I-134 unique situation questions...

[Koition 1]

Hi everyone,

 

My name is Scott. I am a 40 something male from the U.S. in the process of a K-1 visa application trying to get my Pilipino fiancé to the United States.

 

We have a bit of a unique situation I think, and we need some help/advice.

 

We have hired a popular visa firm (I'll leave them unnamed) who is helping, and while they have been great so far... I have been getting conflicting information about the current topic both from them and other sources.

 

We are at the stage where I am filling out the I-134 form, and she is about to pay for and schedule the interview...

 

I am a single father of 3 kids, my oldest is 18 and works.

So already, I have a household of 4... 5 when including my fiancé.

 

So, depending on where you look... my household needs to make roughly $40,000-$45,000 at 125% poverty limit in order to support her.

 

I currently make $38,500 and my son makes $8,000-$10,000 a year. (Since he is 18 and working, I apparently NEED to claim his income in my household)

 

That puts us over the 125% limit as of right now.

 

However...

 

Issue #1 - I have only been at this job for 8 months and was unemployed for about 3 months prior...

My tax returns will not reflect my current income for the year and will likely put us back under the 125% limit.

 

So, to combat this, I decided to ask my father (retired) to co-sponsor. 

He is married and has a household size of 2.

 

While his tax returns state he makes roughly $42,000 a year from his Social Security, this does not include his pension income which I think puts him in the $60,000 range...

 

Issue #2 - I am reading and getting conflicting information regarding how the USCIS calculates this.

 

I have read and assumed that the incomes and household are all added together to give you that final number...

In theory, we should have a household of 7 with roughly $100,000k of income.

 

Though, I have also seen that if you have a co-sponsor, they become the "main" sponsor and only their income is taken into account...

So, in essence... the households are combined, but the incomes are not.

In this theory, we have a household of 7, but only the cosponsors $60,000 will be counted...

Why would they add household sizes and not the total income...?

 

I have a hard time swallowing that information... So I REALLY need clarity on this...

 

Last, but not least...

 

Issue #3 - Yes, and before anyone points out that the embassy in Manila does not generally except co-sponsors...

my finance is currently working in Doha, Qatar.

 

The NVC did send the application to the embassy in Doha for her to interview there...

 

So, we have also read that a co-sponsor should be OK there, even if she's a Pilipino citizen, no...?

Since it sounds like it is specifically the embassy in Manila that does not accept co-sponsors, and not necessarily Pilipino citizens.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

 

 

 

[powerpuff 6,643]

42 minutes ago, Koition said:

Since he is 18 and working, I apparently NEED to claim his income in my household

You only need to count him in the household size if you claim him as a dependent on tax returns. If you’re not, then he is not counted in your household.

 

Secondly, you might not have an issue here. Tax returns are not an indicator of CURRENT income. CURRent income is demonstrated by paystubs and an employment letter. So, let’s say my 2023 tax return shows 0 because I was unemployed last year. However, this year I found a job making 200k. As you can see I’m making well above and I can demonstrate that with paystubs and an employment letter even though my 2023 tax return is 0. I hope I’m making sense. So if you’re NOW currently are making well above the threshold then you’re qualified financially.

Edited April 14 by powerpuff

[Crazy Cat 41,727]

Becoming an "A" student of the I-864 and instructions will help. 

I would not try to combine income with your son. Doing so would require him to sign an I-864a.  I would:

 

1.  You, as the primary sponsor (you will always be the primary sponsor), submits an I-864 with household size of 4 or 5 (you, 3 kids, new immigrant).  If your income is not sufficient, then :

2.  Father (JOINT sponsor) also submits I-864 with household size of 3 (Joint sponsor, his spouse, new immigrant)

- Joint Sponsor spouse completes I-864a to combine income with Father.

You do NOT combine income or household sizes between households.

 

Note: Unless a person is self-employed, past tax returns have nothing to do with current income or ability to support a new immigrant.  CURRENT annual income is king.  Current annual income is calculated as follows:

 

current pay period gross pay sub income multiplied by number of pay periods in 12 months.  Example $1,000 income on weekly pay stub equals $52,000 current annual income. 

 

Edited April 14 by Crazy Cat

[powerpuff 6,643]

2 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

Becoming an "A" student of the I-864 and instructions will help. 

I would not try to combine income with your son. Doing so would require him to sign an I-864a.  I would:

 

1.  You, as the primary sponsor (you will always be the primary sponsor), submits an I-864 with household size of 4 or 5 (you, 3 kids, new immigrant).  If your income is not sufficient, then :

2.  Father (JOINT sponsor) also submits I-864 with household size of 3 (Joint sponsor, his spouse, new immigrant)

- Joint Sponsor spouse completes I-864a to combine income with Father.

You do NOT combine income or household sizes between households.

 

Note: Unless a person is self-employed, past tax returns have nothing to do with current income or ability to support a new immigrant.  CURRENT annual income is king.  Current annual income is calculated as follows:

 

current pay period gross pay sub income multiplied by number of pay periods in 12 months.  Example $1,000 income on weekly pay stub equals $52,000 current annual income. 

 

It’s i-134 for K1 stage so I believe if the father is going to be a joint sponsor then it’s another I-134 that needs to be filled 

[Crazy Cat 41,727]

4 minutes ago, powerpuff said:

It’s i-134 for K1 stage so I believe if the father is going to be a joint sponsor then it’s another I-134 that needs to be filled 

Yes.....LOL... It's the I-134......Thanks.   I got ahead of myself there.   and no I-134a......LOL

Edited April 14 by Crazy Cat

[Koition 1]

4 minutes ago, powerpuff said:

You only need to count him in the household size if you claim him as a dependent on tax returns. If you’re not, then he is not counted in your household.

 

Secondly, you might not have an issue here. Tax returns are not an indicator of CURRENT income. CURRent income is demonstrated by paystubs and an employment letter. So, let’s say my 2023 tax return shows 0 because I was unemployed last year. However, this year I found a job making 200k. As you can see I’m making well above and I can demonstrate that with paystubs and an employment letter even though my 2023 tax return is 0. I hope I’m making sense. So if you’re NOW currently are making well above the threshold then you’re qualified financially.

 

Powerpuff, 

 

Thanks for the reply...

 

Me ex-wife and I split the kids 50/50, but I claim my oldest as a dependent and not the other two.

 

However, I was told that I still need to include all 3 children on the I-134 regardless by my visa firm.

So, I am also getting conflicting information here.

 

As far as the tax returns... I hope your information is accurate...

Because I was also told by the same visa firm that both the returns and current income verification are counted together and need to match up.

 

But you gave me hope we can pull this off... 

Thank you!

[Crazy Cat 41,727]

2 minutes ago, Koition said:

Because I was also told by the same visa firm that both the returns and current income verification are counted together and need to match up.

That is not accurate.

 

In addition,  primary sponsor and Joint sponsor do not combine income or household sizes.  Each sponsor is a separate entity.

 

BTW, my earlier comment will apply for Adjustment of Status after marriage.

Edited April 14 by Crazy Cat

[Koition 1]

2 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

Yes.....LOL... It's the I-134......Thanks.   and no I-134a......LOL

 

Haha, Thanks Crazy Cat

 

Yes... it's just the I-134 stage... 

 

However, you're not wrong and I'll have the same issue in a few months with a co-sponsor potentially if Pilipino citizens can not use co-sponsors.

Though, it does sound like they DO accept them for married citizens... just not engaged citizens.

[powerpuff 6,643]

Just now, Koition said:

However, I was told that I still need to include all 3 children on the I-134 regardless by my visa firm.

So, I am also getting conflicting information here.

You definitely need to include all minor children regardless of tax returns or if they live with you. However if you have adult children that aren’t claimed as dependents (or anybody else that might live in the house with you - e.g. parents or other relatives), then they would not be counted in your household size. I’m speaking from experience 

 

2 minutes ago, Koition said:

Because I was also told by the same visa firm that both the returns and current income verification are counted together and need to match up.

That’s very inaccurate. That would probably only apply for self-employed individuals because their current income is demonstrated by the AGI reflected on a tax return. For others, they do not need to match.

[Koition 1]

Powerpuff,

 

Thank you very much... that's a great start to understanding what I need to know!

 

😊