered to satisfy the income requirement since she is already legally here in the usa and working?

What is your fiancé current status (i.e. OPT or something else)? As long as she has USCIS authorization to work then she can count her income on your I-864 or by using Form I-864A: https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=13f0fd7348c74daa62b9c23be6ba07a6&mc=true&node=se8.1.213a_11&rgn=div8 see definition of "Household income"

 

AOS applicants that don't have USCIS authorization to work are the ones that cannot have their income count; an example:

Edited September 5, 2021 by HRQX

[Wuozopo 4,293]

7 hours ago, CP7 said:

If my Affidavit of Support didn’t satisfy the income requirement, would it really matter since my wife currently earns 2-3 times the requirement?  How would this look to an adjudicator viewing our case and deciding whether or not to deny our request for permanent residency? 

There are certain support requirements in place by immigration law that you either meet or don’t meet. Covid circumstances didn’t change that. An adjudicator doesn’t make a decision based on your unfortunate circumstances, or which spouse makes more money, or if he wants to give a nice guy a break. It is not a subjective decision so he’s only considering if your affidavit of support form I-864 is sufficient. 
 

If you will read the actual instructions for Form I-864 ( https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf ) you will see page 10 starts with What if I Cannot Meet the Income Requirements?

 

Then on that same page there is the part significant to your situation—

 

Can the Intending Immigrant Help Me Meet the Income Requirements?
If certain conditions are met, an intending immigrant’s income can help you meet the income requirement. If the intending immigrant is your spouse, his or her income can be included if it will continue from the same source after he or she obtains lawful permanent resident status.

 

She does not have to complete a form I-864A (mentioned in a post above) because she is your spouse. See page 8–

If you included the income of the intending immigrant who is your spouse (he or she would be counted in Part
5., Item Number 1.), you must provide evidence that his/her income will continue from the current source after obtaining lawful permanent resident status. He or she does not need to complete Form I-864A unless he or she has accompanying children.

 

Your task is documenting with your I-864 , her income and her work authorization (what shows her permission to work in the US),  and that the income will continue from the same source.