Is Form I-864A Needed For This Situation?

[Canucklehead 102]

Hey all, my wife (sponsor) and I (applicant) are currently awaiting our interview appointment letter. I'm preparing all documents in order to be as ready as possible once the notification comes in. In looking over the requirements for the interview in Montreal here, I noticed the following:

 

If the joint sponsor’s tax return includes a spouse, then the spouse must complete Form I-864A.

 

We did not include Form-I864A when we submitted our NVC documents, because we had planned on only using the income from our joint sponsor (not his spouse). If we did not include her income at all in our initial application - do we still need to have her (the spouse of our joint sponsor) complete Form I-864A?

 

I'm also hoping we didn't slip up and forget to include the I-864A form for her when submitting docs in Step 9, and thus now might have our interview delayed while we submit that. If that's the case, please let me know too!

 

Thank you for all your assistance

[Chancy 6,241]

39 minutes ago, Canucklehead said:

We did not include Form-I864A when we submitted our NVC documents, because we had planned on only using the income from our joint sponsor (not his spouse). If we did not include her income at all in our initial application - do we still need to have her (the spouse of our joint sponsor) complete Form I-864A?

 

Technically, an I-864A is not required from the spouse if the joint sponsor's income alone is enough to qualify.  But, some consul officers ask for an I-864A anyway from the spouse, especially if they filed taxes MFJ.  You may insist on not including the spouse's income, but if the CO asks for an I-864A, then it becomes required.  Wait for what the CO will say at the visa interview.  If you want to avoid delay, prepare an I-864A from the joint sponsor's spouse, but do not submit unless the CO asks for it.

 

[Canucklehead 102]

2 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

Technically, an I-864A is not required from the spouse if the joint sponsor's income alone is enough to qualify.  But, some consul officers ask for an I-864A anyway from the spouse, especially if they filed taxes MFJ.  You may insist on not including the spouse's income, but if the CO asks for an I-864A, then it becomes required.  Wait for what the CO will say at the visa interview.  If you want to avoid delay, prepare an I-864A from the joint sponsor's spouse, but do not submit unless the CO asks for it.

 

Thank you very much for your feedback! That makes a lot of sense and we will go with your advice on this (prepare an I-864A, but only present it if asked).

[pushbrk 12,883]

6 hours ago, Canucklehead said:

Thank you very much for your feedback! That makes a lot of sense and we will go with your advice on this (prepare an I-864A, but only present it if asked).

Usually, Chancy and I agree on such things, but this time, my advice would be that since you are already in the interview queue, adding the "required" (according to your notice from Montreal) I-864a will not delay the interview, but waiting until asked for it AT the interview will definitely cause a delay.  You'll be in another queue for secondary review.

[Canucklehead 102]

15 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Usually, Chancy and I agree on such things, but this time, my advice would be that since you are already in the interview queue, adding the "required" (according to your notice from Montreal) I-864a will not delay the interview, but waiting until asked for it AT the interview will definitely cause a delay.  You'll be in another queue for secondary review.

Hey pushbrk, thank you for your input! I had read that adding/editing your application once submitted will then cause you to go back to the end of the queue. That would be my only concern regarding adding the I-864A to our online application now - is this concern valid or no?

[pushbrk 12,883]

3 minutes ago, Canucklehead said:

Hey pushbrk, thank you for your input! I had read that adding/editing your application once submitted will then cause you to go back to the end of the queue. That would be my only concern regarding adding the I-864A to our online application now - is this concern valid or no?

Possibly.  To avoid that concern, add it AFTER you get your interview date, but before the interview.

[Canucklehead 102]

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

Possibly.  To avoid that concern, add it AFTER you get your interview date, but before the interview.

Awesome, will do. Thank you!