I-864 Affidavit of Support Query

[MartynB 0]

I'm preparing everything I need for my interview right now and getting to that stage where I'm becoming paranoid that I'm missing something. My partner, Liz, is American and is my sponsor for my Spouse visa, but as we have been living together in the UK for the last year (she is a student) she doesn't currently have a valid income, so we have arranged for a joint sponsor, a close family friend, to cover what we need. I just want to be sure that we're doing this correctly, as much of the information I'm finding online is really vague or contradictory.

1) Am I correct that we need to file two I-864 AoS', one from my partner and the other from the joint sponsor, even though my partner's income is not a factor?

2) I have seen some places suggest that we need proof of domicile (a passport or similar) for both sponsors, but these seem to be outdated and none of the up-to-date official documentation mentions this. Am I right in thinking that this isn't necessary?

 

Thanks in advance for the help, I'm sure you can all appreciate how stressful this process is.

Edited September 24, 2017 by MartynB

[JFH 12,189]

Yes, you need 2 x I-864. One completed by your wife, she is still your sponsor even though she doesn't have an income. One completed by the joint sponsor.

 

Your wife must demonstrate her intent to re-establish domicile in the USA. Has she kept her bank account here? Has she applied for jobs or enrolled in a course of study for when the two of you come over? What will your living arrangements be?

 

For the joint sponsor you must demonstrate that he/she lives in the USA, is either a US citizen or green card holder and is over 18.

Edited September 25, 2017 by JFH

[Wuozopo 4,285]

54 minutes ago, MartynB said:

Am I correct that we need to file two I-864 AoS', one from my partner and the other from the joint sponsor, even though my partner's income is not a factor?

Yes you need two. It is required in immigration law to have one from your spouse, as well as her US tax return information even if she can not financially sponsor. She is the primary sponsor even with zero income that counts.

 

54 minutes ago, MartynB said:

I have seen some places suggest that we need proof of domicile (a passport or similar) for both sponsors, but these seem to be outdated and none of the up-to-date official documentation mentions this. Am I right in thinking that this isn't necessary?

Also part of immigration law is proof that your primary sponsor and secondary (joint) sponsor are US citizens or permanent residents. They already know your wife is because she has already submitted proof with the petition.  But your new person being a joint sponsor is unknown to them. Prove he/she is a US citizen with a photocopy of his passport or birth certificate. Or prove he is a permanent resident with a photocopy of his greencard.

 

Also required is that a sponsor be domiciled in the US. Your wife obviously lives in the UK. She needs to provide evidence that her stay in the UK is of a temporary nature. There are many lists but good ones are having a valid US driver license, bank account, voter registration and the like. Things that show she still maintains her ties in the US.  So work up a few things like that. London is not very strict.

 

If that fails, she can show intent to re-establish domicile like job or apartment hunting in the US, giving notice to the U.K. landlord, putting U.K. house on the market, acceptance to further schooling in the US, letter from her current school that she is completing her course soon and will be returning to the US. Just emails or correspondence with apartment locators, schools, and such have been fine in the past for London. Get creative. It's not a huge deal, but a requirement.

 

And please read over and over again the instructions to form I-864. They explain a lot of this. No forum is a substitute for hearing it exactly from USCIS. There are 16 pages of info which is way more than I am going to explain. 

READ--> https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-864instr.pdf?download=1

 

Domicile info is on page 5.

Joint sponsor on page 12.

 

 

[MartynB 0]

Thanks for the answers everyone, that helped to clear some things up.