I-864 petitioner's assets: about bank accounts

[bisco 0]

Hello!

My Japanese wife and I are presently living together in Japan and are applying for her visa. We hope to move to the US in July. I have already submitted the I-130 to the embassy in Tokyo and we have heard back from them - so far, so good.

I still need to tackle the I-864.

I am presently unemployed and we do not have enough assets for me to be the sole sponsor, so my dad is going to be my joint sponsor, and he is filling out his own I-864.

My questions concern the I-864 that I am filling out.

I have a few questions, and this post is a little long, but PLEASE bear with me and any help would be very much appreciated!

#1 On the I-864 form you are required to list your adjusted gross income from the last 3 tax years, right? Well, I have been living and working in Japan for a number of years now. Each year I have always filed my federal tax return, but my income in Japan is excluded from US federal tax, and actually my adjusted gross income as listed on my federal tax return ends up being $0.00 in light of tax exclusion. So, where it asks for me to write my income on the I-864, I am planning on writing $0.00. Is this correct?

#2 When my wife and I went to the embassy in Tokyo and submitted our I-130, I brought with me an incomplete draft of my I-864 and asked the officer some questions about it. She told me that regardless of the fact that my wife and I do not have enough income and assets for me to be the sole sponsor, and my dad is going to be the joint sponsor, I should nevertheless STILL fill in the lines (in the section about assets) regarding how much money we have in our savings account. I was under the impression that listing assets is entirely optional. Has anyone else been told the same thing? (I really wish I didn't have to do this, as it would be easier for me to just declare that I don't have enough money to be the sole sponsor and leave it at that!)

#3 Now, assuming that I must do as the officer told me and write about how much savings my wife and I have, do I need to provide proof that we indeed have the amount of money I write on the form? The I-864 form's instructions for using assets indicate that you need to provide for each assets a description of what it is, proof of ownership, basis of claim of its net cash value, and date of acquisition. While it makes sense to me that his information must be required when using a possession (such as a car) as an asset, but the instructions are unclear as to whether this applies to bank accounts/savings as well (and to what extent it applies). Indeed, I have not been able to find specific information about what evidence is needed for bank accounts. (Again, the question here is, "do I need to provide proof that we indeed have the amount of money I write on the form?")

#4 If I DO need to provide a detailed description of our bank accounts along with documentary evidence of some kind, exactly what do I need to submit? I would imagine that we are going to need to get some documentation from our banks in Japan. (If anyone who lived in Japan has experience with this, please let me know what you did). And whatever Japanese forms we submit must be translated, right? I really hope the answer to this question is NO, but in my heart I fear that it is YES. If the answer is YES, this means more hours of work translating bank statements(?) and the like to prove that we have an amount of money which is insufficient to sponsor my wife anyway!

Please excuse this long post (and some of my venting - this whole visa application process has been more involved than I expected and I am tired). Thanks in advance!!!

-Jason

[recentlymarried!! 0]

Hello!

My Japanese wife and I are presently living together in Japan and are applying for her visa. We hope to move to the US in July. I have already submitted the I-130 to the embassy in Tokyo and we have heard back from them - so far, so good.

I still need to tackle the I-864.

I am presently unemployed and we do not have enough assets for me to be the sole sponsor, so my dad is going to be my joint sponsor, and he is filling out his own I-864.

My questions concern the I-864 that I am filling out.

I have a few questions, and this post is a little long, but PLEASE bear with me and any help would be very much appreciated!

#1 On the I-864 form you are required to list your adjusted gross income from the last 3 tax years, right? Well, I have been living and working in Japan for a number of years now. Each year I have always filed my federal tax return, but my income in Japan is excluded from US federal tax, and actually my adjusted gross income as listed on my federal tax return ends up being $0.00 in light of tax exclusion. So, where it asks for me to write my income on the I-864, I am planning on writing $0.00. Is this correct?

#2 When my wife and I went to the embassy in Tokyo and submitted our I-130, I brought with me an incomplete draft of my I-864 and asked the officer some questions about it. She told me that regardless of the fact that my wife and I do not have enough income and assets for me to be the sole sponsor, and my dad is going to be the joint sponsor, I should nevertheless STILL fill in the lines (in the section about assets) regarding how much money we have in our savings account. I was under the impression that listing assets is entirely optional. Has anyone else been told the same thing? (I really wish I didn't have to do this, as it would be easier for me to just declare that I don't have enough money to be the sole sponsor and leave it at that!)

#3 Now, assuming that I must do as the officer told me and write about how much savings my wife and I have, do I need to provide proof that we indeed have the amount of money I write on the form? The I-864 form's instructions for using assets indicate that you need to provide for each assets a description of what it is, proof of ownership, basis of claim of its net cash value, and date of acquisition. While it makes sense to me that his information must be required when using a possession (such as a car) as an asset, but the instructions are unclear as to whether this applies to bank accounts/savings as well (and to what extent it applies). Indeed, I have not been able to find specific information about what evidence is needed for bank accounts. (Again, the question here is, "do I need to provide proof that we indeed have the amount of money I write on the form?")

#4 If I DO need to provide a detailed description of our bank accounts along with documentary evidence of some kind, exactly what do I need to submit? I would imagine that we are going to need to get some documentation from our banks in Japan. (If anyone who lived in Japan has experience with this, please let me know what you did). And whatever Japanese forms we submit must be translated, right? I really hope the answer to this question is NO, but in my heart I fear that it is YES. If the answer is YES, this means more hours of work translating bank statements(?) and the like to prove that we have an amount of money which is insufficient to sponsor my wife anyway!

Please excuse this long post (and some of my venting - this whole visa application process has been more involved than I expected and I am tired). Thanks in advance!!!

-Jason

Hello there! I just read your post and i also had issues with my I864 so i thought i can be a little helpful (hopefully??)

My husband is the Us Citizen, im from Australia. he is also unemployed. We only attached one tax return and wrote the amounts in 07 and 06 (and one of them was $0).

We were told his unemployment income is not enough and also had his parents as Joint Sponsors as you said you will do. Hubby's parents income is MORE than enough above the poverty line, so we DIDN"T fill in the optional assests page, and neither did his parents.

I know that the more documentation and evidence the better, but it is optional, and if you look at the most recent copy of the form (which is the best to use) on www.uscis.gov it will say that.

We did include a copy of our savings and checking account from our bank just in case. Hubby and his parents both included copies of pay stubs and tax returns 1099s, W-2s.

Our re-submitted I864with the joint sponsor was received by immigration just yesterday so we will wait to see all is good.

I hope some of this info was helpful??

[bisco 0]

Hello there! I just read your post and i also had issues with my I864 so i thought i can be a little helpful (hopefully??)

My husband is the Us Citizen, im from Australia. he is also unemployed. We only attached one tax return and wrote the amounts in 07 and 06 (and one of them was $0).

We were told his unemployment income is not enough and also had his parents as Joint Sponsors as you said you will do. Hubby's parents income is MORE than enough above the poverty line, so we DIDN"T fill in the optional assests page, and neither did his parents.

I know that the more documentation and evidence the better, but it is optional, and if you look at the most recent copy of the form (which is the best to use) on www.uscis.gov it will say that.

We did include a copy of our savings and checking account from our bank just in case. Hubby and his parents both included copies of pay stubs and tax returns 1099s, W-2s.

Our re-submitted I864with the joint sponsor was received by immigration just yesterday so we will wait to see all is good.

I hope some of this info was helpful??

recentlymarried,

Thanks for your prompt reply! I appreciate your help!

Similar to your case, the income of my dad (the joint sponsor) is more than enough to meet 125% of the poverty line, so he luckily does not have to concern himself with assets at all.

I also thought the assets page was optional, which is why I thought it strange that I was told I had to fill it out (at least the lines about how much money we have in our bank accounts) even though I don't have enough assets.

So, when your husband filled out the I-864, where it asks "Your assets: Enter the balance of all savings and checking accounts." did he just leave it blank?

I suppose I could just inlcude copies of bank statements, but as the embassy in Tokyo requires that all Japanese documents be translated, I imagine I would have to translate these bank statements. I can do that but it wouldn't be fun.

Thanks again!

Edited May 30, 2009 by bisco

[Anh map 2,098]

Each embassy/consulate has it's own quirks. I can't speak to Tokyo's requirements. Ask the question in the Asia:East & Pacific regional forum to get input from Nihon couples.

Typically you wouldn't fill in the asset portion of the 864 if your income is sufficient and/or it's not going to get you over the line. Again, this maybe a Tokyo thing. You do have to fill out the form even with the zero $ for AGI. You are including your complete tax returns, or better yet IRS transcripts, and that will show the story of how it get to zero. For savings a current/latest bank statement would work. Yes, I'd translate it.

Dad fills out his own 864 and attaches the tax return/transcripts as well.

[bisco 0]

Each embassy/consulate has it's own quirks. I can't speak to Tokyo's requirements. Ask the question in the Asia:East & Pacific regional forum to get input from Nihon couples.

Typically you wouldn't fill in the asset portion of the 864 if your income is sufficient and/or it's not going to get you over the line. Again, this maybe a Tokyo thing. You do have to fill out the form even with the zero $ for AGI. You are including your complete tax returns, or better yet IRS transcripts, and that will show the story of how it get to zero. For savings a current/latest bank statement would work. Yes, I'd translate it.

Dad fills out his own 864 and attaches the tax return/transcripts as well.

Thanks for taking the time to write me!

I appreciate the help.