I-134 sponsor is 3 years unemployed but has savings. Enough or need co-sponsor?

[bluetraveller 4]

Hi all,

So here is yet another particular case of I-134 doubts. I went through a few hits in the forums (offtopic: does the advanced search work at all?), the tips on Preparing to fill in the I-134, the step-by-step K1 guide and the I-134 instructions from the USCIS site and it's not clear to me what to do in our case. Maybe it's a matter of opinion, so I would like to have yours.

My understanding is that the requirements for the I-134 are somewhat lighter than those for the I-864, since only the I-864 asks for the last 3 years of taxes, however they're both very similar.

Having said that, here goes our concerns:

- We plan on the sponsor (her) having a job making more than the 125% of the poverty guidelines by the time we have to fill in the I-864, but at the moment she's unemployed, and has been for the last 3 years because she has been traveling and doing other stuff overseas (has worked part-time overseas but I believe that doesn't count).

- She has savings (retirement plan + cash) that would amount very close to the 125%, but I'm not sure if savings are considered assets and therefore need to be 5 times the difference between the annual income and the needed 125% of the poverty level, as explained in the affidavit of support tips. Can anyone confirm this?

- If she met the 125% with her savings/assets, would that be enough even though she's unemployed and has not worked in the last 3 years? Before that she was making 75k/year, but this was 4 years ago.

- The interview will take place in Madrid, Spain. From other messages in the forums I gather they accept co-sponsors in I-134s. We could go down that road and put her father with his current income and assets if required, but I'd like to know if this is absolutely necessary before doing so. If the consensus is that having a co-sponsor is the safest bet we'll do that.

Thanks everyone for your input, these forums have proved to be extremely helpful so far

Antonio.

[bluetraveller 4]

Sorry I don't know the bumping rules in this forum, but I would really appreciate a comment on our case. I know sometimes it comes down to a matter of personal opinion but I'm positive someone here can quickly assess it, moreover I'm sure a lot of people here have experience with (co)sponsoring and can answer the following question:

Are savings (retirement) considered assets and therefore need to be 5 times the poverty guidelines amount? The relevant line in the I-134 item 7 is "I have on deposit in savings banks in the United States".

In the meantime I'll be preparing the co-sponsorship just in case.

Thanks

[JohnR! 5,495]

Sorry I don't know the bumping rules in this forum, but I would really appreciate a comment on our case. I know sometimes it comes down to a matter of personal opinion but I'm positive someone here can quickly assess it, moreover I'm sure a lot of people here have experience with (co)sponsoring and can answer the following question:

Are savings (retirement) considered assets and therefore need to be 5 times the poverty guidelines amount? The relevant line in the I-134 item 7 is "I have on deposit in savings banks in the United States".

In the meantime I'll be preparing the co-sponsorship just in case.

Thanks

Toni,

Check out the link below for an explanation of what is considered supporting evidence to be submitted with the I-134

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-134instr.pdf

Good luck!

[christeen 966]

Yes, savings and retirement are considered assest (as they are not income) and therefore must meet the 5x the poverty level. Best bet would be to be employed or co-sponsor if they are allowed in your country for k-1s.

[KayDeeCee 4,892]

Sorry I don't know the bumping rules in this forum, but I would really appreciate a comment on our case. I know sometimes it comes down to a matter of personal opinion but I'm positive someone here can quickly assess it, moreover I'm sure a lot of people here have experience with (co)sponsoring and can answer the following question:

Are savings (retirement) considered assets and therefore need to be 5 times the poverty guidelines amount? The relevant line in the I-134 item 7 is "I have on deposit in savings banks in the United States".

In the meantime I'll be preparing the co-sponsorship just in case.

Thanks

Most consulates follow the guidelines for the I-864 anyway, since you will be needing to fill one of those out fairly soon after arriving in the US on a K-1 to adjust status. Savings are assets, not income. She is unemployed and therefore has no current income. Assets need to be at 3-5 times the required income amount. It is 3 times for a spouse on the I-864 and they will sometimes use 3 times when dealing with the I-134 for a K-1 fiance(e) too. However, even if they allowed the 3 times, she needs a bare minimum of around $60k.

If you can get a co-sponsor, then I would suggest you do that.

[bluetraveller 4]

Thanks to all for your replies.

The clarification of the savings not being assets helps a lot.

And it seems that the general consensus is to get a co-sponsor so we'll focus on that aspect.

Thanks again and good luck to all with their respective visa projects.