Between the most recent events in our family and the visa issues that have just arrived as of now, both my hubby and I are beside ourselves trying to cope with the new obstacles ahead of us.
First and foremost: Early yesterday afternoon a tragic, horrible accident happened in which my mother in law almost drowned in the ocean, and my father in law died saving her life. I've been here in NC visiting for a week now, and received a frantic phone call from my mom-in-law telling me that my father-in-law had almost drowned and had just been pulled from the ocean and was at this very moment being given CPR...trying to bring him back to life.
God bless her soul....my M.I.L asked me to go break it to my hubby very gently that his father was fighting for his life, and needed him there.
After hanging up with my M.I.L I rushed into the bedroom to wake up my hubby who had just woken up (he'd been awake last night finishing off homework from his evening classes at college), to tell him the bad news.
We arrived at the beach where his father had been fighting for his life expecting to find an ambulance with his father in it fighting to contain his life, instead only to find his mother and a police officer waiting for us. As we approached, his mother informed us that his father didn't make it, and that he had passed away shortly after the phone call.
We spent all of yesterday grieving with his mother. I cannot possibly even go into words how much this has hurt my husband's family. His mother feels entirely responsible since he died saving her life.
My husband is staying strong..I'm so extremely proud of him..he's been holding it together for his whole family thus far, and I admire him so much for his strength.
Even though he was only my father in law, I am grieving more than I thought possible right now. As I recall my husband telling me right before I first met his father "he was the kind of man who would without hesitation give you the shirt off his back," and both him and my mother in law have gone far beyond that since I joined their family. It's safe to say, both of them have been adopted parents of mine, and I can't begin to put into words how much sorrow I feel both over his loss, and the sudden burden of guilt my M.I.L has been carrying the last 24 hours.
Now it gets tricky. I don't even like bringing this up, because I feel like I'm being selfish and horrible, but I know it's an issue we will have to face in the near future, so I realize it's something we need to look at ASAP.
My father in law was also our co-sponsor for our Affadavit of Support. My husband is attending school right now and is making a few thousand short of the min. amount required for a sponsor, therefore we needed some help in this area.
With my father in law passing, and an interview due any day now (*cough cough*) we are stuck worrying about trying to scramble together enough financial resources in a possibly limited amount of time to satisfy the Montreal Consulate.
I don't know much about my mother/father in law's financial business, but I don't think there was a life insurance policy in place. My mother in law will be struggling to keep herself on her feet, since she is working a job that doesn't pay much, and will be selling her property (she would rather not live in the house they shared together since it has too many memories for her to deal with right now.) They have in total three pieces of land, two vehicles, and more than enough to meet the financial requirements asset-wise.
The only options for us right now would be for us to fill out a new Affadavit of Support using her assets, since she doesn't make enough in her current job to meet the income requirements alone, or to seek other help like his brother or uncle.
The brother/uncle option doesn't seem as logical since they aren't as close to us, so we don't feel like we should try calling on their help for this.
We know she would be more than happy to sign the forms for us, since his father was very supportive of it as well, however we just feel awkward laying this burden on her. Not only that, we also worry that a co-sponsor using mostly assets (even if well above the min. required amount) would not satisfy the interviewer come that time, and that we would be struggling last minute to find a way around this last obstacle.
Either way, which ever option we choose, we won't approach it until the time draws nearer. Right now we realize we need to be giving as much support to his mother as we possibly can, and generally being there for our family. We are only trying to look at our future with as much clarity as possible, since what has happened now can affect both our lives in a big way.
That being said, does anyone have any experience using mostly assets to cover the financial part of the Affadavit of support? Is it going to be too risky to bother with? I really don't know where to go from here, so any help would be appreciated.
