Affidavit of Support + coming from belgium

[BGROAD26 0]

Hi everyone, 

 

I have a couple of questions regarding DCF and the affidavit of support. 

 

I am from Belgium and my wife is from the USA. 

Married 2+ years. 

We now live in belgium and my wife has a residency permit here since last year. 

 

We want to move to the USA in '26. We have not started any procedure yet but are in information gathering fase. 

 

Direct Consular Filing seems like a nice option. 

 

A problem for us i expect will be the affidavit of support: 

- in 2024 for a couple of months my wife worked, from belgium, for a USA company (online). I don't know exactly how much income she can show, but i think around 30K

- She collected USA unemployment for a couple of months, although technicaly she shouldent have because living in belgium. 

- she payed USA taxes on that income (technicaly should have payed belgian taxes)

- since oktober '24 she works for a belgium company and makes about 80K/year

- she has, due to an issue with an inheritance in the past, an openstanding tax debt of about $40K

- she has savings (cash) of maybe 30K. combined we have savings (including stocks etc) of around 60K

- she has a property abroad, south america, that is in a process of being sold, but its a long procedure and it may take 1-2 years

- my wife hasn't lived in the states for 7 years, but kept a domocile (like a legal adress) there, it's at a friends house; 

 

So my questions are: 

- can she outright qualify for an affidavit of support? 

- if not: what is the easiest way to do it? 

- at what stage of the process do you have to produce the affidavit of support? if it is at the end, it could be an option for her to move to the states a couple months ahead of me, and get a higher paying job there. 

- Does tax debt / past unemployment benefit matter a lot? 

- should she file taxes for 2024 also in the USA? (we file in belgium since we live here)

 

 

Also: 

- does anyone have experience with DCF from Belgium: brussels? How long does the process typicaly take? 

- is it an option to start with the DCF route, but possibly change to another method (fly there on ESTA, or IR1 visa) should my wife get for example an amzing job offer soon. 

 

We know that getting a "sponsor" is an option, but it seems like a very big ask to ask of someone... 

[appleblossom 4,386]

3 minutes ago, BGROAD26 said:

is it an option to start with the DCF route, but possibly change to another method (fly there on ESTA, or IR1 visa) should my wife get for example an amzing job offer soon

 

You can't enter the US as a visitor with the intent to stay, that's immigration fraud. She'll need the job offer to qualify for DCF, so not sure what you mean about changing method afterwards?

 

It sounds like your wife will qualify financially, but she will need to regularise her tax affairs prior to petitioning you. As for when the AofS is required, the whole process for a 'normal' spousal immigrant visa is set out here - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition.html

 

If you do DCF, she'll need it all together at the start. 

[BGROAD26 0]

So you are saying that, without a job offer, DCF is off the table? 

 

(without wanting to sound like an idiot: chatgpt told me:

What you do need for DCF:

To get permission to file an I-130 directly at the U.S. Embassy in Brussels (or any embassy), the main requirement is that the U.S. citizen spouse lives in the country (in this case, Belgium). Specifically:

Requirement	Needed?	Notes
U.S. citizenship of petitioner	✅ Yes	Your wife must be a U.S. citizen
Living in Belgium	✅ Yes	Your wife should have proof she resides here
"Exceptional circumstances"	🔸 Sometimes	Brussels often approves just based on residency
Job offer in the U.S.	❌ No	Not required to qualify for DCF
Financial support (Form I-864)	✅ Yes — but later	Only needed before your visa interview, not now

 

 

(sorry if that is a stupid question: i am new to this whole process)

Edited May 22 by BGROAD26

[appleblossom 4,386]

10 minutes ago, BGROAD26 said:

So you are saying that, without a job offer, DCF is off the table? 

 

(without wanting to sound like an idiot: chatgpt told me:

What you do need for DCF:

To get permission to file an I-130 directly at the U.S. Embassy in Brussels (or any embassy), the main requirement is that the U.S. citizen spouse lives in the country (in this case, Belgium). Specifically:

Requirement	Needed?	Notes
U.S. citizenship of petitioner	✅ Yes	Your wife must be a U.S. citizen
Living in Belgium	✅ Yes	Your wife should have proof she resides here
"Exceptional circumstances"	🔸 Sometimes	Brussels often approves just based on residency
Job offer in the U.S.	❌ No	Not required to qualify for DCF
Financial support (Form I-864)	✅ Yes — but later	Only needed before your visa interview, not now

 

 

(sorry if that is a stupid question: i am new to this whole process)

 

Chat GPT is not the place to go to for immigration advice! Only use official sources. Yes, you need grounds to be given permission to file DCF, and only certain circumstances qualify. ChatGPT is correct as a job offer isn’t necessarily required, but what it doesn’t explain is that unless you come under one of the other circumstances, then a job offer (with a need for your wife to start urgently) would be your only option - 

 

"Examples of exceptional circumstances include:

• Military emergencies – A U.S. service member, who is abroad but who does not fall under the military blanket authorization for U.S. service members stationed abroad on military bases, becomes aware of a new deployment or transfer with little notice. This exception generally applies in cases where the U.S. service member is provided with exceptionally less notice than normally expected.
• Medical emergencies – A petitioner or beneficiary is facing an urgent medical emergency that requires immediate travel.
• Threats to personal safety – A petitioner or beneficiary is facing an imminent threat to personal safety. For example, a petitioner and beneficiary may have been forced to flee their country of residence due to civil strife or natural disaster and are in precarious circumstances in a different country outside of the United States.
• Close to aging out – A beneficiary is within a few months of aging out of eligibility.
• Petitioner has recently naturalized – A petitioner and family member(s) have traveled for the immigrant visa interview, but the petitioner has naturalized and the family member(s) requires a new petition based on the petitioner’s citizenship.
• Adoption of a child – A petitioner has adopted a child abroad and has an imminent need to depart the country. This type of case should only be considered if the petitioner has a full and final adoption decree on behalf of the child and the adoptive parent(s) has had legal custody of and jointly resided with the child for at least 2 years.
• Short notice of position relocation – A U.S. citizen petitioner, living and working abroad, has received a job offer in or reassignment to the United States with little notice for the required start date."

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-b-chapter-3

 

If you want to move in 2026, then personally I’d just file the I-130 asap, as waiting to see if your wife will find a job offer that meets the criteria would be a risk. 

 

Best of luck. 

 

Edited May 22 by appleblossom

[Ontarkie 14,942]

~~Moved to What Visa Do I Need, form DCF- As the OP is just now researching options available to them.~~