Engagement Celebration and I-134 questions

[AdamPolston 0]

Hello all, I have a few questions I'm hoping to get answered! My fiancée and I are quite a ways through the visa process, waiting on her to receive Packet 3 I believe. And we are wanting to have a celebration for her family in Norway, not a wedding, but engagement. Basically to get all her family together for one last hurrah before she is to leave for America. Will this cause any problems at all with the visa process? There will be no rings, or wedding vows.

Also, for the Affidavit of Support, I've searched a lot on this site for an answer but have had no luck. What is considered a public charge? And since I will be having a cosponsor, if by some bad chance she were to become a public charge, is the cosponsor responsible or will I be responsible? Another question regarding the Affidavit is if my cosponsor and their wife have a joint bank account and joint taxes, do I need them both to fill the paper out, or just one of them? I'm sorry for so many questions, but I really want to do what is right, so I will have no issues with her immigration. Thank you!

[JessDak 27]

As far as I know, the issue with having a celebration is whether or not this qualifies as a 'marriage' in that culture. There's nothing wrong with having an engagement party as long as it's not seen as a 'marriage ceremony' in that culture.

When they say a public charge they mean stuff like if she will collect welfare or food stamps...that kind of thing. And, from what I understand, the (co)sponsor will only be in trouble if the government requests payment for the foreign citizens costs. I'm not sure on how often this happens as I've never seen anybody posting about it. But from what I understand, I don't imagine it to be some automatic thing where if she collects $100 in welfare, the sponsor will receive a bill for $100...does that make sense? lol

Lastly, only the co-sponsor needs to fill out the forms. their wife does not need to be on the forms. Even though they have joint-accounts, the husbands bills and responsibilities are still HIS bills and responsibilities

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/public-charge

A co-sponsor filling out an I-134 doesn't really have anything to worry about. The I-134 is not legally binding.

If you need a joint sponsor later for AOS and the I-864, then that one is legally binding, and the joint sponsor should read the form and instructions for obligations.

[A'n'L 735]

An engagement party for a Norwegian-USC couple is fine. We had one, and even provided pictures at the interview (obviously it was only a party for family, no ceremony, rings or white dresses etc).

The "packet 3" is an email from the Stockholm embassy with instructions and case number. My fiancé (the USC) got ours - so keep an eye on your mailbox.

Also, please join us in the Scandinavian forum:-)