With the CR1 interviews finally making some progress at the Montreal Consulate, and the fact alone that they have started interviewing people who had case completion in June, my husband and I realized its about time we look at our co-sponsorship situation and figure out a new plan.
My father-in-law was our co-sponsor, but due to his sudden passing, we had to find a new one. My mother-in-law has volunteered to be our new co-sponsor, however we are not sure how to use her assets to make up the difference in the income requirements.
She is working, but most likely not making enough to meet the requirements with her income alone, so we are pretty sure the assets will have to come into play.
I don't know her financial situation very well, so I won't be able to provide thorough details, but from what we know here is what she has for assets to use towards the I-864:
-She owns 1 house and 2 trailers. The house is completely paid off, no payments, no loans, however we think there is a loan involved with the 2 trailers. We figure the house is worth about $80k and the two trailers together about $120.
-2 vehicles, both payed off.
-Some sort of life insurance payout will be coming into play soon. She is starting the paperwork tomorrow to collect the life insurance plan my father in law had in place. I have no idea how much it is, but am pretty sure it isn't too substantial.

We figure we will be getting an interview in the early part of December, judging by other timelines, so we know we need to start putting all this together now. I have no idea how life insurance works, so I don't know if she will have the payout from that in time to use it towards meeting the requirements.
Also I'm wondering if we are going to have the three properties appraised? I know that can be pretty costly, so I don't really want to ask her to do that unless there is no other choice.

Anyways, any insight into this would be greatly appreciated. I figure the one house alone should be enough to meet the difference with the income requirements, but if it has to be appraised, that will be an awkward situation right now.
Thanks in advance for any advice you may have

hey.
this may be helpful for you.its from the I-864 form instructions.you should download the form and read it.it has a part about assests.
''In order to qualify based on the value of your assets, the total value of your assets must equal at least five times the difference between your total household income and the current poverty guidelines for your household size. However,if you are a U.S. citizen and you are sponsoring your spouse or minor child, the total value of your assets must only be equal to at least three times the difference. If the intending immigrant is an alien orphan who will be adopted in theUnited States after the alien orphan acquires permanentresidence, and who will, as a result, acquire citizenship undersection 320 of the Act, the total value of your assets need onlyequal the difference.Example of How to Use Assets: If you are petitioning for aparent and the poverty line for your household size is $22,062and your current income is $18,062, the difference betweenyour current income and the poverty line is $4,000. In orderfor assets to help you qualify, the combination of your assets,plus the assets of any household member who is signing FormI-864A, plus any available assets of the sponsored immigant,would have to equal five times this difference (5 x $4,000). Inthis case, you would meet the income requirements if the netvalue of the assets equaled at least $20,000.''

Thanks, that info was helpful. With that info in mind, the house alone should definetely be enough to make up the difference.
Does anyone know if there is a way around having to have the house appraised? It will cost around $500, and I really don't want to have to ask that of her. If not, would the life insurance be something we could use to make up the difference, and if so, how?

Hi Misty,

In reading the instructions I don't think there is any way to get around doing an actual appraisal of the house and then providing supporting documents that there are no mortgages, liens etc..

As for the life insurance, once it is actually cash, if it covers the amount you have calculated you will need, that will be no problem. If the insurance hasn't been paid out - that would probably not qualify. As you have to prove that the asset can be converted to cash within 1 year - how would you prove that on a policy that hasn't been paid out yet?

Sorry not much help there, but at least it will bump your question back up to the top!

I start with a draft of an I-864 for her. Then see where things fall. The live insurance payout in cash and any savings would be the most liquid, so most important. Once you have the information, you'll have a clearer picture of where things stand and whether you need a home appraisal. If there are plenty of other assets, you can probably skip it. It's not like you're claiming some huge value on the house.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone:) I'll definetely get started with the draft of the I-864 to see how things work out once we start plugging numbers in.
Hopefully it does work out to where we don't need to appraise the house, but if it does, I guess we'll just do what we need to do