Luu

14 hours ago, JFH said:

We got married in the US and did a
CR-1. I got married while I was visiting. It is possible to have a wedding in the US and not have to do the K-1. 

Well I wish i would have known that before but I'm already a year deep into k1 so it's too late for me now.  

28 minutes ago, Bluegirl55 said:

When did you submit the petition for K1 and where is the office?

Where are CR1 cases usually sent?

When -- August of last year. They get sent to one of like 5 random offices. I live in NY but mine was sent to California. 

I have no idea about CR-1. I think they're sent to random offices too but I'm not sure. 

33 minutes ago, JFH said:

A “little more” is debatable. After the October fee increase the K-1 will cost over $2000 more than the CR-1. Adjustment of status is increasing in cost from $1225 to $2170. There is no adjustment of status for CR-1. That’s an extra $2170 the K-1 people have to pay to be in an “inferior” status for months when they arrive. 
 

I never saw the benefits of a K-1 before the fee increase but even those who previously thought the K-1 was a good idea must now be re-thinking that. 

For us, cr-1 was too expensive upfront, we wanted to get married in the usa bc I want my family there, the wait was much less before he got to the usa, and k1 was not that much more expensive last year when we filed.  The fees hadn't gone up and there wasn't yet any talk about fees going up.  

K-1 usually has shorter wait times and money spread out into different forms.  It winds up costing a little more but your fiancé is in the usa quicker and the cost is spread out. You still have to do a lot of the paperwork when they get to the usa bc they don't have their green card / residence permit and you need to pay for the form for them to work.  

Cr-1 i think takes about a year before your fiancé is in the USA but all the money and forms are done at once so the cost is all upfront.  When they come they have their green card already.  I think they can work automatically too. 

Bc of Coronavirus everything is taking longer and uscis is increasing the price of all their forms.  

Idk about the cr-1 requirements bc I'm doing the k-1 Visa.  It's been about a year at this point and he's still not here but that's bc of coronavirus.  Unless the situation with covid 19 improves I'd suggest the cr-1. Idk how you will do it with no income though bc I think the income requirements are higher.  Please look it up and see.  

20 hours ago, Greenbaum said:

Each embassy is going to open when it is safe to open in that part of the world. Some will open sooner than others. We know of two that have opened for scheduling with interview beginning next month.

 

The are many threads out there with discussions about the topics you talked about. Can I suggest that you begin researching with this link first?

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/737060-coronavirus-embassy-reopening/page/3/?tab=comments#comment-10146929

 

and there is a discussion on historical wait times for the K-1 visa with current projections. You'll find that discussion here:

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/740988-k1-visa-i-129f-processing-at-csc-now-at-150-days-total-k1-timeline-now-9-months/

 

The i129f discussion seems to just be about getting your noa2. We are past that stage.  We have all of our documents and we're ready for the interview.  

The coronavirus thread is helpful but alarming.  One post said Turkey won't open til feb 2021. I hope that's not the case.  

Our visa appointment has been delayed 3 times since March. The last appointment for july 6th was canceled by them.

Our k1 (noa2 validity) expired may 31st. We emailed 2x each and I sent 2 faxes about extending it with no response.  I don't know if it is extended or not. No communication.  What do  I do about this? Is there a way to check if it's been extended? How long can they extend it? 

<Ankara, Turkey> 

My fiance did his medical in the end of May because he had an appointment on June 1st and they canceled it during his medical appointment.  Is that medical appointment still going to be good or will he have to do and pay for another one? 

Does anyone have any information on if they're going to open soon? They have not updated their website to tell us about why the appointment they rescheduled is canceled or when they will reopen. 

Bump

Question 3. 

P. 3 employment information

So this section is pretty straightforward but in this situation I'm not sure.  

Sponsor's employer (who does the w2s) is different than the physical address of the job. 

Employer is responsible for multiple properties. Employer name and address is on W2's but Sponsor's physical job place/ name and location is different.  

Which do I put on the form? 

26 minutes ago, SoonToBeMrs.C said:

following

The new completed form doesn't even answer #38 let alone give me information on either question but thank you for that suggestion.  🙂

Question 2

Is annual income net income or gross income? (Amount before or after taxes)

(page 3, part 3, question 3)

I have a question about the I-134 form.  The other forum about the I-134 is about a 2 page form from 2007 (including the example form) and needs updating. The form has changed from 2 pages to 8 pages.  

My question is about page 4 (part 3, number 38). 

"I (intend/ do not intend) to make specific contributions to the support of the (beneficiary)."

The form and example, listed on this website, from 2007 (which have a different number and format) does not check either box and writes "N/A --  k1 Visa for permanent residence"

I watched a video on the current I-134  form online and the lady said they checked "intend" but did not provide details like the form asks.  

My question is,  what do I do here? 

I feel like as the fiance you might check intend or a sponsor providing room and board you check intend but as a joint sponsor who is not actually providing anything financially (just fulfilling the income requirement for the form) you would check do not intend.

What's right in these 3 cases? 

1. Fiancee (no income)

2. Joint Sponsor (providing room and board)

3. Joint Sponsor (providing nothing,  just helping fulfill the income requirement)

5 minutes ago, Unidentified said:

I was here on both a J1 and an F1 before my K1 and had no issues. Was your friend subject to the 2 year home rule? 

His visa says no and from the DOS website I think he isn't.  

It says on the website that some people whose visa says "not subject to the 2 year homestay rule" still have an issue and need a waiver.  From what I read though,  I don't think that would apply to him.  

He's just a very cautious person so I'm investigating.  

Does a past j-1 visa status affect k-1 visa probability?  

My fiancé had a j-1 visa last year. It was self funded and his visa says "not subject to the 2 year home stay rule". None of the 3 conditions listed on the department of state website apply to him.  He had no problems with entry or leaving with the j1 visa.  

He read something about someone (1 person who posted about their embassy experience on here) who had a j1 visa in the past being denied and it made him nervous bc it wasn't clear if the j-1 visa negatively affected the decision or if it was something else.  

So, does a past j-1 visa status affect k-1 visa probability? Does it decrease your chances of getting a k-1 visa?  

I'm trying to get financial information together for the i134 for myself and my co-sponsors.  We should get our noa2 at the end of December or in the beginning of January.  

1. What information do I need to gather for myself and for my cosponsors?

-We have 3. Me (asset based), my mom (asset based), & my friend (income based ).

What do we need from each of us? 

2. Does what month you get your noa2 change the information you need?   

(EX: If we get our noa2 at the end of the year vs the beginning of the next year which tax forms would we send in?  2019 or 2020?) 

3. Letters from the bank (for asset based finances) ~ I had already requested and received them bc they take a long time to send out.  How old can those letters be? 

25 minutes ago, Pitaya said:

https://www.uscis.gov/addresschange

Again,  it's not the mailing address so it doesn't affect correspondence.  

Will it affect our petition?  

If I move back to the USA before NOA2, will that be a problem? 

I have my mailing address as nyc on our I-129F but my physical address as Turkey.

We are just up to the NOA1 (September 2019) step of the process.  Waiting on NOA2. 

How does me moving back to the USA affect our case/form if at all?

Do I have to do anything or would I just have a different address on the next forms we file?  

Thanks in advance. 

50 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Think "jointly and severally liable" - each individually is fully and equally responsible for the obligations on their own. If you have a lease for $1000/month and have a roommate on the lease, that doesn't mean the landlord can't require $1,000 from just you if your roommate refuses to pay (although addressing their non-payment would be a separate issue for you).

Other than that, it's just the term they use to designate somebody who is joining their I-864 packet (not income/assets) with yours.

 

If one meets the requirements of the I-864A (https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-864ainstr.pdf), then the income can be combined.

Item #2 would only apply if you are currently living with them.

 

In that case, she can be a household member via an I-864A at that time. Note that this is NOT a joint sponsor - you are still the primary and only sponsor here. And yes, the household size would be 3 again, so the $26,662 figure applies as the minimum.

 

The I-134 has no equivalent of an I-864A. It only has sponsors and co sponsors. So you would each provide an I-134. Your household size would be 2 (you and him), and hers would be 2 (her and him). I get it seems odd, but keep in mind they are separate here.

For the I-134, we would be sponsor and co-sponsor.

Do we both need to prove 125% individually or do they just look at one or how does the finance bit work ? Can our income and assets be combined to make the 125% for this one? 

Like, whether they accept us or not I know is a case by case basis but financially, would we make it based on my financials I have listed before? (My income was like 3,000 or something like that (bc I was living here for half of that year ) but my savings is 17k -- that's the only split in the difference of the numbers). 

47 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Think "jointly and severally liable" - each individually is fully and equally responsible for the obligations on their own. If you have a lease for $1000/month and have a roommate on the lease, that doesn't mean the landlord can't require $1,000 from just you if your roommate refuses to pay (although addressing their non-payment would be a separate issue for you).

Other than that, it's just the term they use to designate somebody who is joining their I-864 packet (not income/assets) with yours.

 

If one meets the requirements of the I-864A (https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-864ainstr.pdf), then the income can be combined.

Item #2 would only apply if you are currently living with them.

 

In that case, she can be a household member via an I-864A at that time. Note that this is NOT a joint sponsor - you are still the primary and only sponsor here. And yes, the household size would be 3 again, so the $26,662 figure applies as the minimum.

 

The I-134 has no equivalent of an I-864A. It only has sponsors and co sponsors. So you would each provide an I-134. Your household size would be 2 (you and him), and hers would be 2 (her and him). I get it seems odd, but keep in mind they are separate here.

This is a fabulous reply. 

46 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

Household members can file I-864/I864A but that is for AOS.

 

You need one I-134 Sponsor that can sponsor the petition.   Again that is at the Consulate stage not the USCIS stage 

I understand that it's at the consulate stage but if we are not financially ready for the consulate stage then the USCIS stage is a waste because it will be denied at the next step and we'd need to start again. If we know we're ready for the consulate stage then filing now is good. 

3 hours ago, geowrian said:

For a K-1 visa, it is an I-134 only.

 

For AOS:

You do not currently live together with your mom, so the I-864A as a household member will not work.

So she would need to be a joint sponsor (on an I-864). A joint sponsor must individually qualify based on their own income & assets. They cannot add their income or assets to your own.

 

SS is valid income.

 

A couple issues with this calculation...I highly suggest reading the I-864 instructions very closely.

1) You cannot combine the income of you and your mother (see above).

2) The 125% level is based upon household size. Your mother's household size is only 2 right (her + the immigrant being sponsored). You are not her dependent, correct? So the minimum income level for her would be $21,137 instead.

   (If this is incorrect and she has a spouse or other dependents, then adjust accordingly...I was just reading it as she is not currently married and is likely not to have unmarried, under-18 to 21 year old children)

3) You are only looking at the minimum required for an I-864 to be considered. Actually getting approved is very different. under the level = cannot be approved. Above = totality of the circumstances. Being right on the border is very risky.

 

It's fine to include the value of the house, as I noted above, but realistically they would consider the IRA. Your bank account is irrelevant in her ability to sponsor as you cannot combine income/assets.

 

Only the CO can know for certain....but I really think it would be wise to look for another sponsor at this point. Or to get a job offer and start working in the US beforehand (it might be a little separation, but it is what it is).

AOS is not done til after we are in America and then we will be living in the same house so she would be a household member. 

Right now I'm looking at the I-134. According to the way the form is set up it becomes a household of 3 (me, her, and him). I am not her dependent on her taxes nor is she financially responsible for me but that worksheet told me it was 3. 

I have no other option for sponsors, only my mom. 

5 hours ago, Hank_ said:

 

 

No not combined, 125% would be your mom's income ...  your income would be considered separately.   

 

SS income can be counted, no issue there, have your mom print out a copy of the benefits letter.

 

 

How is it a joint sponsor if your finances are not considered jointly? 

The post above says that if it's a household member then they are able to combine income with the primary sponsor. Is that wrong? 

4 minutes ago, missileman said:

Past tax returns and current income are completely separate entities......Social Security is income...not assets...........Current income would be documented by things such as a Social Security awards letter......income is income....taxable or not.

 

By the way, no one likes to be separated......but is a common reality in immigration.....many couples find it necessary for the US citizen to return to the US first to establish domicile, income, etc.

Okay, because the form says "Adjusted Gross Income" and the line mentioned in the instructions does not include the social security benefits so I thought I couldn't put it. 

Let's redo some math.

26,662 needed.

mom and my income combined (including social security this time) = 22,749

3,913 left * 5 = 19,565

minus savings combined ( - 18,465)

= 1,100 

but we still have the house (1.5m) , mom's IRA (23k), and my foreign bank account (2k). 

Is it okay now? 

12 hours ago, geowrian said:

Income cannot be combined with a joint sponsor (or across any sponsors).

Income can be joined between a sponsor and a household member via an I-864A, if they qualify.

I don't understand what you mean. The 125% is me and my mom together, right?

She is the joint sponsor and household member. I864 / I864A (her) or I134/I134. 

19 hours ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

Unfortunately, the house in which she lives cannot be counted, as the point of the income/assets/savings is to demonstrate that she can financially support the immigrant...if he has medical bills that need paying, she’s not going to be able to use the house she lives in to pay them off.

 

Your $15K can absolutely be counted - but it isn’t enough on it’s own...

What about social security? Can I use that? Is it considered income or assets? 

My mom gets $16,224 a year but there is no place on the form for that because it is not considered taxable income so therefore it's not in the box listed on her tax form for Adjusted Gross Income.

Is there anywhere I can add that?