may5

The term "liquid" seems to depend on the CO's judgement, but I have the following (with the anonymity of the internet, I don't mind sharing the rough numbers) that I hope will cover: ~$10k in bank accounts ~$80k in a stock brokerage account (low cost index mutual fund, $60k is basis) ~$150k in a 5-plus-year-old Roth IRA (~$100k is basis, which can be withdrawn without 10% penalty) ~$300k in a 401(k) (mostly pretax, some Roth) which can be rolled over to a Roth IRA and act as "distibution income" if needed.

I miss my wife. I've tried the one-month-at-a-time thing. It doesn't work for us.

I (USC) would like to, and am able to, take an unpaid leave of absence from my workplace to be with my wife (beneficiary of CR-1) overseas until the visa proceedings are complete. As the leave of absence is unpaid, and I plan to stay through the CR-1 process until my spouse has her visa in hand, how will this affect the I-864, affadavit of support, portion of the process during the NVC stage? Some other facts: I (USC) will have a few months of earnings in the beginning of this year which are above the poverty line requirement. I (USC) have more than double enough assets to cover the assets portion. I will not be earning salaried money while I am overseas for several months, though I will technically still be employed and receiving a $0 paycheck and statement. I will still have a permanent domicile in the US for mail/etc. Questions: Will a $0 most recent paystub be grounds for refusal if the annual earnings are still well above the minimum threshold? If so, can I use USC assets to cover everything instead or will that still spark trouble? Will a letter from my employer stating that I am still employed and intend to return to work after the visa is approved be accepted in lieu? Are there any foreseeable issues with my multi-month/possibly a year+ vacation overseas with my wife (maybe not considered permanent US domicile)?

Thank you all for your advice. On an aligned topic (not sure if it warrants a new post), do I need to actively update anything for my I-130 or I-130A per my mother-in-law's passing or will it not matter until the NVC stage?

Crazy Cat is correct. Evaluating if a CR-1/IR-1 expedite request is valid in this case.

First, a thank you to the many folks on here who have provided wonderful advice, guides, tutorials, answers to questions, jokes, and general inspiration for what-was-at-first a very stressful and very ambiguous immigration process. My mother has terminal cancer and the doctors are saying she does not have long at all. I partially act as a caretaker for my mother and it does affect my own effort and ability at my workplace. I did not initially plan for my wife to be a caretaker in my stead, as the job is especially taxing physically and mentally, but we might reconsider if we have to. My mom might be able to make it to our expected immigration arrival date of late next year. My mother-in-law, in the Philippines who the rest of my side of the family has not met, recently fell very ill right after I returned to the US from a trip to the Philippines. Unfortunately, before the doctors there were even able to determine her biopsy of what appeared to be a cancerous tumor, she fell asleep in Christ surrounded by her family. From feeling sick enough to go to the hospital to her passing was all of two and a half weeks. It's left us feeling dazed and stunned and we even stopped obsessively looking at our not-accurate-at-all myUSCIS timeline countdown for a month or so. My mother-in-law never had the chance to meet the rest of her family in the States. My beautiful wife has never met the rest of my side of the family either. We were content with waiting in line before anyone died, but with this recent death, instead of our previous optimism, we fear my wife would not be able to meet my mother in person. Is terminal cancer of my wife's mother-in-law a valid reason for an expedite request?