I-485 AOS Denial

[ashinamr 0]

I recently was surprised to receive a denial letter notice to a petition of I-485, (AOS) on behalf of my mother. The reason for denial as stated in the letter: “Evidence of assets that meet the federal poverty line or obtain a qualified joint sponsor”. I received an approval letter for the I-130.

We are 3 adults in our household. I’m a US citizen who sponsored my wife for a green card about a year ago. I have no other dependents except for my wife. According to the 2014 HHS Poverty Guidelines for Affidavit of Support the 125% of HHS amount for a household of 3 is $24,737.00.

Based on the above required household income amount I provided USCIS evidence of my income and my assets as following:

1. My yearly income $14,504.46. (Copies of paystubs)

2. Investment statements in mutual funds with a balance of $6,560.00. (Full year worth of statements copies)

3. County assessor assessment for real estate owned (free and clear) that is valued $68,500.00 by the county assessor even though market value is higher. (Copy of 2014 assessment).

4. I also submitted one bank statement of my mother new U.S. checking account she opened recently with more than $10,000.00 balance. (Didn’t have 12 statements since it’s a new account).

My questions are:

I'm confused. according to our calculation we provided satisfactory evidence of assets to compensate for the low income. After receiving the denial letter I spoke with USCIS national customer service over the phone and the rep explained we can request the case to be reviewed for clerical error? Any hope taking this route?

Do you recommend to file I-290B as indicated in the denial letter?

If necessary, can my wife be joint sponsor (I-864A) and add her assets too (Title to the apartment we currently live in is under her name)?

My mother is an elderly woman and continue to stay in the US waiting for her case to be completed.

Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Hypnos 6,576]

You need to demonstrate five times the shortfall between your income and your required household size. $24,737 - $14,504 = $10,233. $10,233 x 5 = $51,165, which is the magic number that you need to demonstrate assets for.

I suspect that the crux of the issue was your house; when using property the assets must be liquid assets, such as stocks, bonds, cash (savings accounts), etc. I have read that USCIS sometimes will not accept your principle residence as an asset, simply because if you sold it you would have nowhere else to live. Do you own other property, or was the residence you stated as an asset on your I-864 your principal residence?

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

How did your mother arrive in the US. In certain cases a denial is non appealable. Also for your I864 you can't use her bank account. The value of the house needs to be a recent appraisal not the tax assessors value. Much of the real estate in the US is upside down value wise and USCIS is not going to research yours. Have the asked for proof of medical insurance for her anywhere ? She isn't eligible for Medicare

Edited January 12, 2015 by NigeriaorBust