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Posted by: hayati Nov 7 2009, 09:11 AM

Hi All,

I have a quick question about the affidavit of support paperwork, the I-134...

My fiance is Egyptian, so the application is for him and I am considered the primary sponsor. After reading through the guides and tons of information on the internet, I'm a little bit concerned regarding our situation. My parents have agreed to be a cosponsor. By the 2009 poverty guidelines, they make enough money to cover the requirement (I think 125% of the poverty level) for him and their household. So that's good... but the guides say specifically that the US fiance is always considered the primary sponsor. So I have to fill out the paperwork, which is fine. Also, I read that the consulate will take into consideration whether or not the US fiance has plans to work actively (if not already). Well, here's our situation..

I am living and working in Egypt and have been for over a year. Def. the amount of money I make here does not qualify to cover him and also, once he's given the visa, we are both moving back to the US. However, next fall (2010) I will be attending law school. 1Ls are not allowed to work during the first year. So, though I do plan on looking for a job as soon as I return (perhaps in March or so) to save up before law school, come August or so, I have to quit. Will this hurt our situation? The fact that I'm going to be a student?

It's not an ideal situation to be in and we both realize that. We're hoping and praying that he'll be able to find a job before school starts and that the loans I will have to take out for law school (which factors in living expenses since they don't allow you to work during your first year and don't advise working in 2nd and 3rd year) will help us out a bit. Plus, we'll both have a little money saved up from our jobs here... not a huge amount and def. not enough to cover what the consulate will expect, but we're trying. Like I said, it's not ideal... but of course, people don't really plan relationships and such. It's just the course life has taken us in and we have to deal with it.

Bottom line, should I be concerned that the consulate will deny us based on this?

Also, just briefly looking over the I-134 form... since my parents are cosponsoring, do each of them have to fill the form out separately? Or, for example, can the form be filled out in my mom's name but both of their incomes taken into consideration (they're still married and as far as I can tell they file jointly on their tax forms)?

Thanks a bunch!

Posted by: Otto und Karin Nov 7 2009, 09:56 AM

Just to back up a minute - you've filed a K-1 Fiance Petition while living in Egypt.... correct?

Posted by: Stephen + Elisha Nov 7 2009, 10:30 AM

moving to: US Embassy and Consulate Discussion
You are almost there and now you have to deal with the embassy. This is the place to post your experiences or questions related to this last step before moving to the US. Topics relating to I-134's, packets sent from consulate and medical & police certificates should be posted here.

Posted by: Stephen + Elisha Nov 7 2009, 10:36 AM

Your most immediate concern should be how you're going to convince the consulate of your US domicile. As you're living in Egypt, you're going to need concrete evidence showing that you're in the process of relocating to the US. Hopefully you're already aware of this and have taken it into consideration.

Posted by: hayati Nov 7 2009, 10:37 AM

Sorry about posting in the incorrect forum.

Yep, "Otto und Karin," I filed from Egypt.... meaning, I sent my K1 Petition to USCIS from Egypt via DHL. So, I went through the exact same process as anyone else, except my location is abroad rather than from the US... but I have a permanent address in the US (parents). We could have went through this process a lot faster had we done a Direct Consular Filing but that requires being married and we didn't want to rush the marriage part just for the convenience of moving the process along faster. Besides, my plans weren't to return to the US until Fall 2010 so it worked out well. We are lucky enough to be together during this process.

Now, anyone have any advice on my question(s)?

Posted by: hayati Nov 7 2009, 10:40 AM

Hmm... would pending law school applications be proof of this? I do still have permanent residence in the US (with my parents). I graduated in 2008, moved straight to Egypt (am half Egyptian so it's not that random, plus I spent a year studying abroad here before I returned), with the plan of taking two years off before moving back to the US (permanently) for law school and beyond. I don't think my situation is that questionable, is it? Now how to prove it? We'll be living with my parents for the few months before law school while we hunt for an apartment, etc, so it's not like we will have anything showing that we've already obtained residence there....

Posted by: pushbrk Nov 7 2009, 12:29 PM

Only one parent acts as the cosponsor. Pick the one with the qualifying income. That person will provide the joint tax return with W2 and/or 1099 forms to indicate which portions of the joint income are their own. They state only their personal income, not the joint income.

Posted by: hayati Nov 7 2009, 02:10 PM

Thanks pushbrk for the clarification... but now I'm confused. The 2009 poverty guidelines is based on how many people are in the household and the household income (if I understood correctly). Basically they must make x amount for the number of people they claim (5) plus 1 (the foreign fiance) making a total of 6. If they are only looking at one parent's income, surely that one parent's income is not supposed to cover all 6?? Correct? How will I know which is the qualifying income? Am I unable to have two cosponsors (in addition to myself) if the one parent's income doesn't qualify for the six people?

Posted by: pushbrk Nov 7 2009, 06:39 PM

Yet you don't seem confused at all. It just looks like you don't like the answer. Again, income cannot be combined to sponsor a K visa. Yes, if the household size is 6, then one person's income must cover the six. You know which income belongs to which person by adding up the income from the W2 and or 1099 forms that bear that person's name. Nobody said it was going to be easy. The qualifications are the same for all K visa sponsorship. You either qualify to sponsor or find somebody who does. Later, when your then spouse adjusts status, income can be combined, if needed.

Posted by: Donna and Dave Nov 18 2009, 03:39 AM

Hayati,

I just got my Visa Application approved (November 16) and everything was so smooth. Just like you, my husband and I were extremely worried about the affidavit of support. The only difference between your situation and ours is that we are already married. My husband and I have been living together for more than 3 years outside of the United States and we do not have a residence in the United States. His income is definitely not sufficient to show that he can support me. We have his father to co-sponsor me, signed I-134 petition with 2008 Social Security Benefit Statement.

When we got to the embassy, the woman interviewing me, asked me what my job is here in my country, I told her I am a freelance programmer. She asked where am I going to live when I get to the US, I said My husband and I are going to live with my husband's parents. She looked at my husband's affidavit of support, and we both got worried since we knew it was not sufficient, so my husband said, "we have a co-sponsor". She then replied, "I don't think it's necessary, I think she has marketable skills. Please hold on for a moment and I'll just put the note in here, so I can approve her application."

That was it, she congratulated us, and told us to that the application is already approved and that they will mail the Visa within 5 days.

I do not think that they will care about your income, I think the main thing is to prove that your fiance(e) will not be a public charge, if you have a co-sponsor then it will not be a problem. There is no "main sponsor", it's just about proving she will not be a public charge, if the money/residence will be provided to her, they do not care where it's coming from and who will be paying for her support for as long as it's not the government that will shoulder it.

On my interview, I met a lot of people applying for K1 and K3 visa, believe it or not, none of them got denied and these people that I talked to are all in social security disability income which is below the poverty level guideline. They passed because they have a co-sponsor and they were able to prove that their fianc(e) or spouse will not be the government's problem.

Goodluck.

-Donna