Poverty Line and unemployment

[dagnytaggart 0]

Well I got laid off from my job today and will be filing for unemployment tomorrow. I will be making above the poverty line guidelines and my tax returns for the past 4 years are well above the guidelines. Do I still need to get a co-sponsor? I am hoping to find something before the interview but with this economy who knows.

Edited February 20, 2009 by dagnytaggart

[raymaga 25]

I am not sure if you can use Employment Insurance benefits as "income". I believe you also need to provide a letter from your employer which states your job title, start date, income, and whether the job is permanent or temporary.

I'm pretty sure you are going to need a co-sponsor, but someone else will correct me if I'm wrong.

Good luck with the job search.

[pushbrk 12,898]

I am not sure if you can use Employment Insurance benefits as "income". I believe you also need to provide a letter from your employer which states your job title, start date, income, and whether the job is permanent or temporary.

I'm pretty sure you are going to need a co-sponsor, but someone else will correct me if I'm wrong.

Good luck with the job search.

It depends on the timing of the interview compared to the timing of signing the I-134. The OP doesn't say but assuming he hasn't already executed the affidavit, he cannot declare last year's income as income he "currently derives". Though unemployment income can be over the poverty line and now runs potentially a full year, no reasonable person would conclude the intending immigrant would not become a public charge based on their sponsor's temporary unemployment benefits.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Well I got laid off from my job today and will be filing for unemployment tomorrow. I will be making above the poverty line guidelines and my tax returns for the past 4 years are well above the guidelines. Do I still need to get a co-sponsor? I am hoping to find something before the interview but with this economy who knows.

If you are above the guidelines, you do not need a co-sponsor. Unemployment insurance benefits are INCOME, that is why they are taxed, you get statement of earnings and claim them as income. They are included in "total income" on line 22, form 1040.

Go ahead and say they are part of your current income, no problem. There is NO requirement you have a job, only that you have income or assets that would disqualify you from receiveing welfare benefits. That is the whole point of the "poverty guidelines".

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I am not sure if you can use Employment Insurance benefits as "income". I believe you also need to provide a letter from your employer which states your job title, start date, income, and whether the job is permanent or temporary.

I'm pretty sure you are going to need a co-sponsor, but someone else will correct me if I'm wrong.

Good luck with the job search.

It depends on the timing of the interview compared to the timing of signing the I-134. The OP doesn't say but assuming he hasn't already executed the affidavit, he cannot declare last year's income as income he "currently derives". Though unemployment income can be over the poverty line and now runs potentially a full year, no reasonable person would conclude the intending immigrant would not become a public charge based on their sponsor's temporary unemployment benefits.

I don't know Pushbrk. It would have been reasonable to assume she would not be a "public charge" yesterday and today he gets laid off. Why would it be unreasonable to believe he will get another job when he has a history of that and unemployement benefits ARE income and taxed and recorded as such (limited yes, but no more so than most jobs these days) A really reasonable person might conclude we couldn't use ANY job as a "source" right now and say we have to have tangible assets. Like, say, gold bullion. Had I used GM stock to support an intending immigrant last September, I would not have been able to use that same stock for the I-864 2 months later, and thats the sad truth of it today.

I think it will be somewhat consulate sensitive, and maybe you are right, but the current situation just throws the whole "reasonable" thing out the window.

[pushbrk 12,898]

I am not sure if you can use Employment Insurance benefits as "income". I believe you also need to provide a letter from your employer which states your job title, start date, income, and whether the job is permanent or temporary.

I'm pretty sure you are going to need a co-sponsor, but someone else will correct me if I'm wrong.

Good luck with the job search.

It depends on the timing of the interview compared to the timing of signing the I-134. The OP doesn't say but assuming he hasn't already executed the affidavit, he cannot declare last year's income as income he "currently derives". Though unemployment income can be over the poverty line and now runs potentially a full year, no reasonable person would conclude the intending immigrant would not become a public charge based on their sponsor's temporary unemployment benefits.

I don't know Pushbrk. It would have been reasonable to assume she would not be a "public charge" yesterday and today he gets laid off. Why would it be unreasonable to believe he will get another job when he has a history of that and unemployement benefits ARE income and taxed and recorded as such (limited yes, but no more so than most jobs these days) A really reasonable person might conclude we couldn't use ANY job as a "source" right now and say we have to have tangible assets. Like, say, gold bullion. Had I used GM stock to support an intending immigrant last September, I would not have been able to use that same stock for the I-864 2 months later, and thats the sad truth of it today.

I think it will be somewhat consulate sensitive, and maybe you are right, but the current situation just throws the whole "reasonable" thing out the window.

Your points are well taken. Do you advise the OP to send his fiancee to the interview without a co-sponsor? I don't but that doesn't mean it won't work.

[pushbrk 12,898]

I am not sure if you can use Employment Insurance benefits as "income". I believe you also need to provide a letter from your employer which states your job title, start date, income, and whether the job is permanent or temporary.

I'm pretty sure you are going to need a co-sponsor, but someone else will correct me if I'm wrong.

Good luck with the job search.

It depends on the timing of the interview compared to the timing of signing the I-134. The OP doesn't say but assuming he hasn't already executed the affidavit, he cannot declare last year's income as income he "currently derives". Though unemployment income can be over the poverty line and now runs potentially a full year, no reasonable person would conclude the intending immigrant would not become a public charge based on their sponsor's temporary unemployment benefits.

I don't know Pushbrk. It would have been reasonable to assume she would not be a "public charge" yesterday and today he gets laid off. Why would it be unreasonable to believe he will get another job when he has a history of that and unemployement benefits ARE income and taxed and recorded as such (limited yes, but no more so than most jobs these days) A really reasonable person might conclude we couldn't use ANY job as a "source" right now and say we have to have tangible assets. Like, say, gold bullion. Had I used GM stock to support an intending immigrant last September, I would not have been able to use that same stock for the I-864 2 months later, and thats the sad truth of it today.

I think it will be somewhat consulate sensitive, and maybe you are right, but the current situation just throws the whole "reasonable" thing out the window.

Your points are well taken. Do you advise the OP to send his fiancee to the interview without a co-sponsor? I don't but that doesn't mean it won't work.

It's unfortunate the OP didn't execute the I-134 the week before he became unemployed.

[rebeccajo 14]

It's unfortunate the OP didn't execute the I-134 the week before he became unemployed.

Honestly, I don't know how you get away with this #######.

[dagnytaggart 0]

First of all let me clear something up I am a "she" not a "he"

I did get all the I-134 information and even have a letter from my employer but I just dint want to take the chance in using it. So I am going to have a co-sponsor. I will have my fiancé submit my previous tax returns to show that I have worked consistently for the past 4 years and also the co-sponsor paperwork. If I get a job before his interview I will send him the necessary documents to show that I am now employed.

Thanks all for your replies it all really seems to come down to the consulate so I am going to have a co-sponsor just in case.

[Mags 112]

It's unfortunate the OP didn't execute the I-134 the week before he became unemployed.

So, what purpose does this post serve the OP, Pushbrk?

[Sinergy 3]

It's unfortunate the OP didn't execute the I-134 the week before he became unemployed.

So, what purpose does this post serve the OP, Pushbrk?

like most of his posts lately...it serves NO purpose at all.

to the OP, unemployment is concidered an INCOME, and if it exceeds the poverty line, then no you dont need a co-sponsor, if you want to get one anyway, who are we to say no.

[pushbrk 12,898]

It's unfortunate the OP didn't execute the I-134 the week before he became unemployed.

So, what purpose does this post serve the OP, Pushbrk?

Whatever purpose anybody wants it to serve, I guess. What purpose does your question serve?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

First of all let me clear something up I am a "she" not a "he"

I did get all the I-134 information and even have a letter from my employer but I just dint want to take the chance in using it. So I am going to have a co-sponsor. I will have my fiancé submit my previous tax returns to show that I have worked consistently for the past 4 years and also the co-sponsor paperwork. If I get a job before his interview I will send him the necessary documents to show that I am now employed.

Thanks all for your replies it all really seems to come down to the consulate so I am going to have a co-sponsor just in case.

Pardon a moi, Mademoiselle.

Yep, better too much gun I always say. Good luck and hope you find another source of employment soon.

[pushbrk 12,898]

First of all let me clear something up I am a "she" not a "he"

I did get all the I-134 information and even have a letter from my employer but I just dint want to take the chance in using it. So I am going to have a co-sponsor. I will have my fiancé submit my previous tax returns to show that I have worked consistently for the past 4 years and also the co-sponsor paperwork. If I get a job before his interview I will send him the necessary documents to show that I am now employed.

Thanks all for your replies it all really seems to come down to the consulate so I am going to have a co-sponsor just in case.

Pardon a moi, Mademoiselle.

Yep, better too much gun I always say. Good luck and hope you find another source of employment soon.

Or, if you're bringing a knife to a gunfight, bring a gun too.

When we understand the other factors and guidelines commonly used to make judgments about the public charge issue, such as 3 times the minimum annual income requirement for a spouse/fiance(e) and five times for other relatives, it's hard to imagine a Consular Officer accepting unemployment compensation available currently for a maximum of a year (usually only six months) as sufficient evidence the sponsored intending immigrant won't become a public charge. I don't know if anybody has tried it or been successful.

[Anh map 2,098]

Given what's going on with the economy I'd think this question may come up again.

Just what someone needs to deal with in this whole K-1/3 process. Ugh!