Assets not enough to "overcome public charge grounds of inadmissibility for visa issuance"

[NineDev 5]

Hey everyone,

Our case has been steadily progressing without any issues until right now. We managed to get an interview secured with NVC, but we recently got an email saying "The income reported as stated on form I-864, I-864A is insufficient to overcome the public charge grounds of inadmissibility for visa issuance." We were pretty sure we did all the right calculations: my husband made approximately only 11k last year (personal reasons), and we needed a 24k yearly income. We read that we needed to match the difference times five, so around 64k. Together, our assets are around 67k, with the majority being on my side (around 60k on my bank account in euros, if that makes any difference). It's over the threshold required, but we were asked to find a sponsor to help us.
Unfortunately, while his parents make plenty enough when pooled together with my husband (they work a family business), they don't hit the 32k threshold by themselves. We're not sure we can ask anyone else in his family either, as they can be on the close-minded side of religious, and might not want to sponsor a gay couple.
We could probably scrounge together another 5 to 7k, but we're not sure if that would make any difference, and we don't know if sending my 60k to his parents so they can use it in their affidavit would do anything either.
Is there anything we can possibly do?

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

If you already have an interview already scheduled, then the Consulate Officer will make the decision about financial sponsorship during or after the interview.  If you have accurately reported more-than-enough sufficient liquid assets on the I-864, then I don't see a big issue.  However, you could get an income-based qualified US citizen or Green Card holder to become a joint sponsor.  It doesn't have to be family. I would not try shifting assets around at this stage.  Good luck.

Edited September 3, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[Mike E 11,739]

21 minutes ago, NineDev said:

my husband made approximately only 11k last year (personal reasons), and

How much will he earn in between now (September 4, 2023) and September 4, 2024?

 

[NineDev 5]

5 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

If you already have an interview already scheduled, then the Consulate Officer will make the decision about financial sponsorship during or after the interview.  If you have accurately reported more-than-enough sufficient liquid assets on the I-864, then I don't see a big issue.  However, you could get an income-based qualified US citizen or Green Card holder to become a joint sponsor.  It doesn't have to be family. I would not try shifting assets around at this stage.  Good luck.

So is the message we got just a warning that it could be refused, and not an actual certainty? That's a bit of a relief, even if it's still pretty stressful. We'll see if we can find someone just to be sure, but knowing it's not all over reassures us a bit.

 

1 minute ago, Mike E said:

How much will he earn in between now (September 4, 2023) and September 4, 2024?

 

We can't say for sure, but probably around the same, maybe up to 15 or 20k? He works with his family and has a private income (the money we declare), and his family basically covers all cost and everything for his work at their business.

Thank you both for your quick replies

[Mike E 11,739]

9 minutes ago, NineDev said:

We can't say for sure, but probably around the same, maybe up to 15 or 20k? He works with his family and has a private income (the money we declare), and his family basically covers all cost and everything for his work at their business

Pretty easy to find a job in the U.S. that pays $15/hour or $30,000 a year. I suggest he get a new job or you find a joint sponsor with an adequate current income, and 3 years of  stable or steadily increasing income, all from W-2s.

[NineDev 5]

28 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Pretty easy to find a job in the U.S. that pays $15/hour or $30,000 a year. I suggest he get a new job or you find a joint sponsor with an adequate current income, and 3 years of  stable or steadily increasing income, all from W-2s.

Of course, that's eventually our plan. Unfortunately his family business relies in great part on him ever since his father had a heart attack and isn't able to work as much anymore, so leaving isn't something easy for him to do. We assumed they'd be able to help us, so it was worth it, but looks like it's not the case which is a shame.

It's hard to find a sponsor since a lot of the people I've asked get scared when looking on google the government can sue them for money too. Definitely a tough spot to be in.

[Boiler 45,486]

Certainly would not surprise me if they want a joint sponsor on the scenario you described 

[NineDev 5]

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Certainly would not surprise me if they want a joint sponsor on the scenario you described 

Yeah, I can assume so. Without family or friends able to help, and the business tying us down, this is the probably the worst case scenario for us, which is a shame with how smooth everything went up til then.
 

Edited September 3, 2023 by NineDev

[JeanneAdil 6,498]

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf

page 10  of I 864 instrctions

Part 7. If your total household income does not meet the requirement, you may submit evidence of the value of your assets, the sponsored immigrant’s assets.

However, if you are a U.S. citizen and you are sponsoring your spouse or child age 18 years of age or older, the total value of your assets must only be equal to at least three times the difference

 

Sincerely,  i would still have the joint sponsor

Very sorry for your father's illness/ may he be on the road to recovery

[NineDev 5]

1 minute ago, JeanneAdil said:

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf

page 10  of I 864 instrctions

Part 7. If your total household income does not meet the requirement, you may submit evidence of the value of your assets, the sponsored immigrant’s assets.

However, if you are a U.S. citizen and you are sponsoring your spouse or child age 18 years of age or older, the total value of your assets must only be equal to at least three times the difference

 

Sincerely,  i would still have the joint sponsor

Very sorry for your father's illness/ may he be on the road to recovery

Thank you for the well wishes!
Our shared assets are above five times the difference (since mine is outside of the US, i think it's 5x), so that should technically work. We're working on finding a sponsor, but no luck so far.

[flicks1998 1,044]

1 hour ago, NineDev said:

So is the message we got just a warning that it could be refused, and not an actual certainty? That's a bit of a relief, even if it's still pretty stressful. We'll see if we can find someone just to be sure, but knowing it's not all over reassures us a bit.

 

We can't say for sure, but probably around the same, maybe up to 15 or 20k? He works with his family and has a private income (the money we declare), and his family basically covers all cost and everything for his work at their business.

Thank you both for your quick replies

 

Can you provide more clarity on the line in bold?  When you saying "covers all costs", do you mean they are covering his housing, food, and incidental expenses and the $15K-$20K is mainly savings?  If thats the case, it may help providing Immigration further details.  The one thing I found out when I returned to the US was that generally speaking salaries are high, but the people are broke and $15-$20K after expenses is better than what 80-85% of Americans have, if not a higher %.  If I did not interrupt that correctly, then having a 2nd job may be needed.  

[Mike E 11,739]

28 minutes ago, NineDev said:

Unfortunately his family business relies in great part on him ever since his father had a heart attack and isn't able to work as much anymore, so leaving isn't something easy for him to do.

 

Let’s say your husband took zero dollars from the family business. Assuming  his father   is married and has no other dependents, would your father in law have current income of at least $30,000 (I-864p for 4 people: his father, his father’s spouse, himself, and you)?

 

 

[Mike E 11,739]

38 minutes ago, NineDev said:

It's hard to find a sponsor since a lot of the people I've asked get scared when looking on google the government can sue them for money too.

I have yet to find a case where the government has sued. The real risk is when the green card holder sues the joint sponsor. That has happened, successfully.

 

To convince a joint sponsor you need to convince that person of your character and your own financial prospects, independent of your husband and what appears to be a marginal family business.

[pushbrk 12,882]

It is the year your husband is sponsoring his spouse to immigrate to the USA.  Sometimes plans need to change, to qualify.  Luckily, you only need three times the income shortfall in liquid assets to qualify.  The  Consular Officer will consider the totality of circumstances when making the decision.  When asked, be far less vague in your answers than you have been in this discussion.

 

Be prepared to tell the truth, and the whole truth including details. Reading between the lines, it sounds like all your husband's daily living expenses are paid by his family.  If that is true, make sure it's clear to the Consular Officer.

 

 

 

[NineDev 5]

38 minutes ago, flicks1998 said:

 

Can you provide more clarity on the line in bold?  When you saying "covers all costs", do you mean they are covering his housing, food, and incidental expenses and the $15K-$20K is mainly savings?  If thats the case, it may help providing Immigration further details.  The one thing I found out when I returned to the US was that generally speaking salaries are high, but the people are broke and $15-$20K after expenses is better than what 80-85% of Americans have, if not a higher %.  If I did not interrupt that correctly, then having a 2nd job may be needed.  

The 15k is from a personal side business he has, when it comes to lodging, food etc, his family provides for everything in exchange for working with them (effectively his full time job) so the 15k are savings (minus a few monthly bills he pays for), but the main job pays zero as everything goes to the family business, in exchange for them providing everything.

 

24 minutes ago, Mike E said:

I have yet to find a case where the government has sued. The real risk is when the green card holder sues the joint sponsor. That has happened, successfully.

 

To convince a joint sponsor you need to convince that person of your character and your own financial prospects, independent of your husband and what appears to be a marginal family business.

I'd say they know my character, but it's hard to convince them the government won't go after them when the first thing they read online are websites saying that the government will do that very thing. I agree I've never heard of such a case, but I don't want them to get into any kind of trouble because of us either.

 

31 minutes ago, Mike E said:

 

Let’s say your husband took zero dollars from the family business. Assuming  his father   is married and has no other dependents, would your father in law have current income of at least $30,000 (I-864p for 4 people: his father, his father’s spouse, himself, and you)?

 

 

 

That's what we assumed and why we weren't worried to find a sponsor at first, but the sum ended up being less than that for this year (they're a family of four, which would make it five including me).
 

16 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

It is the year your husband is sponsoring his spouse to immigrate to the USA.  Sometimes plans need to change, to qualify.  Luckily, you only need three times the income shortfall in liquid assets to qualify.  The  Consular Officer will consider the totality of circumstances when making the decision.  When asked, be far less vague in your answers than you have been in this discussion.

 

Be prepared to tell the truth, and the whole truth including details. Reading between the lines, it sounds like all your husband's daily living expenses are paid by his family.  If that is true, make sure it's clear to the Consular Officer.

 

 

 

I'll make sure to tell them everything clearly and concisely. I'm not too comfortable revealing all the details on a public forum, just the "major ones", but I fully intend on being truthful with them. I apologize if I come across as disorganized, I'm not used to share private information like that, even if I appreciate greatly all the help this forum has been!