Has anyone received RFE because the sponsor(spouse and citizen) is TA/RA/GA

[Lucysnowe_22 0]

Background: I'm currently applying for marriage based green card inside US and I'm a F-1 working as RA. My spouse (citizen and sponsor in I-864) is TA in grad school and his annual alone income has exceeded the 125% poverty line. I do not intend to add my income to I-864.  I've read about a lot of cases here that people get RFE when both of them are students. Of course, in many cases the income from sponsor alone cannot meet 125% requirement so the applicant (F-1) has to add his/her income, and this causes some trouble. In the end, the applicant had to submit "6) A printout of ICE's website that states that F-1 students are automatically permitted to work on campus. 7) A copy of CFR 214.2 (9)(i), the regulation that governs on-campus student employment, with the relevant lines highlighted." And " I even took all of this to an infopass appointment, where the immigration officer told me he was wrong until he read items 6  and 7, apologized and said I was right! " 

Some comments pointed out that USCIS doesn't consider a TA/RA/GA salary a good income source because it has a definite end date, that is graduate date. It kind of makes sense to me.

 

Question: So my conclusion is that I won't bother adding my income as a RA. However, what would happen if my sponsor is a TA ??

 

My Speculation: I did some reading on I-864 instruction and in Part 6 Item number 7 it says: 

You may include evidence supporting your claim about your expected income for the current year if you believe that

submitting this evidence will help you establish ability to maintain sufficient income. You are not required to submit this

evidence, however, unless specifically instructed to do so by a U.S. Government official. For example, you may include

a recent letter from your employer, showing your employer’s address and telephone number, and indicating your annual

salary. You may also provide pay stubs showing your income for the previous six months. 

However, when it comes to using the income of intending immigrant, the USCIS asks for much stronger evidence: 

If you included the income of the intending immigrant who is your spouse (he or she would be counted in Part

5., Item Number 1.), you must provide evidence that his/her income will continue from the current source after

obtaining lawful permanent resident status.

Those being said, can I draw the conclusion that, there is no problem if my sponsor use his/her TA/RAGA salary as proof, while it is very tricky if I include my salary as the applicant?

 

 

[optimusx 1]

I'm exactly in the same situation as yours. I thought about what to do about this for quite a while but could not find anyone else facing the same situation. In the end I decided to submit my AoS package anyway with my spouse using her TA income as the basis for sponsorship. I did not include my own TA income on the I-864. Technically, my spouse's expected income for this year and income shown on the W-2 from last year meets all the requirements asked for in the I-864.  At our program, the TA positions are not guaranteed every semester and need to be renewed every year with a new contract which makes it difficult to prove long-term income on my end. I only submitted my application about 2 weeks ago, so I'm currently waiting for a response from USCIS. Only time will tell if they will accept the application as is or they are going to poke around for more evidence.

[Lucysnowe_22 0]

21 minutes ago, optimus039 said:

I'm exactly in the same situation as yours. I thought about what to do about this for quite a while but could not find anyone else facing the same situation. In the end I decided to submit my AoS package anyway with my spouse using her TA income as the basis for sponsorship. I did not include my own TA income on the I-864. Technically, my spouse's expected income for this year and income shown on the W-2 from last year meets all the requirements asked for in the I-864.  At our program, the TA positions are not guaranteed every semester and need to be renewed every year with a new contract which makes it difficult to prove long-term income on my end. I only submitted my application about 2 weeks ago, so I'm currently waiting for a response from USCIS. Only time will tell if they will accept the application as is or they are going to poke around for more evidence.

Hi thank you so much for your reply! It's nice that we can share our experience. Please keep me posted with your timeline. Thank you so much and wish you best of luck!

[elmers 293]

I think you are being too anxious for no reason. Relax! 😀 They care if you have enough $ to support you and where the $ is coming from (legal source), and not necessarily if the source is RA/TA/GA/etc.

 

I adjusted from J1 (postdoc = higher level RA, basically). I was sponsored by my partner (citizen) but they were attending school and not working when we applied. They had zero income, even negative perhaps if you factor in the student loans. We showed only the income from my job which, mind you, is just a year-to-year contract. I asked for a 'job security' type of letter from my department head where I had them mention how the job is temporary yet there is/might be funding for a few more years based on the type of research that I do. On top of this, we sent in pay slips for 3 months, bank statements for 3 months, and 3 years of tax returns (IRS transcripts). We had no issues and got my greencard about a year ago.

 

So, no, it is not tricky if you include your income. In fact, I suggest you do it if you are nervous about showing only your spouse's income.

[MerryMentor 73]

On 9/9/2020 at 10:05 PM, Lucysnowe_22 said:

Background: I'm currently applying for marriage based green card inside US and I'm a F-1 working as RA. My spouse (citizen and sponsor in I-864) is TA in grad school and his annual alone income has exceeded the 125% poverty line. I do not intend to add my income to I-864.  I've read about a lot of cases here that people get RFE when both of them are students. Of course, in many cases the income from sponsor alone cannot meet 125% requirement so the applicant (F-1) has to add his/her income, and this causes some trouble. In the end, the applicant had to submit "6) A printout of ICE's website that states that F-1 students are automatically permitted to work on campus. 7) A copy of CFR 214.2 (9)(i), the regulation that governs on-campus student employment, with the relevant lines highlighted." And " I even took all of this to an infopass appointment, where the immigration officer told me he was wrong until he read items 6  and 7, apologized and said I was right! " 

Some comments pointed out that USCIS doesn't consider a TA/RA/GA salary a good income source because it has a definite end date, that is graduate date. It kind of makes sense to me.

 

Question: So my conclusion is that I won't bother adding my income as a RA. However, what would happen if my sponsor is a TA ??

 

My Speculation: I did some reading on I-864 instruction and in Part 6 Item number 7 it says: 

You may include evidence supporting your claim about your expected income for the current year if you believe that

submitting this evidence will help you establish ability to maintain sufficient income. You are not required to submit this

evidence, however, unless specifically instructed to do so by a U.S. Government official. For example, you may include

a recent letter from your employer, showing your employer’s address and telephone number, and indicating your annual

salary. You may also provide pay stubs showing your income for the previous six months. 

However, when it comes to using the income of intending immigrant, the USCIS asks for much stronger evidence: 

If you included the income of the intending immigrant who is your spouse (he or she would be counted in Part

5., Item Number 1.), you must provide evidence that his/her income will continue from the current source after

obtaining lawful permanent resident status.

Those being said, can I draw the conclusion that, there is no problem if my sponsor use his/her TA/RAGA salary as proof, while it is very tricky if I include my salary as the applicant?

 

 

No RFE for me, similar situation as yours. I did however include all W2s, 1099s, Tax transcript with the application. Even got my EAD approved today, PD April 17.