Need help with I-864 RFE! Please!

[EllentheDane 0]

Hey everybody,

I would appreciate some advice on how to deal with the RFE I received for the I-864 today. Here is some background for you:

I met my husband two years ago when I was an exchange student (J-1) at his university in Ohio. We dated for three months until I went home, and he came to see me in Denmark six months later. As I'm currently finishing up an MA in American Studies, I went back to the university in Ohio for another year-long exchange stay in august 2007, and we moved in together in November 2007. He proposed (yay!), and we got married in May 2008 and following submitted the I-130/I-485 package. Everything has been running smoothly so far, and I got my biometrics taken a couple of weeks ago.

As we are both students and have no income to speak of (husband makes $3000 a year at the most), our I-864 was based almost solely on my assets as the beneficiary. In the packet, I sent documentation in form of a bank declaration signed by two Danish bank officials proving my ownership of the account and stating current balance ($55,600); a bank statement covering the last twelve months of account movements.

The RFE says as follows: "Based in the forms submitted with form I-864 for the petitioner/sponsor, the income did not meet 125% of the federal poverty line for the petitioner/sponsor's household size."

Then the RFE goes on to describe how we can use assets as evidence for financial security by submitting the exact documents mentioned above that I already submitted once before with the package. It also says we can get a joint sponsor, but we don't have any close relatives/friends in the U.S. who make sufficient money to put up a guarantee for us. Moreover, it is a lot to ask of people since it runs for up to ten years.

After turning in my thesis in two weeks ( ), I'll have finished my MA degree, and all I have to do is wait for the EAD, so I can get myself a job and make real money! My husband won't be done with law school until 2010.

Do any of you have any suggestions to the appropriate way of dealing with this? $55,600 should be enough cover 125% * 3 of the federal poverty level for a household of two people, right? Does the fact that my assets are carrying our I-864 kill our chances for approval? What should I do? Please help!

Your advice will be greatly appreciated!

[Steph0814 1]

Hi! If you dont mind me asking what type of assets? Is the bank account the only asset?

I just went through this exact same thing, an RFE becuase Justin didnt make the poverty line (he owns his own real estate business). I did call 2 lawyers for consultations and this is what I was told:

Basically what I was told that they need proof of Assets that would be able to be liquidated within one year without harm to the "family". Unfortunatly the lawyer told me that bank accounts are probably the weakest asset, as it could all be gone in a minute.

Please let me know if i can help at all! I know how hard it can be.

[Heliosphan 1]

Hey everybody,

I would appreciate some advice on how to deal with the RFE I received for the I-864 today. Here is some background for you:

I met my husband two years ago when I was an exchange student (J-1) at his university in Ohio. We dated for three months until I went home, and he came to see me in Denmark six months later. As I'm currently finishing up an MA in American Studies, I went back to the university in Ohio for another year-long exchange stay in august 2007, and we moved in together in November 2007. He proposed (yay!), and we got married in May 2008 and following submitted the I-130/I-485 package. Everything has been running smoothly so far, and I got my biometrics taken a couple of weeks ago.

As we are both students and have no income to speak of (husband makes $3000 a year at the most), our I-864 was based almost solely on my assets as the beneficiary. In the packet, I sent documentation in form of a bank declaration signed by two Danish bank officials proving my ownership of the account and stating current balance ($55,600); a bank statement covering the last twelve months of account movements.

The RFE says as follows: "Based in the forms submitted with form I-864 for the petitioner/sponsor, the income did not meet 125% of the federal poverty line for the petitioner/sponsor's household size."

Then the RFE goes on to describe how we can use assets as evidence for financial security by submitting the exact documents mentioned above that I already submitted once before with the package. It also says we can get a joint sponsor, but we don't have any close relatives/friends in the U.S. who make sufficient money to put up a guarantee for us. Moreover, it is a lot to ask of people since it runs for up to ten years.

After turning in my thesis in two weeks ( ), I'll have finished my MA degree, and all I have to do is wait for the EAD, so I can get myself a job and make real money! My husband won't be done with law school until 2010.

Do any of you have any suggestions to the appropriate way of dealing with this? $55,600 should be enough cover 125% * 3 of the federal poverty level for a household of two people, right? Does the fact that my assets are carrying our I-864 kill our chances for approval? What should I do? Please help!

Your advice will be greatly appreciated!

You can use assets to supplement income but it's a little tricky, they need to be easily liquidated. The fact that they come from you is also kind of tricky. It may be easier to get a joint sponsor. What about his parents/ or any friends?

Also did you get a waiver from your home requirement for the J-1 or are you on an F-1?

[EllentheDane 0]

Hi! If you dont mind me asking what type of assets? Is the bank account the only asset?

I just went through this exact same thing, an RFE becuase Justin didnt make the poverty line (he owns his own real estate business). I did call 2 lawyers for consultations and this is what I was told:

Basically what I was told that they need proof of Assets that would be able to be liquidated within one year without harm to the "family". Unfortunatly the lawyer told me that bank accounts are probably the weakest asset, as it could all be gone in a minute.

Please let me know if i can help at all! I know how hard it can be.

Oh no! Yes, the bank account is our only asset! So, what did you do about your RFE? Did you send other evidence, or did you just send them the stuff you had already submitted when mailing the AOS package?

Thanks so much for your reply!

[Heliosphan 1]

Hi! If you dont mind me asking what type of assets? Is the bank account the only asset?

I just went through this exact same thing, an RFE becuase Justin didnt make the poverty line (he owns his own real estate business). I did call 2 lawyers for consultations and this is what I was told:

Basically what I was told that they need proof of Assets that would be able to be liquidated within one year without harm to the "family". Unfortunatly the lawyer told me that bank accounts are probably the weakest asset, as it could all be gone in a minute.

Please let me know if i can help at all! I know how hard it can be.

Oh no! Yes, the bank account is our only asset! So, what did you do about your RFE? Did you send other evidence, or did you just send them the stuff you had already submitted when mailing the AOS package?

Thanks so much for your reply!

Are there any other assets on his end? A house or something? I can tell you that they'll prefer to see a flow on income than just assets. The impression is that no flow of income means you're going to need assistance in the future. Does he have a stipend for school?

[EllentheDane 0]

You can use assets to supplement income but it's a little tricky, they need to be easily liquidated. The fact that they come from you is also kind of tricky. It may be easier to get a joint sponsor. What about his parents/ or any friends?

Also did you get a waiver from your home requirement for the J-1 or are you on an F-1?

Well, the assets I have are all cash sitting in a bank account in Denmark, so I would think that would be the most easily liquidated assets of all. All of his family are struggling financially as it is, so they're not options for joint sponsors. I've given thought to some of his friends, but I just think it's a lot to ask them, since they don't know me all that well.

I got a no-objection waiver back in the spring, so luckily that's already taken care of!

What would you do about this? Thanks a lot for replying, by the way!

[Steph0814 1]

Well, I had not sent much Evidence of Assets the 1st time which was my fault.

I sent them a list of all the houses he owns with every detail IE: Mortgage, Deed, Appraisal, Tx Assesments & the current leases for all the houses as well. I probably over did it, I sent over 1 lb of paperwork.

I also sent the Operating Agreement for his company as well as the Title for the 3 cars and the Motorcycle we own, generally vehicules are not counted as assets, however because we obviously have an extra that could be sold "if needed" I attached it.

They just received it today. I know how hard it is to ask someone else to sponsor though, because we racked our brains trying to figure out who to ask..it's a lot to ask of someone.

I wish I had more answers to help.... But I am more than happy to help in any way i can ..

Do you all rent right now? Or own a house? You can use the house if you do.

[Heliosphan 1]

You can use assets to supplement income but it's a little tricky, they need to be easily liquidated. The fact that they come from you is also kind of tricky. It may be easier to get a joint sponsor. What about his parents/ or any friends?

Also did you get a waiver from your home requirement for the J-1 or are you on an F-1?

Well, the assets I have are all cash sitting in a bank account in Denmark, so I would think that would be the most easily liquidated assets of all. All of his family are struggling financially as it is, so they're not options for joint sponsors. I've given thought to some of his friends, but I just think it's a lot to ask them, since they don't know me all that well.

I got a no-objection waiver back in the spring, so luckily that's already taken care of!

What would you do about this? Thanks a lot for replying, by the way!

I know exactly what you mean by it's a lot to ask. Your funds would at least need to be in an American bank account though, I'd assume.

Hmm, the only reason I suggest getting a joint sponsor is that each IO is different and while one may accept the information you send in another might just be in a nasty mood and send you another RFE. Rather than delay your case, a joint sponsor would get everything going. Steph's situation is a little different because her husband gets income from the assets he owns, so there's a continous flow of income.

So it kind of depends. Personally, I'd try to ask someone. The only way they become at fault is if you ever need to go on public assistance, it's not like they're responsible for every move you make.

[EllentheDane 0]

Are there any other assets on his end? A house or something? I can tell you that they'll prefer to see a flow on income than just assets. The impression is that no flow of income means you're going to need assistance in the future. Does he have a stipend for school?

No, unfortunately he owns nothing besides a beat up old Cavalier from '98

He has no scholarship either, so he's living off of his student loans and the spare time work he can get his hands on.

I know they would prefer an income to assets, but we just have none! It's just so frustrating. If I could just get my EAD, because with my MA degree I can go out and find employment paying well over the $17,500 they're looking for.

Do you think there's a chance that they might have overlooked my asset documentation? In the RFE they seemed to have either forgotten or completely ignored it. I know they split up the package for different departments, so maybe something could have gone wrong? I've read about people who have been approved, although they only provided assets in the I-864, so I really didn't think it would be a problem!

[melusine 5]

i think you do need to find someone else to co sponsor if you want to get through...

harsh but... i just see that solution.

[Heliosphan 1]

Are there any other assets on his end? A house or something? I can tell you that they'll prefer to see a flow on income than just assets. The impression is that no flow of income means you're going to need assistance in the future. Does he have a stipend for school?

No, unfortunately he owns nothing besides a beat up old Cavalier from '98

He has no scholarship either, so he's living off of his student loans and the spare time work he can get his hands on.

I know they would prefer an income to assets, but we just have none! It's just so frustrating. If I could just get my EAD, because with my MA degree I can go out and find employment paying well over the $17,500 they're looking for.

Do you think there's a chance that they might have overlooked my asset documentation? In the RFE they seemed to have either forgotten or completely ignored it. I know they split up the package for different departments, so maybe something could have gone wrong? I've read about people who have been approved, although they only provided assets in the I-864, so I really didn't think it would be a problem!

You can definitely try it, but there's a chance they'll issue you another RFE.

[EllentheDane 0]

I know exactly what you mean by it's a lot to ask. Your funds would at least need to be in an American bank account though, I'd assume.

Hmm, the only reason I suggest getting a joint sponsor is that each IO is different and while one may accept the information you send in another might just be in a nasty mood and send you another RFE. Rather than delay your case, a joint sponsor would get everything going.

So it kind of depends. Personally, I'd try to ask someone. The only way they become at fault is if you ever need to go on public assistance, it's not like they're responsible for every move you make.

Would moving my assets to an American bank have tax ramifications? I remember reading that it's not required for the money to be located in the U.S.

I see your point about the joint sponsor. There is this one guy we could ask. He makes around $45,000 a year, but he just moved in with his girlfriend who depends on him to support her for a while (fresh out of college). How would this play out? Would those two together constitute one household? Would he have to be able to support her and me, or her, me and my husband (since he has no income either)?

Thanks so much for all your replies!

[EllentheDane 0]

Okay, I just talked to no less than two USCIS officers on the phone. One said that it looked like my husbands income and my assets would be sufficient to meet the financial requirement, but that the person handling the application might just have overlooked or misplaced my asset documentation. He said to go ahead and send the documents again.

The other officer said that my assets as the intending immigrant can not be used to meet the financial requirements, because they need someone to be financially responsible for me (I thought my husband was...). He said to get a joint sponsor.

I then looked it up on the USCIS website, which says as follows:

"(5) Use of Intending Immigrant’s Assets . If the sponsor does not meet the income requirement using his or her own income and/or assets, the sponsor may include the net value (the total value of the assets less any offsetting liabilities) of the intending immigrant’s assets. The instructions to Part 6 of Form I-864 indicate that the intending immigrant does not need to complete Form I-864A if he or she is using his or her assets to qualify even if he or she has an accompanying spouse and/or children. Instead, the intending immigrant only needs to provide documentation showing the net value of all assets."

Anyone have any input? Should I call them again to see if I'll get a third answer?

[Nagishkaw 510]

So, 125% * 3 of the federal poverty level for a household of two people should equal out to be......? Im a bit lost this morning.

[Steph0814 1]

So, 125% * 3 of the federal poverty level for a household of two people should equal out to be......? Im a bit lost this morning.

$52,500 is the number...Its still fresh on my mind.

$17,500x3

Edited August 1, 2008 by Steph0814