K1 Sponsorship Requirements, New Job?

[KuFisherAvi 0]

Hi,

 

I'm an American citizen that has lived abroad for the past 4 years in Poland. I'm returning to the US to live with my parents for a while before I get myself a job, build my credit score back up and hopefully attend school and get an apartment. I currently live with my GF and she's finished her Bachelor's. I convinced her to come live with me, so we decided it's time for marriage. It seems like a K1 Visa is the best choice, but the only hiccup is sponsorship requirements. I searched the forum and wasn't able to get my question answered, so I'm posting here before I go to an immigration lawyer. I know the 125% limit is recommended, and anything above that is nice. The problem is... I don't have any documented income or tax returns for the past few years. I lived off of cryptocurrency, and still do. I don't really use bank accounts, have no evidence of any financials and the money that I do have I'll need to spend that on a car, college (the main expense) and saving up for a mortgage. I planned to move back to the US regardless, but obviously life happened and I stayed here a lot longer and got into a long-term relationship. So I guess the only option is to get a job, pay my taxes for the past 4 years or so and hopefully satisfy the sponsor requirements.

 

I recognize that the first car I own won't count, and since Bitcoin's still rather new to the IRS and the government I don't think they'll count my crypto as assets. If need be, I can buy some index funds or a second car to hopefully reduce the income needed this year to reach the requirements. Technically, I haven't had any "income" for a while since I'm just living off of capital gains? I won't have enough to satisfy having 5-6x the income requirement to be able to use assets (or however much is required). Also I read that I would need to own these assets (stocks, index funds, etc.) for more than 1 year. Which obviously if I sold my crypto and put that into the stock market, it wouldn't count? And as many in crypto, I didn't bother paying my taxes since I thought I wouldn't return to the US for a while. But now I've wisened up, and realize this'll be a long and tricky process. I can find a job that'll pay $30K+. So my question is: 

Can I get a full-time job in a month when I return, and file in the summer to have my gf come over next year? Or will I need to work 1 full year, have the taxes paid and only THEN apply for K1?

So if I got paid for example $36,000 and my first paycheck was $3,000.. could I then immediately go and start the application? Or how many months would I have to wait if not the full year?

 

If I needed a full $30K+ cycle, could I find a job that paid say.. $60K and meet the requirement in half a year, 6 months time? 

 

And if I did have to wait until I'd file my taxes, or have multiple paystubs.. would it make more sense to simply do Adjustment of Status after 90 days next summer instead of waiting for K1? 

 

I would really like to avoid having to rely on my parents to co-sponsor, even though they could easily hit the requirements. I just want to have full responsibility, instead of shifting it to my family. I know I'll reach the sponsorship requirements sooner or later, but I'd like to do this in the fastest way because of the 11 month wait time (estimated) for K1. Otherwise, I think I'll just have to stay in Poland or return to Poland as I hate long distance relationships, and we're both really nervous about this. But it'd make things easier if I was in the US.

 

Thanks for any kind answers in advance. 

[Chancy 6,241]

45 minutes ago, KuFisherAvi said:

I'd like to do this in the fastest way because of the 11 month wait time (estimated) for K1.

 

If you are going to pursue a K1 visa for your fiancee, what would matter most would be your income and assets at the time of your fiancee's visa interview.  11 months would be very optimistic for Poland, considering that the embassy has not been processing routine K1 cases for around a year now.  It would be more realistic to expect that you have around 2 years to figure out your finances until your fiancee gets an interview in Warsaw.

 

Since you are already living together and ready to marry, why not just get married in Poland and pursue a spouse visa for your wife?  The processing time may actually end up faster than the K1 route since Warsaw is continuing to process routine spouse visa cases.  Also, there's the huge benefit of immediate permanent resident status for your wife upon entry to the US with a spouse visa.

 

[powerpuff 6,722]

I would strongly suggest spousal visa. Poland hasn’t had interviews for K1 since March 2020 and when they do resume (a million dollar question) the backlog will be substantial. 

Edited March 30, 2021 by powerpuff

[payxibka 10,045]

4 hours ago, KuFisherAvi said:

It seems like a K1 Visa is the best choice, but the only hiccup is ..

 

Are you sure?