Consular officer to make income requirement decisions?

[Turtlenecks 1]

Hello, my wife and I recently submitted her D-260 and the required civil and financial documents to NVC. They responded and said that all the paperwork has been approved and that they will now schedule an interview date at the embassy. However, they left a message saying that my (the petitioner’s) current income doesn’t meet the minimum income requirement and that the consular officer will make the final decision at the interview (I’m currently working part-time with low income). My wife and I have about $115,000 cash and about $60,000 in equities, totally around $175,000 together. This is well above the Federal Poverty Guidelines for our household size. They mentioned that to avoid delays, an additional Affidavit of Support may be submitted. It’s difficult for me to find a joint sponsor and I don’t want to get other people involved, especially since we’re financially better off. I attached a screenshot of the message. Any advice? Appreciate it.

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

1 hour ago, Turtlenecks said:

My wife and I have about $115,000 cash and about $60,000 in equities, totally around $175,000 together. 

Cash is converted into income by a ratio 3:1 so it only counts as less than $40,000 of income. Not sure what’s size of your household. The $60,000 in equity, is that in the house that you guys will live in? If yes, it doesn’t hold much water because what’s you’re gonna do, sell the house? Then where’re you gonna live? In essence, I think they will only look at the cash. And yes, the interviewing officer will make the final decision about the financials. Meeting the threshold does NOT mean an automatic “pass”. The CO looks at the totality of circumstances to make a decision (where you will live for example New York City or San Francisco is much much expensive than rural Wyoming, your health, do you have any medical conditions, .... all of that together).

[Turtlenecks 1]

1 hour ago, USS_Voyager said:

Cash is converted into income by a ratio 3:1 so it only counts as less than $40,000 of income. Not sure what’s size of your household. The $60,000 in equity, is that in the house that you guys will live in? If yes, it doesn’t hold much water because what’s you’re gonna do, sell the house? Then where’re you gonna live? In essence, I think they will only look at the cash. And yes, the interviewing officer will make the final decision about the financials. Meeting the threshold does NOT mean an automatic “pass”. The CO looks at the totality of circumstances to make a decision (where you will live for example New York City or San Francisco is much much expensive than rural Wyoming, your health, do you have any medical conditions, .... all of that together).

The $60,000 is held in stocks which can be easily converted to cash. Assets don’t include real estate. Household of 3. We will live with my folks when we move back until we get established and then we’ll find our own place.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

5 minutes ago, Turtlenecks said:

The $60,000 is held in stocks which can be easily converted to cash. Assets don’t include real estate. Household of 3. We will live with my folks when we move back until we get established and then we’ll find our own place.

Did you add those assets to your affidavit?

[Turtlenecks 1]

Just now, Nitas_man said:

Did you add those assets to your affidavit?

I did. I assume that’s why our documents got approved. I would think that if they required an additional joint sponsor based our financial situation they would not have green lighted us for an interview, rather they would ask us to upload the additional documents. 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

13 minutes ago, Turtlenecks said:

I did. I assume that’s why our documents got approved. I would think that if they required an additional joint sponsor based our financial situation they would not have green lighted us for an interview, rather they would ask us to upload the additional documents. 

You need 3x your household size ($80k) to qualify on assets alone (zero income) 

 

They apply 3x the difference between actual and required income.

 

CO’s going to want to see current bank statements etc but you should be fine.

[pushbrk 12,092]

The message you got is a standard message NVC includes anytime income ALONE is not sufficient.  The Consular Officer ALWAYS makes the final decision on the "Public Charge" issue.  If your liquid assets are clearly sufficient, there's nothing to worry about.  You would get the same notice if you had a million bucks in your savings account, but insufficient current income.

[Turtlenecks 1]

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

The message you got is a standard message NVC includes anytime income ALONE is not sufficient.  The Consular Officer ALWAYS makes the final decision on the "Public Charge" issue.  If your liquid assets are clearly sufficient, there's nothing to worry about.  You would get the same notice if you had a million bucks in your savings account, but insufficient current income.

Thank you! I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear that. You sir are a gem in this community!

[Turtlenecks 1]

2 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

You need 3x your household size ($80k) to qualify on assets alone (zero income) 

 

They apply 3x the difference between actual and required income.

 

CO’s going to want to see current bank statements etc but you should be fine.

Thank you. Yes, I’d done the calculations and thought that I should be fine as well. That’s why the message caught me off guard.