lucky & candy

The time has finally come to send in the I-134 paperwork and I am pulling together documentation. I am self-employed and my income level is above the 125% poverty guidelines but not by much. I am listing my home with the most recent tax assessment as what it is worth (I can provide the tax assessment documentation as proof). Do I need to get anything from the bank to show how much I owe on my current mortgage? Thank you!

Not all J-1 visas fall under 2-year home residence rule.

Ask your fiance to check his visa - if it says on it "TWO YEAR RULE DOES NOT APPLY" he's good to go

Yes, thank you so much! His visa does say this. What a relief. I cannot stop smiling now

thank you. i think i may have it figured out!

I am in shock because I did not know this was an issue. My fiance and I filed our I129F on March 2nd and we have been expecting our NOA2 any day now. He had a J1 visa last summer. What are you going to do? File for an exception? This is such terrible news.

Don, your post just made me cry...congratulations!

Line 22! I was hoping that would be the consensus. Thank you everyone for your responses! It puts relief in my heart and a smile on my face today.

I know this has been asked before because I have researched it on VJ (last time I think it was discussed was in October). However the answers seem to vary and I was hoping for some additional advice/responses.

I am self-employed and my 2010 income level (line 22 on my 1040) should be enough to meet the 125% poverty guideline. However my adjusted gross income might be short. I am currently waiting on my accountant to complete my tax return.

Please advise which income number to use: total income (line 22), or adjusted gross income (line 37).

Thank you so much everyone for helping me through this process!

Thank you everyone for your replies...and I agree with you. Honesty is the best policy so they say, and in almost all situations I feel this is true. I hope this is one of them.

And yes, I feel you are both correct that it is fairly easy, especially for the government, to find personal information regarding everyone off the internet. So once again, it is best to be honest. Thank you for taking the time to answer my post.

My boyfriend who lives in Turkey has his interview for a tourist visa in 3 days. We met this summer when he rented a room from me while he was here on a work/travel J1 visa.

He plans to say during his interview, that he is visiting me, a friend, while he is here on his university break, as well as doing some traveling. He fears that if he says he is visiting a girlfriend that they might assume he is planning to stay here. We were planning on applying for the K1 visa a few weeks after he is here. He will then return to Turkey after about 6 weeks in the United States to finish his last semester of school and then graduating.

I worry that if he says he is visiting a friend, and then we apply for K1 several weeks later, that it will look bad for us. Any thoughts on this subject?

Another question I have not seen anything on the forum about...On Facebook we have listed each other as boyfriend/girlfriend. Does anyone know if the US government looks at things like this prior to the interview?

Thank you for your thoughts on these questions! We have been apart for over 3 months and can't bear to think of being apart another 7-9 months (I have 2 children and cannot travel to visit him).

We were also a bit worried about that considering we were already engaged when she came back a few weeks ago. However, to follow up with what SunDrop said, I'd discourage lying to any immigration officers. Besides potentially frying yourself later down the road, it's generally just not necessary. Patricia was asked who she was going to see and she said something along the lines of "family and friends" - which is absolutely true. She had proof of return airfare (generally weak proof from what I gather as "ties to your home country") but more than that, she had all of her old passports with her, just in case. Seeing as she has been to the US probably 200 or more times in her life and never overstayed a visa at any point, this probably speaks louder for her case to an immigration officer than any other documentation would - showing that she is likely zero liability to overstay her current visa, based on her past history. I don't know your particular situation, but if your fiance has been to the US only a handful of times (or not at all) I imagine that you'll need VERY substantial proof of ties to a home country.

Thank you for your thoughts...he has been here once on a J1 visa (work/study program) this summer. His family is in Turkey, but he is a student and does not own a home or have a bank account. I know this is not good. I am just hoping that by proving he only has one more semester of school to attend when he returns from his trip and then he will graduate with his degree, that they will let him through. He is calling tomorrow to schedule his interview. I am very nervous. I will be sure to explain to him to not lie about anything...maybe not offer up big details unless asked, but to be honest. Thank you!

Thank you for your thoughts on both posting the new thread, and on being honest with answers to immigration, which I would much prefer to do. As I am just beginning this journey, I am sure to have more questions along the way.

Max and Patricia,

I have a question for you regarding this topic...we are getting ready to apply for a tourist visa for my fiance to come visit from Turkey in January or February, 2011. He will stay for 1-2 months. We are thinking of holding off and sending in our I129F when he is here to coincide with his visit as well, like you did. When Patricia enters the United States, is she asked if you are her boyfriend? I don't want my fiance to have any red flags when he arrives. I am afraid if they know I am his girlfriend, then they may think he is planning on staying here. He will be returning to his country after our visit to finish his last few months at his university and then he will graduate, so I am hoping they will trust that he is planning to return home. I am wondering if it is ok to be honest and say he is visiting his girlfriend or should we keep our relationship under wraps until the I129F is submitted?

Thank you.

Hey all,

Hopefully someone out there can help address a question my fiancee and I have.

Long story short, my fiancee is here on a B-2 tourist visa and has been here for about two weeks. We planned her vacation here for the holidays to coincide with submitting her I-129F, hoping to minimize our time apart since we know it takes months for the K-1 to get sorted out. We sent off our I-129F packet about a week ago and are expecting NOA1 this week.

She has a 10 year tourist visa, multiple entry, and has been to the US more times than either of us could count (multiple passports stamped front to back since she was an infant). Her I-94 is good until June 2011, and her ticket to return is on January 25, 2011. Our question - if she were to stay here for an extra week or two, is there any possibility that staying longer could pose a problem either when she's leaving the US or after her K-1 is approved? One point to bring up - in our I-129F, Question 18, "explanation of how we met" I wrote that she is currently here and will be leaving on January 25, 2011 to wait for her K-1 approval in her home country.

I'm guessing that it wouldn't matter since the change would be within the date marked on her I-94 for required departure, but would appreciate any input before we consider changing flights.

Thanks in advance!

moving thread to:

US Embassy and Consulate Discussion

This is the place to post your experiences or questions related to this last step before moving to the US. Topics relating to I-134's, packets sent from consulate and medical & police certificates should be posted here.

I appreciate you trying to place my question in the appropriate forum...but I am afraid the issue will be lost here...I feel my question pertains to the K1 process and the I-864 form. I was hoping to hear from others that have had similar situations when trying to satisfy the income guidelines.

The interviewing CO makes the decision.

Thank you for your thoughts on this issue. So it seems it really could go either way...depending on the interviewer I suppose ):

I am also self employed. I'm sure like you, last year I wrote off as many business expenses as possible. Luckily, I won't need my I-134 until after the first of the year. This year I plan on taking a hit in the taxes to show a higher income. I also have 2 children, work a 2nd job plus get child support. I know you can count assets such as homes and IRA's. But I do believe that their worth needs to be 5x the poverty level. I'm not 100% on that though. I do plan on showing that I own my home and it's worth. I believe every little bit helps. Good luck to you!!!

Thank you for your reply...the IRAs and home equity together are over 5x the difference between my 2009 income and the poverty level...I am just nervous...I foresee my 2010 tax return being higher which might help. Unfortunately I did not receive a penny in child support in 2009, so that has hurt my income level. Good luck to you as well!

I am self-employed and my tax returns indicate I am under poverty guidelines by $12,600 for a family of 4 (2 children plus my fiance)...I understand you can use assets to qualify and I have IRAs...do retirement accounts qualify as assets? I also own a home and have about $70,000 in equity...Does anyone have advice? I have not filed yet as I just started the process but I am afraid this income portion will be a major problem.