Change of Status as Widower

[tenyearwait 4]

Glad to read you got some resolution, after all of this. Congratulations !

Thanks - I'll get round to my 11 year timeline one of these days

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Thank you for coming back and letting us know both your success and your story. Your advice will be invaluable to anyone else unfortunate enough to have to go through the same process.

Congratulations.

[Golden Gate 530]

Sorry about your loss.

[bigdog 376]

I-485 Change of Status as the husband of a U.S. Citizen. On the day that USCIS mailed a notice scheduling our interview, my wife died

She was my Petitioner and the sole sponsor on the Affidavit of Support. We had been married over 10 years. Two of my applications (Employment Authorization, Travel Document) are complete. There remain only the I-130 and the I-485.

I understand that when I send CIS local field office a copy of the death certificate, I do not have to file I-360 because the I-130 is automatically changed into the I-360 without action by me. However, when I called the helpline, they kept asking if the I-130 has been approved. I am puzzled. Surely no progress is made on the I-485 unless the I-130 is approved. However, on My Case Status, the I-485 status shows as "Testing and Interview" whereas the I-130 shows as "Initial Review" - I have never received a notice that the latter was approved.

As advised on the helpline, I have made an InfoPass appointment at my local field office for next week to confirm what I need to do. I have two problems:

1. If the conversion of the I-130 to an I-360 depends on the I-130 already being approved, I am going to be in trouble - any suggestions what I say at the InfoPass appointment?

2. The helpline escalated my question to Tier 2 where the officer stated some things which the website shows clearly aren't true. However, he was unable to tell me whether or not I still require an Affidavit of Support. I have been told by another alien that this is ignored as asking someone to promise to pay back a later claim for a means tested benefit is irrelevant because the benefit won't be approved anyway. But if I MUST provide the Affidavit which my wife signed, I cannot at this moment provide evidence of 125% of the Poverty Guideline. Before this was my wife's income plus some of mine. Without hers, I cannot make it. However, being 60 years old, Social Security have told me that I am qualified for Survivor's Benefit which would provide the required extra income. However, they say that I will not be entitled to it until I get my Green Card. Catch-22 = with the Green Card I can get the extra income but without the income I cannot get the Green Card. I cannot get a co-sponsor who has the qualifying income. Any suggestions? Do I need the 125% or is the Affidavit no longer required?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Seems the I-130 is going to be adjudicated as if it were a pending I-360 from your post.

[SimpleGrace 0]

I know this is a couple of months late...i just saw this forum. But I am also a widow and I am very sure that you DO NOT need an Affidavit of support. It is waived for I-360 applicants. Cheers

The matter still remains about whether I still need an Affidavit of Support. If I do, can I provide it myself - I was told a while back on the National Benefits helpline that if my income were to be included in the household income, that would make me a self-petitioner and it wouldn't be allowed. Obviously, that was totally incorrect.

But the situation has changed. If the petition is now an I-360, do I still need to meet the Affidavit of Support requirements? I can't find anywhere on the website where it states that a Widower has to file an I-864 to replace the one submitted concurrently in the first place and which is no longer valid as the household income must have changed with the death of the sponsor.

Do I need to provide an Affidavit of Support as a widower or not? Anyone know?

[tenyearwait 4]

Thanks SimpleGrace. Yes you're right - it was kindly answered with a reference by JimVaPhuong at post #8.

[Ryan H 3,790]

Thread closed to additional discussion; pinned topics are meant for information and not general Q & A. If you have a question, please start your own thread.