ElGrandeDoodel

Crikey you are not wrong - almost doubling to $1,195 apparently.

Got it - thanks for explaining that again, sorry I missed your point before. In what circumstances would the expiry date be earlier that the date of the medical?

Sounds like a whole lot of fun... Thanks, good point to bear in mind. This may be a London consulate specific question, but if at the consulate interview the visa is approved, would an effective delay tactic be to say I have immediate travel plans and so cannot surrender my passport at the interview, but instead send it in to the consulate, say, a month later? Or is the date of the visa the date of approval at the consulate, irrespective of when the visa is actually physically added to the passport? Never thought I would be taking steps to slow the process down, but here we are...

@Crazy Cat - sheesh, that is a nightmare. How is the process for obtaining the extension letter and ADIT stamp, in terms of duration and complexity?

Thanks @Crazy Cat - I see in your signature: That does indeed sound like a pain in the neck...

Hi people - would appreciate your thoughts on the following. I (British citizen) am at the NVC stage of obtaining an IR-1/CR-1 visa to move to the US to join my USC spouse. My finger-in-the-air estimate is that, provided no RFIs at NVC stage and everything else progresses at the rate things seem to be at the moment, we might have approval by May/June kind of time. Our two year wedding anniversary is early September 2023. As with most of us on VJ, I'm keen to move out to the US as soon as possible, but I've also read a fair bit about massive delays at USCIS for I-751 approvals, and the need to get extension letters to conditional green cards for travel because the removal of conditions process is taking so long. What are people's thoughts on this? Is it worth swallowing another 5 months apart for the sake of getting the 10 years vs the 2 year GC, or is removal of conditions just a bit of extra administrative faff that, in the grand scheme of things, won't be too much of a pain? I guess the particular concern is that once approval, I think I understand correctly that I couldn't enter the US without triggering the visa, so if I wanted to see my spouse in the period between approval and our second wedding anniversary we'd need to meet in the UK or a third country. Thanks!

Anyone else heard anything about this? I just got wind of it via this (very dodgy looking) youtube video. It's referred to on this more legitimate legal news website: Which cites this bulletin from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs: So, I think it is true though there is very little concrete, reliable-seeming information on it, including the types of visas impacted.

Hi @Educ8r - just wondering if your husband had any luck getting hold of the police certificate from Spain without being in the country? I'm in the same boat - British national with no cl@ve account living back in the UK, but lived in Spain a few years ago. Would appreciate any tips you have to share, and if possible a brief overview of what you did to get the certificate. Many thanks in advance!!

Thanks for working through this with me @pushbrk. OK, let's ignore the "employee" income for now then. If we're filing on the basis that sponsor is self employed and "current income" comes from the most recently-filed (2021) tax return, how does that work in practical terms for the form? The current individual annual income figure under Part 6 Question 7 is the same as the Most Recent Total Income figure under Part 6 Question 24.a.? Yet another wrinkle here is that for tax year 2021, Sponsor was not self employed - all income for that year was as an employee. Is there a reason you favour using the contract over using a letter from the fellowship organisation which confirms the appointment as fellow and the value of the stipend? My (admittedly ignorant) sense is that the letter is very simple - literally four sentences which succinctly explain the situation - whereas the contract is many pages long with the stipend value buried deep in there. I defer to your experience though. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Another possible line of attack here is to rely on sponsor's assets rather than income. She has in excess of the minimum required to sponsor a spouse in a total household size of two people, which I believe is 3 times 125% of HHS Poverty Guidelines, so just under $70k. These are dollar-denominated cash assets held in savings accounts, so should satisfy the liquidity and ease of access requirements for sponsorship. The guidance in the I-864 notes on proving cash assets are pretty scant. So, if we go down this route: What documentation is customary to submit for evidence of assets held in cash in savings accounts? The guidance in the notes ("the owner of the asset must include a description of the asset, proof of ownership, and the basis for the owner’s claim of its net cash value") doesn't seem to apply to this class of asset. If we're relying on assets in lieu of current income, should we leave the current income figure as zero? Or, as a belt and suspenders approach, include both current income on the basis we've been discussing above and the assets?

Thanks for the quick response @pushbrk, appreciate it. No federal taxes are withheld on the payments. Sponsor's status is more nuanced than simply employee vs self-employed: Sponsor is an employee of the company they founded on a zero dollar contact of employment. Current income is paid by the fellowship organisation by virtue of sponsor's fellowship. Sponsor is not an employee of the fellowship organisation. No federal income tax is withheld on payments from the fellowship organisation. I had understood that tax returns were used to demonstrate past income, but that other evidence is used to demonstrate current income - is that not the case when it comes to self employed individuals? Given where we are in tax season, the most recent tax return available is nowhere near "current" because it pertains to the 2021 tax year.

Hi @pushbrk, would appreciate your thoughts on the following which relates to your guidance quoted above. Thank you! We're about to file the I-864, and are characterising the fellowship position as employment and the fellowship organisation as the employer. The I-864 notes give the following examples of evidence of current income: On this basis, we're proposing to provide a letter in the stated format and the pay stubs as evidence. My question relates to the "paystubs". The fellowship income is not paid directly like a salary - Sponsor invoices the organisation, and those invoices are paid. The thing most closely resembling a paystub is in the form below - this is a screenshot from the bill.com payment portal through which the payments are administered. Do you think this will suffice as a "paystub" for NVC purposes? If not, should we provide something else in addition to the letter from the fellowship organisation? Many thanks, as always, for your help.

Thanks all, appreciate all the thoughtful feedback. Going to take @pushbrk's advice.

Hi VJ folks I have a question regarding completion of the I-864. I see from searching the forums that this question has been asked and answered before, but I can't find a response that fully answers the question. I want to know what to do about fields in the I-864 which are not relevant to me. There's no guidance in the form itself, but the USCIS I-864 notes say the following on page 3: Sounds simple, but if you're completing the form on a computer: The text (i.e. non-numeric) fields are set up to accept only letters, hyphens, and spaces; it's impossible to type 'N/A' anywhere on the form despite the instructions. The numeric fields are set up to accept only numbers; it's impossible to type 'None' in any of the numeric fields despite the instructions. Some fields are locked unless you tick the corresponding box. So, I'd appreciate some practical advice about how people dealt with this.

Take a look at my timeline - NOA1 to NOA2 took 416 days 😬. It was with Texas Service Centre at first, and then transferred to Potomac Service Centre.

Thank @pushbrk and @Wuozopo for your input, very very helpful. I guess that's correct for tax year 2022, but for the current tax year (2023), and for her current situation, she is only receiving the fellowship stipends, and so is either self-employed or employed. Sponsors current employment situation is relatively simple; it is tax year 2022 where we have the patchwork of incomes. Agreed, this is definitely right. We're keen to keep things moving, but obviously should balance our desire to get things submitted against the need to submit at the most sensible time. Thanks for the detail here - sounds like the simplest route is simple to ignore alien's assets and just proceed on the basis of sponsor's income. Noted. I have a tendency to want to over provide, but I take your point and that made by @pushbrk that simplicity is key here. Provide what is requested and nothing more. Thanks for reiterating @pushbrk, good to remember.

Well, Sponsor's income for 2022 onwards, and in particular current income, is not simple at all: For several years prior to 2022, and for January 2022, Sponsor was a graduate student receiving a research stipend (effectively an employee salary) from the university she was studying at. Since early 2022, Sponsor is founder and CEO of an early-stage start up. Since the foundation and incorporation of the company in early 2022, Sponsor has been employed as CEO. For the first couple of months after foundation, Sponsor was paid directly by the company as an employee. She was subsequently awarded an entrepreneurial fellowship which included a living stipend and health insurance stipend. So, since then (from mid-2022 to present), Sponsor is employed as CEO on a zero-dollar salary, with her actual salary paid by the fellowship organisation. Due to how the fellowship organisation is set up, Sponsor is not paid as an employee. Rather, she invoices the fellowship organisation monthly for the living and health insurance stipends. I take your previous point, though, that I am probably conflating past and current income. But in any event, to evidence current income, I think we will need to provide: Fellowship Contract showing appointment as fellow and amount of living and health insurance stipends. Signed Income Verification Letter from fellowship organisation confirming (i) Sponsor's appointment as fellow; (ii) that fellowship is a full time position; and (iii) amount of living and health insurance stipends. Bank statements for 2022 to present, evidencing payment of living and health insurance stipends from the fellowship. Signed letter of explanation from Sponsor explaining the source of current income. Does that sound sensible?

Thanks, that's helpful. So: Past income for 2021, 2020, and 2019 tax years, but not 2022, will be included in I-864 if we file in the next couple of weeks (i.e. before 2022 tax return has been filed). Current income will be evidenced by pay stubs, bank statements etc. in I-864. Come interview time, 2022 tax return will have been filed and processed, so 2022 tax transcript and more recent evidence of current income will be brought to interview. Have I got that right?

Thanks @pushbrk, appreciate the response. My understanding is that a joint sponsor is different from the petitioner. I mean joint sponsor here in the sense that term is used in the I-864, i.e. someone who is filing an affidavit of support in addition to the petitioner - such a joint sponsor would tick box 1.d on the I-864. Boiler seemed to be suggesting that, given the complexity of our situation, we add a joint sponsor. My concern was that we'd never referred to any joint sponsor in the process thus far, but per Boiler's response it seems that is not a problem. Thanks, understood. The notes on questions 23.a. - 25. Federal Income Tax Return Information of the I-864 do not appear to address the situation where the tax return for the most recent tax year (ie. 2022) has not been filed at the time the I-864 is submitted. The notes presuppose tax returns have been filed for the most recent tax year: Unless "most recent tax year" is read to mean "most recent tax year for which you have filed a tax return", it's not clear to me how to comply with the requirement to provide a transcript or tax return for the most recent tax year when filing the I-864 during tax reason. Is there any guidance you can provide regarding this? Many thanks!

Thanks @Boiler understood. I guess I meant that we'd be adding a joint sponsor halfway through the entire process. But sounds like that's not a problem.

Thanks @Boiler, hasn't considered that. Can a joint sponsor be added after approval of the I-130 even if they weren't mentioned on the I-130?

Hi there everyone - I have a few questions about I-864 which me (UK national alien) and my wife (USC petitioner and sole sponsor) are in the process of preparing to submit to NVC in support of an IR-1/CR-1 spousal visa. There's a quite a bit to unpack, so apologies for the long, detailed post. Thanks in advance! Sponsor's income situation is a little unusual: For all relevant years, Sponsor's income has exceeded the required level. For several years prior to 2022, and for January 2022, Sponsor was a graduate student receiving a research stipend (effectively an employee salary) from the university she was studying at. Since early 2022, Sponsor is founder and CEO of an early-stage start up. Since the foundation and incorporation of the company in early 2022, Sponsor has been employed as CEO. For the first couple of months after foundation, Sponsor was paid directly by the company as an employee. She was subsequently awarded an entrepreneurial fellowship which included a living stipend and health insurance stipend. So, since then (from mid-2022 to present), Sponsor is employed as CEO on a zero-dollar salary, with her actual salary paid by the fellowship organisation. Due to how the fellowship organisation is set up, Sponsor is not paid as an employee. Rather, she invoices the fellowship organisation monthly for the living and health insurance stipends. I-864 will be submitted by mid-February 2023 at the latest. Since this is in the middle of tax season, Sponsor's tax return for 2022 tax year will not have been prepared or filed. Given the complexity of the situation, we're proposing to submit the following supporting documentation with the I-864: IRS tax transcripts for tax years 2019, 2020, and 2021 showing adjusted gross income exceeding the required level. W-2 and pay stub showing January 2022 university research stipend income. W-2 and pay stubs showing first two months of salary from start up (early 2022) which were paid directly by company to Sponsor. Fellowship Contract showing appointment as fellow and amount of living and health insurance stipends. Signed Income Verification Letter from fellowship organisation confirming (i) Sponsor's appointment as fellow; (ii) that fellowship is a full time position; and (iii) amount of living and health insurance stipends. Bank statements for 2022 to present, evidencing stated income from the various sources for 2022 and 2023. Signed letter of explanation from Sponsor explaining the situation and various sources of income for 2022, and referring to the various pieces of supporting evidence. So, my questions: Is the above list of supporting documentation we propose to submit with the I-864 in respect of Sponsor's 2022 and 2023 income sufficient? Would you add anything? How should sponsor describe her employment situation on the I-864: employed or self-employed? To reiterate, Sponsor's current employment arrangement is that she is employed as CEO by a company on a zero-dollar salary, but receives a living and health insurance stipend which exceeds the required level from a fellowship, for which she invoices the fellowship organisation each month. On the Form I-864, should this arrangement be described as employment or self-employment? For the I-864, what is the "most recent tax year" when filing I-864 during tax season? We anticipate we will be filing I-864 by mid-February at the latest. Sponsor will not have filed her taxes for 2022 tax year by then; I imagine this is a common situation when filing I-864s during tax season. Literally, the "most recent tax year" is the 2022 tax year. However, when we file the I-864 Sponsor won't have a transcript or other tax-related documents for that year. Even if Sponsor's current and past income comfortably exceeds the required level, is it advantageous to disclose details of assets of the principal sponsored immigrant in Part 7 of I-864? Alien is fortunate to have significant cash and stocks assets (~$180k cash and ~$50k stocks), which exceed 5x 125% of the 2022 HHS poverty guidelines. If the assets of primary sponsored immigrant are disclosed in Part 7 of the I-864 are denominated in a foreign currency (GBP in this case), what forex rate should be applied to state the value in USD? Thanks again for your help - we're both very grateful for all the help we've got from this community!

Thanks @Crazy Cat, makes sense.

Thank you Wuozopo! Appreciate your responses.

Hi people In a bit of an odd situation. My USC wife is petitioning for IR1/CR1 on my (British citizen) behalf. We received NOA2 this week; petition approved. And have since had notice from NVC that our case has been created in CEAC. While filling out one of the endless forms for the NVC process, I was referring back to the I-130a I filed and noticed that I had made an error in a couple of the beneficiary address history dates. I'd written the wrong year (2018 rather than 2017) for two consecutive addresses. The effect of this was that the address history doesn't really make sense, because there are now three addresses overlapping. However, I guess the I-130/a reviewer didn't notice, or didn't care, as we didn't get an RFI and the petition was approved and forwarded to NVC. I know I'll have to disclose address history in the DS-260, and intend to enter that correctly (obviously). Conceivably, NVC will notice the discrepancy between my I-130a and DS-260. So, my questions: Is there a means in the DS-260, or elsewhere in the provision of info to the NVC, where I could proactively highlight that I made the error in the I-130a? If so, should I proactively highlight the error? I guess this is probably a question of my personal risk appetite. My sense is that the error is not that serious, and certainly doesn't undermine or change my eligibility for the visa, so maybe flagging it proactively is best since that will reduce the chance of a hold up when NVC are reviewing. Bonus question: Does anyone know if you are required, or if it is a good idea, to take the original (wet ink) copy of the I-130a to the (London) consulate interview? I had to print out and complete the I-130a by hand, which was then scanned and submitted with my wife's I-130 petition. I can't find the original, and its quite possible I got rid of it. Will this be a problem come interview time? Thanks very much in advance, always appreciate this community's help!

Attachment didn't seem to work so attaching letter as image file: