I-864 with offer letter of employment only

[Amena14 3]

I filed for my husbands IR-1/CR-1 Visa in December 2014 while still living in Afghanistan. I returned to the U.S. three months ago to set up our domicile and obtain employment at the same time NVC approved our application. Everything has been going according to schedule with no problems….thankfully.

However, our packet is still sitting at NVC waiting for my Affidavit of Support (I-864). Without a job or a co-sponsor, we have just been waiting for me to get a job so I can complete the I-864. Today, I finally received, and accepted, a job offer with the company I have been negotiating with the past two months!!

My question is, will an offer letter of employment be good enough to submit the I-864? I can show the last three years of employment with income of over $150,000 per year. In addition, I have $125,000 in a 401k. What I can’t submit now are two paycheck stubs. The job doesn’t actually start for another 30 days, which means I won’t be able to send two pay stubs until about mid-October. However, I will have them by the time he actually goes for his interview….if NVC accepts the AOS (as is) and forwards it on. I don't want to delay NVC processing in anyway but I also don't want to wait 60 more days to submit the last of the paperwork if I don't have to.

I know an offer of employment for the applicant is not sufficient, but what about the sponsor? Has anyone tried this before and what was the result?

[Darnell 8,478]

submit what you have, with a written letter of attestation on your new job, also showing the employment letter.

On interview day, your beneficiary can show the pay stubs.

I-864 is evaluated on interview day, NVC only checks for completeness. I think you'll be fine at NVC if'n you throw in the stuff I mentioned.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hi,

You must provide proof of current income with the I-864.

A letter of future employment is not proof of current income.

If you file without a paystub, you will most likely get an RFE for proof which will delay the case.

The NVC is not going to forward the case to the U.S. Embassy if you fail to provide the required proof of a current income.

Best of luck

[Darnell 8,478]

'offer letter for the applicant' is never evaluated, I am unsure why you would write of it ?

[Amena14 3]

Thank you for your responses. After carefully reading the I-864 instructions for the 10th time, I came across this….

"You may include evidence supporting your claim about your expected income for the current year if you believe that

submitting this evidence will help you establish ability to maintain sufficient income. You are not required to submit this

evidence, however, unless specifically instructed to do so by a U.S. Government official. For example, you may include

a recent letter from your employer, showing your employer’s address and telephone number, and indicating your annual

salary."

I decided to go ahead and take Darnell's advice and "chance it." I FedEx'd the entire package today. The worst that will happen is they will send an RFE asking for pay stubs…which I won't have for 60 more days anyway. So, if NVC reviews and sends the RFE in the next 60 days, I really haven't lost any time. I think it's better than waiting 60 days when I didn't need to. I"m a gambler!

I did attach a detailed letter stating that my husband would bring further documentation to his interview and I included additional assets totaling almost $200k. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Thank you again for your help!

[Amena14 3]

Wanted to give you an update on my question and the result...

I did send the offer letter with the I-864. I included a letter explaining that I had returned to obtain our domicile and that I had been negotiating employment as well. I noted that I would start my employment well before my husbands interview and that I would send verification (paycheck stubs) with him to his interview as additional documentation. Apparently NVC accepted this because they forwarded our package to the Embassy on 9/11/15 and his interview is scheduled for 10/20/15. I did, in fact, start my job this week so everything is good. I am SOOOOO glad I didn't wait another two months until I had a pay stub in hand.

Can't say this will happen for everyone, but it worked for us!

Thank you again for all your advice!

[Darnell 8,478]

yay! that's stellar news !!! [see, aaron? I was right !!! ]

whatcha cooking, to celebrate? if'n it was me, I'd make a big pot o rabbit stew... about 4 gallons..

[Motongever 49]

Hello, I hope you see this question. But I just want to inquire because I am somewhat in the same boat as your situation years ago. I was just wondering if you put in your expected income for the year (because what you have is only a job offer) under the current individual income or if you left it blank and just explained your situation via the explanation letter you submitted along with it? Thank you in advance. :)

[Amena14 3]

3 hours ago, Motongever said:

Hello, I hope you see this question. But I just want to inquire because I am somewhat in the same boat as your situation years ago. I was just wondering if you put in your expected income for the year (because what you have is only a job offer) under the current individual income or if you left it blank and just explained your situation via the explanation letter you submitted along with it? Thank you in advance.

Hello!   Yes, I originally put my offer letter in the package to NVC and estimated my expected income.  NVC did forward it to the Embassy without asking for additional information.   At the time of my husband's interview ( 2 months later), he had in his hand proof of my income.  I sent paycheck stubs, bank statements, etc to take with him.   HOWEVER, they took his passport and told him to come back when he had a joint sponsor.

It was quite confusing as my income was well over the minimum and I had almost $200k in assets, but it wasn't enough for some reason.  I ended up asking my father if he would volunteer.  So, I sent another I-864  with my father as the joint sponsor and it was finally accepted.  All of that ended up delaying us another month. All in all it was one year from start to finish. 

I think all Embassy's are different, but in my experience, every time I have applied for any type of VISA it was NEVER accepted the first time.  There was always some reason to add more.  I even had an attorney, whom I hired, tell me he was shocked as my package couldn't have been more thorough.  But unfortunately, we are all at their mercy. 

I think it's worth sending the offer of employment, but just to be safe and avoid any further delay, you might want to have a joint sponsor as well.  It certainly cannot hurt. 

Good luck to you!!!!!

[Motongever 49]

Thank you so much for the quick response! I went ahead and submitted my documents along with a letter explaining our situation. I will let you know how it goes!

Edited April 10, 2019 by Motongever

[Motongever 49]

Hello, I just want to give an update as promised. To get started, I'll share a little background story. I am the petitioner and I am a US citizen. I am trying to petition for my dad (IR-5 visa) who is a Filipino citizen. I only worked a part of 2018 in the US because I was also going to college and after I got my degree I worked for a little bit again, only for about 3 months, before taking a long vacation to the Philippines from November 2018 to Mar 2019.

When I came back I was unemployed, but got a job right away. However,  I was not scheduled to start the job until April 22nd, 2019. I received my case number and invoice # April 4. I had to submit the affidavit of support form and the supporting documents as well as the civil documents for IV application. I did not know whether it is ok for me to put in the I-864EZ form my expected annual income for 2019, since technically I was not employed yet by the company and has not really started working yet. But with the help of VJers, I chanced it and submitted the form in April 9th putting my expected income for 2019 in the current income box, less than two weeks before I actually started the job.

Along with this, I turned in my 2018, 2017, and 2016 W2's, and my 2018, 2017, and 2016 tax transcripts from the IRS, all of them indicating that I make more than the 125% of HHS poverty guideline (even though I only worked a part of 2018, I exceeded the guideline). I also submitted the formal offer of employment letter that I got from the company (literally the letter that I signed accepting the employment), which includes the name of the company, my position in the company, which department I'll be working, and the wage rate. It does not indicate whether I am full-time or part-time employee, and it only has my signature at the bottom and not even the recruiter's signature (because it is the company's offer letter and I accepted it). It was not the one that everybody tells you to get from your company's HR proving the length of time you've worked for them, it is the actual job offer letter. I did not have any recent pay stubs to provide because I was in the Philippines for quite a while, so on page 7 of form I-864EZ, I explained the reason why I can't provide paystubs at the time but that I will send it and dad will bring it with him at the interview.
 

Fortunately, every document was accepted! Except the I-864EZ form itself. The message I got from them says,  "Please sign, date by hand in page 6, and replace." The form in page 6 was signed by hand, but the date was typewritten. I thought that was silly for them to reject it because it was not dated by hand but oh well,  I resubmitted the form anyway with the signature and date written by hand this time. Now I am just waiting for them to review it again, and let's hope I receive a case complete in the next email I get from them.

visajourney has helped me a lot, and I am hoping sharing my experience will help other people too.

Edited April 29, 2019 by Motongever