AOS from tourist visa - Sponsor earning less than Poverty Line abroad, now over 2x in US

[Beth&JP 2]

So! Just for some backstory: I (US citizen) took a transfer at my work, and moved from Chile to the US. The plan is to be in the US for a year, then take the job remote back to Chile. My husband (Chilean) is just kind of hanging out for the year, taking courses related to his line of work, English classes, doing some traveling, doing some volunteering, etc. Well, apparently the guy at immigration didn't like that the last time he came into the country! He grudgingly stamped his passport for an additional 6 months and told my husband that he should get his paperwork sorted out. We thought the tourist visa would be okay for the year (we're traveling to Chile for a bit at the 6-month mark, which would renew the tourist visa supposedly), but now we're afraid they might not let him into the US next time :/ So we're looking to do the AOS before heading back to Chile.

 

My questions:

 

1) I've been earning less than the US poverty line for the last few years (because, well, that's actually pretty decent for Chile), but now I'm earning over $50,000. Is there anyway to take my current wage into account for sponsoring the visa, or will I need a co-sponsor?

 

2) As a side question for Evidence of Bona fide Marriage, we don't really have any assets or anything physically linking us together since leases and bank accounts in Chile don't really have co-signers, so we'll probably be doing affidavits from witnesses. Locally, we have 1 friend that was at our wedding and 1 friend that visited us at our house in Chile a couple of months ago (hadn't met my husband previously, but my friend for over a decade). We could also get my parents (also at our wedding, we visited them, they visited us, etc.) to sign an affidavit, but that might delay the process a bit since they're traveling and we don't live in the same area. Will the two local be okay? Should we do all three? We've lived together for the last 7 years and have traveled together, so I feel like they won't doubt too much that our marriage is real, but I just want to be safe.

 

 

Thanks!

 

[KULtoATL 1,551]

1) For the I-864, your current income is what matters. It doesn't matter that you made lower and didn't meet the poverty guideline in the last few years.

 

2) Affidavit is very secondary. You got to work on getting more substantial evidence. One of the major ones could be power of attorney for each other and a will.

[Unlockable 7,306]

There were two issues with your plan.

 

The first has already been addressed that you bf can't use the visitor visa for living in the US long term.

 

The second is your bf maintaining his permanent resident status once he receive his GC. You state you want to adjust his status before returning to Chile where you will have a remote job. So it sounds like you will be returning to Chile to live. The GC (permanent resident) is required to maintain residence in the US or risk losing status. You should look into him getting a reentry permit which allows him to be outside the US for up to 2 years with no issue. But beyond that he will likely have to return to live in the US if he wants to remain a permament resident.

 

In order to do what you want to do he will have to be a US citizen. That way he can be outside the US for however long he wants without risk of denied entry. But that still requires him to be a PR within the US for a period of time.

[Beth&JP 2]

4 minutes ago, KULtoATL said:

1) For the I-864, your current income is what matters. It doesn't matter that you made lower and didn't meet the poverty guideline in the last few years.

 

So they don't really take into account the income from the last 3 years of income statements? Just the current income? That's good news, since I brought it up to my parents last night and they seemed willing, but uncomfortable with the idea of being co-sponsors (totally understandable!)

 

2) Affidavit is very secondary. You got to work on getting more substantial evidence. One of the major ones could be power of attorney for each other and a will.

 

I'll... have to look into that. Does VisaJourney have a standard power of attorney or will format that works best for that? Would the power of attorney/will have to be for both people? I've never "adulted" in the US, so a lot of this is new to me, haha.

 

[KULtoATL 1,551]

6 minutes ago, Beth&JP said:

 

So they don't really take into account the income from the last 3 years of income statements? Just the current income? That's good news, since I brought it up to my parents last night and they seemed willing, but uncomfortable with the idea of being co-sponsors (totally understandable!)

 

 

I'll... have to look into that. Does VisaJourney have a standard power of attorney or will format that works best for that? Would the power of attorney/will have to be for both people? I've never "adulted" in the US, so a lot of this is new to me, haha.

 

Just Google and you'll find a lot of free templates Pretty much DIY and you can get them notarized.

 

Btw, definitely do it for both you and your husband. 

 

If you're each other's insurance beneficiary, that's good too.

 

ETA: I played around with this website the other day - https://eforms.com/power-of-attorney/

Edited August 23, 2017 by KULtoATL

[Beth&JP 2]

5 minutes ago, NuestraUnion said:

The second is your bf maintaining his permanent resident status once he receive his GC. You state you want to adjust his status before returning to Chile where you will have a remote job. So it sounds like you will be returning to Chile to live. The GC (permanent resident) is required to maintain residence in the US or risk losing status. You should look into him getting a reentry permit which allows him to be outside the US for up to 2 years with no issue. But beyond that he will likely have to return to live in the US if he wants to remain a permament resident.

I didn't realize that there would be conditions if we were already married. (We're married, but it has been less than two years.) It looks like you're able to remove the conditions 90 days before your 2year greencard expires... but are you able to do it early? We'll have our 2-year anniversary in like 6 months. 

 

If not, what are the in-country requirements? I can't seem to find the minimum amount of days. We can stay in the US for longer if need be, just need to be here minimum a year.

 

In order to do what you want to do he will have to be a US citizen. That way he can be outside the US for however long he wants without risk of denied entry. But that still requires him to be a PR within the US for a period of time.

 

Oh, I know he can still be denied entry, but with PR it's unlikely since Chile is considered low-risk in pretty much everything (they even have a visa waiver program which allowed his mom to visit with us once, and there's no way she would have qualified for a tourist visa). Since he's legit only doing touristy things (I've double checked all of his courses and volunteer opportunities), traveling in and out of the country, traveling around the country (my weekend trips to visit family are 1 week trips for him) I thought he was going to be okay on the tourist visa.

 

[Beth&JP 2]

If we apply now (married 1.5 years), but they approve his visa after we've been married for 2 years, would there still be conditions on his green card?

[Unlockable 7,306]

1 hour ago, Beth&JP said:

I didn't realize that there would be conditions if we were already married. (We're married, but it has been less than two years.) It looks like you're able to remove the conditions 90 days before your 2year greencard expires... but are you able to do it early? We'll have our 2-year anniversary in like 6 months. 

 

If not, what are the in-country requirements? I can't seem to find the minimum amount of days. We can stay in the US for longer if need be, just need to be here minimum a year.

 

 

Oh, I know he can still be denied entry, but with PR it's unlikely since Chile is considered low-risk in pretty much everything (they even have a visa waiver program which allowed his mom to visit with us once, and there's no way she would have qualified for a tourist visa). Since he's legit only doing touristy things (I've double checked all of his courses and volunteer opportunities), traveling in and out of the country, traveling around the country (my weekend trips to visit family are 1 week trips for him) I thought he was going to be okay on the tourist visa.

 

Yes. The requirements to maintain a green card is that the person must be living in the US. You can see from the USCIS website: https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/maintaining-permanent-residence#conditional

 

Abandoning Permanent Resident Status

You may also lose your permanent resident status by intentionally abandoning it. You may be found to have abandoned your status if you:

• Move to another country, intending to live there permanently.
• Remain outside of the United States for an extended period of time, unless you intended this to be a temporary absence, as shown by:
  • The reason for your trip;
  • How long you intended to be absent from the United States;
  • Any other circumstances of your absence; and
  • Any events that may have prolonged your absence.
  • Note: Obtaining a re-entry permit from USCIS before you leave, or a returning resident visa (SB-1) from a U.S. consulate while abroad, may assist you in showing that you intended only a temporary absence.
• Fail to file income tax returns while living outside of the United States for any period.
• Declare yourself a “nonimmigrant” on your U.S. tax returns.

 

 

 

As you can see above he must but living in the US to maintain his status. He is free to travel abroad but they should be short duration. He must also file taxes.

 

1 hour ago, Beth&JP said:

If we apply now (married 1.5 years), but they approve his visa after we've been married for 2 years, would there still be conditions on his green card?

 

Even if he were to remove conditions or if you were to apply after 2 years marriage so he can get a 10 year green card, there is still conditions for him to live in the US and file taxes to maintain his status. This is why I said there may be issues with your plan if you plan to move to Chile together immediately after you adjust his status. 

 

There is no set amount of days that is worded by USCIS for a LPR to be in the US to maintain permanent residency. But if will be spending a great deal of time (months) in Chile it will be a problem. The problem is that he can be a LPR for the rest of his life and never apply for citizenship. Many immigrants do it. But he will always be bound to the residency requirements in the US. But if he wants to become a US citizen so he can remain outside the US for however long he desires, then he will definitely need to be living in the US because part of the process to naturalize is to show that the immigrant has met the residency requirement.

 

For immigrants married to a US citizen he can apply for citizenship in 3 years. But any long term stay outside of the US will be counted against him. For example, say he goes back to Chile with you and stays there for 2 years. Then comes back to the US for 1 year. Three years would have passed but he will not be eligible to apply for citizenship because he has only been in the US for 1 year. He will then have to wait until he has 3 years of living in the US before he is eligible to apply.

 

Depending on how long you will be living and working in Chile it may be best to hold off on the spousal visa and have him keep the visitor visa (sounds like it is still valid) and when you two are ready to permanently live in the US, just reapply for the spousal. again, it depends if you will be living and working in Chile for a few years.

[Mollie09 1,543]

3 hours ago, Beth&JP said:

So! Just for some backstory: I (US citizen) took a transfer at my work, and moved from Chile to the US. The plan is to be in the US for a year, then take the job remote back to Chile. My husband (Chilean) is just kind of hanging out for the year, taking courses related to his line of work, English classes, doing some traveling, doing some volunteering, etc. Well, apparently the guy at immigration didn't like that the last time he came into the country! He grudgingly stamped his passport for an additional 6 months and told my husband that he should get his paperwork sorted out. We thought the tourist visa would be okay for the year (we're traveling to Chile for a bit at the 6-month mark, which would renew the tourist visa supposedly), but now we're afraid they might not let him into the US next time :/ So we're looking to do the AOS before heading back to Chile.

 

My questions:

 

1) I've been earning less than the US poverty line for the last few years (because, well, that's actually pretty decent for Chile), but now I'm earning over $50,000. Is there anyway to take my current wage into account for sponsoring the visa, or will I need a co-sponsor?

 

2) As a side question for Evidence of Bona fide Marriage, we don't really have any assets or anything physically linking us together since leases and bank accounts in Chile don't really have co-signers, so we'll probably be doing affidavits from witnesses. Locally, we have 1 friend that was at our wedding and 1 friend that visited us at our house in Chile a couple of months ago (hadn't met my husband previously, but my friend for over a decade). We could also get my parents (also at our wedding, we visited them, they visited us, etc.) to sign an affidavit, but that might delay the process a bit since they're traveling and we don't live in the same area. Will the two local be okay? Should we do all three? We've lived together for the last 7 years and have traveled together, so I feel like they won't doubt too much that our marriage is real, but I just want to be safe.

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

Based on your first paragraph it's very very likely he'll be denied entry after leaving for a few days after staying 6 months then trying to reenter.

[Ryan H 3,795]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Adjustment of Status form Work, Student, & Tourist Visas forum.

[skimmilk 32]

So you AND your husband are currently in the US together? @NuestraUnion is correct that you and your husband must maintain continuous residency within the US so that your husband will NOT be on the government's radar.  So I second @NuestraUnion's suggestion to wait until you know you both will be living in the US long term. Permanent residency doesn't give immigrants free rein to do whatever they want, unlike the myth a lot of people believe. LPR's are bound to the government to prove their status as a contributing member to American society and as a marital partner to their US citizen spouse. 

 

That said, your next point about bona fide. My personal opinion is that you might be jumping the gun on AoS for your husband. You don't have enough bona fide evidence. Coupled with the fact your husband hasn't lived in the US with you, it will come across as a very weak case. 

 

I'm NOT a lawyer. It also seems like you've only just begun researching into this. I suggest you do talk to a lawyer, even if it hurts to cough up the money. This is a very serious topic and nobody here wants you to end up in a messy disastrous situation. 

[cosmonauts 125]

I also agree with everyone here. Adjusting of status and becoming a permanent resident is not intended for people to come in and out as they please, it's for living and working here permanently. Unless you are seriously planning on moving to the US for at least a few years AOS is not the way to go for you. Also, since you are already married and outside of the US I think you will need to look into petitioning for your spouse and obtaining an IR1/CR1 visa (but I'm not 100% sure)