Question before I send form I-130

[Dante2019 9]

I'm filling for my wife (we've been married for about 3 years) as we are both outside the United States.

 

1)  "Marriage Certificate & Translation", does the translation needs to be translated by a lawyer, or can my wife translate this?

 

2) "Evidence of Bona Fide Marriage". We have a child together that is an american citizen, and in his American birth certificate, it has both of our names, will this be enough proof?

 

3) Let's say I have $150,000 usd saved up, so I'm guessing I have $50,000 towards the poverty level. So I'm guessing I don't need a sponsor? I'm also filling outside the United States.

 

4) Do I need to send my birth certificate, or is a copy of my American passport and her foreign passport good enough?

 

Thanks in advance if anyone can answer these questions accurately

Edited December 17, 2019 by Dante2019

[geowrian 22,338]

* Moved from Bringing Family Members of USCs to America forum to IR-1/CR-1 P&P forum. The question is specific to the IR-1 (spouse of a USC) process. *

 

1) For USCIS, anybody fluent in both languages can do the translation. See here: .

The consulate may or may not want a certified translation of documents (when you get to that stage). This would be through some sort of accreditation service. I guess a lawyer could do it if they qualified, although it's not something I would think is the most common.

 

2) A child is not evidence of a bona fide relationship, let alone sole evidence. They want things like evidence of living together, going places together, financial commingling, etc. Time spent together is best, of which I would presume you have a lot given that you live together abroad already.

 

3) You can use assets in lieu of income. Assets for a spouse of a USC would be at a 3:1 ratio - every $3 in assets = $1 in income. See the FPP for your household size here: https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p. Keep in mind that is the minimum for consideration - the CO makes a decision on the public charge issue based upon a totality of the circumstances.

 

4) Both a US BC and a US passport are evidence of being a USC. So either one is fine. Her passport is not needed at this stage.

 

Edit: You didn't ask, but just look into 1) the domicile issue since you live abroad, and 2) hopefully you have been keeping up with your US tax returns. If not, that will need to be resolved.

Edited December 17, 2019 by geowrian

[Dante2019 9]

Thank you for the quick reply, geowrian.

 

3) Since we are a family of three (me, my wife, and our son), we pass that because it's $26,662 for a family of three.

 

31 minutes ago, geowrian said:

You didn't ask, but just look into 1) the domicile issue since you live abroad, and 2) hopefully you have been keeping up with your US tax returns. If not, that will need to be resolved.

 

1) If you have time, can you please explain what you mean about "domicile issue since you live abroad"?

 

2) I haven't been keeping up with my tax returns for three years since all my income is in Korea. Is this tax returns required?

 

Thank you.

 

[geowrian 22,338]

23 minutes ago, Dante2019 said:

3) Since we are a family of three (me, my wife, and our son), we pass that because it's $26,662 for a family of three.

For a family of 3, the minimum in assets for consideration would be $26,662 * 3 = $79,986. Anything lower means you have to have a joint sponsor or find a way to improve the income/assets. Anything at or above that is a judgement call.

I'm not saying in any way it is an issue in your case - I don't know your circumstances. I'm just pointing out that just being above the minimum does not guarantee satisfaction of the CO. Usually, common sense will tell you if they will have a concern or not IMO...most people know if they can reasonably live on a given income or assets w/o certain government assistance programs.

 

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1) If you have time, can you please explain what you mean about "domicile issue since you live abroad"?

A requirement for the I-864 is either having US domicile (actually living in the US) or showing sufficient intent to establish US domicile before the visa is issued.

Depending on your circumstances (consulate involved, how long you have lived outside the US, etc.), the evidence can be fairly minimal/simple (plans for where you intend to stay) to much more extensive (school enrollment plans for the child, active bank or credit card accounts, quotes for moving expenses, etc.).

The NVC wiki has a section for domicile along with various evidences as examples. Domicile will be raised with the I-864, which is submitted at NVC (after I-130 approval).

https://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process

 

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2) I haven't been keeping up with my tax returns for three years since all my income is in Korea. Is this tax returns required?

Yes. USCs are taxed on worldwide income (check your passport). Usually you can write off at least the first $100k/year via the FEIE or FTC - resulting in no tax liability. But you have to file either way, and you have to claim those exemptions to avoid the tax liability from that income.

At least the 3 most recent years of federal tax returns must be filed to qualify to submit an I-864 (and as the petitioner you must submit one even if you had a joint sponsor). A copy of the most recent year's return is required, too.

 

There is an exception if your income is below the filing thresholds. Given that you are using assets for the I-864, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're likely well above that (Edit: unless retired or some unusual circusmtances). Check the IRS website for specifics, but I believe it's something like $5k/year if you file separately.

Edited December 17, 2019 by geowrian

[Dante2019 9]

20 hours ago, geowrian said:

For a family of 3, the minimum in assets for consideration would be $26,662 * 3 = $79,986.

 

I think I'm starting to understand what minimum assets mean, since I have about $150,000 saved up, I already passed $79,986. With that, my mom can be a sponsor. She makes about $28-30K a year. But I'm not sure if that amount is good enough to be a sponsor?

 

20 hours ago, geowrian said:

Yes. USCs are taxed on worldwide income (check your passport). Usually you can write off at least the first $100k/year via the FEIE or FTC - resulting in no tax liability. But you have to file either way, and you have to claim those exemptions to avoid the tax liability from that income.

At least the 3 most recent years of federal tax returns must be filed to qualify to submit an I-864 (and as the petitioner you must submit one even if you had a joint sponsor). A copy of the most recent year's return is required, too.

 

Before I left the United States in 2015, I made sure that I left so I can be taxed excempt. I didn't make any money in 2016. I only make 24k in the country I'm residing, but I only did my 2017 tax return, and not my 2018 taxes.

 

I have a couple new questions about USISC tax part:

 

1) I got married in Janauary 2017, but I filled "Single" for my 2017 taxes, so I'm not sure if that's going to cause any issues?

 

2) Does the USISC need some sort of W2 form from my overseas employers (I teach English abroad), or does a Tax transcript that I filled to the IRS will be good enough?

 

 

Thank you again for your time,  geowrian

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2019 by Dante2019

[geowrian 22,338]

36 minutes ago, Dante2019 said:

I think I'm starting to understand what minimum assets mean, since I have about $150,000 saved up, I already passed $79,986. With that, my mom can be a sponsor. She makes about $28-30K a year. But I'm not sure if that amount is good enough to be a sponsor?

That asset level is probably fine, but again it depends on the totality of the circumstances.

You cannot combine income or assets across sponsors (only with the intending immigrant or across household members with an I-864A).

 

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Before I left the United States in 2015, I made sure that I left so I can be taxed excempt. I didn't make any money in 2016. I only make 24k in the country I'm residing, but I only did my 2017 tax return, and not my 2018 taxes.

By the time you get to the I-864, I'm assuming 2019 taxes will be around. So the 3 most recent years would be 2017, 2018, and 2019. As such, you will need to file for 2018 only since you have 2017 already and can just file 2019 when the time comes.

 

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I have a couple new questions about USISC tax part:

Nothing with the I-864 - including tax returns - will come up at the I-130 petition stage. That's what USCIS handles. The I-864 is initially submitted at NVC, after petition approval.

 

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1) I got married in Janauary 2017, but I filled "Single" for my 2017 taxes, so I'm not sure if that's going to cause any issues?

Not immigration-wise, but it is incorrect and should be corrected via an amended return (1040X). Single is not a valid filing status for anybody married. You can file jointly (MFJ), separately (MFS), or head of household in limited circumstances (HOH).

 

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2) Does the USISC need some sort of W2 form from my overseas employers (I teach English abroad), or does a Tax transcript that I filled to the IRS will be good enough?

NVC will only need the tax transcript. No evidence of foreign income is required as no such income is being used to qualify for sponsorship.

Edited December 18, 2019 by geowrian

[Mintosman 11]

I also have a question about filing my CR1. We were just married 2 weeks ago and I am back in the US. When going to file online it asks if I am petitioning for any other relatives. Is this where I denote that we want to bring 2 of her 3 kids over? (The 18yr old doesn’t qualify so she will finish university and determine later if she will come on another petition). Or do I do that somewhere else?

[Dante2019 9]

Geowrian, thank you again for your reply.

 

On 12/17/2019 at 4:20 PM, geowrian said:

 

They want things like evidence of living together, going places together, financial commingling, etc. Time spent together is best, of which I would presume you have a lot given that you live together abroad already.

 

As of now, my last question is do I need hard photo copies of my wife and I together (prints 4 X 6), or can I copy digital copies and put it in a word document, print it off, and send it that way?  Thank you.

[geowrian 22,338]

10 minutes ago, Dante2019 said:

Geowrian, thank you again for your reply.

 

 

As of now, my last question is do I need hard photo copies of my wife and I together (prints 4 X 6), or can I copy digital copies and put it in a word document, print it off, and send it that way?  Thank you.

Either way is fine. I printed the photos on regular paper and wrote who/where/when on them. Others did the Word document approach you mentioned.

Just don't send a photo album or something else that cannot easily be scanned by their systems. No plastic sleeves necessary...make some poor worker's day (who has to take each page out) a little less miserable.

[Dante2019 9]

6 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Either way is fine. I printed the photos on regular paper and wrote who/where/when on them. Others did the Word document approach you mentioned.

Just don't send a photo album or something else that cannot easily be scanned by their systems. No plastic sleeves necessary...make some poor worker's day (who has to take each page out) a little less miserable.

 

Thank you for this information, geowrian. Have a nice day and thank you again for all your help.

[geowrian 22,338]

14 minutes ago, Dante2019 said:

Thank you for this information, geowrian. Have a nice day and thank you again for all your help.

Best wishes!