Just found this site, today. Great site. My girl is in Brasil, I'm from Hawaii. Been talking with her for 6 months. Started writing with foriegn girls just for something different. Talked to a half dozen or so. Was not that serious when started, but i met a nice girl from Goias (state), Brasil. Am actually flying to see her next week. Aug 11 06. Should be fun. Never dated a latina before. A lot of Asians in Hawaii so I dated mostly Koreans and Chinese. still young,(sort of) 36. Girls tell me I look in my late 20's, decent looking. Don't have a problem meeting girls in my age bracket. Want to get married, but girls my age have children or don't want them. My preference is to marry someone with no kids, gotta have an accent, and younger is always nice. Anyway that has led me down this (difficult road). Sorry for the short intro. This site has a friendly feeling and thought it would be proper to give a short intro. Anyway here's my problem/question.
I work in the construction field, off the books. I make above the required sponsor amount. But the problem is I only file like 10k a year on my tax returns. Kinda screwed, but i hate giving Uncle Sam my money. I talked to my best friend of over 20 years. He makes over 100K per year.

Question: Can a friend be a joint sponsor? Not close to my family, so asking them is out. And if so; how does the gov. view an application for a fiance VISA from someone who needs a joint sponsor?
Anyone out there used a joint sponsor?
I feel like I'm a little screwed. Hate to go through all the BS only to get rejected. Wish I could go back 3 years and work on the books. I JUST started looking into the whole Gov. process. Been on here reading for hours and my head is spinning.

Another quick question. Are lawyers worth the money?

The paperwork seems straight forward. My situation is a little tricky so maybe I'll need one. Hate to use one if I don't have to.
Thanks for the great site. Kino

yes, your friend can be a Co - sponser. long as he is USC.
secondly, as long as your case is straight forward and you read the guides you should be fine filling out the papers. thirdly, have plenty of proofs of how you met blah blah blah. then you should be fine. Good Luck with your case.

From what I've read, co-sponsors are fine as long as they're US citizens. If you don't have any major catches, I wouln't bother with a lawyer. If you get questions that VJ can't answer (or you're not comfy with VJ's responses, or you just wanna hear it from the mouth of a lawyer) you could ask Laurel Scott in her free chat room on Wednesdays at 11am CST. I couldn't make it because I was in work, so my mom went for me, and she answered questions for me wonderfully.

When you go to Brasil, bring back LOTS of proof with you. Take photos together - if possible, get the date in the background somewhere, somehow. I've read on here somewhere that you should make sure that both of you are wearing different clothes in some of the photos, to show that you weren't together only for one photo shoot. (For others who only have the photos that they have, it's no big deal... most of us didn't KNOW we'd have to get this proof when we visited with our loved ones, so since you know, you have the opportunity to do everything with some perks! ) Save all of your boarding passes/ticket stubs, and any e-mail ticket confirmations or itineraries that you might get. I even saved my fiance's baggage tags/reciepts since they have his name on them. If you two get a hotel, make sure that BOTH of your names are on the reciept so they'll be able to place you both in the room at a same time. If you can use your credit/debit/atm card while you're there without any major fees, do so - then the bill will show that you used it in Brasil, placing you there at that time. Anything else that you could think of which would show that you were there and you both met would be great. Save everything "just in case" though - I even saved our train tickets and metrocards... no names, but a date, and who knows if I'll be able to use it, I'll figure that out later. I'd rather save something and find out later that I can't use it then throw something out and find out later that I could've used it.

Thanks Baby B. And thank you Aselano. The advise was great. From reading it sounded like a non-relative could be a joint sponsor. I'm glad i started checking this stuff out, because I'm terrible at paperwork. At least now i know to keep airline stubs, hotel receipt etc. They probably would have ended up in the trash.

Question: Anyone out there use or know/heard of someone that used a joint sponsor for a fiance VISA?
What was the result?

Seems like such an application is more likely to get rejected.

Kino

On the contrary, if you need to get a co-sponsor, go ahead and do it. You have to show proof that the beneficiary won't be a burden to the U.S. government.

From what I've read, they don't like the whole co-sponsoring thing in Philippines.

Plenty of us have used cosponsors for a K1 application, including us. The cosponsor's documents were checked at my interview in London and the interviewing officer raised no concerns. My visa was approved just fine.

I suppose I should add that this is strictly my own experience, but I'm sure you'll find others who'll say the same thing.

Not more likely to get rejected. The US Gov. doesn't really care who supports her, they only care that "they" don't support her. So, if a co-sponser is willing to support her should something happen to you and you are not able to support her, they have it in writing that your friend is responsible for her (financially naturally )

Thanks you Guys/Girls have taken a load off my mind! My friend and I are like brothers, and I mentioned it to him and he seems cool with the idea. I'll owe him big if he does it.

Question: Have people done their own paperwork or is a lawyer a waste of money?

Mahalo(thank you in Hawaiian)

Kino

Read through the instructions on the form and check if you think you need help from a lawyer. From what I've read, people can do that by themselves with no problems. When doing so, read the poverty guidelines and FAQs connected to the I864 form (they apply to the I134). Also, just so you're aware of something waaaaaaay ahead in the future, read through I864, needed for the adjustment of status.

Boa sorte!

kino,

The consular officer processing the visa application must feel comfortable that a proposed sponsor will actually provide the offered support should it be needed. The anecdotal evidence is that most consulates have a natural high comfort level but a few - notably Manilla - have a very low comfort level. Don't know about Brazil specifically.

Is a life insurance policy worth it? Depends on what kind of surprises one runs into, and if one has shopped wisely for a good policy.

Yodrak

Thanks Yodrak for info.
I wasn't asking about life insurance, but I do have a policy.
Was asking about Lawyers
Thanks Kino.

kino,

I was telling you about lawyers, I just didn't call them by that name.

Yodrak

Actualy... the I-134 says, under the assets section, "I have life insurance in the sum of $_______ with a cash surrender value of $________". My question for the people who know more about this is - does that mean he can claim the cash surrender value of his life insurance as an asset that they'll take into account when they're deciding if he can be his fiancee's sponsor? If so and he does it, does that pose any risks to him? Like I wonder about claiming your house as an asset - does that mean they could take your house away from you if something goes wrong and you're not able to support your fiance(e)?

[quote name='aselano' date='Aug 3 2006, 05:25 PM' post='354485']
[quote name='kino' post='354324' date='Aug 3 2006, 04:33 PM']
Thanks Yodrak for info.
I wasn't asking about life insurance, but I do have a policy.
Was asking about Lawyers
Thanks Kino.
[/quote]

we have a lawyer and I wish I hadn't spent the money.
one problem with lawyers is you send them stuff and then they send it on, which slows down things a little. better to send directly.
I started reading VJ just to figure out conflicting things the lawyer (actually an assistant) told me.
lawyers don't make it faster and can't do special tricks.
they are slightly helpful if you don't want to bother to be careful and complete.
they are probably useful if you have an unusual problem.
otherwise, not.

Lawyer vs. doing it yourself thread: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...c=23070&hl=

I think you'll find it helpful.

Thanks everyone for good info. Mew, checked out that link. a good one. Sounds like some people may benefit from a lawyer if have bad prior history. I have no criminal history or other things that were mentioned in that link. I do have the financial issue i mentioned in the begining, but from reading I don't see how a lawyer would help me. I printed all of the example forms from this site and things seem fairly basic.
(IF) things go good on my trip and we decide to be together, I'll probably try and do things myself. With the help of VJ and everyone here.
Mahalo
Kino

Good luck and enjoy your trip to Brazil!