Joint Sponsor Household size / poverty guideline (merged)

[NeilW 9]

We are going to be using a Joint Sponsor for our visa as my wife is not domiciled in the USA currently (we live together in the UK and have done for 8 years).

 

Our joint sponsor will be my mother-in-law who does live and work in the USA. One of the proofs required for joint sponsor is "Proof of US Status".

 

I was planning to use her passport for this, however, it suddenly occurred to me that we would not be able to bring the original passport to the interview stage (as our interview will be in London, whereas my mother-in-law is in the US) which appears to be a requirement. Does anyone have advice on this point? Should we consider a different type of proof that we could keep here for a while such as Birth Certificate?

 

I suppose I'm kind of hoping that just my wife's passport as main sponsor will be enough. Probably not though.

[NeilW 9]

We are using a joint sponsor for our visa as my wife is not domiciled in the US (as we have lived together in the UK for 8 years)

 

I have a question about the salary requirements to meet the poverty guideline.

 

My joint sponsor (my mother-in-law) is living with her husband (my father-in-law) and one of her daughters (my sister-in-law, age 30). So the number of adults actually living in their house is 3. Adding me as the applicant into the mix, does this mean the household size should be declared as 4 on the I-864, and therefore her (my joint sponsor) salary must be in excess of $34,687 as according to this page: https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p

 

One question regards my sister-in-law. Whilst living with her parents, technically not a dependent as she does earn a full time wage. So maybe the household size is 3 (including me?)

 

Many thanks for your advice.

[NeilW 9]

My wife (my sponsor, a US citizen) has lived with me in the UK for 8 years and therefore her current country of domicile is not the USA.

 

According to the I-864 instructions, this is ok as she intends "in good faith to reestablish her domicile in the United States no later than the immigrant's admission".

 

So my question is, in Part 4 of the I-864, should we put the sponsors address as our address in the UK, and should we put question 5 (country of domicile) as USA or UK?

 

Thanks

[Redro 4,612]

Have you written a letter stating your wife's intent to re-establish domicile?

We are at NVC right now and put Korea as domicile but wrote a letter showing proof my USC husband has several ties to the US and intends to move back before/with me...  Haven't been DQ'ed yet but I know what matters most is the interview at the consulate. 

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by Kor2USA

[pushbrk 13,167]

7 hours ago, NeilW said:

We are using a joint sponsor for our visa as my wife is not domiciled in the US (as we have lived together in the UK for 8 years)

 

I have a question about the salary requirements to meet the poverty guideline.

 

My joint sponsor (my mother-in-law) is living with her husband (my father-in-law) and one of her daughters (my sister-in-law, age 30). So the number of adults actually living in their house is 3. Adding me as the applicant into the mix, does this mean the household size should be declared as 4 on the I-864, and therefore her (my joint sponsor) salary must be in excess of $34,687 as according to this page: https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p

 

One question regards my sister-in-law. Whilst living with her parents, technically not a dependent as she does earn a full time wage. So maybe the household size is 3 (including me?)

 

Many thanks for your advice.

The household size is three.  This would be clear from reading the form itself and its instructions.

 

Your wife provides an I-864, even if her income is zero.  One of her parents (the one with the most income) provides an I-864, and the other parent provides an I-864a even if THEIR income is zero.

[pushbrk 13,167]

7 hours ago, NeilW said:

We are going to be using a Joint Sponsor for our visa as my wife is not domiciled in the USA currently (we live together in the UK and have done for 8 years).

 

Our joint sponsor will be my mother-in-law who does live and work in the USA. One of the proofs required for joint sponsor is "Proof of US Status".

 

I was planning to use her passport for this, however, it suddenly occurred to me that we would not be able to bring the original passport to the interview stage (as our interview will be in London, whereas my mother-in-law is in the US) which appears to be a requirement. Does anyone have advice on this point? Should we consider a different type of proof that we could keep here for a while such as Birth Certificate?

 

I suppose I'm kind of hoping that just my wife's passport as main sponsor will be enough. Probably not though.

No, not enough.  Photocopies of MIL and FIL's passport data pages plus evidence they live in the USA, such as a utility bill etc. is what is needed.

[Ontarkie 14,539]

~~Three threads merged together. PLease keep related questions together. it helps members give the best possible answers when all questions are together.~~

[NeilW 9]

15 hours ago, pushbrk said:

No, not enough.  Photocopies of MIL and FIL's passport data pages plus evidence they live in the USA, such as a utility bill etc. is what is needed.

This doesn't address my question.

 

The question was, will I need to present my MIL's actual passport at the interview, given she is in the US and the interview will be in London.

[NeilW 9]

15 hours ago, pushbrk said:

The household size is three.  This would be clear from reading the form itself and its instructions.

 

Your wife provides an I-864, even if her income is zero.  One of her parents (the one with the most income) provides an I-864, and the other parent provides an I-864a even if THEIR income is zero.

Why do we need to provide an I-864a for the other parent - we're not using both parents as joint sponsor, just one of them.

[pushbrk 13,167]

7 hours ago, NeilW said:

This doesn't address my question.

 

The question was, will I need to present my MIL's actual passport at the interview, given she is in the US and the interview will be in London.

I think the word "photocopies" addresses your question.  Only the visa applicant presents an actual passport during a visa interview.

[pushbrk 13,167]

7 hours ago, NeilW said:

Why do we need to provide an I-864a for the other parent - we're not using both parents as joint sponsor, just one of them.

Because although it is not a USCIS requirement, it is typically an informal requirement from a Consular Officer.  The affidavit of support is not just a statement of financial means.  It's also and PRIMARILY a contract.  When a joint sponsor files a joint tax return with a spouse, it is best practice for the spouse to provide an I-864 and applicable supporting documentation.  You might get away with not doing so, but if you don't, there could be significant delay in getting the visa issue while you respond to the request for it, and wait in another queue to have it evaluated by senior Consular Staff.  (As they say in Texas, this ain't my first rodeo.)

[NeilW 9]

On 4/15/2022 at 10:45 PM, pushbrk said:

Because although it is not a USCIS requirement, it is typically an informal requirement from a Consular Officer.  The affidavit of support is not just a statement of financial means.  It's also and PRIMARILY a contract.  When a joint sponsor files a joint tax return with a spouse, it is best practice for the spouse to provide an I-864 and applicable supporting documentation.  You might get away with not doing so, but if you don't, there could be significant delay in getting the visa issue while you respond to the request for it, and wait in another queue to have it evaluated by senior Consular Staff.  (As they say in Texas, this ain't my first rodeo.)

Thanks for this advice, we'll do the I-864a for the spouse as well.

[NeilW 9]

On 4/15/2022 at 10:45 PM, pushbrk said:

Because although it is not a USCIS requirement, it is typically an informal requirement from a Consular Officer.  The affidavit of support is not just a statement of financial means.  It's also and PRIMARILY a contract.  When a joint sponsor files a joint tax return with a spouse, it is best practice for the spouse to provide an I-864 and applicable supporting documentation.  You might get away with not doing so, but if you don't, there could be significant delay in getting the visa issue while you respond to the request for it, and wait in another queue to have it evaluated by senior Consular Staff.  (As they say in Texas, this ain't my first rodeo.)

One of my other questions was what to put in Part 4 question 5. My wife lives in the UK, we will be able to demonstrate intention to move to the US, all the same, should we put her country of domicile as UK or US?

[pushbrk 13,167]

3 hours ago, NeilW said:

One of my other questions was what to put in Part 4 question 5. My wife lives in the UK, we will be able to demonstrate intention to move to the US, all the same, should we put her country of domicile as UK or US?

US, is my advice, assuming she still has open accounts and driver license, etc.  You'll still need evidence of intent to re-establish domicile but London is not Montreal.  Not such a big issue there.