I'm a US citizen and my wife is a UK citizen. Her case recently became Documentarily Qualified but we don't have an interview date yet. At the exact same time as the DQ notice though, we got a Case FE Review note:
"This case does not meet the minimum income requirement to sponsor the intending immigrants. To avoid delays, an additional Affidavit of Support Form I-864 from a joint sponsor may be submitted. The consular officer will make a decision regarding this requirement at the time of the interview."
I make $37k and we're a two-person household, so I'm not sure why this happened. Maybe because I wasn't making enough last year so it's not reflected on my tax return? I'm a PhD student and my income (part salary, part living stipend) is guaranteed for five years. I included an official letter from my department (employer) as supporting evidence.
My wife and I think we should probably have one of my parents fill out an I-864 as a joint sponsor, in case they say (at the interview) that my income isn't sufficient. I can also give her additional evidence of my own income in case they thought the employer letter wasn't enough, but it seems like if they wanted more evidence they would've asked us to submit it rather than DQed us?
We'd really appreciate it if anyone has any insights into why I don't meet the minimum income requirement and what we should do. If we do the joint sponsor form, should we submit it on CEAC, or just take a physical copy to the interview? Would submitting new documents on CEAC cause delays given that our case is already DQed?
Thank you so much in advance for any advice, we really appreciate it!!