doctorbeat

I thought so, but then I read that thing and it made me wonder...

We're so worried we'll get something silly wrong and delay the process unnecessarily.

I might as well include photocopies in both packets because it's pretty easy to do.

We'll get them notarized too, even if it is unnecessary, as my wife's work colleague can do it no problems.

What about the other documents such as birth certificates etc?

Thanks for your help, I'm sure we'll have plenty of other questions before we get it sent off...

VWP with an overstay

That's why we're in such a hurry to get the papers filed.

We only found out on Wednesday about the policy changes that are happening, so we're rushing to get the application entered while NY is still 'safe'.

We've got a lot done in the last few days. My wife spoke to her boss about the pay raise she needed to sign the affidavit of support (that was what held us back until now) and now we're trying to get all our ducks in a row.

We've got most of the stuff together, as we originally started filling out the forms over a year ago, but we still have quite a lot to do...

I did not request a certfified copy from the registry. I had the original document certified against the photocopy through the notary public. I submitted all our personal documents notarized. I was told that photo copies were fine.

If you are adjusting from a B1B2 visa I can send you a copy of my table of contents and cover letter .

Good luck on your Visa Journey.

Ah, so photocopies of our original documents are ok as long as they are notarized?

That makes it much easier and cheaper.

A guy my wife works with is a notary public, so we can get him to do it.

What does the notary have to do? Check the photocopy is genuine and sign it?

We've been reading the extremely helpful checklist:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

...for assembling our documents, and for the most part they are self explanatory.

One thing we're puzzled about is that the instructions for the I-130 and I-485 packets both ask for certified copies of our marriage certificate.

The part we don't get is the I-485.

If we already have a certified copy of our marriage certificate in the I-130 packet, do we still need to include one in the I-485?

The checklist says:

"7. A certified copy of your marriage certificate. (If filing for your spouse)"

I thought the I-485 was the intending immigrant's (me) application, so how could the person filing the I-485 be filing for their spouse?

Also, does certified copy mean that we have to request official certified copies of our certificate from the registry office, or can we use a photocopy for one or both?

I'm sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, but we want to be really sure we don't mess this up, as time is very much of the esscence

I just read on another forum that a well known immigration lawyer (they only named her as 'Laurel') strongly advises people NOT to use child support as income on an affidavit.

There was also a big long bunch of legalese that discussed discretion on the part of the officer, and the implication was that child support isn't classed as a particularly stable source of income.

We're so sick of this whole process now, I feel like the goalposts keep getting moved. One minute we seem to have a reasonable chance, then something comes along and makes us doubt again

Oh, and thanks for the info about savings, assets etc, but we already thought of that too.

We've been banging our heads against this problem for over a year now, so we've covered all the standard options.

Don't stop posting stuff like this though, I hope maybe this thread will help some other couple one day, so it's good to have all the options on record

That's also going to be tricky, she works for a small independant drugstore and they don't really have things like official business stationary.

I suppose as long as the letter has all the business details etc on it, and we send a few pay stubs, that will prove that it's legit.

I hate all this, it seems that every little detail give us some kind of problem

Well what we were concerned about is having the affidavit turned down and thus not even getting as far as the interview.

If we make it as far as getting an interview, we will have loads more pay stubs and (providing I get a work permit in time) we'll have my wages to add to the total via an I-864A

a) You can file with what your current situation is which will include the child support and wife's new pay rate with the letter from her boss confirming the new salary.

b) You can wait a couple months for her to have at least a few pay periods with the new salary and USCIS will be able to use that.

Am I right in thinking that if we did a), the worst that could happen is that they could send us an RFE?

In that case, wouldn't she then have several other pay stubs/bank statements to submit as further evidence?

She gets paid every two weeks, and the raise will actually come into effect on her next paycheck (wednesday) so I expect we'll have a few pay stubs to send with the application.

In an ideal world, we'd have plenty of stuff to send, but we just have to work with what we've got.

I hope it's enough...

Sorry, yes I should have mentioned that I suppose.

My wife doesn't have any pre-tax deductions, so her adjusted gross income is the same as her gross income.

Page 7 of the I-864 instructions state that it can be used. You must include evidence that it is paid/received.

My wife's ex husband pays cash, but we do have the court order on her divorce papers.

Is that enough, or are we out of luck yet again?

Firstly, I couldn't seem to find the right area of the forums to ask this question, so I hope here is ok...

My wife and I are trying to get our affidavit of support worked out, and because she has had a recent pay raise, it looks like she finally makes enough money to cover the 125% of the poverty line for our household size (4)

This is providing she is allowed to count her child support as household income.

Now I've been reading about this, and doubt is starting to settle in my mind.

I seem to be able to find about a 50/50 spread of people saying yes, child support can be counted, and no, child support cannot be counted.

Can someone please give me a definitive answer before we die of heart attacks?

Has anyone used child support on an I-864 successfully, where their income would otherwise have been too low?

No, my boss won't be a co sponsor, already tried that.

He's got quite a few kids and several permanent resident relatives already, and he's already up to the hilt with sponsorships.

I don't know if that's the truth or if he just doesn't want to get involved with sponsoring me, but whatever the reason, it's not going to happen.

Nobody else we know is in a position to act as a co sponsor. My wife has relatives and friends, but they all have kids and don't earn enough.

We haven't been idle on this matter, we both hate the idea that I could be deported at any time, and we've been trying hard ever since we got married to work this out.

Asking my wife's boss was a last resort, because we never believed he'd give her a 25% pay raise, especially with the financial situation the country is in at the moment.

To be honest, we were both extremely surprised earlier today when he agreed. It was pretty surreal.

It was pretty frustrating that the only advice we could find was to get a co sponsor. MUCH easier said than done!

If there was any way we could have got a co sponsor we wouldn't be in this predicament now, as we would have filed within the 90 days.

Wow, I was under the impression that they only want to determine future income, not prove that she earned enough money for months or years before!

Why would not earning enough in the past affect what she'll earn in the future?

She's been in the same job for three years and has just received a pay raise. Why wouldn't that show what her income is likely to be for the foreseeable future?

I'm crapping myself again now, the whole reason we didn't file sooner is that she didn't earn enough and we couldn't find a co sponsor.

A letter should do it.

Could she just do more hours?

She's doing all the hours her boss allows her to do (40 per week) but that doesn't matter now, because she has been given a raise.

She's now earning $12.50/hour

x 40 hours/week = $500/week

x 52 weeks = $26,000

She gets $100/week child support for my stepson from his dad.

He was ordered to pay $75/week, but he voluntarily pays $100/week. Unfortunately, he pays cash, so we only have supporting documentation (divorce papers with court order) for $75/week.

$75/week x 52 weeks = $3,900

+ $26,000 = $29,900

We have a household of 4: my wife, me, my stepson, my daughter

So we need 125% of the poverty level for a 4 person household, which is $27,938

We have therefore got a safe margin of ($29,900 - $27,938) $1,962

If I get a work permit during the application process, my wife's boss has offered me a job.

This will add at least around $10,000 if he gives me part time, more if he gives me full time, so we could always add an I-864A at the time of interview to show this.

Ok Myopia, I just spent some time going over your above post and the links therein thoroughly, and I want to thank you again for taking the time to do this.

I would also like to add my own bit of encouragement for you.

It's not much, but I have a friend of a friend who married on VWP in NYC, and he got approved in three months too.

What surprised me the most was that they gave him an unconditional green card, even though they had been married much less than two years.

I'm not in the city, so I'll probably get a different office than he did, but this may be good news for you, as the less time your application takes, the less chance you have of that memo ruining things for you.

Anyway....

We have some good news!!!

My wife just spoke to her boss, and he berated her for not asking him months ago for the raise!

He said she hadn't had one since she started three years ago, and that he wants to help us in our predicament.

So, finally my wife's earnings are high enough that she can afford to sponsor me!

I still need to know the answer to my question above though, ie. how do we go about showing her new earnings on the I-864?

Myopia, I can't thank you enough for this.

I probably would have found all of that info sooner or later, but since we've only known about this since the day before yesterday, you have saved me a LOT of leg work

The one stumbling block for us right now is the same one we've always had (and the reason we didn't apply within the 90 day period in the first place)- the affidavit of support.

My wife hasn't seen her boss yet. He normally goes in to the store every morning, but of course this morning he decided not to.

We're still not sure what to do.

Say we are lucky, and he decides to give her a pay raise, will we be able to assemble the affidavit immediately?

If he gives her $2 extra an hour, we will be about $1,000 over 125% of the poverty line.

Since we hope to file asap, what proof will we have that she has received a pay raise?

Her current paychecks to date show that she does NOT make enough, but in our situation we really can't afford to wait around for weeks or months for her to accumulate new paychecks showing the raise.

Will they accept a letter from her employer stating that she has received a raise and showing the new amount, or will this just trigger an RFE?

If the couple wants to use a lawyer, then I think the constant 'you don't need a lawyer' talk is superfluous. He's explained why several times, so let's move on from that.

I do rec reading the guides and familiarizing yourself completely with the laws in your state. Like Myopia did. That way, you're not at the mercy of an atty who might not be so great.

Good luck, and congrats on your baby!

Oh believe me, we have been reading about the laws!

I think that's just about all we have done for the last two days!

If we can get an affidavit together, and if the law doesn't change while we're in the middle of things, it looks promising.

Just wish we didn't have the Sword of Damocles (ie, possible memorandum) hanging over our heads...

Ah, ok, I guess that case isn't really relevent to my situation then.

Myopia, would you mind pointing me to the links you found?

I've been reading as much as I can, but we only found out about this two days ago.

Also, is there any way of knowing how 'impending' this memo is?

It seems that NY is carrying on as normal for the time being, and this memorandum is the thing that could cause problems.

Ah, I thought it sounded too good to be true!

Being protected during the process isn't really much good if the policy changes during the process.

An RFE could make all the difference if a memorandum is hanging overhead, even if it only delayed things by a week. Unlikely, but not out of the realms of possibility.

An RFE won't matter, once filed you're in a protected status. Just be sure to file all required forms.

Legal offices are just a likely to make mistakes. If you can read at 8th grade level and post on VJ then you can do everything without a lawyer and much faster.

Get your packet together, list the contents and post it on VJ, someone will tell you if you forgot something.

Wait, what?

I thought all this nonsense was because as an overstayer I'm not entitled to any legal protection?

Are you saying that as long as I've sent the paperwork off before any policy change, I'm ok?

That would be awesome, but it's not the impression I've got from what I've been reading.

The way I thought it was was that policy could change at any point during the application process, and that I wouldn't be truly safe from deportation until I had been approved?

Can someone clarify this for me, it seems to be a rather important point...

Moving to AOS from student, tourist, work visa.

Oops, I guess I posted in the wrong area. My apologies.

This couple somehow managed to omit the I-130 when they filed, which led to the guy being arrested as the delay was enough to start the overstay clock ticking (the couple are based in NJ, which is one of the states that's being nasty about overstays)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/nyregion/15visa.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

I don't know how two Ph.D students managed to miss something so obvious, but it does demonstrate the need to be really careful when getting the documents in order.

I'd hate it if NY changed their policy while we were correcting mistakes...

A lawyer isn't going to help with anything in your situation. If NY decides to deny VWP Overstayers by the time you file then chances are that the Federal Appeals court covering NY will not hear your appeal as half of the Federal Courts have already agreed with USCIS that Once in overstay VWP entrants have no right of appeal so the courts don't have jurisdiction.

Just follow the guides and get the AOS filed ASAP...

Yes, we're aware of that.

My wife wants a lawyer to make sure we have filled out the forms correctly and got all our ducks in a row as far as supporting documentation etc. is concerned.

She's worried about our progress being slowed down by a RFE, not filing the papers in the right order, or similar.

I don't really think it's necessary, but I can see her point.

If it makes her feel more comfortable, I guess it's worth it.

It would be quicker to diy, if you have the supporting docs to hand.

Yes, I believe so too, but my wife is really panicking and she says she'll feel better if we get a lawyer.

I guess we'll wait and see what happens. Maybe when we get our packets together she'll feel better about filing it ourselves.

I just want to get the ball rolling asap, as the situation could change at any moment.

This is all providing her boss's dad agrees to the pay raise. If not, then I don't know what we're going to do