Possible mistake made by interviewer

[Crazy Cat 41,352]

The OP should have already submitted income evidence when she submitted her own I-864.

Edited May 19 by Crazy Cat

[ja0701 10]

56 minutes ago, Family said:

No need for Joint Sponsor or I-864 A mom’s income or assets. OP qualifies on her own through current; income. …regardless of past years tax return figures. 
 

Respond with updated paystub, job letter and strong statement that based on Petitioner/Sponsor current income qualification, there is no requirement for Joint Sponsor or Household Member’s income or assets. 
 

 

Hello - thank you for your response! It's always been very emphasized to me that taxes are important and having not recorded any taxes (due to being a student) didn't qualify me as a sole sponsor. I am very much pleasantly surprised to read your comment but am a bit apprehensive. When you say 'respond with updated paystubs etc.' do you mean via email to the embassy? or through CEAC? I have already emailed the embassy asking for clarity on the 221(g) request and statements made by the interviewer. 

 

By the way, all the information you mentioned I have already submitted with my initial I864 application. 

 

Additionally, I am just worried so much back and forth with the embassy could come off as resistant or withholding information to the embassy. Any further advice to follow up on your post would be seriously appreciated. My husband and I are totally stumped here. 

 

thanks again to everyone for commenting and providing helpful insight! 

Edited May 19 by ja0701

[ja0701 10]

30 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

The OP should have already submitted income evidence when she submitted her own I-864.

Yup. We did. I am a government employee so I submitted my most recent (at the time of filing) DFAS earnings statement, employment letter, government employment contract etc. 

 

DFAS earnings statement is the government equivalent of a paystub btw

Edited May 19 by ja0701

[Family 3,842]

24 minutes ago, ja0701 said:

Hello - thank you for your response! It's always been very emphasized to me that taxes are important and having not recorded any taxes (due to being a student) didn't qualify me as a sole sponsor. I am very much pleasantly surprised to read your comment but am a bit apprehensive. When you say 'respond with updated paystubs etc.' do you mean via email to the embassy? or through CEAC? I have already emailed the embassy asking for clarity on the 221(g) request and statements made by the interviewer. 

 

By the way, all the information you mentioned I have already submitted with my initial I864 application. 

 

Additionally, I am just worried so much back and forth with the embassy could come off as resistant or withholding information to the embassy. Any further advice to follow up on your post would be seriously appreciated. My husband and I are totally stumped here. 

 

thanks again to everyone for commenting and providing helpful insight! 

Current income ( as supported by paystub) is the deciding factor.  
 

You can draft a letter/response to the 221(g) and upload it …along with updated paystubs /job letter….even though they are on record.

It’s a waste of time effort to demand explanation from consulate. 

‘To be effective you need to understand that you are income qualified and articulate it. 

 

They did not really make an error in telling you mom should have done I-864  ( for retirement income and assists )m..but it’s not worth hashing out …cause you don’t need it)

Hopefully we see peace soon…

 

Edited May 19 by Family

[pushbrk 12,638]

6 hours ago, Boiler said:

I have not been an A Student of the I 864 for sometime,  now @pushbrk is and I will leave it to him.

 

I did think the amount you mentioned was a home and presumably the one you live in so does not count.

 

Is he an Israeli? Seems a lot of Russians are going through Jerusalem.

If the petitioner's current income from employment far exceeds the requirement, then they can presumably qualify on their own.  The Consular Officer did not make a mistake, in my opinion.  Even though the petitioner and parent live in the same house, the petitioner does not need to combine income with the parent.  In this situation, the parent does not qualify as a joint sponsor, so their income doesn't help.  

 

What is the petitioner's stated "current income"?  My solution is to provide a new I-864 from the petitioner, ignoring the parent and equity in the primary residence altogether.  If that doesn't carry the day, find a qualified joint sponsor.

[ja0701 10]

2 minutes ago, Family said:

Current income ( as supported by paystub) is the deciding factor.  
 

You can draft a letter/response to the 221(g) and upload it …along with updated paystubs /job letter….even though they are on record.

It’s a waste of time effort to demand explanation from consulate. 

‘To be effective you need to understand that you are income qualified and articulate it. 

 

They did not really make an error in telling you mom should have done I-864  ( for retirement income and assists )m..but it’s not worth hashing out …cause you don’t need it)

 

 

wow, okay, thank you so much!!! This is probably the most helpful response I've received. I'll update this forum after I've gone through these steps with the embassy. 

[ja0701 10]

2 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

If the petitioner's current income from employment far exceeds the requirement, then they can presumably qualify on their own.  The Consular Officer did not make a mistake, in my opinion.  Even though the petitioner and parent live in the same house, the petitioner does not need to combine income with the parent.  In this situation, the parent does not qualify as a joint sponsor, so their income doesn't help.  

 

What is the petitioner's stated "current income"?  My solution is to provide a new I-864 from the petitioner, ignoring the parent and equity in the primary residence altogether.  If that doesn't carry the day, find a qualified joint sponsor.

Hi, I am a GS-9 with the government and receive 66,942, with a raise to 69,000 coming up in the next couple of months, and my household size is 2. So im pretty sure I am way above the limit. 

 

I am guessing (considering your post and another post) l will be providing a cover letter when submitting my I864 again - do you have any recommended verbiage/statements that should be used/made in that letter to convey that I am financially stable to support my husband on my own? 

[pushbrk 12,638]

1 minute ago, ja0701 said:

Hi, I am a GS-9 with the government and receive 66,942, with a raise to 69,000 coming up in the next couple of months, and my household size is 2. So im pretty sure I am way above the limit. 

 

I am guessing (considering your post and another post) l will be providing a cover letter when submitting my I864 again - do you have any recommended verbiage/statements that should be used/made in that letter to convey that I am financially stable to support my husband on my own? 

Sure. "I am submitting a revised I-864 as petitioner based on my own current income, which is fully sufficient."  You need not say more.  You have completely adequate income from a stable permanent US Govt. job.  I expect they will see that and approve without a problem.

[ja0701 10]

8 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Sure. "I am submitting a revised I-864 as petitioner based on my own current income, which is fully sufficient."  You need not say more.  You have completely adequate income from a stable permanent US Govt. job.  I expect they will see that and approve without a problem.

Great - thank you very much. I'll udpdate this forum to inform the community what happens as this goes forward. 

 

Hopefully this can help someone else as well. Again thank you! 

[Jim and Lan 0]

The simplest way to solve these problems is to give the agency or person exactly what they request. You're overthinking it. If you follow instructions and provide the correct information, the fact that the interviewer might have made a "mistake" is irrelevant. The people you come into contact with are just trying to do their jobs. You can't change how they feel about something, but you can give them the correct information. Give them exactly what they ask for. There's nothing to be confused about.  It works every time. 

[ja0701 10]

9 minutes ago, Jim and Lan said:

The simplest way to solve these problems is to give the agency or person exactly what they request. You're overthinking it. If you follow instructions and provide the correct information, the fact that the interviewer might have made a "mistake" is irrelevant. The people you come into contact with are just trying to do their jobs. You can't change how they feel about something, but you can give them the correct information. Give them exactly what they ask for. There's nothing to be confused about.  It works every time. 

That is exactly what i would like to do and intend to do. But if you would have read through my post and all the other posts above you would understand and recognize it's not that easy to just "hand something over" when there is so much on the line. And I would further disagree that it does not "work every time" because people get denied when they dont seek out further information or fully understand the information/requests that are handed to them. I came here looking to get info from people who can understand, empathize, and offer advice to someone like my husband and I.

I appreciate your comment but your comment was not helpful nor was it reflective of understanding of how difficult this is process for many people who go through it. Maybe i am overthinking it but i rather overthink and be sure about what i know than under-think and risk not being able to be with my husband and get him out of a war zone. 

 

As we were taught as children "if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all". 

 

Edited May 19 by ja0701

[Delkily 4]

12 hours ago, ja0701 said:

My husband had his interview on May 16th, we filed our case completely in November 2023. We practiced a lot before the interview and felt really confident going into the interview.

 

Some context for understanding: I was a student in 2020, 2021, 2022, and halfway through 2023 I got a really good job (pays way above the 125% rule) but I knew i would still need an additional sponsor to assist with the fact that I dont have tax history. My mother, who has been retired since 2022, was our only option. Her and I live together in the home that we own. I consulted with many people, did a lot of research here on this website, the NVC website, and it was clear I needed to file an I864A for her, not only because she is a household member, but also because she does not qualify to be a sole joint sponsor (her pension payments only amount to $24,000 per year and $116,000 in assets). 

 

At the interview: the interviewer, at some point, asked my husband if my mom and I live together, if we all plan to live together, and he replied yes to all those questions. After some time she said to my husband you filed the wrong form for my mom (the household member). She said we filed an I864A instead of an I864. My husband was kind of stumped because this wasn't something we prepared for and he asked her okay what do I do now instead of asking for a reasoning of how the interviewer came to that conclusion. So, now we received a 221(g) to re-file an I864 for my mom, but if we do that surely our application will get denied because she does not qualify under the I864 requirements. We have sent an email to embassy asking for clarification but we haven't heard back yet (they're closed till Monday).

 

My questions to the community: Has anyone experienced anything like this before? If so, what should we do? Does anyone have any insight as to why or what is happening? Is it possible the interviewer made a mistake or just some kind of misunderstanding/miscommunication? Any help or insight would greatly appreciated. Thank you all! 

 

Being that you all live together, they are correct. She is a household member not a joint sponsor. There is a difference. I joint sponsor is someone of a different household that is basically co-signing for if you don't qualify by yourself. A household member means that both of your incomes are combined to see if you qualify for a household of 3 including your spouse. This actually may be to your benefit because she would have to qualify or EVERYONE in the household by herself if she were a joint sponsor, which would be $32,275. Your entire household would need to make that amount combined rather than you and her both having to make that seperately

[pushbrk 12,638]

31 minutes ago, Delkily said:

 

Being that you all live together, they are correct. She is a household member not a joint sponsor. There is a difference. I joint sponsor is someone of a different household that is basically co-signing for if you don't qualify by yourself. A household member means that both of your incomes are combined to see if you qualify for a household of 3 including your spouse. This actually may be to your benefit because she would have to qualify or EVERYONE in the household by herself if she were a joint sponsor, which would be $32,275. Your entire household would need to make that amount combined rather than you and her both having to make that seperately

Your conclusions are logical, but in reality she can be either.  The OP has been advised of the choice that makes the most sense in her circumstances.

 

[TBoneTX 44,868]

It's always wisest to read through entire threads before posting.

[ja0701 10]

Update 05/20/24: 

 

I spoke with an immigration lawyer today who reviewed all of our files that were submitted to embassy. He stated that in his opinion based on all the information i gave him and paperwork he reviewed that the embassy officer made a mistake, but that the next best option moving forward is to either re-file on my own or get a joint sponsor. He stated that more often than not it is a waste of time to argue with an embassy about a misunderstanding. I will be contacting the embassy to receive further information, but i will not be trying to convince them of any mistake (just want to gather as much info from them as possible).

 

As for what I will do: I am not sure. If I can find another joint sponsor I will use that option (it seems to be the safest). If I can't ill bite the bullet and take a risk and submit on my own.

 

Will update again when there is new information.