K1 Visa denied

[ratsso 0]

Big thanks to everyone who have helped us to this point. I started this post, but apparently was not successful in getting it placed. Here go's again..

My fiancee' was denied under because they felt she would be a "public charge". Manila would not even consider looking at the co-sponsors I-134. She was told by the CO that Manila doesn't accept co-sponsors.

Part of our problem stem from me being a self-employed person. I do make a decent income. However, my income on line 22 is shown to be less than the % of the poverty level for a combined family of 4.

We thought about a few possible options to this.

1. co-sponsor ( apparently, not an option in Manila).

2. Using my assets and income combined on the I-134 ( apparently, they wouldn't "see" this as a I-864).

3. Waiting until I file my 2010 taxes and "over stating" my income and pay higher taxes. ( Could be like shooting myself in the foot financially).

4. Marry in the Philippines and start the process all over again and become eligible to file an I-864. If this is an option, do we have another long time line ahead of us. Or can we cut to the chase some how ?

Thank you again guys !

Cendy and Jay

[jrmejia 31]

Big thanks to everyone who have helped us to this point. I started this post, but apparently was not successful in getting it placed. Here go's again..

My fiancee' was denied under because they felt she would be a "public charge". Manila would not even consider looking at the co-sponsors I-134. She was told by the CO that Manila doesn't accept co-sponsors.

Part of our problem stem from me being a self-employed person. I do make a decent income. However, my income on line 22 is shown to be less than the % of the poverty level for a combined family of 4.

We thought about a few possible options to this.

1. co-sponsor ( apparently, not an option in Manila).

2. Using my assets and income combined on the I-134 ( apparently, they wouldn't "see" this as a I-864).

3. Waiting until I file my 2010 taxes and "over stating" my income and pay higher taxes. ( Could be like shooting myself in the foot financially).

4. Marry in the Philippines and start the process all over again and become eligible to file an I-864. If this is an option, do we have another long time line ahead of us. Or can we cut to the chase some how ?

Thank you again guys !

Cendy and Jay

Sorry to hear that. Best of luck on your decision.

[Aztec&Taino 144]

Big thanks to everyone who have helped us to this point. I started this post, but apparently was not successful in getting it placed. Here go's again..

My fiancee' was denied under because they felt she would be a "public charge". Manila would not even consider looking at the co-sponsors I-134. She was told by the CO that Manila doesn't accept co-sponsors.

Part of our problem stem from me being a self-employed person. I do make a decent income. However, my income on line 22 is shown to be less than the % of the poverty level for a combined family of 4.

We thought about a few possible options to this.

1. co-sponsor ( apparently, not an option in Manila).

2. Using my assets and income combined on the I-134 ( apparently, they wouldn't "see" this as a I-864).

3. Waiting until I file my 2010 taxes and "over stating" my income and pay higher taxes. ( Could be like shooting myself in the foot financially).

4. Marry in the Philippines and start the process all over again and become eligible to file an I-864. If this is an option, do we have another long time line ahead of us. Or can we cut to the chase some how ?

Thank you again guys !

Cendy and Jay

Hello!

I am sorry to hear that your fiancee was denied. I did not know that consulates could, independently, decide whether they accepted financial co-sponsors or not. Are you sure this is legit? Could it be the particular CO giving your fiancee a hard time and wrong information? Maybe you could ask other members who have gone through the Manila consulate because this smells fishy to me.

Best wishes!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

1. co-sponsor ( apparently, not an option in Manila).

Manila does occasionally accept a co-sponsor. The factors they consider are if the primary sponsor has a good reason for current low income (full time student, perhaps?), that the primary sponsor has good prospects for better earnings in the future (about to graduate or recent college graduate), and that the co-sponsor has a strong motive to sign an I-864 when the time comes (a close relative is preferred). It sounds like this doesn't describe your situation, so they probably won't accept a co-sponsor for a K visa in your case.

2. Using my assets and income combined on the I-134 ( apparently, they wouldn't "see" this as a I-864).

Did you already declare these assets on your I-134 the first time through? If no, why not? If yes, they apparently didn't care, and won't likely care if you try again.

3. Waiting until I file my 2010 taxes and "over stating" my income and pay higher taxes. ( Could be like shooting myself in the foot financially).

"Over stating" your income, or simply not taking all of the allowable deductions? You can't legally declare income you don't receive. However, you are not required to take every deduction you're eligible to take. There are some very liberal deductions on schedule C. As far as the consulate is concerned, the number on line 22 of the 1040 is the income you have to live on. You can pump this number up by skipping some deductions on schedule C. Yeah, you'll pay more in taxes, but you can't have it both ways. If the IRS thinks you're too poor to pay much taxes then the consulate will, as well.

4. Marry in the Philippines and start the process all over again and become eligible to file an I-864. If this is an option, do we have another long time line ahead of us. Or can we cut to the chase some how ?

The advantage here is that you can take advantage of every option that the I-864 allows, including using a co-sponsor.

Now matter which route you take, you need to pretty much start over. There are no shortcuts.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Hello!

I am sorry to hear that your fiancee was denied. I did not know that consulates could, independently, decide whether they accepted financial co-sponsors or not. Are you sure this is legit? Could it be the particular CO giving your fiancee a hard time and wrong information? Maybe you could ask other members who have gone through the Manila consulate because this smells fishy to me.

Best wishes!

Nothing fishy. The consulate in Vietnam is the same way. The truth is that there are a variety of fraud scenarios that are common in this part of the world, and that begin with a petitioner who doesn't have enough income to sponsor an immigrant. One of those scenarios is a petitioner who is being paid to help someone immigrate. Someone with a low income would have a motive to participate, while someone with a high income would be less suspect. There are a variety of other scenarios, as well.

Immigration law gives the consular officer wide discretion in making the "public charge" determination. They are also given guidelines by the Department of State, and additional guidelines established at each consulate. They are not required to accept a co-sponsor for a non-immigrant visa.

[ratsso 0]

Manila does occasionally accept a co-sponsor. The factors they consider are if the primary sponsor has a good reason for current low income (full time student, perhaps?), that the primary sponsor has good prospects for better earnings in the future (about to graduate or recent college graduate), and that the co-sponsor has a strong motive to sign an I-864 when the time comes (a close relative is preferred). It sounds like this doesn't describe your situation, so they probably won't accept a co-sponsor for a K visa in your case.

Did you already declare these assets on your I-134 the first time through? If no, why not? If yes, they apparently didn't care, and won't likely care if you try again.

"Over stating" your income, or simply not taking all of the allowable deductions? You can't legally declare income you don't receive. However, you are not required to take every deduction you're eligible to take. There are some very liberal deductions on schedule C. As far as the consulate is concerned, the number on line 22 of the 1040 is the income you have to live on. You can pump this number up by skipping some deductions on schedule C. Yeah, you'll pay more in taxes, but you can't have it both ways. If the IRS thinks you're too poor to pay much taxes then the consulate will, as well.

This may be the shorted answer for our situation: She received written options from the consulate, that she could marry, then use the I-864. And I could see this as our advantage given the assets and my income for the current year. But waiting a year will be very hard.

The consulate is giving us a year to act before they close our case. I was thinking of scheduling another interview with and updated I-134 after Dec. 31st. when my I am able to use my newer tax return.. I'm just hoping they will give us more opportunities to submit another I-134, if we still have year..

thank you !

The advantage here is that you can take advantage of every option that the I-864 allows, including using a co-sponsor.

Now matter which route you take, you need to pretty much start over. There are no shortcuts.

[ratsso 0]

This may be the shortest time line for our situation: She received written options from the consulate: We could marry, then use the I-864. And I could see this as our advantage given the assets and my income for the current year. But waiting a year will be very hard.

The consulate is giving us a year to act before they close our case. I was thinking of scheduling another interview with an updated I-134 after

December 31st. This is when I am able to use my newer tax return.. I'm just hoping they will give us more opportunities to submit another I-134, if we still have year.. what do you think ?

thank you !