Moto77

For a student visa, she needs to pass the TOEFL. She needs $20,000 in a US bank account to prove she can pay her first year of tuition and expenses. You may want to research the requirements.

Those are no problem. Do you know where I might find the other requirements?

Is simply showing the $20K in your account enough?

Why would she need to come to the US for ESL, seems a bit odd for someone making so little.

In order to prepare for university courses...

Honestly, that screams immigrant intent. I wouldn't do that. Besides, it would be clear that it is YOUR income

good luck

Good point! I could put money into a Thai account then.

Also, no problem getting her into an English language program over here. There is one fairly close to where I live and I have talked to them, but the visa is the issue. I have heard that they are substantially easier than B1s. The strategy would be: English classes in preparation for college study after finishing the GED.

Well, being from Thailand, a young girl (I assume), not a great job, and little ties to Thailand, it will be along shot for any non-immigrant visa.

You might want to post this in the regional forum, some Thais do get non-immigrant visas, but they have very strong cases.

Begin researching student visas for colleges in your area and see what their international requirements are.

Lawyers cannot speed up or smooth out this process. A non-immigrant visa, she'll need to apply on her own merrits

good luck

That's my general understanding as well, if someone just walks in off the street, so I'm trying to put together a case.

She's early 30s--not that young. She has a daughter in Thailand from her prior marriage. The daughter would stay with her mom while she was in the US (she is in school). She owns land that she inherited from her dad.

What happens if she is a joint on my bank account? Would they use that income?

I am thinking about long term strategy for eventually getting a tourist visa for my girlfriend. We've known each other for almost two years and have been together for about a year and a half steady. We get along incredibly well, however I have NO intention of getting married and she is OK with that (we're both divorced). Also: This is not something that has to happen this year. I am in no hurry and it is still too soon for me to commit to more than what you see below, but I am trying to come up with a plan for the future if things work out and I know the embassy will want to see a pattern, not a last minute rush job.

Here is some background: She was a clerk at a shop in a 5-star hotel in Bangkok where I often stayed for business. Salary was ridiculously low. After visiting several times and getting to know her, I asked her to quit that job and go back to school to get her GED, which she is now completing. The hotel gave her English classes, so her English was reasonably good, but I also have her enrolled her in separate English classes there. I gave her a small job in my business and pay her about 50% more than she made at the hotel. I now have a condo in Bangkok and she stays there. I travel regularly and have taken her with me on several trips already: Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Brazil.

Basically what I want is to eventually have her get a 10 year tourist visa that would allow her to travel with me back to California. I travel so much as a consultant, that that would allow us to be together most of the time without going the marriage route. I'm never in the US for more than 90 days at a time (usually much less) and I think the tourist visa allows 180 day stays. She doesn't need a green card and she wouldn't need to work.

So what is the best strategy? I've considered:

• Student visa first. (I am assuming that having had a student visa and having complied with all of the requirements would make it substantially easier to get a tourist visa later):
  
  • Student visa for a community college after she finishes her GED. (Dicey, because I don't really know how good a GED is there. I'm not sure whether the preparation is adequate.)
    
  • Student visa to study English--the program that she is enrolled in offers a study abroad in the US which she would be eligible for (from the school's perspective) in about 9 months. (I don't know how difficult it is for a student above the normal age to get a student visa).
    

  [*]Directly applying for a tourist visa based on her salary (working for me) and savings (any ideas what her monthly salary would need to be and how much savings she would need to have?)

  [*]Traveling to other countries with me where tourist visas are not required or are easier to get (she's already gotten one for Australia) and showing that she complied with those rules. I am considering trying for UK or Schengen visas next.)

  [*]Adding her as a joint to one of my accounts. This would show a LOT of disposable income. How soon before applying would this need to happen?

  [*]Are there any lawyers that can smooth the process?

  [*] Longshot: GED holders cannot enter the DV lottery, I know that--but what if she completed two years of college in Thailand? The DV rules say nothing about college.

Would one of these be best? Some combination? Something else?

I do have a reasonable amount of money to put toward this, but I'm not sure which way to go. I know she won't be overstaying (she has absolutely no reason to do so) but what is the best way to convince the embassy?

"If you do not provide sufficient support to the person who becomes a permanent resident based on the form I-864 that you signed, that person may sue you for this support."

And at this point in history this has been done successfully MANY times.

It's difficult to gather definitive statistical data on enforcement of the affidavit of support.

I can say with some confidence that the federal and state governments very rarely take enforcement action on an affidavit of support because of an immigrant who collects means tested public benefits. Several years ago the state of New Jersey tried to crackdown on sponsors of immigrants in an effort to recover some money and bolster their state treasury. After about 300 cases were filed a federal judge ordered them to stop. That was the most sweeping crackdown I've ever heard of. I don't believe I've ever read a case here on VJ where a sponsor was sued by the government because the sponsored immigrant collected means tested benefits, and there is very little on the internet about cases like that. From that I conclude that it almost never happens. Even so, the I-864 has been tested and upheld in court, so it IS enforceable. I'd hate to be one of those rare exceptions where it was actually enforced.

There is some small amount of cases on the internet regarding the immigrant taking enforcement action on an affidavit of support. Again, I don't have any statistical data. The anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that family courts in many states don't like to consider the affidavit of support. They have guidelines in the state's family code regarding how to determine spousal support which they are obligated to follow. Those guidelines often allow for consideration of a prenuptial agreement, but the affidavit of support doesn't constitute a valid prenup because it wasn't signed by the immigrant spouse. I've read a few cases where the affidavit was used successfully in family court to establish the basic spousal support amount, but I've read many more cases where the immigrant spouse sued in a separate civil court proceeding. The results of these suits are mixed, and seem to depend heavily on each state's laws. I've read cases where family court judges refused to consider the affidavit. I've read other cases where family court judges ordered spousal support equal to 125% of the poverty guidelines for one person. I've read cases where a civil court judge told the immigrant that they weren't a party to the contract, and they should get the federal government to sue the sponsor on their behalf. I've read other cases where the civil court judge ordered payments equal to the poverty guidelines. I've also read both family and civil court cases where the judge basically agreed that the affidavit was enforceable, but called it a wash because the immigrant's income was already over the poverty guidelines, and that's the only thing the sponsor promised to ensure.

If I were in your boots, I'd pull the affidavit of support. You didn't promise a green card when you said "I do", and you have no obligation to follow through and help your "partner" get one now. The only motive the law permits is that you have a legitimate spousal relationship, and you want your spouse to remain with you in the United States. The relationship doesn't exist anymore. Without it, there is no basis for getting a green card. If you continue to cooperate with getting your spouse a green card then you are, essentially, participating in fraud.

Is there any chance you could point me to some of these cases Jim?

I haven't seen anything on this since the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled no mitigation required to enforce the I-864 in Liu v. Mund. This is now settled law.

However, I have still not seen anything about this in a prenup or postnup. Obviously no one can waive the GOVERNMENT'S right to collect payments if the immigrant applies for welfare. That is clear. But can the immigrant spouse specifically waive the personal right to sue that is conveyed by an I-864?

Does anyone have case law on this matter?