Dan Nguyen

Hello Vjers. How does registering birth abroad works, especially when you are in the spousal visa process. If you haven't given birth yet, how do you go about it? I am in Ghana and can it be done at the US Embassy here? What do they need? Has anybody done hers there?

You should be able to. Go to the U.S. embassy website under American Citizen Services, Consular Report of Birth Abroad. You can't do anything until your baby is born.

Hello,

Some background:

I will be needing a cosponsor, my brother, since I don't make enough money.

My wife, a Mexican national will be immigrating to the US with my son, a US citizen by birth abroad(my son hasn't been to the US though)

as far as item 9 goes:

"I am sponsoring the following family members immigrating at the same time or within six months of the principal

immigrant named in Part 2 above. Do not include any relative listed on a separate visa petition"

Should my son be listed in my brothers I-864 under item 9?

Thanks,

If he's sponsoring your son also, yes.

Hello,

My joint sponsor does not have his passport. Would a copy of his birth certificate be acceptable proof of U.S. citizenship?

Have you actually read the form instructions? They are very straight forward. He counts himself, any dependents, any spouse, anyone else that he may have sponsored, and the intending immigrant(s).

Yes, I already figured this out.

I have another question. My brother is now the joint sponsor with enough income to meet the poverty guildeline by himself. What do I do about my dad's I-864A at the consulate? Are they still going to hold him responsible or discard his affidavit?

Hello,

My brother just agree to be a joint sponsor for my wife.

I need to figure out how to count his household size. I know he has to count himself and the immigrant. He is single and shares a house with his sister, her husband and their two kids.

Does he have to include them in his household size?

Thanks,

Then don't count yourself and your daughter in your parents' household. Why are you saying the C/O won't accept an I-864 from your father?

I share the same address with my parents. I'm using both of them as household members. As far as I know, I have to include myself and my daughter.

I'm saying the C/O won't accept because she didn't accept. I'm guessing it's because we share the same address so he has to file as a household member instead of joint sponsor.

Yes, you include her in your household count.

What do you mean my household count? On my I-864?

Is dad's income is less than $23,162? With mom's income added to dad's does it exceed $23,162?

Yes, it does but only enough for a household of four, not five.

If it's just your parents, then they need to have enough income for themselves plus your spouse.

If they are adding their incomes to yours then the household is you, your spouse, any children that you may have, plus your parents.

We have a daughter in Vietnam. She is a USC. Do I have to include her in household?

If it's just your parents, then they need to have enough income for themselves plus your spouse.

If they are adding their incomes to yours then the household is you, your spouse, any children that you may have, plus your parents.

So the better way is to have my dad file an I-864 and include my mom as household member? Which means the household is three instead of adding their incomes to mine, which make the household size of five because we have a daughter.

But like I said before, c/o won't accept an I-864 from my dad.

Not always. Do your parents have any other dependents? Or is it just the two of them?

Just the two of them. I also share the same address, so I guess I have to include myself in household, which makes four including the immigrant.

My father submitted an I-864 as joint sponsor and c/o asked for I864A. We submitted the I-864A. C/O then said not enough income and to get a second joint sponsor. Now I'm going to add my mother as the second household member so I can use their combine income to meet the poverty guildelines.

Problem is I just not sure how to go about doing it.

If mom's income is enough on her own, then just use mom. If they need to combine income, then have one parent do an 864 and the other to an 864A to combine their incomes.

I thought the petitioner does the I-864 and the household members does the I-864A?

There have been successful lawsuits where a spouse was able to get support based on the I-864. It's rare, but has happened.

If you have a nervous potential joint sponsor, have them read the sponsor's promise (contract) in Part 8 of the I-864. It's all spelled out there.

Is the joint sponsor required to financially support the immigrant (as in give money for food, rent, etc. ) or is he/she only responsible when the government seeks reimbursement of any means tested public benefits which the immigrant receives?

It actually can be forever. The support requirement lapses if the beneficiary dies, works for 40 quarters, becomes a citizen, or leaves the country permanently and returns the green card. So if she/he were to never work for 40 quarters and never became a citizen, the responsibility could be for life.

By the way, divorce does NOT remove the requirement.

The question was "In what ways is the sponsor or joint sponsor responsible when he/she signs the Affidavit of Support.

Is he/she require to provide financial support for the immigrant or only when the immigrant receive Federal means tested public benefits?"

NOT how long.

After reading the requirements of Sponsorship again, and reading other posts on similar topics:

The sponsor is not required to financially support you (as in give you money for food, rent, etc. ), but may be responsible for the reimbursement of any means tested public benefits which the immigrant receives. That is for 40 financial quarters (10 yrs) time.

Good luck

OK, that's what I was hoping, thanks.

Hello,

In what ways is the sponsor or joint sponsor responsible when he/she signs the Affidavit of Support.

Is he/she require to provide financial support for the immigrant or only when the immigrant receive Federal means tested public benefits?

Yes bank statements and the award letter from Social Security will do nicely.

OK, we went back again yesterday. After another three hours of waiting they gave us a white paper saying my dad does not make enough money and to get a second sponsor.

Can I use my mom as the second sponsor? She lives in the same household. Can I have 2 househould members as sponsors?

1040 forms are evidence of past income. Pay stubs and current employer letters are evidence of current income. Sounds like a scan or fax of a pay stub showing year to date income will get you that pink slip. They are ready to issue the visa, once they have the needed evidence.

My dad receive his payments by electronic ACH payments from Social Security Administration. How about bank statements showing these payments as there are no paystubs?

Hello,

We went back to HCMC consulate today to submit the requested I-864A. No pink, after waiting almost three hours. Now they want proof of my dad's income. No 221(g) this time, the c/o just came out and said she wants some kind of proof of my dad's income. Like a paystub or something. As if the 1040 is not proof? Why didn't she ask for this at the same time she asked for the I-864A?

The pink slip is still there in our file. I'm a little confused. Who prepares the pink slip? USCIS, NVC, or the consular officer? If consular officer, then why doesn't she just hand it over? If our papers are not in order, why is there a pink slip?

What do you do for single status affidavit if you are a USC but live in a foreign country?

You can get a relative to get it for you.

That's a little odd. Did you submit the application and supporting documents before the interview? The burden of proof is a little different when the US citizen parent is married to the foreign parent, but there are still documents that need to be submitted, and USCIS still has to approve the citizenship application.

No, I submitted supporting documents at interview. Marriage certificate. Daughter's birth certificate, five years tax records, etc....

Of course this is back in 2010. Maybe they no longer process CRBA at consulate.

I filed for my son crba at the embassy in vietnam on may 10th. After calling them last week to ask if passport is there yet (answer is no)...i just called DoS and 2 different csr couldnt pull the info up concerning my son's case. Are they separate dept and wouldnt have the info or should i start worrying? Any info is appreciated. The case will be 6 weeks next tuesday. Thx

I made the appointment online. We were interviewed about three months later. Approved and received CRBA the same day at consulate. Also received passport a week later. Unless something has changed.

I try to be organize and detail oriented for most of the things I do but today an immigration lawyer screw up so badly that I decided to do it with the help of this community. I am very intimidated by the whole process and I need all the encouragement and support I can get. My fiance is from Vietnam and I love her like no other. I am 33 and she is 25. Today is the start of my first journey of my fiance and I getting a K1 visa. Please put us in your prayers.

Be prepare. Research. Ask questions.

Hello!

Can someone share their experience with me?

I heard USC marrying in Vietnam is a very complex process from a bureaucratic perspective.

Below are some questions I have:

1. How long did it take?

2. What can be done ahead of time to expedite the process

3. What kind of evidence did you produce indicating you were single? How did you obtain it?

4,. What pitfalls can I avoid?

Any information would greatly be appreciated

After you get your certificate of no marriage authenticated, you might want to make a copy and mail or email it to your fiancee to take to Justice Dept. and ask them if it's acceptable. Could save you a trip back to U.S.

Hello!

Can someone share their experience with me?

I heard USC marrying in Vietnam is a very complex process from a bureaucratic perspective.

Below are some questions I have:

1. How long did it take?

2. What can be done ahead of time to expedite the process

3. What kind of evidence did you produce indicating you were single? How did you obtain it?

4,. What pitfalls can I avoid?

Any information would greatly be appreciated

You can download the marriage application forms from Vietnam Embassy website.

Once your marriage application is accepted, it takes Vietnam Justice Dept (So Tu Phap) of your district about a month to process. The process is somewhat similar to applying for an immigration visa. You will be interview to show you have bona-fide relationship so save all your evidence.

Vietnamese officials likes to give you the run-around. For example, they will say that a certain document needs to be certify by local police (Cong An) or some other government body but when you go there, they might not want to do it for one reason or another.

Both you and your fiancee are require to provide documents to show you are single. Your fiancee can get this done in Vietnam fairly easily. You need to get a certificate of no marriage from the state you live in. This also has to be authenticated for foreign use by the Common Wealth of the state you live in. Wouldn't hurt to have it authenticated by the State Dept also. Make sure that the name of the registrar that signed your certificate is on the authentication document and not somebody else. This happened to me and I had to go all the way back to the U.S. to do it again.

You also have to pass a Mental Health Examination in the U.S. This form is included in the application although it will be rejected and they will make you take another one in Vietnam. At least we had to. Yours case might be different.

You need a lot of patient when dealing with Vietnamese official. They like to go at their pace, not yours. lol

Hello all....I submitted the I-130 application at the end of January 2011 and now just paid the IV fee payment. The status is PAID. I am wondering what the next step should be beside preparing IV Package, which consists of Barcode cover sheet, my own cover sheet, DS-230 Part I & II, copy of the beneficiary's passport, birth ceritifcate, our marriage certificate, (2) 2"x2" color pictures and police record. The police record is the one that my wife has to obtain from the Vietnamese Justice Office right? It takes approx. one month to get one. Therefore, I should wait for it and then submit the rest of the package or submit now without it and turn it in later. In addition, can I submit copy version of all of the required documents and then bring the originals to the interview?

Thanks for the responses.

Submit all civil documents. You will get a checklist if you don't. That'll put you back another month.

You can submit copies of documents to NVC but it must be certify and translated to English. There are many services in Vietnam that can do this. Vietnam Justice Dept does not translate.

All original documents must be submitted during interview at consulate.