Is Affidavit of Support I-134 Form necessary?

[wil 0]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me if Affidavit of Support I-134 Form is necessary when my Mom in law applies for her vistor visa to USA?

We earn enough money in 2006 which can be shown on 2006 W-2 form. My Mom will take our W-2 form to the interview. We don't want to have Mom take extra paper work to her interview. Also we don't have to go to a notarization place either.

Appreciate it if anyone could tell us.

Thanks,

Wil

[YuAndDan 153]

No.

Tourists (B2) applicants should provide evidence of their ability to financially support themselves during their stay (or of the inviter's ability to support the applicant). If visiting relatives, bring proof of the relationship.

http://guangzhou.usconsulate.gov/how_to_apply.html

If you plan to provide the support while they are visiting as with the bold above, then the I-134 is used to show that you can. Also this is where Question #11 on the I-134 is used.

The visitor will need to document and show how the trip is paid for, as well as how they will support them selves while in the USA, if support and trip will be paid for by the inviting relative then an I-134 should be provided by the inviter.

Edited April 10, 2007 by YuAndDan

[YuAndDan 153]

From DOS:

Those applicants who do not have sufficient funds to support themselves while in the U.S. must present convincing evidence that an interested person will provide support.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1262.html#7 Again the I-134 is the best evidence.

[lucyrich 20]

It's not strictly necessary, but I've heard some immigration attorneys recommend it for some cases.

The requirements for a visitor visa aren't necessarily written in clear black and white language. But the visitor needs to show he/she won't be a public charge, has sufficient financial resources to support the trip, and has a believable story that is consistent with a temporary visit. If she doesn't have the financial resources herself (or if they're not readily convertible into US dollars), it may be very helpful to show that she can rely on your resources while she's in the US.

What we did in our case is wrote an invitation letter to invite a family member. It outlined both of our own immigration statuses, (USC and LPR), the relationship between the LPR and invited family member, the fact that we were inviting her to spend one month with us, the fact that she would stay with us in our home, the fact that we would cover her expenses during the time she was here, and the fact that we would take her to the airport to return home at the conclusion of the visit. We had the letter notarized, and included copies of our passports and the LPR's green card. We didn't include any of our own finanicial information such as tax returns.

She got the visitor's visa. They were about to deny the visa, saying "you don't have enough dollars to cover the expenses of your trip", but then she showed them the invitation letter, and they approved the visa. She still had to show that she had ties to her home country.