PeterMcS

There's an IRA, self-directed and invested in crypto. I think it's most likely we received an autogenerated RFE etter: someone keys in data from the form, the software sees taxable income below a certain level, and it sends the letter. There were no comments about our specific situation in the RFE, and it's hard to imagine someone who read the evidence of income and assets we presented sending a letter like that. I do want to be sure of the outcome, however.

I believe I've read about people successfully using offer letters on these things, so I don't know if 6 months of previous employment is necessary. Also, I'm not employed. The assets should be more than enough, though.

There was a potential joint sponsor, but we didn't pursue it at that time.

It was dollars first, then in a crypto exchange. There are records. I think I demonstrated how much and where it came from pretty well. Of course, most people have a limited understanding of cryptocurrency.

No, my assets are almost entirely cryptocurrency.

We recently submitted an I-485 for my new wife (she came over on a K-1) and we received a Request for Evidence regarding the I-864 we filed with it. The request didn't give any details on what the problem was; it just said: "Based on the documents submitted, we could not determine that the petitioning sponsor on Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, is qualified." Is it possible to talk to these people to determine what the problem is? I anticipated potential problems with the Affidavit of Support: I posted here before my then-fiancee's Embassy interview. They didn't even ask to see the Affidavit of Support at that time (that's standard at the Manila embassy), but now they've questioned it. My concern was that my income and assets were non-standard: the income is mostly family money which isn't taxable income for me, and the assets are entirely cryptocurrency. My taxable income for last year doesn't exceed the federal poverty level (though my real income did, and I reported that to them and explained it), but my assets are far more than enough to make up for it (~$1 million). Maybe it's just a sloppy government employee who didn't bother to look beyond my tax return (I believe I did include good evidence of my assets). Any advice on how to proceed here? I could just reiterate that I have plenty of assets, assuming they overlooked my detailed evidence at first (or I could get any job or a joint sponsor to be safe), but I wish I could talk with them and see what's up.

From another site (not sure if I can link here): "Form I-485 will go up 18% for the standalone application (to $1,440). Two formerly free forms within the adjustment of status process (Employment Authorization Document and Advance Parole Travel Document), will now cost an additional $650 and $630, respectively."

The price increases will happen for applications postmarked on or after April 1.

My fiancee entered America on her K-1, got a social security card in her maiden name, and we got married yesterday. She intends to take on my last name. Can we go to the Social Security office and change her name immediately? I'm confused by the advice I've seen here, e.g. some people seeming to say we should wait to change her name on the I-485 and I-765 (then they'd send her a new SS card with the new name on it) and others seem to say we should change it after we're married. If there's no problem with changing her name now, I'd prefer not to wait: I'd like to start putting her married name on credit cards, add her to my bank account, etc. (then use her new name on the immigration forms later). If someone could clear up my confusion, I'd appreciate it.

And when you get married, are you supposed to update your name to the new one then? I've read the recommendation here is to change your name with the I-485 and I-765 (then they send you a new SS card with the new name on it). My question is should we also do it before that with the marriage license?

What date does this happen? It looks from this like it's February 26?

Isn't it easier to do it after marriage, so you don't have to change the name with the SSA again after you get married and change your name?

You can schedule again through the website, later.

My fiancee says: You cannot reschedule an interview. You have to cancel it wait for the medical result. Then they'll let you reschedule. The D-160's don't expire.

Thanks! Yes, we're very happy and I'm much more relaxed now that she's gotten her Visa!

Two notes that you may be interested in: Apparently, lots of people don't pass the medical right away: their lung x-rays aren't clear so they have to do a sputum test, to check for bacterial infection I believe. Consequently, they have to cancel their visa interview, and I believe the delay is months. My fiancee talked online with five people who did the medical the same day as she did (she'd met some online beforehand, and others she just met that day). She was the only one of them that passed the medical. She adopted healthy habits approaching her medical (eating, sleeping, exercising), and also chose to take an antibiotic for a week before the medical. She had another online friend that also passed the medical at a different time, and that one had also independently decided to take an antibiotic before her interview. All the usual disclaimers apply: this isn't medical advice, doctors should prescribe medications (though you can generally get them without a prescription in the Philippines), etc. They didn't even ask my fiancee for her I-134. They did ask her what I did for a living. So no one ever even looked at all the documentation that I spent a lot of time preparing. Of course, they may ask for yours, so provide everything they ask for.

Following up with the results: My fiancee just got approved! 😀 They didn't even ask her for the I-134 that I was so worried about! This was in the Philippines, so it may be specific to that Embassy, however. She actually got through her interview faster than anyone else: just a minute or two. We were wondering why it was so easy, and speculated on a few reasons, but we don't really know why.

I've read that you can base your sponsorship on income or assets. If the tax returns don't help my case, should I just leave them out? I was planning on including my last three years of tax transcripts, but only one of those three shows the required level of taxable income. Also, should I include my contract work from earlier this year? It's not ongoing, but paid an annualized rate of about ~$90K. I've thought about that. I'd have to sell assets, generating taxable gains, or borrow against them to deposit that much, however. Neither is my first choice.

I've read they don't generally accept joint sponsors at the Manila Embassy, unfortunately.

My concern is that I just don't know what's acceptable to them (what the odds of rejection are) and I don't want to take any chances. Just 200K+ in my regular taxed investments should be fine... but maybe they don't like crypto or something, or they're skeptical of my evidence of assets (though I've read that you sign the I-134 and accompanying evidence under penalty of perjury, so it doesn't have to be notarized or anything). Maybe the best advice I read as I've been researching this is that the sponsor "just get any job now" (though that was said to someone without many assets): that should 100% ensure the visa goes through. I think I'll throw everything I've got at them, including bank printouts showing the family money income.

My fiancee has her interview in Manila, Philippines in a month, and I'm not sure what evidence to provide with my I-134. I have assets over $500K and I've mostly lived off of family money in recent years ($30K+/year in regular monthly autodeposits to my bank). I'm wondering various things: should I present the family money as income, just keep it simple and present assets alone, and what evidence I should present of either? I've read mixed things about how demanding the State Department is with this. One of the visa legal services websites says: “If you are using assets, you will need 3rd-party proof and verification of the value. This may be stock portfolios, or notarized appraisals or any other proof other than "your word for it". Without 3rd-party evidence, your numbers are almost worthless.” I've also read, right in this forum, "Manila rarely asks for the i134 anyway. You need to be prepared but a better than average chance it won't even be needed." My assets are all in cryptocurrency, worth $500K+, about half in a self-directed Roth IRA and the other half in regular taxable assets. All of the IRA is in the largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange; most of the other assets are self-custodied (which is like keeping cash in a safe at home rather than the bank), though I should probably move them to an exchange for now to simplify providing evidence of them. I'm not sure how to provide convincing evidence of this, but I've read that in my state "A notary public may supervise the copying (or printing, as the case may be) of any record and attest to the trueness of the resulting copy or printout." Would notarized printouts from both crypto accounts suffice as evidence? As I said, I've mostly lived off of family money in recent years; for tax purposes that counts as gifts, so it doesn't appear on my tax returns. I suppose the family money could be demonstrated with a notarized printout of my bank account showing the regular monthly deposits, maybe accompanied by a notarized statement from a parent confirming it's family money. I've read that the Manila Embassy doesn't usually accept joint sponsors (though my family was willing); does that mean they'd disregard regular family income like I get as well? I'd intended to get full-time work again before my fiancee's interview, but our timeline progressed months quicker than I expected, including my fiancee snagging a canceled interview spot before Christmas. I did have a contract earlier this year ($10K+ for seven weeks), but I don't know if the State Department will care about that. I don't think I'll have full-time employment in the next few weeks, so I just want to make sure she'll be safe to get her visa approved just on my assets and/or family-money income. On her DS-160, my fiancee checked Other under Employment Status, and I'll probably do the same on the I-134, as it seems more accurate than retired or unemployed. Is it best to keep it simple and just submit the assets, or to submit both the assets and the family money? I gather it's usually income or assets you're supposed to present, but I'll do whatever is best. Either way, should I also submit tax returns, as they don't really show either my income or assets, or can I skip that? And when the instructions say (though indicating optionality with the words as appropriate and or) submit a statement from an officer of the bank, can I skip that, as I don't even know if I could get that from my online-only bank?

... because you have to get your checked luggage then go through security again.

The standard recommendation for connecting flights after your first flight arriving in the US is to allow 2 1/2 hours. See, e.g. the Washington Post article "What to expect when connecting from an international flight" and it's comments (don't think I can put a link here). But I see above recommendations for 4 hours. Is the process really that much longer for someone coming in on a K-1 visa like my fiancee will? She says she's heard, and one poster above agrees, they just ask a few questions.