Barely meeting income requirements - How likely are we to get a visa?

[chrissytooth 0]

I am an American citizen hoping to get a K-1 visa for my Japanese fiance. I am having difficulty with the financial support aspect because I am in graduate school and only working part-time. We did manage to find one person willing to co-sponsor, a Japanese friend of his who just started his job in America and got permanent resident status here because he also married an American. I am making right around $20,000 a year, just at 125% of the poverty line. I also have $5,000 savings.

I know that I technically meet the income requirements by making $20,000 a year and that having a co-sponsor helps, but I have also heard stories of people being rejected because they were not far enough above the poverty line. I know it would look better to USCIS if I made 30k or 40k instead. So, my question is, how likely are we to be able to get a visa if we just barely meet the requirements?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[KayDeeCee 4,904]

If you meet the requirement, then you meet the requirement. I have not really heard of people being denied for only being slightly above the requirement, unless they had a history of being unemployed and/or below the poverty guidelines, and then had a new job that was borderline for meeting the requirement. You are also in graduate school and the CO will take that into account too, knowing you will be able to get a better paying full time job when you finish your degree program.