Lucysnowe_22

4 minutes ago, mbssss said:

The I-944 instructions says the following "Enter your degree program start date and end date in mm/dd/yyyy format. If your degree program does not start and end on a specific day (i.e. “dd”), provide your best estimate of the day". So I would give them an estimate. If you really don't know, write N/A or Unknown and provide some type of proof (letter from university perhaps) that you do not know when you will be done.  I know what date I graduate later this year so I just put that as my end date. 

 

Maybe confirm this with someone else too but I would just go with what the instructions say

Thank you so much! Wish you all the best with the application!

1 minute ago, mbssss said:

No, you can list degrees that you are working on currently. You just need to provide some type of proof. I am providing course transcripts that show what I have taken so far and what I am taking this semester as well as an enrollment verification  Maybe you are able to get something confirming your enrollment from your university? 

Wait... But then what did you put on program end date?

16 minutes ago, mbssss said:

If you list that you are pursuing a PHD under your education I doubt that not having any occupational skills will bring you down much. I really would not worry about it if I were you but that's just my views. Maybe someone else will have more thoughts on it. 

Hi thank you for your advice! I was wondering if I can list PhD in my education&skills. If I understand correctly I'm only allowed to list degrees that has already been completed in I-944? 

16 minutes ago, SusnOwen said:

The instructions say that if a certificate is unavailable, write a statement explaining - And maybe ask your professor for a letter?

Hi thank you for your advice! I think it's actually a great idea! 

Hello everyone! I'm now filling out I-944 and I have some questions regarding to what to say in my occupational skills.

I'm currently a PhD student in physics and I'm applying for marriage based green card. 

I feel very bad right now since I don't have anything to list on "Occupational Skills" since they all ask for some "certificate" and I have none. However, as a physics PhD working in lab, I DO have a lot of skills, which are all occupational related, like machining, programming, operating lots of electronics and vacuum stuff, and etc. I really feel like adding these but again, they are not CERTIFIED... 

Can anyone help me think of a way to proceed? Should I look for some online course for programming and get a certificate so that I can at least get SOMETHING to write in occupational skills?

Any advice is much appreciated!!

21 minutes ago, optimus039 said:

I'm exactly in the same situation as yours. I thought about what to do about this for quite a while but could not find anyone else facing the same situation. In the end I decided to submit my AoS package anyway with my spouse using her TA income as the basis for sponsorship. I did not include my own TA income on the I-864. Technically, my spouse's expected income for this year and income shown on the W-2 from last year meets all the requirements asked for in the I-864.  At our program, the TA positions are not guaranteed every semester and need to be renewed every year with a new contract which makes it difficult to prove long-term income on my end. I only submitted my application about 2 weeks ago, so I'm currently waiting for a response from USCIS. Only time will tell if they will accept the application as is or they are going to poke around for more evidence.

Hi thank you so much for your reply! It's nice that we can share our experience. Please keep me posted with your timeline. Thank you so much and wish you best of luck!

Background: I'm currently applying for marriage based green card inside US and I'm a F-1 working as RA. My spouse (citizen and sponsor in I-864) is TA in grad school and his annual alone income has exceeded the 125% poverty line. I do not intend to add my income to I-864.  I've read about a lot of cases here that people get RFE when both of them are students. Of course, in many cases the income from sponsor alone cannot meet 125% requirement so the applicant (F-1) has to add his/her income, and this causes some trouble. In the end, the applicant had to submit "6) A printout of ICE's website that states that F-1 students are automatically permitted to work on campus. 7) A copy of CFR 214.2 (9)(i), the regulation that governs on-campus student employment, with the relevant lines highlighted." And " I even took all of this to an infopass appointment, where the immigration officer told me he was wrong until he read items 6  and 7, apologized and said I was right! " 

Some comments pointed out that USCIS doesn't consider a TA/RA/GA salary a good income source because it has a definite end date, that is graduate date. It kind of makes sense to me.

Question: So my conclusion is that I won't bother adding my income as a RA. However, what would happen if my sponsor is a TA ??

My Speculation: I did some reading on I-864 instruction and in Part 6 Item number 7 it says: 

You may include evidence supporting your claim about your expected income for the current year if you believe that

submitting this evidence will help you establish ability to maintain sufficient income. You are not required to submit this

evidence, however, unless specifically instructed to do so by a U.S. Government official. For example, you may include

a recent letter from your employer, showing your employer’s address and telephone number, and indicating your annual

salary. You may also provide pay stubs showing your income for the previous six months. 

However, when it comes to using the income of intending immigrant, the USCIS asks for much stronger evidence: 

If you included the income of the intending immigrant who is your spouse (he or she would be counted in Part

5., Item Number 1.), you must provide evidence that his/her income will continue from the current source after

obtaining lawful permanent resident status.

Those being said, can I draw the conclusion that, there is no problem if my sponsor use his/her TA/RAGA salary as proof, while it is very tricky if I include my salary as the applicant?