I864 assets not used?

[CarolineK2017 1]

Hello, I’m trying to reach out to someone that could possibly help. 

 

My husband and and I are going on almost 2 years of applying for his permanent residency. We did not have a great lawyer, so we found out on our own that we needed to submit an affidavit of support.

 

We submitted the affidavit of support along with my income, child support that I receive, and I had previously started a part time job. Our income did not meet the poverty level for our family of 5. I think we had income of about $22,000. 

 

My husbands assets - a home that he owns in India - was appraised for over $140,000. So I assumed that his assets would make up the shortfall from the income. 

 

We are not able to get a joint sponsor, and we are supposed to mail everything back by 1/1/2018. 

 

So, I’m wondering why would his assets not help? He receives money each month from his family, can we revisit the income to include that?

 

Not sure what to do if this turns into his application being denied. 

 

Thank you for any help! 

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

Foreign assets do not have to count- it is up to the discretion of the officer- because the US government would have difficulty seizing them should the need arise. You may need to have him sell the property and transfer the money to a US joint bank account. Similarly, money given by family does not count, as that is a present that can stop anytime.If they are wealthy, they could potentially make him a large one time gift of cash, put into a US bank account, and that would count as assets.

I am confused though- you have income,  a part time job and child support, and that together only makes $22'000 and five people live off that?  If you added that up correctly, I am in awe of your budgeting!

[geowrian 22,337]

I concur. The IO determined that the asset was inapplicable for the purposes of the I-864 and that's simple a decision they are permitted to make based upon the information available to them.

Money given by relatives is not considered income. There is no legal obligation associated with that transfer of funds, nor what amount will be given or their financial circumstances.

 

15 hours ago, Penguin_ie said:

If they are wealthy, they could potentially make him a large one time gift of cash, put into a US bank account, and that would count as assets.

True, although don't they usually want to see the last 6-12 months of statements when determining those types of assets (to avoid somebody putting a bunch of money into the account just for approval)?

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

6 minutes ago, geowrian said:

 

True, although don't they usually want to see the last 6-12 months of statements when determining those types of assets (to avoid somebody putting a bunch of money into the account just for approval)?

 

From experiences on here, it seems USCIS in the USA (since this is a AOS case) is less picky on showing banking history, but yeah, they'd want to be prepared to show it was a permanent gift.

[CarolineK2017 1]

On 12/25/2017 at 5:04 AM, Penguin_ie said:

Foreign assets do not have to count- it is up to the discretion of the officer- because the US government would have difficulty seizing them should the need arise. You may need to have him sell the property and transfer the money to a US joint bank account. Similarly, money given by family does not count, as that is a present that can stop anytime.If they are wealthy, they could potentially make him a large one time gift of cash, put into a US bank account, and that would count as assets.

I am confused though- you have income,  a part time job and child support, and that together only makes $22'000 and five people live off that?  If you added that up correctly, I am in awe of your budgeting!

 

Thank you, however, I don’t understand why that would be he case considering the guidelines for using assets. 

 

We are going to try to try to contact/get help from some pro bono immigration offices in Georgia. But we are running out of time, because the joint sponsor affidavit of support is due back by 1/1/2018. I’m worried about what to do next.

 

Can we write a letter asking them for more time? We don’t think that will work, but we are grasping at straws.

 

in reference to the income, I moved when I got married and my job was too far to drive to every day. I resigned and withdrew my retirement. My income included my retirement and child support. My part time job was measly pay, and the company closed down 3 months after I started.