Need Help Fulfilling I-864 Requirements

[cwespalmore 0]

I am a U.S. citizen petitioning for my wife and two children from the Philippines. Their I-130's were just approved last week. Having a household size of 4, that puts my poverty requirement at $30,312. Due to an almost $7k dip in income over the last two years, my income right now is at $18,525. I need help trying to fulfill my income requirements.

My wife and I met in the United States while she was on an internship. My wife made over $20,000 last years; the two of us together would have fulfilled the requirement. The problem is that the agency that brought her over to the United States had her post a bond to come here and in her contract it stated that she was unable to change her visa status. So she had to go home while we fill out her immigration paperwork. So she no longer has that job and she won't be able to get it back when she comes here. So we can't use that as income. She could easily find a job when she gets back, but I'm sure we couldn't use that as income. The only assets I have besides that are one car and about 17k in savings. I have no other household members to contribute.

I am guessing my only other option is to have a joint sponsor. I guess my options would be my grandparents, father, or aunts/uncles. Would they have to meet the 30k poverty requirement or a portion of it. In the case of my grandparents, would they be able to include assets or only income. Because of their age, they are retired and don't have jobs; however, they have over a million dollars in real estate. Any help would be much appreciated!!

Also, my wife is pregnant and our third child is expected to be born in two months. Will we need to change the household size later to 5?

Thank you very much for the help!!!

[aleful 1,905]

hi

they don't have to be family members, they can be any USC or LPR that qualifies

also, since the petitions are separate, you can have more than one joint sponsor, if you cannot find a joint sponsor to cover the 3 of them

or it can be one joint sponsor and their household member, so there are several options

[Ryan H 3,790]

Answers:

• You cannot use the one car as an asset.
• Your own assets would need to be greater than or equal to 3x the deficit in order to meet the applicable threshold (in your case, 17k in savings is insufficient).
• Grandparents household size would be 5 (them, your wife, two kids), in order for them to qualify as a joint sponsor, they would have to meet the threshold for that household size (unless the responsibility is split among other people as aleful pointed out).
• Grantparents can use assets except for primary home and primary car. To use real estate as an asset, an official appraisal by a professional appraiser would need to be conducted and submitted with the I-864.
• When the baby is born, your household size will increase to 5.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Your wife's income couldn't have been used anyway so don't worry too much about that. You've received some good advice to start with.

[mallafri76 1,012]

She could easily find a job when she gets back, but I'm sure we couldn't use that as income.

The only assets I have besides that are one car and about 17k in savings. I have no other household members to contribute.

I am guessing my only other option is to have a joint sponsor. I guess my options would be my grandparents, father, or aunts/uncles. Would they have to meet the 30k poverty requirement or a portion of it. In the case of my grandparents, would they be able to include assets or only income. Because of their age, they are retired and don't have jobs; however, they have over a million dollars in real estate. Any help would be much appreciated!!

Also, my wife is pregnant and our third child is expected to be born in two months. Will we need to change the household size later to 5?

Thank you very much for the help!!!

Unfortunately, US immigrations don't take into consideration your wife's ability to find a job once she moves to the US. I even have a job offer on paper with a start date and a very good salary and they don't care, we still have to use a joint sponsor or assets. So retarded!

Since your family will be immigrating after your third child is born, I would count your family as four people straight away plus you. So if you use a joint sponsor, add four people to their household size. In regards to assets, not all US embassies allow them so I would check in the regional forum for specifics on the embassy your family will be going to for the interview. Although over a million dollars in real estate sounds like pretty good assets. The assets need to be five times the poverty line when it's not yours and it needs to be made available into cash within 12 months, if needed.

Edited July 1, 2015 by mallafri76