SNAVegas

On 12/12/2020 at 3:52 AM, steve-phuket said:

we will send an i130  to USCIS in a couple of days and my wife still has her original name on all her docs, id card, passport, etc. so that's the name i've used on the i130. its a bit of a pain to change her family name to mine right now.

 

if she wants to change to my name in the next few months or years before the whole ir/cr1 process is complete would that be a problem? should she stick with her maiden name until we get the green card then change later? or should we wait to file i130 until she's changed to my name?

 

thanks steve

No need to wait just file the i-130 ASAP & then Once your i-130 is aproved will be  sent to the NVC ( National Visa Center)  & you will receive the Welcome Letter from NVC. At that point  you can contact the NVC via their messaging email system. You should send a note that  she now  has a New Passport with new married name & you are requesting that the "Visa Applicant Name"  needs to be updated / changed. You will upload a copy of the bio page of the new passport, a copy of your marriage Certificate & a copy of her old passport. That is exactly what we did & within a few days they processed the request & updated the name change in the system. From there we processed the Ds 260 Application with her new married name. All done via email & never talked with any one by phone or chat.. 

15 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

I'm guessing these were asked for in a 221g letter after your wife's interview?  When you do find a joint sponsor, you may provide only what is asked (i.e. no I-864A).  Still, if your joint sponsor files taxes jointly with their spouse, I highly recommend you request the spouse to sign an I-864A anyway so you'll have it ready in case the consul officer makes a follow-up request after seeing your joint sponsor's tax filing.  You may get lucky with the consul officer not asking for it after sending your 221g response, but I wouldn't rely on this happening if I were you.

 

Thank you for your kind reply & you are correct. That is exactly what happened.  I am hoping to find a Joint Sponsor whose spouse would be willing to sign the i-864A & that would take care of it all. Currently I have a Joint Sponsor whose wife is not willing to sign the I-864A BUT has no objection for her husband to use his solo income & send in the I-864 relying only on his Income. The attached image shows exactly what the Consular Officer gave to my wife. The Officer was actually very helpful & pleasant to deal with & gave her good direction as to what is required. Life has a way of working out & i am hopeful & cautiously optimistic.

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

Which country?  Why are you resisting the I-864a advice?

 

The US Embassy in Hong Kong.  I am not sure what makes you think that i am trying to resist any advice because that would be counter productive. However, IF i am unable to find another Joint sponsor & the only one available to be a Joint Sponsor has an unwilling spouse ( but has more than sufficient individual Income)  then i may not have a choice but proceed & see if will get approved as submitted. Several people has said that they were succesful in doing so & pointed me to the attached !!! There is no ego involved here i am just trying to find answers with help from people who have personal experience in a case such as mine. God willing it will work otherwise let the chips fall where they may & i will deal with whatever comes my way. Thank you

1 hour ago, Chancy said:

 

Technically, the I-864A is not required if the joint sponsor's income alone is sufficient to qualify.  But I and many others here highly recommend preparing the I-864A from the spouse anyway to avoid delays because the consul officer may ask for it.

 

Thank you so much for your reply to my question. Hope to be able to find a Joint Sponsor ( if Married) & the spouse would be willing to sign off on i-864A or Find one who is single tax filer. As a last resort i may submit one with only the Joint Sponsor who has qualifying Income but not providing I-864a from spouse. Our situation is that the Visa Interview is over & the Consular Officer was extremely helpful & kind.

He told my wife provide : 1)  I-864 of Joint Sponsor 2)  proof of income of Joint Sponsor submitting one of the following   Tax Transcript OR W2's .3) Proof of US Citizenship. He asked her to send these alogwith her passport to the US Embassy via their designated Courier. And if accepted they will mail back her passport with the Visa Stamp.

28 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Over and over again, this same question gets asked.  The answer is always that the best practice is to provide an I-864a from the joint filing spouse.  If the Consular Officer asks for it, not having provided it, will delay visa issue for several weeks, at best.  If the spouse is not willing, find another joint sponsor.

Thanks for your prompt reply.  There seem to be conflicting answers on this subject on various forums on FB etc. hence the question.  Others have shared their experience of being succesful doing so. 

4 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

Unlikely.  The US Embassy will most likely want the Joint Sponsor's wife to file the I-864a.

Thanks....Do you have personal experience of a situation such as this ? 

I have a joint sponsor who is married & files a joint return with his wife. His Income ALONE from his job ( w2's available) is way above the 125% Poverty Guidelines. Can he file the I-864 alone without having his wife provide the I-864 A. 

In other words her Income is excluded & not needed to meet the Required Minimum Poverty Guideline. His Tax Return/Transcript will show married filing jointly & the w2's of both will be shown.

G221 From US Embassy

The Consular Officer said everything else looks good. Get a joint sponsor have him/her fill out the I-864 & provide their proof of Income with Tax Transcript or W2 , Proof of US Legal status & send back to the Embassy alongwith your passport via designated Courier.

The J/S is a Real Estate Agent - Self Employed & Income is reported on 1099's.

So we should submit:

I-864 filled out by J/S

2. Provide 2019 Tax Transcript( no need for 1099's.)

They do not specifically ask for proof of 2020 Income on the G221 ??

But on the I-864 there is an entry for " CURRENT INCOME" so should we submit Pay check stubs of the commission earned so far in 2020 ?

41 minutes ago, trucphong said:

I did not provide letter to explain the situation. I just gave them the copy of tax return, W2, and all schedules.

Ok thanks..

10 minutes ago, trucphong said:

I filed late February 2020 by mail. I filed as Marrird Filing Jointly.

Thank you kindly for your reply. It is good to note that paper filed returns are getting processed & going through the system. The Interview for my wife is on November 30th in Hong Kong I am hoping that we have the Transcript by then.

I know that you mentioned in an earlier post your wife got approved without the 2019 Transcript even though the Embassy had requested it.

Did you provide a letter of explanation that your Transcript had not been processed yet by the IRS ? 

5 hours ago, trucphong said:

Finnally,  IRS processed my 2019 tax.

When did you file your Tax return ? And Was your tax return filed electronically or paper filed by mail ?

Mine was paper filed  ( Married filing Separately. Wife is Non resident Alien without Social Security number)& mailed via USPS in April 2020  & still waiting for it to be processed so i can get a Transcript. 

1 hour ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

I was approved at NVC and wife was approved at her embassy interview.  Country is same as my profile.))

Great & Thank you ... I just saw your profile country guess was not paying attention .. LoL !!! So it gives me hope as well that my wife could be approved for her Visa with the 2019 Tax Return/ Schedules/ w2's & 1099's + Proof of Current Income. Trancripts of 2018 & 2017 were submitted as well. Take Care

21 hours ago, Lindzsalem said:

Received the tax transcripts after 2 weeks since we needed the IRS to send us a code in order to access online account. I know the embassy received the physical copy straight away because they updated our case date after the mail was received by the embassy. However it’s been 3 weeks and the document has still not been accepted on the CEAC website, so still waiting for visa approval.

Thank You

1 minute ago, trucphong said:

My wife got approved for visa not NVC stage. Consulate requested it not NVC.

Thank you so much for your quick reply. That gives me some hope. Our Embassy is Hong Kong. We submitted 2019 Tax Return/all schedules Plus W2's & 1099's ( 2019 Transcript is still not available). Submitted 2018 & 2017 Tax Transcripts. Hoping this will be sufficient for them.

On 10/2/2020 at 5:23 AM, Lindzsalem said:

We had our interview last month with just tax returns as that what was requested and accepted on the ceac website. At the interview my husband was sent home with AP because they wanted Tax transcript as well. Even though it clearly states tax transcripts OR returns.If you can get both it would be better but maybe your embassy will be more lax about it. 

So were you able to get theTax Transcripts & submit to the Embassy & got Visa Approval ?

On 9/30/2020 at 4:15 PM, trucphong said:

US Consulate in Vietnam asked us to upload tax transcript, W-2 for 2019. My tax 2019 return is still at IRS. I uploaded my copy of I-1040 with all schedules, W-2 and paytub on CEAC. They dont have issue with it at all. Good luck.

Did your Visa get approved ? Or are you just talking about approval at the NVC stage ?

On 9/30/2020 at 4:48 AM, SteveInBostonI130 said:

should be fine.  That is what we used for our 2019 tax. We had transcripts for 2018 and 2017.

 

Thanks for your explanation above. Just to be clear were you approved for the Visa at the Interview with : A copy of the signed tax return with W2's & the transcripts for 2018 & 2017 ? And if so then what was your Embassy. Or are you talking about getting approved at the NVC stage ?

On 10/7/2020 at 4:44 PM, aaron2020 said:

You probably don't have tax returns showing over $21k since you have SS income that's tax exempt.  The response you got is standard verbiage when someone doesn't have 3 years of good tax returns.   Don't worry about if your income is higher than the 125% poverty line.  The US Embassy will see all your financial information and make the appropriate determination.  

Thank you for your encouraging response. Actually my Social Security is over 21K per year. And I have the Statement of Benefits from Social Security as proof. Also my bank account shows the direct deposit into that account from Social Security each month. So hope that is enough evidence to support proof of my Current Income. And yes, i have been reading that the note i received is a standard/boiler plate type notification & upon review by the Consular Officer it should be ok. 

17 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

No worries.  Just ignore the message.  It's a stock message when the tax return doesn't show sufficient taxable income.  The Consular Officer knows how to consider your retirement income properly, based on the documentation you submitted.

Yes,  I have seen the exact same notification on various FB & other Immigration sites regarding this subject & it does appear to be a "Catch All" Boiler plate type response/notification as you have identified. You have definitely been very helpful & i see a lot of your responses helping others as well. So THANK YOU !!!       Hoping & praying for a succesful outcome.

CR1 NVC/ DQ'd

Any Visa Applicants  that succesfully used Assets to qualify for Sponsoring their spouse ? From what i have read so far is that it is can vary from Embassy to Embassy & is up to the Consular Officer to decide.

I am a retiree with Social Security & Private Company Pension Income & meet the required income per the guidelines for 2 household members.

I provided the Social Benefits Statement proof & proof of Benefits Statement from Private Corp. Additionally i also provided Bank Statements that show the direct deposits of both these sources of income each month. NVC accepted all submitted documents & Documentarily Qualified me but sent a note that I don't meet the minimum income requirement & the Consular Officer will make a decision. I have seen that this seems to happen to retirees with SS Income. Anyone with experience in a similar case ? I am aware that NVC only  just collects the documents required & do not make decisions for Visa Issuance.

24 minutes ago, HRQX said:

They have separate set of regulations. DOS follows 22 CFR Subchapter E and DHS follows 8 CFR Subchapter B.

 

Also, there were 2 separate court cases that had preliminary injunctions:

• The injunction from Make the Road New York v. Cuccinelli case enjoined DHS from implementing Form I-944. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently overruled the lower court, and DHS can now enforce Form I-944.
• The injunction from Make the Road New York v. Pompeo case currently enjoins DOS from implementing DS-5540.

Thank you for the detailed clarification of the Cases Involved. 

2 hours ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

DOS and USCIS currently have 2 different approaches.

 

USCIS successfully appealed the July 29th decision and have updated their policy to resume the requirement for I-944.   

 

DOS has not updated their status after the July 29th decision and is still not requiring DS-5540.

Correct !!!! The DOS usually does follow the DHS (USCIS) Regulations  but there is usually a lag time in implementation by the DOS & the Consulates abroad. At the present time time they have not been asking for the DS-5540 at the Interview. As a matter of fact the DS 5540 Form that was previously approved expired 8-31-20. Currently the DS 5540 form does not even exist on the DOS e.form FORM FINDER here is the link:https://eforms.state.gov/

4 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

So much the better.  Best of luck to you folks!

They likely will ask about plans for health insurance, might want to have your beneficiary prepped by showing up with a plan for that.  We raised eyebrows a little with COBRA for immediate relo but had a backup plan to show our options to switch to longer term coverage for our family (exchange and exchange plans) once we returned to the US and got settled in.  Didnt ever use the exchange, but still.

Thank  you for your words of encouragement. Yes, I will keep the Insurance situation in mind.

When you mention your back up plan for health Insurance "Exchange & Exchange Plans" do you mean the Affordable Care Act Market Place Exchange Plans ? And how long ago was your Interview ? 

20 hours ago, pushbrk said:

You absolutely can add assets and document them.  That's why that section is on the form.  There is no point in submitting and documenting the equity in your home though.  Stating your balance in checking and savings, and documenting it with statements is good.  On a separate line you would state and document your IRA and any other stocks Etc.  Doing so will help demonstrate you have sufficient resources to support you and your spouse.

Thank you kindly for your reply. Yes, I agree with you BUT  The reason I had asked the question was because in reading the Instructions line by line & item by item it states exactly:

Part 7 . Use of Assets to supplement Income ( Optional)

Only Complete Part 7 If you need to use the value of assets to meet the Income Requirements.If your current annual Household Income is equal to or more than needed to meet the Income Requirement as shown by the Current Poverty Guidelines for your household size then you DO NOT NEED  to complete Part 7.

AND THAT WAS WHY I ASKED THE QUESTION ON VISA JOURNEY...

In my case the required minimum is $ 21,550 for a 2 person household. My Current income for 2020 will be $25,404. So i just wanted to show assets as well. No I don't have millions (LOL) but have a couple of hundred thousand in liquid available cash/stocks/CD's 

19 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

Exactly what I did and the items you exclude (home and vehicle) are appropriately excluded.

 

I filed on (zero) income and nothing but assets as we lived overseas and overseas income was not counted.

 

You should be fine.

Thank you kindly for your response. In  my case i do qualify based on  my Current Income ( Social Security & a Pension from a private company)  but wish to add Assets is a precautionary / preemptive step in case they question my Income as being just a few thousand above the minimum. Thank you again