Income Requirements not met?

[Seino 2]

Hey there, 

 

First time poster but somewhat deep into the K-1 Visa Journey. So my Fiancee and I just got our approval notice (Woo!) and now I'm just waiting for a letter from the embassy or...NVC I think? Anyway, we didn't know our approval was going to come up so soon, since they told us they'd extended our timeframe by over 6 months. 
Because of this, my Fiancee decided to come over to spend some time here (since I told her I was giving up my country to be in hers, I wanted her to properly experience mine) so she agreed and booked a 3~ month trip to come and stay with me. She quit her job but they agreed that if she reapplied she'd get through nice and quick to get re-employed. 
Anyway we got our approval, and now we're in the "Home-Stretch" it feels like but now we have a new worry; Income Requirements!

 

So my Fiancee is currently unemployed, and we'll be in a household of four (five including me). We're not sure how they're gonna feel about my fiancee's income as my sponsor. Her family's earnings (without hers) are at about $30,000/y but obviously we're a little worried as they may not take kindly to the insistence of my partner that she'll be employed the minute she gets back. She has some savings but nothing substantial.

What do you guys recommend? Any reassurances?

Should we put her back on a plane and delay our interview until she has a job to show earnings for? Should we ride it out on current savings/earnings and not worry too much? Get a joint sponsor from her family that can definitely afford me (this member would be outside the household, so would that then affect the household size we have to account for???)?
Its all quite complicated so if anyone has some insight that'd be great! 😁

 

- Cal y Kali

Edited July 7, 2023 by Seino
Title Specificity

[Boiler 45,482]

You are in luck London allows you to self sponsor a K1.

[Seino 2]

@BoilerGosh I'm sorry, I actually don't know what that means. As in I can use my own income? But I don't have a job lined up in the US yet.

Edited July 7, 2023 by Seino

[Boiler 45,482]

You will not be able to work for a long time, you can show your savings.

[Seino 2]

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

You will not be able to work for a long time, you can show your savings.

Ah right okay, well unfortunately that option is out as my savings are insubstantial and definitely do not meet the yearly wage requirement for a US household 😅

[Boiler 45,482]

They only seem to want enough for 90 days, now you may then have an issue with filing to adjust, do you have a Joint Sponsor lined up.?

[Seino 2]

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

They only seem to want enough for 90 days, now you may then have an issue with filing to adjust, do you have a Joint Sponsor lined up.?

So any guidlines anywhere on how much they'd need from me? 

 

We have a couple of ideas for Joint Sponsors

Would they need to be able to sponsor just my yearly wage amount or the whole household? 

 

Sorry for the questions, just this is the first I've heard of slef-sponsorship

[Boiler 45,482]

It would be their family and you

 

I do not know what the current amount the Consulate look for when self sponsoring, it has been a few years since I have seen it mentioned. I would think 10k would be enough.

 

[Seino 2]

4 minutes ago, Boiler said:

It would be their family and you

 

I do not know what the current amount the Consulate look for when self sponsoring, it has been a few years since I have seen it mentioned. I would think 10k would be enough.

 

Alright so it seems likely that self-sponsorship is not going to be an option for me. 

 

I suppose the final real question I have is, my partner lives with her mother and a couple of sisters, but none of them rely on her financially, they still count as her household, right? And she'd need to prove she can fully support all of them, as well as myself? 

[SalishSea 17,824]

2 hours ago, Seino said:

So any guidlines anywhere on how much they'd need from me? 

 

We have a couple of ideas for Joint Sponsors

Would they need to be able to sponsor just my yearly wage amount or the whole household? 

 

Sorry for the questions, just this is the first I've heard of slef-sponsorship

Hopefully you realize you won’t be working for up to 8 months?    

[Seino 2]

Just now, SalishSea said:

Hopefully you realize you won’t be working for up to 8 months?    

Yes, that's fine we know that. It's more that; that may not even have the chance to be an issue if we can't afford to get to that step. 

[SalishSea 17,824]

Just now, Seino said:

Yes, that's fine we know that. It's more that; that may not even have the chance to be an issue if we can't afford to get to that step. 

To be rather blunt, it wasn’t smart for her to quit her job to be with you right before the interview and AOS.  Maybe you two are very young, but that is not the move most people make when undertaking to sponsor an immigrant.  
 

Have you guys looked into the cost of the AOS/ROC fees, which are set to have massive increases this year?   US immigration is not cheap, and if you’ll be unemployed here for the better part of a year, you really need to think hard about affording it all.  It will cost thousands of dollars.

 

While it’s true that London is not as hard-nosed about sponsorship as some consulates, the reality of poverty as a new resident in the US sucks.

[Teedee428 11]

49 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

To be rather blunt, it wasn’t smart for her to quit her job to be with you right before the interview and AOS.  Maybe you two are very young, but that is not the move most people make when undertaking to sponsor an immigrant.  
 

Have you guys looked into the cost of the AOS/ROC fees, which are set to have massive increases this year?   US immigration is not cheap, and if you’ll be unemployed here for the better part of a year, you really need to think hard about affording it all.  It will cost thousands of dollars.

 

While it’s true that London is not as hard-nosed about sponsorship as some consulates, the reality of poverty as a new resident in the US sucks.

Couldn’t agree more. It is really tough undertaking immigration expenses without a job.

[Redro 4,611]

10 hours ago, Seino said:

So my Fiancee is currently unemployed, and we'll be in a household of four (five including me). We're not sure how they're gonna feel about my fiancee's income as my sponsor. Her family's earnings (without hers) are at about $30,000/y but obviously we're a little worried as they may not take kindly to the insistence of my partner that she'll be employed the minute she gets back. She has some savings but nothing substantial.

 

- Cal y Kali

How many people does your partner include when they file taxes?

Or are they a dependent on someone else's taxes? 

Household members if they file taxes separately do not need to be counted in the affidavit of support. 

 

In other advice, I would have your partner move back to the US ASAP and get a job. 

If you do not have substantial savings how are you going to afford the move to the US (plane ticket, maybe a second car or paying for uber to get around (if you cant drive), living expenses and adjustment of status packet)?

 

[beloved_dingo 1,976]

2 hours ago, Redro said:

How many people does your partner include when they file taxes?

Or are they a dependent on someone else's taxes? 

Household members if they file taxes separately do not need to be counted in the affidavit of support. 

 

In other advice, I would have your partner move back to the US ASAP and get a job. 

If you do not have substantial savings how are you going to afford the move to the US (plane ticket, maybe a second car or paying for uber to get around (if you cant drive), living expenses and adjustment of status packet)?

 

This is correct. @Seino you and your fiancée need to make sure you calculate the household size correctly, as step one, so you know how much income is needed to satisfy the requirements. There's a huge difference between what is required for a household of 5 vs. a household of 2. 

 

You can delay things a bit, if needed, at this stage. We did that with our K-1 because my partner was visiting me in the U.S. when we received "Packet 3". See my timeline below. We waited until the day he was flying home to send Packet 3 back (2 months later), which helped with the timing of everything. Now this was Australia and all consulates are a little different, but I've heard it's possible to delay this way pretty consistently across the board. 

 

If I were her, I would go ahead and reach out to her old employer to get the ball rolling there. Considering she is a former employee in good standing, she made be able to get "rehired" and get a start date before she even leaves the UK. Then fly back to the U.S. to restart her job and start getting paystubs.

 

You can also use a joint sponsor, as previously noted. I would still encourage her to pursue getting her job back, and use a joint sponsor as a Plan B.