I-134 and grad student status

[DagYng 0]

Hello,

I'm sponsoring my fiance from Indonesia, and we have passed the I-129 stage and are preparing for her interview. I'm currently a grad student in the US, and will be defending my dissertation this month. I'll be employed as a grad student until september, after which I have a tenure-track teaching job lined up in Malaysia. My current grad-student employment puts me right around the poverty line in the US. The Malaysian job is a little more, but not hugely so (but living in Malaysia is far cheaper, so it's fine).

My question is, since I'm currently near the poverty line and my next job won't be a huge amount of money in US terms, is it advisable (or possible) to have my parents write and sign some kind of guarantee of financial support should it be necessary? Also, will they think it's strange that we aren't going to be living in the US right away?

My fiance and I not going to be living in the US at first, but I need my wife to be able to come with me easily to visit my family, of course. And we may live here later.

Thanks very much in advance!

[gregcrs2 1,780]

If it is not your intent to live in the USA at this time then you should consider getting married in her country and apply for a spousal visa later.

[DagYng 0]

Thanks for your response. Any particular reason? As I understand it we'll still have 2 years to process the status as long as we're able to come and marry in the US, and we're already half way through this process and have thus invested almost $1000 in it. Pity to leave it after that, no?

[Prystine 184]

On a K1 Visa, if your fiance is approved, when she enters the US on that visa it's a 1x entry so it cannot be used to re-enter later on. Also, she cannot leave the USA until after you get married, file for AOS/EAD/AP and get the Greencard. The AP is for international travel and if approved, she can travel internationally but it doesn't guarantee they will let her back into the country, especially if she isn't living here. If she leaves the US prior to all this, they would consider her abandoning the AOS and they would deny/cancel the petition and that would all be wasted and you would end up having to do the spousal visa anyways.

If you are going to be living outside of the USA for a period, it would be much better to get married in your fiance's country and then doing the CR1/IR1 Spousal Visa.

Edited September 16, 2016 by Prystine

[gregcrs2 1,780]

Sorry, I misunderstood. How soon after marriage would the two of you be leaving the USA?

I see Prystine already got straight to the point of where I was going with my question.

Edited September 16, 2016 by gregcrs2

[DagYng 0]

I see. Thanks to both of you. The length of time we'd be in the US after we married would depend on when the actual trip took place (depending then as well on the embassy interview process in Indonesia). If we needed to, we might be able to push it to the summer (when I'm not teaching) and thus stay for 3-4 months. Do either of you know long the AOS/EAD/AP and Greencard processes take?

thanks again

[EM_Vandaveer 2,448]

EAD/AP should come in about 90 days after filing, but if you'll mostly live abroad then you should wait for her GC first (can take 8-10 months) and file another I-131 at that point for a re-entry permit. This will allow her to stay out of the US for up to two years. Normally, as a LPR, she'd have to live in the US or she'd lose her LPR status.

[Prystine 184]

Average time is anywhere from 6mo to a year, just depends since its case by case but seems right now us may filer's several have already been approved for our greencards so it just really depends.

[usmsbow 803]

To answer your original question: yes, get a co-sponsor for the I-134.

But you're a grad student until this month? And when will you start teaching in Malaysia? If it is before next summer, then unfortunately I'd say you aren't getting much out of the K-1 visa (and nothing if your fiancee could get a tourist visa to the USA, which is admittedly a big IF for most Indonesians). As the others have noted, it takes 6-12 months to get a green card, and that also comes with residency requirements.

[Greenbaum 12,262]

If you meet or exceed the poverty level then you will not need a cosponsor as you indicated by the mere fact you have exceeded the financial requirements that you can support yourself and your fiancee. Why do when do will do.

[AlinaB 43]

For an 129 F, once the visa is issued, your fiancee has 60 days to enter the US and then 90 days to marry. The next step is AOS - which you could get an advanced parole (i.e. permission to leave and return to the US) within only 2-3 months, but expect at least a year for the green card. During this time, there are certain residency requirements for your fiancee. You could in theory get the the US as fast as possible, get married as fast as possible, and apply for the AOS as fast as possible - but I would expect that she still probably won't have a green card until December 2017 (at the earliest).

For both the 129F process and the AOS process - you will have to make above a certain minimum in order for her to be approved. The government website states that it does not just look at income either, they take into account age, health, education, work history, etc in order to ascertain if someone can be considered the supporter. In your case, I would suggest searching for joint sponsor for both this and the AOS.

Here are some details about the 864 https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/support/i-864-frequently-asked-questions.html

I am sure they have one for the 134 form as well.

Your two biggest problems are your need of a co-sponsor and your job outside of the US, where I assume your fiancee will want to live with you. You have a lot of research to do.

[DagYng 0]

Thanks very much all for the responses. These are very helpful. Does anyone know how to go about attaching a co-sponsor to the I-134? I haven't found anything yet in the I-134 documentation.