i 864 joint account

[omgosh 0]

Hi folks, I am currently living in USA and my wife is USC. We just finished all the paper work, but I do have a question regarding i 864. My wife is not making above proverty line and she is about 4,300 short. I have enough cash to cover that, so I am wondering if we can use joint account to offset the 3 times difference. Some people said yes and some said no. I personally think if we have the joint account, then my money is hers anyway. Please let me know.

 

Thanks 

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

You need 3 times the amount she is short on income. If you have that much or more in your joint account, then provide proof of the account ownership and amount in account. They may or may not accept it. It is never a given sure thing when short on income and trying to use assets.

 

What visa are you adjusting from? Are you legally working in the US right now? If yes, and the income will continue from the same source once you get your green card, then you can use that income on her I-864 too.

[omgosh 0]

31 minutes ago, KayDeeCee said:

You need 3 times the amount she is short on income. If you have that much or more in your joint account, then provide proof of the account ownership and amount in account. They may or may not accept it. It is never a given sure thing when short on income and trying to use assets.

 

What visa are you adjusting from? Are you legally working in the US right now? If yes, and the income will continue from the same source once you get your green card, then you can use that income on her I-864 too.

 

Thanks for your responses. I am a student so I can't work right now except I guess I get my work permit after 60 days after I submit my application. Then I can use the income to support the income part. But I don't know if that would work it out. For the short part, we have way more than the requirements, even if my wife doesn't have a job we still have more than 60k in our account. However, the money actually comes from my parents as a wedding gift. My concern is if I transfer all the money to my wife's account. They probably will ask if it is a real wedding gift or a loan. And another concern is joint account might not work because on i864 it requires the petitioner to have X amount of income or assets to meet the poverty line. Will the immigration officer just split half the money between me and my wife in our joint account? 

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Read through the I-864 instructions about using assets of the intending immigrant > https://www.uscis.gov/i-864

 

Item Numbers 6. - 9. Assets of the Intending Immigrant. You may use the assets of the intending immigrant
regardless of where he or she resides. The intending immigrant must provide evidence of such assets with this affidavit.
Add together Item Numbers 6. - 8. and enter the total number in Item Number 9. Form I-864A is not required to
document the intending immigrant’s assets.

 

If the money in the joint account just suddenly appeared recently, then it is possible they could suspect it was money placed in the account just to try and meet the I-864 requirements. They tend to want to see 12 months of bank statements to look for such things. If you already had more than enough to cover 3 times the amount that is short, then the gift deposit might not be an issue.