Josh N

Thanks all very much for the advice! Really appreciate the outside perspectives. We have a friend in mind that we are considering to ask and will take it from there. My understanding is that the downside of someone agreeing to be a joint sponsor are: Liability lasts until the immigrant becomes a US citizen, is credited with 40 quarters of work (10 years), dies, or permanently leaves the U.S They will need to share sensitive records (i.e. 3 years of federal tax transcripts; copy of birth certificate) Can be sued be government agencies to recover costs if the immigrant takes means-tested benefits they are ineligible for Can be sued by the immigrant for financial support if the immigrant’s income falls below 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines each year But these can be mitigated somewhat because: Immigrant through marriage is eligible for naturalization on 3rd anniversary of receiving green card, which is my intended route Sponsor's liability ends when immigrant naturalizes Sponsor and immigrant can agree to an arrangement between them to give comfort to the sponsor of their ongoing circumstances, finances, intentions, expectations etc. The liability can be enforced against both/either my spouse as sponsor and/or the joint sponsor Grateful to know if I am wrong on any of those points. Just had my biometrics appointment for I-485/I-764 today, so another step done!

Hi all, Looking for any advice on how best to proceed with our RFE - thank you in advance! Context I’m a UK citizen and was admitted to the US on a K-1 visa. I married my US citizen fiancée (named on the I-129F) within the 90-day window. We used Boundless Immigration for the K-1, but they caused delays by sending a package with a missing page, so we filed the AoS (I-485 + I-765) ourselves. I didn’t use a lawyer because our application seemed mostly straightforward, and the main complexity now is our I-864: my wife (the petitioner) is currently unemployed and we’re sponsoring based on her cash assets only. Timeline 2025 21 March - Arrival in US (I-94 valid until 18 June) 6 June - Married* 9 June - sent I-485 and I-765 concurrent filing via UPS 17 June - received I-797C Rejection Notice**, and USCIS returned the full original application package 25 June - sent corrected I-485 and I-765 concurrent filing package via UPS 27 June - Received Date for I-485 and I-785 1 July - Notice Date for I-797C Receipts (I-485 and I-785) 3 July - Notice Date for USCIS Account Access Notice 4 July - Notice Date for Biometrics Appointment Notice 15 July - Date of RFE for I-485 (see pages from RFE below) * I know that a lot of advice suggests not leaving it so late in the 90-day period to get married. We are in a bona fide relationship and had genuine reasons. I'm mentioning this because I know it may seem odd, but ultimately is legal within the K1 process. ** This was due to my error. I submitted the I-485 with a previous edition date. Totally my fault, I had been going by the "Expires" date in the top right when doing final checks before sending, but as I know now this does not mean the Form is valid. For anyone reading this, ALWAYS check the "Edition" date in the bottom left matches the latest published edition on the USCIS website. Summary of the RFE To me, this looks like a generic response, and it is not clear what was insufficient e.g. the form itself, income/asset amounts, or the supporting documentation. Full text of RFE attached. Summary of our case Household size of 2, therefore poverty threshold is 3x $26,437 = $79,311 USC spouse has been on a career break while traveling Europe, so unemployed for 12+months Sponsorship is based on assets, with our I-864 including: Small income (<$10k, mostly interest + small ad hoc work) $100k–$200k in sponsor's assets (CD + savings, 12-month history included) We explained the small income estimate in Part 11 "Additional Information" and provided bank statements showing movement of funds between the CD and savings. Contents of submitted package I-485 & I-765 All required forms and ID docs I-693 (sealed), marriage cert, I-94, etc. Bona fide marriage evidence (lease, insurance, texts, etc.) I-864 Form + additional information on continuation sheets 3 years of IRS transcripts (2022–2024) Bank statements (12 months for both CD and savings) Sponsor’s birth certificate Applicant passport & visa copies My (immigrant’s) UK company stock ownership, evidence of liquidation being undertaken this year, information about value of stocks after liquidation, info from received dividends, foreign exchange transactions of cash - all submitted to explain Part 7 (Assets of Principal Immigrant) Potential issues I'd hazard a guess at any of the following being issues: Documentation for the transfer from CD to savings within prior 12 months may be unclear? Income being an estimate of interest for this year based on last year's history might have caused confusion Sponsor’s current unemployment status Inclusion of my (immigrant) assets may have added complexity Next steps If it seems like the issue is just administrative, perhaps we should simplify and refile a cleaner I-864, only including: The sponsor’s bank statements showing >$80k in assets Birth certificate for proof of citizenship Possibly remove all income references and my (immigrant’s) assets If the issue is unclear or it seems like a more material issue, we could: Try to get a joint sponsor Try to show new income from my wife if she takes a job now, although unsure if USCIS accepts new employment in an RFE response with less than 12 months work history/pay stubs etc Get a lawyer (only haven't done so because of cost) Questions Does this sound more like a documentation/admin issue, or a genuine eligibility problem? Would a simplified I-864 (assets only) that exceeds the asset threshold make the case clearer? Anyone with similar RFE experience for I-864 using assets only? Thank you!

Thanks so much !!

Hey just a quick update on my visa interview, it all went well. I chased the medical office the day before and they advised that the courier should collect the report that afternoon, and I called again at the end of the day and they confirmed that the courier had done that. During my visa interview the following day, the document collector and the consular officer asked whether I had done my medical and what date, I said it had been completed 13 December and that I'd chased the medical office and the report should have been delivered to the embassy the previous day as there had been a mixup at the medical office. They were satisfied and gave the expected visa refusal pending receipt of the medical report - the consular officer told me he was satisfied to approve otherwise. Interested to note that I submitted the I-134 Declaration of Financial Support with no income for me or my fiancée (we have taken a year out to travel), so submitted on an asset basis, but they did not ask for any evidence to accompany the I-134. I had also received a notice advising that a reaffirmation of the letter of intent was needed, so prepared this and asked the consular officer if they required it, but they did not want it. Obviously good to be over-prepared than the opposite, and I will carry all of these documents with me at the US border, but I was surprised at how chill the process was. Timeline so far: USCIS processing - all correspondence sent to US citizen 13 Mar 2024 (Wed) - mailed I-129F 18 Mar (Mon) - I-129F Petition for Alien Fiancé(e) received by USCIS 21 Mar (Thu) - I-797C Notice of Action (NOA1) confirming USCIS is processing the I-129F 30 July (Tue) - Request For Evidence/RFE because the company we used to prepare the I-129F (Boundless) has failed to submit the I-129F with the first page of the form (!) 13 Aug (Tue) - mailed response to RFE 23 Aug (Fri) - I-797 Notice of Action (NOA2) confirming approval of I-129F and start of processing by NVC Embassy processing - all correspondence sent to foreign fiancé 26 Nov (Tue) - welcome letter from London embassy 7 Dec (Sat) - completed DS-160 online 13 Dec (Fri) - medical examination in London 3 Jan 2025 (Fri) - emailed the medical office with a letter from my GP that had been requested, and they confirmed receipt 30 Jan (Thu) - medical office called me asking for the letter (that they had confirmed receipt of but didn't seem to realise that), I re-sent and they confirmed receipt 31 Jan (Fri) - medical report and GP letter were checked by the physician and medical report approved 3 Feb (Mon) - medical report couriered to the London embassy 4 Feb (Tue) - visa interview, refused pending processing of medical report 6 Feb (Thu) - checked CEAC and status was "Approved" 7 Feb (Fri) - checked CEAC and status was "Issued" Currently waiting for an email for collection. Thoroughly recommend anyone to check in with the medical office. I was told "no news is good news" originally, so assumed there was no need to check in, but I could have caught the issue earlier if I had phone to asked about the status of my medical report. This page is a useful reference that reiterates what others in this thread have said: https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/immigrant-or-fiancee-visa-case-status-and-delivery-information/ - see this part: '2) My application was refused because my medical report had not arrived. What should I do?' Thanks!

Hi Edward and Jaycel, thanks very much! So it's just a common sense approach that if the medical takes a few days, the whole process is just delayed a few days rather than causing any more significant (i.e. months of) delays? It sounds like we should be on track for issue by end of March assuming no other issues. Thanks!

Hi, I had my medical examination in London mid-December 2024, they needed a follow-up letter from my GP which I sent to them 3 Jan 2025 and the medical practice confirmed that they had printed off the information for checking. My visa interview is scheduled for 4 Feb 2025 (i.e. 2 business days from now), and I received a phone call from the medical office today requesting the information I had already sent - seemed to be a mix up as they could see receipt when I told them, but this has prevented them from sending the report to the embassy which I was unaware of. My question is that if the medical office does not send the medical report by the time I have my interview in a few days, despite me not being at fault given the time I'd left between the examination and the interview, what are the possible outcomes of the interview? E.g. is the CO able to approve conditional on receipt of the medical report? Can my case be put into processing for months? Other than this, it's a straightforward case and hoping to fly to the US end of March. Thanks!

Thank you very much!

Thank you!

Thank you!

My USC fiancée has taken a career break to travel with me while we have been submitting our visa application, and my interview is coming up. I've read a few topics that indicate a K1 beneficiary may pass the visa interview with assets as the only financial support, I understand that it is down to the consular officer's discretion and that neither the I-134 or I-864 are strict requirements but are good guidelines, and ultimately the test is to demonstrate that the foreign beneficiary/fiancé will not become a public charge during the 90 day visa validity. My plan at the moment is to submit an I-134 from her showing no income but with cash assets that are approximately 7x the federal poverty guidelines for a household of 2 in the 48 contiguous states. We could also submit tax returns for 3 previous years (i.e. before her 1 year career break) showing income of at least 3x the federal poverty guidelines for each of those years. I may be able to show evidence of my own cash assets that are similar in size to hers. I think common sense says that the likelihood of becoming a public charge is low. Does anyone know if this will be sufficient for the interview, or have any recommendations? E.g. is it worth preparing a brief letter explaining the career break and intention for her to seek employment? Thanks!

Hi marnold, I came across this topic as I'm in the same situation as having a UK limited company that I'd like to continue working on as an owner-operator between getting married on the K1 and receiving EAD. Once I have the EAD I want to start an LLC and mirror the UK company. While waiting for the EAD I'd like to focus on growth, brand building and targeting UK/EU clients, before shifting to US clients after EAD. Ideally will take money out of the company either as salary, dividends or director's loan - subject to US tax. Could I ask what you ended up doing? Any issues or recommendations? Thanks! Josh