Will TEMPORARY receipt of benefits (food stamps) affect my application?

[NikLR 13,220]

Many consulates follow the I-864 guidelines, even with the I-134 for a K-1, and that includes wanting to see 125%. They know you will need the 125% soon after you marry and file for AOS and need to submit the I-864. Just another way the K-1 visa is special, since it might be a non-immigrant visa, but still has immigrant intent.

Yep you're more than right and since I'm not sure which consulates require it, I'll shush about the 100%. It's best to have the 125% or more from the get go for the AOS anyhow.

[bestofboston 36]

If you go back to the Philippines you can marry her there and file for a I-130 marriage visa. It is easy and cheaper in the long run and the best part about it is you can have a co-sponsor. Yes, that is right. The other good thing is she will be able to get a job after just a few weeks in the USA because she will have her green card by then. K1 visa holder take about 6 months to receive a green card after coming to the USA.

I married my wife in the Philippines and it was great. We had a beautiful wedding and a spectacular wedding cake. We also had a pig (Letchon) at the wedding and the total cost was well under $2,000.00 for 60 people. The wedding cake was only $100 and I've never been to a wedding in the USA that had a wedding cake that even came close to it.

Think about it! This is really the best way.

You will need to go to the consulate or the embassy in the Philippines and obtain an affidavit that you are eligible for marriage. Next go to her town hall and apply for a wedding license and then wait 10 days and you can marry her. Usually just before the 10 day wait period is up, you will need to go to a marriage seminar for 1 day. It was painless. My wife was 33 and I was 58 at the time and the rest of the people attending were mostly in their teens or early 20's. We were the old folks there. Hehe

The down side is the I-130 takes about 10 months total between USCIS (5months) and NVC (5 months) to get her here in the USA.

Edited October 22, 2014 by bestofboston

[Hank_ 9,173]

Hello,

Me (30m) and my fiance (29). She lives in the Philippines and I live in the USA. We have been in a relationship for over 1 year now. I have been there to visit her once for 15 days in September. We want to get married, and live together here in the US, and start a family. We are now starting to write letters via snail mail and saving all our e-mails, Skype chats, and Facebook chats as well as photos from my visit in order to establish "proof of relationship". I also plan to visit her one more time by the summer.

We plan to do the K1 route, as it seems to be a bit quicker and simpler than getting married in the Philippines (which seems to have a lot more requirements). This is my situation in a nutshell: After 4 years full time student for ASN (nursing), that didn't work out, so I took an EMT-B course and plan to become a paramedic after working for a year (which is the minimum experience requirement for paramedic school in my state). At the MOMENT I am unemployed (for 2 months) and I have applied for food stamp benefits. I will probably only be on food stamps for a month or two while I look for work as an EMT (I just have one final test to take in a few days to certify). The prospects of finding a job are fairly good (I'm told everyone is hiring EMTs) and I plan to move out of my mom's house by the summer. I am fairly certain that my father will have no problem co-sponsoring, but I haven't asked him yet.

My question is if having been on food stamp assistance temporarily (1-2 months) will affect my application when I file in the next year?

I'm told that having a co-sponsor actually reduces your chances of approval?

Also, how long should I work before I wait to file? As my fiance is almost 30, we are both concerned about getting things done quickly, as she does not want to pregnant past a certain age and we both want to have a child together.

Thanks for the help guys. I know my situation is not ideal and a bit more complicated than most.

-Justin

Okay so I'm reading the Co-Sponsors aren't accepted most of the time in PH... which I find ridiculous. I'm marrying her to start a family, why would her father in law-to be not factor into the equation? They don't accept Co-Sponsors? What if I died? I think it would be better to have a family Co-Sponsor - more support and stability, no?

I'm glad to know that recieving SNAP at this time temporarily will not be a mark against me in the future. Getting some help right now will really take a lot of stress away. One less thing to worry about y'know. I have indeed filed taxes the past years.

However I find comments regarding how picky they are with income to be disheartening. Full time EMT-B's in my state earn "average" of around 27k/yr, though many make less. Most EMT's do start around 10-14 an hour, so full-time is a must. It's not great money but that's above the poverty level, right? About 200%.

Look this woman is amazing and if I have to I'll work 60 hours a week to pull this off.

I was gonna do a K1 visa, is that the same as spousal?

No issue with you receiving food stamps and pursuing the K-1 visa.

Your income need to meet the 125% poverty guideline of the I-864P. A joint/co-sponsor is very difficult to get accepted with USEM with the K-1 fiancee visa. If you find you really need to use a co-sponsor it would be better to pursue the IR/CR-1 spousal visa as the embassy is required to accept a co-sponsor with that visa.

No issue with having more then one job, all that matter is that your income, at least, meets the 125% poverty guidelines.

For two people the 125% income requirement is $19,662.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/129-philippines/

[Hank_ 9,173]

Manila very rarely accepts co-sponsors for a K1 because the form is not legally binding. This is within the discretion of any embassy or consulate. However every consulate must accept a joint sponsor for a CR1/IR1 (spousal) visa as the affidavit of support for that visa type IS legally binding.

You must make 100% of the poverty level to sponsor by yourself on a K1 and 125% for a spousal visa. Currently that is almost 20k per year so about $10/hr working fulltime.

USEM in the Philippines requires 125% with the K-1 visa.

[Hank_ 9,173]

Here's what I found for poverty levels: http://familiesusa.org/product/federal-poverty-guidelines

I thought I had to make 125% for a K1?

I'm sorry guys, this stuff is so confusing and there's so many acronyms.

Yes you are correct, you need to make 125% of the poverty guidelines listed on the I-864P (you can google this form)

I can't find the page anymore, but it required 2 visitations, 2 years of proven relationship, a certain amount of time spent in the country, a certain income - it's all based on your ability to live in the Philippines it seemed.

That is not the requirements for marrying in the Philippines... no 2 visits, no 2 year relationship, no income requirement . It is much less demanding then that.

[Al422 221]

Typically they only look for one year of tax returns as well as your current pay stub. So once you start working steady you should be OK, regardless of your past.

Remember you did nothing wrong or immoral or illegal by collecting food stamps. The only real financial issue is whether you can support your new fiance now. And a good current job, proper pay stubs, and income showing on your tax return should do it. Consider getting a letter from your employer briefly describing your job and advising that your employment status there is stable. You get all that, you will be fine.

You won't even need any of this stuff until she gets to her interview, which will be about a year from now. So don't worry that you don't have it now if you are confident it will be there next year.

[d3adc0d3 186]

This is my two cents for what it's worth...

I live in CT at the moment and work in RI. I know how bloody expensive CT is, so I feel you.

As far as the K1 visa goes, you will need to make 100% the federal poverty level to get your petition approved (not the visa, just the petition). Once it comes to the embassy interview, you will need to make 125% the federal poverty level to get the visa approved. Every embassy is different and runs by their own sets of rules. I recommend you go and read the embassy reviews for Manila, see what hurdles others had to overcome and where you need to make sure you have preparations in place for when you're faced with those. Information is your best weapon in this case.

The income guidelines are for your future family size, not your current one. You will need to include your current family size (yourself, any dependent children, and/or dependent disabled adults), as well as your fiance(e) and any dependent children you will be sponsoring. For a family of 2, 125% of the federal poverty level is $19,663 annually (and this is your gross pay, not net pay). For a family of 3 it is $24,738 and a family of 4 $29,813. [source] If it's just you two, you exceed the requirement at 27k/year.

Every embassy is slightly different, but it is not uncommon for them to not issue a visa if you're not meeting the 125% income guideline, as you'll need to be making that in order to qualify to file for the AoS, and your future spouse will be unable to work until you file for that. Working multiple jobs will not hurt your petition, and as long as you can prove you make above the 125% and have done so for a while, you'll be fine.

Also keep in mind the fees. You'll need about $5k for all the fees, expenses and flights! There's a fee for filing the petition, Medical Fees for the beneficiary (required), fees for the visa, the cost of the flight, fees to mail documents, fees to adjust her status (AoS), the fees to get married, then the fees in 2 years to lift the conditions (RoC)! Start socking away whatever you can, you'll need it after the visa is issued! the whole process with JUST the immigration fees (from petition to RoC) is about $2500 give or take a couple hundred as they like to change the fees regularly.

Food stamps should not effect your petition in the slightest, as long as you meet the requirements for the petition (meeting in the last 2 years, with evidence, 100% the poverty guideline, paying the fee) your petition will likely be approved. You're a USC and entitled to receive public assistance. Once your wife is in the US as a LPR she is not entitled to receive public assistance until she meets certain requirements.

Your best bet is to put as much away in savings as you can, you'll need it later, and work towards making sure you not only meet the minimum income requirements, but you exceed them! This is a long and very expensive process...

[_Paul&Jesica_ 70]

Okay so I'm reading the Co-Sponsors aren't accepted most of the time in PH... which I find ridiculous. I'm marrying her to start a family, why would her father in law-to be not factor into the equation? They don't accept Co-Sponsors? What if I died? I think it would be better to have a family Co-Sponsor - more support and stability, no?

I'm glad to know that recieving SNAP at this time temporarily will not be a mark against me in the future. Getting some help right now will really take a lot of stress away. One less thing to worry about y'know. I have indeed filed taxes the past years.

However I find comments regarding how picky they are with income to be disheartening. Full time EMT-B's in my state earn "average" of around 27k/yr, though many make less. Most EMT's do start around 10-14 an hour, so full-time is a must. It's not great money but that's above the poverty level, right? About 200%.

Look this woman is amazing and if I have to I'll work 60 hours a week to pull this off.

It is just the preference of the consulate in the Philippines. They rarely accept co-sponsors. They don't officially publish their reasoning...

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

As far as the K1 visa goes, you will need to make 100% the federal poverty level to get your petition approved (not the visa, just the petition).

...

as long as you meet the requirements for the petition (meeting in the last 2 years, with evidence, 100% the poverty guideline, paying the fee)

What? There are absolutely zero financial requirements to get an I-129F petition approved. You do not provide an affidavit of support with the petition. USCIS does not check on finances when processing the petition.

Edited October 22, 2014 by KayDeeCee

[d3adc0d3 186]

What? There are absolutely zero financial requirements to get an I-129F petition approved. You do not provide an affidavit of support with the petition. USCIS does not check on finances when processing the petition.

You're right! I just checked! The service I used, they required me to fill out all the income requirements and whatnot when applying. My guess on that one: Front-loading.

[David & Diana R 1,005]

Hello,

Me (30m) and my fiance (29). She lives in the Philippines and I live in the USA. We have been in a relationship for over 1 year now. I have been there to visit her once for 15 days in September. We want to get married, and live together here in the US, and start a family. We are now starting to write letters via snail mail and saving all our e-mails, Skype chats, and Facebook chats as well as photos from my visit in order to establish "proof of relationship". I also plan to visit her one more time by the summer.

We plan to do the K1 route, as it seems to be a bit quicker and simpler than getting married in the Philippines (which seems to have a lot more requirements). This is my situation in a nutshell: After 4 years full time student for ASN (nursing), that didn't work out, so I took an EMT-B course and plan to become a paramedic after working for a year (which is the minimum experience requirement for paramedic school in my state). At the MOMENT I am unemployed (for 2 months) and I have applied for food stamp benefits. I will probably only be on food stamps for a month or two while I look for work as an EMT (I just have one final test to take in a few days to certify). The prospects of finding a job are fairly good (I'm told everyone is hiring EMTs) and I plan to move out of my mom's house by the summer. I am fairly certain that my father will have no problem co-sponsoring, but I haven't asked him yet.

My question is if having been on food stamp assistance temporarily (1-2 months) will affect my application when I file in the next year?

I'm told that having a co-sponsor actually reduces your chances of approval?

Also, how long should I work before I wait to file? As my fiance is almost 30, we are both concerned about getting things done quickly, as she does not want to pregnant past a certain age and we both want to have a child together.

Thanks for the help guys. I know my situation is not ideal and a bit more complicated than most.

-Justin

Philippines, co-sponser unilkely to be accepted for K-1. On the other hand if you were to get married in Philippines and file a CR-1 that would likely change things. Another thing to consider is if you bring her on a K-1 there is a lot more work to do once she gets here than there is if you marry her before she comes. True a CR-1 might take 1-3 months longer to process but once she gets here she can work almost immediately. And it sounds like you are just scraping by (with the assistance of the US Government-SNAP) at the moment. If she is like my spouse I imagine she will want to work and contribute to your up-coming family and then you will live more comfortably until baby comes along. Just some thoughts.

Aloha Ke Akua and God Bless

[David & Diana R 1,005]

I can't find the page anymore, but it required 2 visitations, 2 years of proven relationship, a certain amount of time spent in the country, a certain income - it's all based on your ability to live in the Philippines it seemed.

This is wrong. Only one in-person meeting, (within 2 years previous to filing) and it doesn't even have to take place in the Philippines. No two years of relationship. And NOTHING is based on your ability to live in the Philippines.