I-134: "other personal property, the reasonable cash value of which is"

[EDB73 0]

I'm right on the edge of the poverty level, so I'm tallying all of my assets. My bank accounts are a little thin, but I have a life insurance policy, some mutual funds, etc, so that helps.

Anyway, besides my crappy car, I don't have much in the way of assets. However, I'm an academic (ABD grad student and research fellow) with a large book collection (3000+), own a lot of guitars (5), amps (3), and other music equipment (mics, preamps, recording stuff), and other pricey objects (computes, etc). These items have a fairly large cash value. I have a property insurance policy valued at $80,000. I want to list these things as assets. Is that OK? If I claim such things as assets, and if I include a copy of my insurance policy (or whatnot), can I claim that full value? By the way -- I've had the policy for about 7 months or so.

I'm not sure what to count or not. I don't want to stretch it, but these items are valuable, and it seems to me they'd count as assets.

Thanks!

--- also, I did a search, but I didn't find anything that addressed this sort of question

ps: first post!

[Nik+Heather 121]

I'm right on the edge of the poverty level, so I'm tallying all of my assets. My bank accounts are a little thin, but I have a life insurance policy, some mutual funds, etc, so that helps.

Anyway, besides my crappy car, I don't have much in the way of assets. However, I'm an academic (ABD grad student and research fellow) with a large book collection (3000+), own a lot of guitars (5), amps (3), and other music equipment (mics, preamps, recording stuff), and other pricey objects (computes, etc). These items have a fairly large cash value. I have a property insurance policy valued at $80,000. I want to list these things as assets. Is that OK? If I claim such things as assets, and if I include a copy of my insurance policy (or whatnot), can I claim that full value? By the way -- I've had the policy for about 7 months or so.

I'm not sure what to count or not. I don't want to stretch it, but these items are valuable, and it seems to me they'd count as assets.

Thanks!

--- also, I did a search, but I didn't find anything that addressed this sort of question

ps: first post!

Unfortunately "stuff" doesn't really count for much in this game. You may have spent thousands of dollars on all those books, but the "real" market value of used books is along the lines of $10 for two large bags of them...It's not going to take you very far. They aren't considered to be liquid assets.

Your insurance policy might help - if that $80k is it's cash value, meaning you can sell it for that much - not that you have $80k in coverage.

If your mutual fund (or other investments) have no blocks on you liquidating them, then you can use them as assets. Stocks are open to doubt because their value is so fluid.

[Guitarlo 2]

I'm right on the edge of the poverty level, so I'm tallying all of my assets. My bank accounts are a little thin, but I have a life insurance policy, some mutual funds, etc, so that helps.

Anyway, besides my crappy car, I don't have much in the way of assets. However, I'm an academic (ABD grad student and research fellow) with a large book collection (3000+), own a lot of guitars (5), amps (3), and other music equipment (mics, preamps, recording stuff), and other pricey objects (computes, etc). These items have a fairly large cash value. I have a property insurance policy valued at $80,000. I want to list these things as assets. Is that OK? If I claim such things as assets, and if I include a copy of my insurance policy (or whatnot), can I claim that full value? By the way -- I've had the policy for about 7 months or so.

I'm not sure what to count or not. I don't want to stretch it, but these items are valuable, and it seems to me they'd count as assets.

Thanks!

--- also, I did a search, but I didn't find anything that addressed this sort of question

ps: first post!

Life Insurance needs to be e.g. "WHOLE LIFE" with a cash value of $$$. A policy 7 months old will have no cash value. Maybe in 5-7 years.

I used my 401K value as part of my assests but it had a fixed cash value.

Good luck

[iLoveAPolishGirl 0]

I can't tell what weight such used property might hold, but I would suggest creating an itemized list of the items you want to declare and look up current resale values of those items in similar condition on reputable websites.

Used book prices can be found on amazon.com. For used musical instruments, etc, you could try an online dealer of such equipment and/or see what similar items might be selling for on ebay.com, craigslist.org, etc.

I would save / print pages used for pricing purposes so you can justify the listed prices.

I would attach a list of the items with a description of the condition and the 'fair market value' you're declaring for each and submit it with your I-134. Either the CO will accept it or tell your fiancee you need to get a co-sponsor (if the embassy accepts co-sponsors.) Then enter the total in the "other personal property" line of the I-134.

Good Luck!

dvc

[Dakine 26]

I'm right on the edge of the poverty level, so I'm tallying all of my assets. My bank accounts are a little thin, but I have a life insurance policy, some mutual funds, etc, so that helps.

Anyway, besides my crappy car, I don't have much in the way of assets. However, I'm an academic (ABD grad student and research fellow) with a large book collection (3000+), own a lot of guitars (5), amps (3), and other music equipment (mics, preamps, recording stuff), and other pricey objects (computes, etc). These items have a fairly large cash value. I have a property insurance policy valued at $80,000. I want to list these things as assets. Is that OK? If I claim such things as assets, and if I include a copy of my insurance policy (or whatnot), can I claim that full value? By the way -- I've had the policy for about 7 months or so.

I'm not sure what to count or not. I don't want to stretch it, but these items are valuable, and it seems to me they'd count as assets.

Thanks!

--- also, I did a search, but I didn't find anything that addressed this sort of question

ps: first post!

Life Insurance needs to be e.g. "WHOLE LIFE" with a cash value of $$$. A policy 7 months old will have no cash value. Maybe in 5-7 years.

I used my 401K value as part of my assests but it had a fixed cash value.

Good luck

Are you currently employed?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I'm right on the edge of the poverty level, so I'm tallying all of my assets. My bank accounts are a little thin, but I have a life insurance policy, some mutual funds, etc, so that helps.

Anyway, besides my crappy car, I don't have much in the way of assets. However, I'm an academic (ABD grad student and research fellow) with a large book collection (3000+), own a lot of guitars (5), amps (3), and other music equipment (mics, preamps, recording stuff), and other pricey objects (computes, etc). These items have a fairly large cash value. I have a property insurance policy valued at $80,000. I want to list these things as assets. Is that OK? If I claim such things as assets, and if I include a copy of my insurance policy (or whatnot), can I claim that full value? By the way -- I've had the policy for about 7 months or so.

I'm not sure what to count or not. I don't want to stretch it, but these items are valuable, and it seems to me they'd count as assets.

Thanks!

--- also, I did a search, but I didn't find anything that addressed this sort of question

ps: first post!

Life insurance is only counted as far as it has cash value. Unless it is a large and old policy that will be very little. Your persoanl property needs an appraisal to be counted. You can find a professional appraiser that will do this, and the value assigned will be divided by 3 to result in the net that will be applied to your affidiavit. You cannot just "say" the value is $80,000 because you have an insurance policy for that much. That is for replacement value...not for the value of the items if sold. You will need some sort of professional appraisal.

If the mutual funds are owned outright, they will grant you 1/3 the market value, get a recent statement. If they are held in a 401K retirement account they will take the net value, minus any early withdrawl penalty and divide by three. Again you need a statement of your account with penalty information, if any.

Bottom line, you cannot just write in numbers. As with your income, any statement must be supported with evidence. It would often be easier to take a part time job which at least gets you dollar for dollar credit.