David Borgeson

Good news to report - we got our interview at the Embassy in Tokyo and passed everything successfully. My wife now has her temporary I-551 stamp in her passport and we will be traveling to immigrate to the US in about two weeks.

About our experience with the Embassy portion of this process: for better or for worse, the day at the Embassy was quick and painless.

For better, obviously because it was quick and painless (and successful!).

But for the purposes of this forum and for helping others, we did not get a chance to talk with any officers in any detail nor get any feedback of any kind about the effect our several decisions (e.g. to claim 0.00 in income; to claim personal assets that were close but didn't quite satisfy the financial requirements; the inclusion of our joint sponsor's wife as a household member; perhaps others that I can't think of right now) had on the outcome. My wife's interview lasted about 90 seconds, and contained a total of two questions, which were "How long have you been married?" and "Do you have any questions?".

My big takeaway from our experience here is that whatever we did worked, though I don't know exactly why, and that our thoroughness and honestly throughout the process, as well as of course our relatively straightforward situation (IR1 visa with no issues), made the final day at the Embassy quick and smooth.

This has been our experience and everyone's situation will be different, and unfortunately I did not get clarity I was hoping for, so I don't think anyone should take this as a blanket endorsement of our decisions or assume what worked for us will necessary work in your situation.

Best wishes to you all!

3 hours ago, Nelly_M said:

When it comes to interview, I understand that the applicant needs to have original civil documents which makes sense, but what about AOS? Reading their instructions in ceac, it sounds like the applicant should also have original AOS, is this true or not? Obviously, the petitioner and joint sponsor both reside in US, so how can the applicant have the original AOS unless we mail it to them? 

I read somewhere, I think elsewhere on this forum, that documents like bank account statements, i-864 and taxes from your Joint Sponsor who lives in another country, and other documents like these that are in another country are not expected to be mailed from country to country for the interview. You should bring printouts of the pdfs/jpgs of any non-original documents you uploaded as part of AOS, but originals are required only for documents in your reasonable possession like passports, your original i-864 etc.

18 hours ago, Nelly_M said:

Hi David,

Thank you for your response. The screenshot I included is just showing that in order to count your household income, you must live with your household members for the last six months per USCIS, which is not the case with me. I was just showing it as a reason why I am not using their income and going with joint sponsor instead. This was just a reference to this rule.

 

What I was really trying to get information on this thread is if I should include any assets on my application considering that my income is $0 and the amount on my bank account does not meet the asset requirements for sponsorship, not sure if it would make any difference to include it or to skip the asset part completely.
In your case, did you list any assets on your I-864, even though they were marginal like you said? 

For reference, the joint sponsor’s income alone is sufficient to meet the sponsorship requirements. 

Hi,

I guess I would fall under the opinion of others here, in that: it is up to you. It technically won't make a difference, but the people making these decisions are people and could create a more favorable impression on your case officer. But it might not. It depends on the individual officer. Worst case scenario, you put the time and effort into getting the documents together and they have no effect. Best case, the officer likes you slightly more, but they still only use your joint sponsor's assets to determine support. It's a cost-benefit analysis you have to make for yourself.

In my case, I did list assets, and included bank statements from the last six months as part of my i-864, and my application was successful. Others have not listed assets and been successful as well.

I guess if you're looking for a definite answer about whether to include personal assets that don't satisfy the support requirements or not, it simply doesn't exist in this situation.

I think whatever you decide you'll be fine, since your joint sponsor covers the support requirements.

Nelly_M,

I'm just jumping in here after some time away from the thread, so apologies in advance if this isn't accurate, but your screenshot seems to be describing how to add a Household Member, not a Joint Sponsor. Joint Sponsors fill out their own I-864, the full thing, not an I-864a. Household Members fill out an I-864a. 

In my case, my brother-in-law is serving as co-sponsor for my wife's IR1 application, since I have $0.00 in income on my own I-864, and assets just at the threshold. His co-sponsorship by itself puts us over the financial threshold. His wife, my sister, filled out an I-864a anyway, as evidence that she is aware of her husband's co-sponsorship obligations. Our documents were accepted by NVC and we are currently awaiting our Embassy interview.

Household Members need to provide proof of their relationship to the Sponsor or Joint Sponsor they are attached to. As far as I am aware there is no constraint, physical or relational, on the Joint Sponsor as far as their relationship to the Primary Sponsor.

Maybe someone else can back this up or debunk it.

On 5/19/2021 at 10:03 AM, Nelly_M said:

I was wondering the same whether to include any assets such as checking account when there is no income and joint sponsor is been used. Any thoughts on this from someone that has been approved? Thanks. 

We're getting close to our Embassy interview, so I can't say we're approved yet, or if including some personal assets helped or not, given we are using a joint sponsor who puts us over the threshold. My guess is in line with neca's opinion above, but we'll wait and see.

From neca:

Quote

I also have marginal assets back in the states so I chose not to include it; while you indicated that yours is barely enough, I think that it's kind of redundant to include it since you're using a joint sponsor. I don't think it will hurt your case to include it, but if you are looking for areas to save yourself some trouble and time then I would probably look to cut there first.

We hope to have good news either way in the next six weeks. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for the upload, Julia0705. And many congratulations on your visa approval!!!

I have one more technical question, if you (and others can jump in, too) don't mind. I have read that the return from must say, like the one above, "For Non-Certified Criminal Information".

Is there anything special you need to do to make sure this text appears on the result, besides check the Privacy Act box in the Reason For Application section of form C-216C? Do you need to write "For Non-Certified Criminal Information" or anything like that on the form? If you do, where do you write it?

Here's a blank form to reference.

CA CCRR RCMP Form C-216C (1).pdf

Thanks for your input Julia0705. I'm sorry to hear your application got delayed. Hopefully your advice will help others besides me avoid the same circumstance. 

Privacy Act it is!

Wow, thanks for the detail and clarity of your response, jan22. So much of the information is indeed laid out in plain black and white in government information, but how and when that's applied in specific cases is often confusing. And some officials are better at communicating clearly than others. It is immensely helpful to have someone say this requirement applies in all immigration cases, whether the applicant is a Canadian citizen or not. Again, thanks.

David

Hi all,

I'm a US citizen petitioning for an IR-1 visa for my Japanese wife to immigrate to the US. She spent a year in Canada over ten years ago, and NVC is asking for "a Police Report from Canada" as part of her Civil Documents.

There appears to be different types of Police Reports from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. One is a regular report and another one is a 'RCMP Entire Holdings' report under the Privacy Act. From what I have read so far the Privacy Act version became mandatory for Canadian immigrants to the US in 2018. However, I have not seen anything specifically about non-Canadian citizens who need to furnish a police reports because they lived in Canada temporarily.

I wonder if anyone could provide some clarity for me. Since there is no mention of 'Privacy Act' or 'Entire Holdings' in NVC's request for the police report document, and since the information i've seen thus far about the Privacy Act is related to Canadians immigrating to the US, I am assuming we do not need the Privacy Act version of the police report, but I thought it better to check.

Thanks in advance for your help,

David

Hi all,

We are just about ready to submit the I-864 and supporting documents, but I'm stuck on one issue, how to handle employment that I have now but will be ending due to our move to the US.

Basics: Married to a Japanese national, currently living in Japan, IR-1 visa application, currently self-employed but ending in March 2021, all income in local currency (JPY), file US taxes every year, $0.00 as my total income due to Foreign Tax Exclusion.

My I-864 so far: $0.00 in individual annual income (same as what's listed on the 1040 copies I'm submitting),  liquid assets from all sources listed in USD. We have a joint sponsor to cover the poverty line income threshold.

My question: should I include my current employment information in Page 4 Part 6 Item 4? Or leave all boxes in Page 4 Part 6 Items 1-6 unchecked? My assumption would be that since the name of my self-employment business is listed on my taxes, that I should list it here as well. But I have heard that NVC has thrown a checklist at people who do this and report $0.00 in income (though the reasons for the checklist are unclear), and I have seen advice that says to not even list employment that is not going to continue after the move to the US since in the eyes of NVC such income will not be available to support the intending immigrant and thus, basically doesn't count and could cause confusion, which is a bad thing. But I worry that not including my current self-employment business will trigger a checklist since my taxes and my I-864 form will be different in that small, but potentially significant, way.

Advice? To check box 4 or to not check box 4, that is the question on this Christmas Eve...

Thanks in advance.

Hi ProbeGT, 

Yes, it's such a stupid law, in my opinion, though I'm sure some countries are more draconian in their attitude towards dual citizenship. Fortunately in our quest to move to the States, the kids, since they have US citizenship already, are not an issue (of course they have Japanese citizenship as well). In terms of going back and forth between countries, they're small yet so we've got time for the law to be revised (not holding our breath, though...) This is all for the wife and her immigration.

David

Hi Ali_Z (no relation to Ali G I presume 😄)

Quote

Just wondered if you submitted it at $0.00 and entered the same on your tax years? ... if so have you heard back from NVC? 

We've had a bit of a delay gathering documents here (Japan), and are expecting to have everything ready to upload within a couple of weeks. So, no, nothing from NVC so far but our plan remains to have the same info that's on my taxes be on the I-864, i.e. $0.00 in income.

Quote

Also re the assets? I was going to submit the same even though we have a joint sponsor. I feel it looks better to show you have money in the bank and assets rather than going with nothing. Did you submit the same? 

The plan remains the same, with the same underlaying rationale as you. I'll update the thread once we have some word from NVC.

Thanks for your interest!

1 hour ago, Gaby M said:

did you end up writing any of your assets on your own I-864, even though they were not enough to cover y’all?

Hi Gaby, 

I did end up claiming my US assets on my I-864, even though I know that you can't combine assets with your co-sponsor to meet the threshold. I am going by the "too much information is better than too little information" approach to this whole thing. I'd rather avoid having to go back and provide more information or have a question I can't answer come up during the interview.

Best wishes and good luck to you guys, too!

21 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

I agree that it would be better to have the I-864A ready... Just bring to the interview to avoid any delays in case the consul officer asks for it.

 

Thanks for this, I think it sounds prudent. Perhaps a bit over the top but I'd rather be too prepared than under.

Thanks for your reply. Glad to hear we're on the right track with reporting income.

I've read elsewhere on this forum in similar situations that even though there is no need to include my sister in this process since, as you said, she is contributing nothing to the sponsorship, when it comes down to the individual officer reviewing our case they may want to see her included through the I-864A since her and her husband file taxes jointly. But they may not want to see it - it really comes down to the individual officer. Might it be better to have her do an I-864A straight form the top rather than risk having to spend time going back and forth if it becomes necessary later? Dunno, may be just a gray area judgement call thing.

Hi everyone,

I have gained a lot of super valuable information from this forum, and appreciate everyone’s comments, advice, and wisdom. I have questions about how to proceed with reporting income and about our plan for the I-864 Affidavit.

Quick primer on our situation;

Me - American citizen, wife - Japanese citizen

We live in Japan, got married here, and have had two children here. The children have US citizenship.

We are immigrating to the US and applying for a Green Card for my wife through Consular Processing and have successfully submitted our I-130. Our case is now at the National Visa Center, and we are getting going on the I-864 Affidavit.

I have a job here, as does she. As we will be immigrating next summer (hopefully!), neither of us has income secured for once we arrive in the US. Furthermore, my US income tax returns going back to the beginning of my stay in Japan (20 years!) lists my adjusted gross income as $0.00, due to the Foreign Earned Income exclusion.

Question 1) how do I report income on the I-864? I assume I’ll be listing my income as 0.00, since a) the instructions state that it should be income going forward, i.e. income that can be used to support my wife so she doesn’t require state support, and b) that’s my adjusted gross income according to my income tax returns. Is this the correct assumption/interpretation/path forward?

Question 2) I have assets in the States but barely enough to cover the threshold the officers reviewing my case will (presumably) want to see, so I have enlisted my sister and her husband as joint sponsors. Funny enough, earlier this year my sister quit her job and returned to school to get an advanced degree, so she has plenty of income from past years but nothing now or going forward. I assume therefore her income as far as NVC is concerned is 0.00, which means we’re planning on having her husband the be actual joint sponsor for my wife’s case. My sister would be the Household Member since her and her husband file their taxes jointly (as I have understood advice I saw elsewhere on this awesome forum, even if my sister can’t materially support my wife, she should still be a part of the process through the I-864A, as her and her husband file jointly).

Me (sponsor) - I-864 and supporting docs

Brother-in-law (joint sponsor) - I-864 and supporting docs

Sister (Household Member) - I-864A and supporting docs

Is this the correct assumption/interpretation/path forward?

Thank you all so much for your consideration!