FE review note for evidence of income

[Fabio R S 22]

Hi everyone,

 

I submitted my initial documents on 01/28 and got an RFE on 04/15 with two messages:

 

1. "Please submit evidence of income"

 

2. "This case does not meet the minimum income requirement to sponsor the intending immigrants. To avoid delays, an additional Affidavit of Support Form I-864 from a joint sponsor may be submitted. For more information visit https://nvc.state.gov/aos. The consular officer will make a decision regarding this requirement at the time of the interview. For more information, please visit https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p."

 

I am the petitioner sponsoring my wife who lives in Brazil.  I am trying to qualify on assets (Fidelity stock portfolio > 100k) since my current income is below the poverty threshold. Apparently, in those cases you have to submit a document under the PROOF OF CURRENT OR SELF-EMPLOYMENT category and that seems to be why we got the RFE.

 

Since I´m in the process of moving to the US, my current income comes solely from a rental property in Brazil (around USD$24000/year).  I'm planning to submit my lease contract and a statement from the management company showing the rents I receive as proof of income.

 

I´m also trying to avoid the complication of adding a joint sponsor since all my other documents have already been accepted.

 

I have the following questions for anyone who has gone through this process:

 

1) What would be good evidence to upload for rental income? Is a lease contract (translated) and an english statement on official letterhead from the real estate management company confirming my rental income enough to at least get a DQ?

2) Can the NVC actually require a joint sponsor or will that only potentially come up at the consulate interview? All my documents have already been accepted so I would prefer to add the joint sponsor information only after the DQ

3) If you had a similar RFE, how long did it take them to review the evidence of income and get a DQ?

 

Thanks everyone.

    

[Jess13 0]

Hi there, what conclusion did you come to? I have the same problem, only I don’t have any income, my husband is a contractor and his income will continue. Received the same note. Not sure how to proceed. 

[Fabio R S 22]

5 hours ago, Jess13 said:

Hi there, what conclusion did you come to? I have the same problem, only I don’t have any income, my husband is a contractor and his income will continue. Received the same note. Not sure how to proceed. 

I wrote a letter explaining that my main source of income was from a rental property in Brazil. I also included a letter from the management company confirming the payments that I received over the last year and a copy of the rental contract. 

I'm still waiting for a response from the NVC though. My submission date was April 21.

[Lil bear 4,218]

5 hours ago, Jess13 said:

Hi there, what conclusion did you come to? I have the same problem, only I don’t have any income, my husband is a contractor and his income will continue. Received the same note. Not sure how to proceed. 

Simplest is to get a joint sponsor. Avoids delays at both NVC and post interview 

[Fabio R S 22]

4 minutes ago, Lil bear said:

Simplest is to get a joint sponsor. Avoids delays at both NVC and post interview

Even with a joint sponsor, you still need to submit something under the "evidence of income" category if you filed your taxes jointly, even if you have no income. Unfortunately, it wouldn't avoid this RFE.

 

The NVC basically does an administrative review of your case (proper documentation), they don't judge the merit of the application. That is done by the consulate. I spoke with the NVC on the phone and they said they don't even review the information on assets, this is done strictly by the consulate officer.

 

A sponsor will definitely help when you go to your interview though.

[Lil bear 4,218]

25 minutes ago, Fabio R S said:

Even with a joint sponsor, you still need to submit something under the "evidence of income" category if you filed your taxes jointly, even if you have no income. Unfortunately, it wouldn't avoid this RFE.

 

The NVC basically does an administrative review of your case (proper documentation), they don't judge the merit of the application. That is done by the consulate. I spoke with the NVC on the phone and they said they don't even review the information on assets, this is done strictly by the consulate officer.

 

A sponsor will definitely help when you go to your interview though.

Correct. The petitioner is always the primary sponsor even if they do not meet the financial guidelines 

 

The instructions for the I864 give direction for using assets and providing documentation so if you want to amend your I864 follow those instructions 

 

The NVC is the “clearing house” .. the IO decided what they accept for sponsorship and if your assets are acceptable or a joint sponsor is needed  

 

By having a joint sponsor in place you avoid delays after the interview if the IO determines that a joint sponsor is needed. If the IO accepts your I864 as acceptable, then the joint sponsor “goes away” .. and you get to shred that paperwork or hand it back to the joint sponsor 

 

Sometimes the NVC will not DQ until the joint sponsor paperwork is added to the case.. other times it will DQ and  state that the paperwork myst be carried to the interview. What instructions were on the RFE ?

 

At NVC documents  accepted does not equal DQ

Edited June 23, 2022 by Lil bear

[Fabio R S 22]

Quick update.

 

Yesterday my case got DQd! 

 

As I mentioned, I did not add a joint sponsor to the CEAC site but will bring a joint sponsor packet to the interview just in case.