Any feedback here would be appreciated...Although we're not legally married, I've been living with my partner/wife for 15 years and she's a naturalized citizen who's bringing her daughter, daughter's husband, and their 3 kids here to live with us. We submitted to NVC just my partner's I-864 sponsor paperwork, because I thought that should be sufficient. The way I understand, and correct me if I'm wrong, the household size ought to be six, because I shouldn't be included even though we live together. Her last year's tax returns are ~14k below the 125% amount for that household size, but she can show $50K in the bank, plus a letter from employer that her current weekly wage makes for an income in 2024 that's comfortably above the 125% line. However, since she works as a home health aide, this letter is coming from just a private citizen and though there's checks written to support it, there's no W2.
Just this week we got DQ'd but with the note that says "you may want to get a joint sponsor" and saying the consular officer "will make the final decision". Now, I would be happy to put in a joint sponsorship if it was required so that my stepdaughter wouldn't have to go through the delay of administrative processing...but at the same time, I don't want to put it in if it's unnecessary. What I'm considering is whether it's reasonable to prepare the paperwork but rather than submit it to NVC can I just send it to my stepdaughter for the visa interview so she can hand it up if they seem ready to deny her the visa? In other words, to have it ready as a fallback. My income is over the 125% mark for last year so it should remove any doubt but putting the document in to NVC costs money so I'd prefer them to look at my partner's I-864 first and make a decision on that (which I suspect should be favorable but I can't be sure) and then only use my sponsorship as a last resort. Does that make sense or am I overthinking?
Thank you for the information, and the speedy reply. It does look like I should definitely prepare a joint sponsorship. I know I read a story on here about someone handing up a joint sponsorship to the consular officer when it became clear that the petitioner's I-864 would not be approved, and that was OK....but by the same token, I'm pretty sure I've also read somewhere that the consular officer is under no obligation to accept any new documents at the time of interview, is that correct? If I knew that my I-864 would be accepted at the interview if needed, in that case I'd just have it ready and send it along as a backup. But if I thought there was a chance they'd refuse it because it hadn't been previously submitted to the NVC, then I'd want to avoid that possibility and upload it now to avoid any doubt. Thanks again.