Preparing affidavit of support

[adventures 14]

hi everyone, so thanks for the support here ;). We have submitted the I-130 form. So now I am preparing the next step of which from what I understand, the affidavit of support seems t be the most difficult for us.

 

Our situation: 

- Family of 4., 2 adults, 2 children. "Alien Dad" and the other 3 are all US Citizen.

- We both have jobs abroad right now. But from what I know that doesn't count for the Affidavit of support / I864.

  We will quit our jobs here. Our background makes it probably not too difficult to get a job in the US quickly though.

- We would theoretically have sufficient (readily available/convertible into cash) assets in order to file.

- We have the support from family (grandparents) who could support us getting enough income on the affidavit.

 

The goal:

  We do intend to move there all together, which means we can't get provide US-income "upfront" before filing. We would like to try to not split up our family.

 

The questions:

- What would be the best way to do this?

  * only use our assets?

  * only our family?

  * both combined?

-  Are there any conditions on who formally owns the assets (1 spouse=alien, 1=USC)?

-  Should We employ a lawyer to get this right?

-  There are different versions of the affidavit of support. I-864, I-864A, I-864EZ. Which ones do we need for which scenario from above?

 

Thanks for all the help people here are providing!

Edited April 20, 2021 by adventures

[aaron2020 11,651]

Which planet is the alien from?  lol

 

You would need to file an I-864.  For the I-864, your household count will be 4 - you, the 2 kids, and the intending immigrant.  Your current income will not count because those jobs will end when you and your spouse come to the US.  You will need assets that will be 3x the 125% poverty line for a household of 4.  That's about $100,000 based on the I-864p.  The best assets would be cash and/or stocks in non-retirement accounts.  It doesn't matter which of you own the assets.  

Alternatively, your USC grandparents can be the Joint Sponsor who files another I-864 and the JS's Household Member who files an I-864a. (You still have to file an I-864 even if you don't qualify on your own.)  Only your spouse would be counted in their household.  You and the children are not included in their household.  It your grandparents have no dependents, then their household would be 3.  Based on the I-864p, your grandparents' income needs to be at least $33,450 annually.

You can't combine anything with the JS.  Either go with your assets or go with your grandparents as JS.

You do not need a lawyer.  This is a DIY website, so most people are capable of filing the DS-260 and I-864 on their own.  You have to be able to follow written instructions.

Best of luck.

[adventures 14]

thanks,

 

one more question though: Which way would be the "best" way to do this? Is there any experience here in this forum regarding an "asset-only" based I864?

 

should we rather go with the first option (only our assets in cash/stocks) or the second one, with support from Grandparents?

 

We fulfill all the requirements you listed. I am just wondering, if the "asset-only" based (because moving from abroad we don't have any US-based income) option has higher/lower chances of getting approved?

Edited June 28, 2021 by adventures
be more precise

[pushbrk 12,106]

1 hour ago, adventures said:

thanks,

 

one more question though: Which way would be the "best" way to do this? Is there any experience here in this forum regarding an "asset-only" based I864?

 

should we rather go with the first option (only our assets in cash/stocks) or the second one, with support from Grandparents?

 

We fulfill all the requirements you listed. I am just wondering, if the "asset-only" based (because moving from abroad we don't have any US-based income) option has higher/lower chances of getting approved?

It's "BEST" to avoid obligating a joint sponsor if you can.  You'll need liquid assets comfortably over the 3X the income requirement.  If you do, don't hassle parents or others.  The obligation is real and can seem daunting.  Also, "elderly" joint sponsors are not the best plan.  It's not clear whether these grandparents are yours or those of your children.  Grandparents of "adults" tend to be "elderly".

[adventures 14]

10 hours ago, pushbrk said:

It's "BEST" to avoid obligating a joint sponsor if you can.  You'll need liquid assets comfortably over the 3X the income requirement.  If you do, don't hassle parents or others.  The obligation is real and can seem daunting.  Also, "elderly" joint sponsors are not the best plan.  It's not clear whether these grandparents are yours or those of your children.  Grandparents of "adults" tend to be "elderly".

Ok thank you for your opinion on my questions. Luckily we have saved enough to be comfortably  over the 3x/5x income requirement in liquid assets. So that sounds we should rather go for that option (which we would prefer ourselves).

 

I also wanted to reiterate one more time if it really doesn't matter who owns the assets?  Right now as we are living abroad, it is way more difficult for US citizens to open bank/stock accounts so because of that most of our assets are on accounts owned by my husband (= the pending immigrant). I wonder if that could have a negative effect on the application. As we are too far in the process I read in other threads that it isn't the best idea to move money around to make it "look better" (and also very difficult in our case as long as we are not US based, yet).

 

ohh.. and also: in the question above: grandparents = my parents/our children's grandparents.

[pushbrk 12,106]

1 hour ago, adventures said:

Ok thank you for your opinion on my questions. Luckily we have saved enough to be comfortably  over the 3x/5x income requirement in liquid assets. So that sounds we should rather go for that option (which we would prefer ourselves).

 

I also wanted to reiterate one more time if it really doesn't matter who owns the assets?  Right now as we are living abroad, it is way more difficult for US citizens to open bank/stock accounts so because of that most of our assets are on accounts owned by my husband (= the pending immigrant). I wonder if that could have a negative effect on the application. As we are too far in the process I read in other threads that it isn't the best idea to move money around to make it "look better" (and also very difficult in our case as long as we are not US based, yet).

 

ohh.. and also: in the question above: grandparents = my parents/our children's grandparents.

Correct.  Contrived evidence is less believable.  Sounds like you need to become an A-Student of the I-864 instructions, where use of intending immigrant's assets are covered very well.  The accounts need not be joint.  Read also what is meant by "liquid".

[adventures 14]

On 6/29/2021 at 12:19 AM, pushbrk said:

Correct.  Contrived evidence is less believable.  Sounds like you need to become an A-Student of the I-864 instructions, where use of intending immigrant's assets are covered very well.  The accounts need not be joint.  Read also what is meant by "liquid".

Thank you again. that really helped. We are going for an asst-only approach now (comfortably over the threshold). Now I got a couple more questions:

 

- as I understand it, if we 're going for asset only and there is no additional income, we would not need to fill out a I-864A, is that correct? We would only have to use that form if there was actual income to declare from the to-be-immigrant? I find conflicting information in different pats of the instructions...

 

Quote

If you are the intending immigrant and the sponsor is including your income on Form I-864 to meet the eligibility requirements, you need to complete this contract only if you have accompanying dependents.  If you are the intending immigrant and the sponsor is including only your assets on Form I-864, you do not need to complete this contract, even if you have accompanying dependents.

vs

Quote

The visa applicant needs to file a Form I-864A to have his or her assets included in the minimum income level calculations.

from the FAQ on https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition/i-864-affidavit-faqs.html#aos4

 

do we need it ;)?

[pushbrk 12,106]

2 minutes ago, adventures said:

Thank you again. that really helped. We are going for an asst-only approach now (comfortably over the threshold). Now I got a couple more questions:

 

- as I understand it, if we 're going for asset only and there is no additional income, we would not need to fill out a I-864A, is that correct? We would only have to use that form if there was actual income to declare from the to-be-immigrant? I find conflicting information in different pats of the instructions...

 

vs

from the FAQ on https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition/i-864-affidavit-faqs.html#aos4

 

do we need it ;)?

When the intending immigrant is the petitioner's spouse, not I-864a is needed, income or no income.

[adventures 14]

I just want to say @pushbrk

you are awesome!

 

I have yet another question:

 

we are waiting on the tax transcript for submitting the affidavit of support since 2 months and somehow the IRS doesn't manage to send it

to us abroad..  as we don't have to prove an american income anyways and go the asset-only route: Do we need that anyway?

 

Does anyone have any experience bout how long it takes to get a tax transcript send abroad to Europe from the IRS?

 

Thanks for all the help!

[pushbrk 12,106]

11 hours ago, adventures said:

I just want to say @pushbrk

you are awesome!

 

I have yet another question:

 

we are waiting on the tax transcript for submitting the affidavit of support since 2 months and somehow the IRS doesn't manage to send it

to us abroad..  as we don't have to prove an american income anyways and go the asset-only route: Do we need that anyway?

 

Does anyone have any experience bout how long it takes to get a tax transcript send abroad to Europe from the IRS?

 

Thanks for all the help!

If the tax return transcript is not available, you would submit a complete copy of the Federal Tax Return, including all schedules and supporting documents that would have been included if filing by mail.

[Redro 4,599]

12 hours ago, adventures said:

I just want to say @pushbrk

you are awesome!

 

I have yet another question:

 

we are waiting on the tax transcript for submitting the affidavit of support since 2 months and somehow the IRS doesn't manage to send it

to us abroad..  as we don't have to prove an american income anyways and go the asset-only route: Do we need that anyway?

 

Does anyone have any experience bout how long it takes to get a tax transcript send abroad to Europe from the IRS?

 

Thanks for all the help!

You can obtain your transcript online. All you need is access to phone number in the USA. A bunch of us are in the same situation. Here is a how to thread:

 

I'd also like to add two pieces of info I've ascertained from reading around the forum: Germany sounds like a fairly easy going consulate so you should be able to use assets for your I-864. Also sending money to the States is one of the proofs used to show "intent to re-establish domicile" so if you want and need to send money to the USA do so... 

We've been sending money to the States for the past year because we're making the move and we don't want to send all our money in one lump sum. 

I'm the beneficiary and have been sending money to my husband's account. This is what real couples do... so don't think of it as a red flag. The majority of couples that I know living abroad have the most of their money in the foreign spouse's  (read not the US citizen) account because very valid reasons. 

 

We'll be using assets for our I-864 with a mixture of accounts from the US and Korea (in both our names). I intend to report back after our interview. But, from my understanding Korea is a country that allows you to use savings from the US and the country of departure. From all my reading online, Germany is also a fairly easy consulate... so I think whatever you do as long as you meet the requirements (and you can move the money in Germany to the States within a year) you should be fine. 

Edited December 18, 2021 by Kor2USA

[adventures 14]

I got a review note regarding the above..  opened a new thread for this here: