A question about cosponsors

[Duncan J Reyneke 1]

Hi

A quick question. Our K1 application recently made it through the NVC and is en route to the embassy in South Africa. Very exciting.

Something occurred to us this morning, though, and we're trying to find a definitive answer to it:

My fiance's parents are cosponsoring the app, and putting their house down as collateral. It never dawned on us that this might not work because they live in the actual house. Is this considered liquifiable if they live in it? They have an income as well, can they use that in conjunction with the house's worth to balance out the total value?

I know that cosponsors aren't solid currency in this part of the application and that every embassy treats the concept differently. If they do, however, I just need to know if we have to make other plans.

[geowrian 22,335]

You can use assets along with income, albeit some COs tend to be more strict with (or even not accept) assets. It's really up to the individual CO to accept it or not...the underlying requirement is that they must believe the applicant will not become a public charge in the US. Some COs may only accept a joint sponsor  from a close family member or in some situations. Unfortunately, I don't know how SA usually treats this topic.

 

A primary house can be included as an asset, albeit they are not "putting it down"...they cannot lose their house if the applicant becomes a public charge. The I-134 is not legally enforceable (the I-864 for AOS later is, though) , and it only comes into play if the immigrant requires certain means-tested government assistance. Once the visa is issued (or AOS is approved), they could sell the house since it's not a lien or anything. It's just showing that they have the means to recoup the government...nothing is actually being put down as a deposit or whatever. Anyway, the asset needs to be significant (it is), convertible to cash within 1 year (generally it is), and not pose considerable hardship to the do so (it may here, but others have succeeded). For instance, a primary vehicle would not qualify as that would be considered to cause a considerable hardship if it had to be sold. A house may not since it may be refinanced using its equity.

 

Assets for a fiance would need to be at 5x the federal poverty level for the household size. If using income as well, then assets only need to cover 5x the difference between their income and the poverty level. For example, if the poverty level for your household size is $20,000 and your joint sponsor only made $15,000/year, then they would need $25,000 ($5,000 gap x 5 = $25,000) in assets. Once she is your wife, this drops to a 3x multiplier (for the I-864).

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

 Actually your actual home ( or theirs in this case )  is normally not allowable because it would create undo hardship if the government had to collect.  Same would apply to a primary vehicle.  If the house is a secondary then the difference between a recently appraised value and the outstanding loan balance in the part that is usable. 

[geowrian 22,335]

5 minutes ago, NigeriaorBust said:

 Actually your actual home ( or theirs in this case )  is normally not allowable because it would create undo hardship if the government had to collect.  Same would apply to a primary vehicle.  If the house is a secondary then the difference between a recently appraised value and the outstanding loan balance in the part that is usable. 

I realize the I-134 is different, but unless mentioned in the I-134, generally they go by the I-864 guidelines:

 

https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-864instr.pdf

"You may include the net value of your home as an asset. The net value of the home is the appraised value of the home, minus the sum of any and all loans secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other lien on the home. If you wish to include the net value of your home, then you must include documentation demonstrating that you own it, a recent appraisal by a licensed appraiser, and evidence of the amount of any and all loans secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other lien on the home. You may not include the net value of an automobile unless you show that you have more than one automobile, and at least one automobile is not included as an asset."

Edited May 15, 2017 by geowrian

[geowrian 22,335]

Ah, I missed my time to edit...

 

I didn't mean to imply that it would be accepted. Assets in general tend to face scrutiny. And I noted a primary residence may pose an considerable hardship...the CO gets to make that call. But some people have had success recently...I believe this change to permit it was fairly recent (2016?).