A.m.dcf

21 hours ago, Pitaya said:

You may want to call around to several of the Phil consulates around the country and check on their appointment schedule for getting your passport renewed. A friend of mine, whose wife is a pinay, was in a bit of a rush to get her Phil passport renewed. Due to waiting times in San Francisco and LA, she opted to go to NY consulate. She was able to walk in, no muss, no fuss, get the ball rolling on getting the renewal with new last name. Additional bonus, she was able to get together with some old friends from her village that now live new NY.

 

Good luck on your immigration journey.

Thank you appreciate the information! 

49 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Have you done the report of marriage?

Well we were married in the PH came over on an IR1 visa. 

So we have my wifes green card in hand. Can we still renew her passport from her home country so that she can travel back and forth as her passport is expiring soon. She currently holds a Philippine passport and a US green card

1 hour ago, aaron2020 said:

Upon entry your children's immigration visas will be endorsed and become 1 year green cards (I-551).  Use the I-551 in their passports, their birth certificates showing their age and you as the parent, and your proof of US citizenship to apply for their US passports.  

When I applied for the CRBA I had paid the fees for passports. Can I still use those receipts to get their passports now more than a year after the CRBA rejection?

Another question is am I required to get the passports now & what happens after the 1 year I-551 expires?

Need help regarding citizenship through parent. Here is a link to what I've found so far: https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-parents

I (born a US citizen) petitioned my family through IR1 and IR2 immigrant visas. My wife and her son got an IR1 and IR2 approved and my two biological children got IR2's as well (we are all currently living in the US right now). Now I was under the impression my two biological children would automatically become US citizens upon lawful entry into the United States. The thing is I got a domestic processing fee letter asking for me to pay for their green cards. I already paid for my wife and her son's green card but I've not paid for my own two biological sons' green cards because I thought I could now get them US passports. What do I need to do now to get them US passports as I'm under the impression they don't need green cards. Is there more filing to be done because I was told that others have just applied for their children's passports.

Here is the law I'm citing "Section 320 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)":

Quote

 

Children of U.S. Citizens Residing in the United States

Children who were born outside the U.S. but now live in the U.S. may acquire citizenship under Section 320 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). A child born outside of the United States automatically becomes a U.S. citizen when all of the following conditions have been met on or after Feb. 27, 2001: 

• The child has at least one parent, including an adoptive parent, who is a U.S. citizen by birth or through naturalization;
• The child is under 18 years of age;
• The child is a lawful permanent resident (LPR); and
• The child is residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent.

 

It says my biological children are automatically US citizens. Which implies that they need not file further paperwork. I do however would like to get them passports for travel purposes.

Longer version of why my two biological children had to be processed through an immigrant visa is because I did not qualify for the CRBA as I had left the USA to study abroad when I was 15, so I did not have enough time spent in the USA to transfer citizenship.

Thank you for reading this and I appreciate any help ya'll might provide.

8 hours ago, dekedwin said:

Yes, thy don't work on American or Filipino Holidays. I forgot about Holy Week until this morning,a church. This i morning was the celebration of Palm Sunday, and my wife reminded e this was Holy Week.

Police clearance shouldn't have anything to do with your case numbers. You were already approved so the case numbers should be coming regardless. You do need that police clearance before your interview though otherwise they might defer you until you get it (I wouldn't chance it). But you need the case numbers so you can do your medical examinations. 

58 minutes ago, dekedwin said:

That is a reasonable amount of time. We called the Embassy on the telephone today to talk with them about the Police Clearance from Lebanon. They are escalating our case to a higher level to figure out how to help us with that problem, and then they will send us an email letting us know what to do next. This nice to have people be helpful!

Took me around 3 weeks to get our case numbers. I logged into our ustraveldoc account and left "feedback" asking about the case numbers around the 3 week mark and got the case numbers shortly after. 

Seems like more than enough for proof of domicile. The more the better though! I had less during our DCF interview in Manila and it was sufficient, I can't speak for the interviewer in the country that will be processing your DCF though.

You & your American wife receive mail in the UK so both addresses should be the same on the I-864 especially since you are doing a DCF.

For anyone else who might have been approved but had not gotten their case numbers I suggest you log into your ustravel docs account and "leave feedback" which is basically opening a ticket. Tell them that you have not yet received your case number if it has already been longer than three weeks.

I submitted my IR-1 I-130s Dec 28th 2017, was approved by Jan 12 1018 and got my case numbers by Feb 9th 2018 shortly after creating a ticket on the ustraveldocs website. Hope that helps other people waiting for their case numbers.

12 hours ago, cyberfx1024 said:

Ok, you read the whole thing you would have seen that they did NOT have time to file the DCF at all. So that is why my comment stands. The posted this on a Monday and had to fly out that Friday back to the USA. So I said he can file for DCF before he leaves and that's when she said they could not file at that time due to CRBA.

 

I am well aware of the CR and IR process. I was saying that it is unfortunate that they could not do DCF for it but instead have to go through the whole process which takes over a year na.

 

Please read the whole thing before commenting.

Actually there are two "IR-1 routes". Even if you go through a DCF you will be going the "IR-1" route. It's not the "IR-1 route", it's the "NVC route" which is going to take a long time because that is done in the US and not at the Manila US embassy. Either way they must file an IR-1 either in the USA or through a DCF. Since the petitioner is probably in the US they have no choice but to go through the NVC

You must have an intended domicile in the US. You need to provide proof that you are going to reestablish domicile. You need to have either a rental agreement or something of that nature that shows you are going to have a place to live if they approve your petition. 

11 minutes ago, NikLR said:

1) client is the homeowner

2) give to the homeowner who would then provide it to you if that person is not you

3) deed

Thank you really appreciate it.

On 9/4/2017 at 11:27 PM, Ryan H said:

Answers:

• The children you and your wife have together would need a Comsular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) which will enable them to obtain a US Passport; they would not need to be petitioned.  You would need to petition your stepson provided you married your wife prior to his 18th birthday.
• Your household size is 5; your parents household size is 4.  You and the two children you have with your wife don't count in their household size; your parents don't count in yours.
• Use the poverty guidelines with the numbers I just gave you.
• When joint sponsors use assets to qualify, it is 5 times.
• For a house to be used, an appraisal by a professional appraiser is required.  The qualifying amount is what is on the appraisal minus money owed.  If the house is a primary home it may be disallowed if in the event of the terms of the I-864 not being met, its liquidation would cause an undue hardship to the owner.

Hi @Ryan H

I did have a question regarding the professional appraiser. I reached out to a licensed appraiser in the area where my joint sponsor resides (which is also my hometown and the place where I'll be moving back to) and they asked me a few questions regarding getting the appraisal done for the affidavit of support. These were their questions:

I have a question about using a joint sponsors home in an affidavit of support. I called up an appraisal company to get an appraisal done on my joint sponsor's home. They asked me a few questions that I didn't have answers to which were:

7 hours ago, Hicknick said:

Just leave i my blank and fill it in with the correct numbers with pen. That's what I did and the person who reviews it isn't a computer so she'll understand. I also wrote a sentence on the extra spaces on the back saying my wife is also the intending immigrant. And that's all

Good idea. Just leave it blank and put it in pen. Thank you

4 hours ago, NikLR said:

Yes that's correct. 

@NikLR I have another question. On the affidavit of support there is a field that says country of domicile. I looked up the exaction definition of domicile and it is: "A residence where you plan to spend the foreseeable future"

Do I put USA in this field even though I've spent the last 10 years or so living in the Philippines? I'm sending in these petitions as a DCF since I've been here more than 6 months I qualify but when it asks about my domicile I don't want them to think that I plan to stay here in the Philippines.

15 hours ago, NikLR said:

Your two sons who are your biological children will have an i-864w and do not need sponsor. They will become US citizens when they arrive on their immigrant visas. Your household count is 5. Your parents household count, if they are joint sponsors, is 4.  

You can use 1 joint sponsor per I-130.  So you could have a joint sponsor for your wife and another one for your stepson.

 

However consider poverty guidelines... if you cannot sponsor your family on your own, how will you pay for day to day living expenses?

Thank you so much for directing me to the i-864w. I do plan to have a job in the US for day to day expenses and my wife is a photographer whom will do freelance and is currently looking for employment near our intended domicile. Should I have job acceptance letters ready before I send in the applications?

Also the way I understood what you said is my household is 5 I don't need to meet the poverty guidelines. But if my father is the joint sponsor for both my wife and step son he only needs to meet the poverty guidelines for a 4 person household?

Thank you so much NikLR

4 minutes ago, NikLR said:

If they do not qualify you should find another joint sponsor. 

 So if I were to use my fathers income + my mothers + my spouse whom I'm petitioning it would equal $44,200. The household size would then be 6 so that should be covered then? Am I figuring things correctly regarding including my spouse's income? Even though shes the one being petitioned?

Just now, NikLR said:

They do not need the difference.  They need to have enough income or assets for a household size of 4.  

Mother

Father

Your wife (immigrating) 

Your stepson (immigrating)

$30750

The assets used by a joint sponsor must be 5x the difference between the poverty guidelines and income. 

Yes but I have my two biological children that I have to petition as well as they do not qualify for the CRBA since I wasn't qualified to transfer citizenship and my CRBAs were denied. So the household would then be 6:
Mother

Father

My wife (immigrating)

My step son (immigrating)
My son #1 (immigrating)
My son #2 (immigrating)

Regarding finding another joint sponsor. Does that mean not use my father as a joint sponsor or can I have two joint sponsors?

Thank you

14 hours ago, NikLR said:

Yes that way everyone can move at the same time. 

OK thank you for the info. If you or anyone one else have any other suggestions I'm all ears. NikLR if you know more about the household size I had a couple questions regarding that as well. 

My household size is 5 as explained above and my joint sponsor which is my father has a household size of 2 (my mother and my father) I'm not sure how much total income is needed between myself, my wife, my father (joint sponsor) and my mother. I attached the poverty guidelines but unsure of where I need to be at in regards to the total income I need annually. Thanks for any additional info, it's very much appreciated.

3 minutes ago, NikLR said:

You have to petition them separately.  They would need an I-864w each because they will become USC as soon as they become LOT due to your citizenship. 

Yes I've started on the forms already for the children as well. Either way they are included in household size so I guess I might as well apply for them at the same time, what do you think?

One thing I need to add is my two biological children are not U.S. citizens as I was not qualified to transfer citizenship to them. Not sure if this changes everything or how much harder that makes things but I was denied on the CRBA applications as I was only 15 when I started going to school abroad. I didn't have two years after the age of 14 years old in the US before I had children which were born abroad. Sorry for leaving that out and sorry for forgetting to mention that @Ryan H

@NikLR Sorry for leaving that out of my initial post i'll try to update that

1 minute ago, Damara said:

Do you have anyone else that can be a sponsor? I dont know if your father is going to qualify. Mainly because you said 'he just started" renting out for income. He has to show his income is stable and will continue in the future. SS is one thing. That is verifiable. The problem is rental income isnt. Usually to make something "verifiable income" for the 864 you need to show it on at least 1 year of tax returns. Im guessing he doesnt have that. If thats true then it will be up to the discretion of USCIS on whether to approve him as a sponsor or not. 

It's going on 8 months now and your right he does not have that on a tax return

5 minutes ago, Ryan H said:

Refer to the most current I-864P for qualifying amounts and household size.  I don't know what you are getting at by saying "mash together."  The reason for needing a joint sponsor is if your income, assets, or combination therof is insuffiencent to meet the qualifying threshold for your applicable household size.  Joint Sponsors qualify based on their household size.

 

Your parents household size breaks down as follows:

• the two of them
• your wife
• your stepson

I do apologize for not being clear. I mean how do I meet the poverty guidelines with my joint sponsor so I don't get denied based on not meeting the poverty guidelines. So me petitioning my wife and 3 children using my father as the joint sponsor he only needs to meet the povertyguidelines guidelines based on a household of 4?

Thank you

2 minutes ago, Ryan H said:

Answers:

• The children you and your wife have together would need a Comsular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) which will enable them to obtain a US Passport; they would not need to be petitioned.  You would need to petition your stepson provided you married your wife prior to his 18th birthday.
• Your household size is 5; your parents household size is 4.  You and the two children you have with your wife don't count in their household size; your parents don't count in yours.
• Use the poverty guidelines with the numbers I just gave you.
• When joint sponsors use assets to qualify, it is 5 times.
• For a house to be used, an appraisal by a professional appraiser is required.  The qualifying amount is what is on the appraisal minus money owed.  If the house is a primary home it may be disallowed if in the event of the terms of the I-864 not being met, its liquidation would cause an undue hardship to the owner.

Thank you so much for all the info you've shared with me. Can you please clarify further regarding household size? How much do I (sponsor) and joint sponsors need to be making annually for my wife and 3 kids to be considered as passing on the poverty guidelines? The way I understood what you said is I need to have passed the poverty guidelines for my household of 5 and my father needs to pass the poverty guidelines with his household number? How does all this mash together so that him being joint sponsor will offset my lack of income? Sorry for me not understanding properly.

Also my parents household is 4 (the two of them + my wife and I)?

Thank you Ryan

So I'm filling out an affidavit of support I have a few questions. I'm currently living with my wife in the Philippines. We have two children together and shes got a son (my step son). Not much income but my father is a joint sponsor.

#1 On the affidavit of support I'm required to list all the children as dependents. Does that mean I can petition them as well or would I have better chances of getting approved if I only petitioned my wife first?
#2 Does my mother who also lives with my father in the U.S. count as another person in the household? How do I calculate the household if I myself, my wife and 3 kids are living in the Philippines plus my mother & father who reside in the U.S.? I calculate it as 7 in the household, and is that the same way USCIS is going to see it?
#3 If I don't petition the children with my wife is my household still 7?

#4 My father is retired on social security + he just started renting a property out for a combined yearly income of $31,200. My mother is retired on social security and is getting $6,000 a year. My wife owns a cafe here in the Philippines which is only bringing in $7,000 a year(will continue to operate once we leave) and I'm the one managing that cafe. Currently since I'm with my family in the Philippines I've not worked since getting out of college here. So if I were to use my fathers income + my mothers + my spouse whom I'm petitioning it would equal $44,200 which is under the 125% poverty guideline at $46,425. My father owns a house which is worth $150,000 with $80,000 still left on the mortgage. So hes got about $70,000 in the house which I can use on the affidavit of support. Now since my father is a joint sponsor does he have to have 3 times the the amount we are lacking in assets or 5 times?

#5 Even if I were not able to use my wife's income as USCIS might think we were unable to continue that income after leaving that would mean I'm about $9,000 something dollars short for a household of 7. So I'd need $9,000 multiplied by 5 which is $45,000 in assets, would this be covered by the assets my father has since hes a joint sponsor(Talking about the $70,000 in equity hes got in his house)?

#6 Is it pretty black and white when they look if I'm above the poverty guidelines? Like they see annual income + needed assets and it meets the guideline or will they critique the income since assets are being used along with annual income?

Sorry I have so many questions but I'm going to be filing here in the next few days and would love everyone who had info to chime in. Please specify the number of the question you are answering as there are just so many.

Thank you very much everyone, I do appreciate all the help.

Regards