Hi everyone!

As I have been living and working in India for the last 3 years, my income will not count towards our I-864 requirements. Between the two of us, we have over $30,000 in savings, and my husband (Indian citizen) has a certificate of deposit in his name for over $40,000. The combination of our assets puts us well over the $52,500 (3 times the 125% of the poverty level for 2 people).

Granted, the consular officer can always do whatever they wish, but legally, wouldn't that be a pretty clear cut coverage of the I-864 requirements? If we have proper documentation of our assets, would they have any grounds to deny our application? We really want to do this on our own as my parents are retired, and my siblings have their own families, and well, we are just independant like that!

Anyone have experience using assets rather than income - particularly in Chennai?

Thanks!
Carolyn

Oh yeah, before someone mentions the domicile issue, I am well aware of that and will have a statement from my parents that we will be going to their home, and that it has been my 'domicile' (as required in the I-864) while I have been in India.

With your husband's CoD, can it be turned into cash in US dollars within the year without losing much value? They want assets to be accessible in cash within one year and for there to not be penalties that lessen the value of the asset much. If it can be, as far as I'm aware they would have no grounds to deny your application for financial reasons, and I would be upset to hear that was happening. However, I went through the London embassy which is famously more lenient and reasonable so hopefully someone with personal experience can chime in - I just wanted to mention the bit about assets needing to be able to be turned into cash within one year.

We used assets as well, we are in Canada. I don't really have anything to add - just wanted to agree with everything Margot stated

Thanks everyone for answering! Yes, we can convert into cash without penalties, and the dollar amount would only depend upon the exchange rate at the time - right now the rupee is quite strong, but even if it goes down, it would still be plenty to go over the $52,500 that is required.

If anyone has any experience with using assets in India, it would be great to hear from you - especially if you were through the Chennai Consulate!

We are using assets, though sorry not in India. The only thing I would add to everything that has already been said, is make sure you do not have any liabilities against the amounts you hold. I.e loans, mortgages, borrowings, etc. because they will need to see these. Other than that, as long as they can be converted to cash in 12 months and you have documents proving that you have them, you really should not have a problem.

Good Luck.