AUTtoPA

Update in case someone else would like to know about this topic: The county courthouse in PA advised me not to do the self-uniting marriage as I am not a U.S. citizen, so we got married in front of the judge. It all went pretty smoothly and we're happy that we went this route. Thanks again for everyone's input.

Hello, I came to the U.S. recently on a K-1 visa, got married and now live with my U.S. citizen wife, our child and my wife's mother in one household (they have lived together for several years before I moved here). I'm preparing the documents for AOS at the moment. My wife and her mother make 34k each; 68k combined per year. 125% requirement for a 4 person household is 39k. If I understand it correctly, then my wife fills out I-864 and her mother fills out I-864A and their incomes can be combined. Please let me know if I am correct on this. Thanks in advance for any help.

We'll have to research some more and think about it, if the county tells us the marriage certificate is exactly the same as with judge/officiant it may be fine. Thanks for sharing your experience.

From my googling I'm not sure the courthouse judges in PA officiate weddings, we'll have to call the county courthouse and ask. If not, we could at least get a professional officiant though, thanks for your input.

Hello, I'm currently in the process for a K-1 visa, I passed the medical exam and have the interview at the U.S. consulate in Vienna soon. My fiancée and I have collected most things, but want to make sure we did not miss anything. My fiancée recently gave birth to our child and after I (hopefully) move there we will live with her mother for the foreseeable future, so a 4 person household. For the I-134 I read it's good to already be above 125% of federal poverty guidelines to show we're ready for AOS, so her mother is also filling out an I-134 already even though not strictly necessary. 100% is 31.2k and 125% is 39k for a 4 person household, they are earning around 34k each. I read current income is the best evidence, so they are sending me their tax return transcripts, W-2s, recent pay stubs and employer letters as well as the bank statement for their account balance etc. Will it help if I list my own bank account under my assets? I've read people leave it empty if the sponsors have enough income. Assuming everything goes well with the interview, I have a few questions about moving to the U.S.: - I will need health insurance for the time before I marry my fiancée and can be added on the health insurance plan she gets through her employer. Is there any site/plan you could recomment or should I just google "K-1 visa health insurance" and look for a suitable plan for 90 days? - I read that getting an SSN is possible almost immediately after entry into the U.S. with the K-1 visa, is that correct? Is it possible to get a drivers license with this SSN or do I have to wait for EAD? I read conflicting information about this. - For opening a bank account I read that you need proof of living in the U.S. such as a utility invoice or a rent contract addressed to you, but seeing as we will be living with my fiancées mother I won't have that. What would be best in this case? - Due to not being sure when I can open a bank account, I'm thinking of bringing around $ 10k in cash with me. I read that it's fine as long as I fill out the declaration form to give to the customs officer upon arrival and bring a confirmation of the withdrawal from my bank account to prove where it's from. Any advice here? - Transferring money from my Austrian bank account to my future U.S. one - I read doing it through the bank results in high fees, is using Wise for this a good idea? - We read up on the requirements for marriage in PA in our case/area, we should be good to go and will get a marriage license and get married as soon as possible after I move there. We are thinking about doing the self-uniting marriage that's possible in PA to save time and money, is that fine for the AOS process or would there be any issues? Thank you in advance, we appreciate any wisdom you can share.