Affidavit of Support
- Thread starter zahid474
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Here are the alternatives
Dear Zahid,
Basically what is important is that you have to be able to show that you can support yourself and your family and that you will not become a burden to the government after you go to the US.
There are any 1 of these 3 ways in which you can do that –
1) Get a job offer from somebody in the US.
2) Get an “affidavit of support” from somebody who lives in the US and is either a US citizen or a Green Card holder
3) Show bank records that show you have a reasonable amount of money which you will be able to take to the US when you go.
For most people who are not already in the US, option 1 (job offer) will not be possible in most cases.
There are some countries where it is difficult or impossible for the US embassy to confirm the truth of bank statements and bank records submitted by applicants. There are also countries in which it is not possible for those who are immigrating to take their own money with them due to exchange control rules. In such countries option 3 will also not be available, and in practice, the only alternative left will be to get an affidavit of support.
I don’t think that this will be the case in Bangladesh and most probably you will have the option of submitting bank statements to show that you can support yourself after going to the US. The reason I say this is that otherwise this issue would have already come up in this forum!
If you want to be absolutely sure you can just phone the US Embassy in Dhaka and ask them whether they accept bank statements or whether an affidavit of support is a must.
If you are submitting bank statements to show that you will be able to support yourself after going to the US, then there is no absolute fixed amount. It depends on the circumstances of the person and the opinion of the officer conducting the interview.
I’ve read that for somebody who is a professional and has a university degree, they are lenient on this matter and are prepared to accept a lower amount. So you have an advantage there!
Also I’ve read that the amount expected is 125% of the official US poverty level. (But please note that I've haven't seen any official state department document that confirms this. So it has the status of a rumour
Also I’ve read that they are often stricter than that for immigrants from wealthier countries.)
You can find the official US poverty level here –
http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/07poverty.shtml
If we take a family of 3 for example, the US government will officially consider that family to be “poor” if they have to live on less than 17,170 dollars per year. 125% of that figure is 21,465 dollars. So if you can show that you have that much money in the bank you should be fine.
However this is not a “rule”. It all depends on the opinion of the visa officer. Because you are a professional and a university graduate, there is a chance that he might even be willing to accept an amount lower than that.
Even if you cannot show cash in the bank, you can also show some property that you own and say that you intend to sell it and take the money with you if you get a visa. But showing cash in the bank will be more advantageous.
In general, since everything depends on the opinion of the officer conducting the interview, the only “rule” is that “the more you show the better”. The more money you can show in the bank, the more assets you can show, the better it is.
Also as LucyMo said, there is no need for a relative in the US. Anybody who is a US citizen or a green card holder can give an affidavit of support. But ofcourse only someone who is a relative or a very close friend will be willing to do that for someone else!
Dear Zahid,
Basically what is important is that you have to be able to show that you can support yourself and your family and that you will not become a burden to the government after you go to the US.
There are any 1 of these 3 ways in which you can do that –
1) Get a job offer from somebody in the US.
2) Get an “affidavit of support” from somebody who lives in the US and is either a US citizen or a Green Card holder
3) Show bank records that show you have a reasonable amount of money which you will be able to take to the US when you go.
For most people who are not already in the US, option 1 (job offer) will not be possible in most cases.
There are some countries where it is difficult or impossible for the US embassy to confirm the truth of bank statements and bank records submitted by applicants. There are also countries in which it is not possible for those who are immigrating to take their own money with them due to exchange control rules. In such countries option 3 will also not be available, and in practice, the only alternative left will be to get an affidavit of support.
I don’t think that this will be the case in Bangladesh and most probably you will have the option of submitting bank statements to show that you can support yourself after going to the US. The reason I say this is that otherwise this issue would have already come up in this forum!
If you want to be absolutely sure you can just phone the US Embassy in Dhaka and ask them whether they accept bank statements or whether an affidavit of support is a must.
If you are submitting bank statements to show that you will be able to support yourself after going to the US, then there is no absolute fixed amount. It depends on the circumstances of the person and the opinion of the officer conducting the interview.
I’ve read that for somebody who is a professional and has a university degree, they are lenient on this matter and are prepared to accept a lower amount. So you have an advantage there!
Also I’ve read that the amount expected is 125% of the official US poverty level. (But please note that I've haven't seen any official state department document that confirms this. So it has the status of a rumour
Also I’ve read that they are often stricter than that for immigrants from wealthier countries.)You can find the official US poverty level here –
http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/07poverty.shtml
If we take a family of 3 for example, the US government will officially consider that family to be “poor” if they have to live on less than 17,170 dollars per year. 125% of that figure is 21,465 dollars. So if you can show that you have that much money in the bank you should be fine.
However this is not a “rule”. It all depends on the opinion of the visa officer. Because you are a professional and a university graduate, there is a chance that he might even be willing to accept an amount lower than that.
Even if you cannot show cash in the bank, you can also show some property that you own and say that you intend to sell it and take the money with you if you get a visa. But showing cash in the bank will be more advantageous.
In general, since everything depends on the opinion of the officer conducting the interview, the only “rule” is that “the more you show the better”. The more money you can show in the bank, the more assets you can show, the better it is.
Also as LucyMo said, there is no need for a relative in the US. Anybody who is a US citizen or a green card holder can give an affidavit of support. But ofcourse only someone who is a relative or a very close friend will be willing to do that for someone else!
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Yup, usually.
Yup. According to what I've read on this forum, usually this is the case.
But I guess the officer conducting the interview has to be convinced that the job offer is genuine and the salary should be sufficient to cover the expenses of the family at the US poverty level.
And I really don't know whether special rules (for whatever reason) apply to Iran.
It is important to remember that in some cases different embassies follow different procedures. It is possible that in the case of some countries they don't take job offers into consideration just as they don't consider bank statements in some countries.
However there is a valide reason for not taking into consideration bank statements in some countries as I've said in my previous post. But I cannot imagine there being any reason for not taking into consideration job offers when evaluating people from a particular country.
I think it's best if you contact the embassy where you are going to do CP and inquire whether the possibility of showing that you can support yourself with a job offer applies to someone from Iran.
Note - I am not an Immigration Consultant or a lawyer and this is not professional advice.
Yup. According to what I've read on this forum, usually this is the case.
But I guess the officer conducting the interview has to be convinced that the job offer is genuine and the salary should be sufficient to cover the expenses of the family at the US poverty level.
And I really don't know whether special rules (for whatever reason) apply to Iran.
It is important to remember that in some cases different embassies follow different procedures. It is possible that in the case of some countries they don't take job offers into consideration just as they don't consider bank statements in some countries.
However there is a valide reason for not taking into consideration bank statements in some countries as I've said in my previous post. But I cannot imagine there being any reason for not taking into consideration job offers when evaluating people from a particular country.
I think it's best if you contact the embassy where you are going to do CP and inquire whether the possibility of showing that you can support yourself with a job offer applies to someone from Iran.
Note - I am not an Immigration Consultant or a lawyer and this is not professional advice.
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thank you so much.
i will contact the embassy soon.with all these if the job offer is obtained by a lawyer then it is geniune right?
thank you so much.
with all these if the job offer is obtained by a lawyer then it is geniune right?
Well I am not sure what you mean by "if the job offer is obtained by a lawyer". Do you mean that the lawyer will find someone who is willing to employ you?
If that's what you mean then I really don't know whether it'll be a problem or not. My guess is that it depends on the opinion of the officer conducting the interview.
If on the other hand what you mean is that the job offer will be presented in some kind of legal document prepared by a lawyer then I am not sure whether that is possible.
I've read that the job offer should be stated in a letter written in the company letterhead and that it should be "natarized". And I am not sure what notarized means, but I guess this is where the lawyer comes into picture.
I've managed to find some details of what the letter containing the job offer should contain here -
http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/visa/tvisa-niv-kaffidavit.html
I think that a "genuine" job offer is a job offer by someone who really intends to employ you and not merely give a letter so that it becomes easier to immigrate.
Note - I am not an Immigration Consultant or a lawyer and this is not professional advice.
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Nah, a notorized documents just means that signature on a document is that of the person who signed it. The document must be signed in the presence of a notory officer and an attorney is not required for that.
I really don't think a job offer needs to be notorized.thats my opinion thou.
its usually hard for someone oversea to get a job offer here in the US when some international degree's are not recognised in the states and most times, u'll have to take some kinda licensing test to practice.
What kinda degree do u have?
Many thanks to LucyMo, Mihiranga,Teoth and Johnkent for your quick reply. It is clear to me now. Considering your discussion, I prefer to go for affidavit of support. One of my ex colligue lives in Newyork who went there through DV. Please tell me what papers/documents I have to collect from my sponsor? What should be the qualification of the sponsor? Is it required to fillup any form/signature by the sponsor or need to submit sponsor's bank account statement/Tax payment documents/SSN information etc. I expect your reply soon.
The job offer should state the job description, minimum qualification for the job, Gross annual pay etc.
Also on the letter should be any relevant info about the company. The embassy might wanna check out the firm during administrative processing so it better be genuine. I think u should be okay since your single. Just make sure that everything u take to the embassy aint fake. take care buddy
Have to submit the I-134 form
Dear Zahid,
Your sponsor has to fill and send you the I-134 form. You can find it over here.
[There are a few countries, where I've read that embassy expects the I-864 form instead of the I-134 form]
The sponsor has to live in the US and be either a citizen or a green card holder. (Someobody on an H1 visa is not allowed to be the sponsor)
If he is employed, he has to have an income that is sufficient to maintain both his family and your family at the level of the official US poverty level. But the higher the income the better.
All the other documents that need to be submitted along with the 1-134 form are stated in that form itself. It specifically states that the sponsor has to provide a letter from his employer and also a letter from his bank with required details. In addition it might be a good idea to have the sponsors recent tax return records just in case the officer conducting the interview asks for it.
Dear Zahid,
Your sponsor has to fill and send you the I-134 form. You can find it over here.
[There are a few countries, where I've read that embassy expects the I-864 form instead of the I-134 form]
The sponsor has to live in the US and be either a citizen or a green card holder. (Someobody on an H1 visa is not allowed to be the sponsor)
If he is employed, he has to have an income that is sufficient to maintain both his family and your family at the level of the official US poverty level. But the higher the income the better.
All the other documents that need to be submitted along with the 1-134 form are stated in that form itself. It specifically states that the sponsor has to provide a letter from his employer and also a letter from his bank with required details. In addition it might be a good idea to have the sponsors recent tax return records just in case the officer conducting the interview asks for it.
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Dear Mihir,
I have just contacted 2/3 persons who get visa for DV2007 recently. I asked them about the Evidence of support. They replied me that this is no longer required for DV. I also feel this more logical because we are going through lottery and we may not have any sponsors in USA.The Embassey never asked them about the Affidavid of support. One of them had submitted his account statement but the officer said that that was not required. Now I am confused. I think it is country specific. Pls suggest....
I have just contacted 2/3 persons who get visa for DV2007 recently. I asked them about the Evidence of support. They replied me that this is no longer required for DV. I also feel this more logical because we are going through lottery and we may not have any sponsors in USA.The Embassey never asked them about the Affidavid of support. One of them had submitted his account statement but the officer said that that was not required. Now I am confused. I think it is country specific. Pls suggest....
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Dear Zahid,
If you were told by someone who did consular processing in Bangladesh that there is no need to provide evidence that you’ll be able to support yourself after going to the US for DV winners then that is probably the case. I’ve also read that this is the case in Malaysia too.
On the other hand I’ve read that in some countries they insist on affidavit of support and don’t even accept bank statements. Also I read that in some embassies they don’t ask for affidavit of support from individuals but ask for it when families immigrate together.
Someobody who did CP in Sri Lanka and got a visa wrote that he was asked for his bank statements he gave it to them. But when he tried to hand over his affidavit of support they didn’t take it from him.
So to the best of my knowledge embassies in different countries have different procedures. In some embassies they insist on affidavit of support, in some they don’t even want to look at affidavit of support and in some embassies they ask affidavit of support only from families and not from individuals.
As far as I know everything depends on the embassy, but what seems to be true is that most embassies do ask for some kind of evidence that the person will not be a burden to the government, either an affidavit of support or bank statements or a job offer.But there might be some that don’t and if the information you get from anyone who has already done CP in the US embassy in bangladesh is that this is the case over there, then that certainly is possible.
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Dear Zahid,
It might seem logical that we DV lottery winners should not be asked for evidence of support. But this is not the case. Under US law, all immigrants are required to prove to a consular officer that they will not be a burden on the government after they immigrate. There are no exceptions on that. Even the notification letter that we got says that we should prepare “evidence of support”. This is under the list “Documents you need to obtain” in page 4.
But on the other hand, consular officers have discretion on this matter. So it is possible that in some countries they will not ask for bank statements or affidavits of support.
It might seem logical that we DV lottery winners should not be asked for evidence of support. But this is not the case. Under US law, all immigrants are required to prove to a consular officer that they will not be a burden on the government after they immigrate. There are no exceptions on that. Even the notification letter that we got says that we should prepare “evidence of support”. This is under the list “Documents you need to obtain” in page 4.
But on the other hand, consular officers have discretion on this matter. So it is possible that in some countries they will not ask for bank statements or affidavits of support.
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Dear Zahid,
My own advice is to do 2 things –
1) Get bank statements for any funds you have and any funds you might be able to raise in some way so that you can show it if they ask for it.
2) If it is possible to do so, bring an affidavit of support from your friend in the US too, just in case they ask for it.
If by any chance you cannot get an affidavit of support then don’t worry about it much. As you said it might not be necessary in the US embassy in bangladesh. Also even if it is necessary for some people, they might not ask it from you since you have good qualifications.
There is also one thing you have to keep in mind. Even if the consular officer decides that an affidavit of support is necessary for you to be given a immigration visa, just because you don’t have it at the time of the interview (as far as I know) doesn’t mean it is the end of the journey. If that is the case he will probably temporarily reject your application and ask you to come back to the embassy with an affidavit of support from a US citizen or green card holder.
So if you really don’t feel comfortable right now to ask your friend in the US for an affidavit of support, then (as far as I know) you will have the option of doing so after the interview if it becomes clear that being able to go to America depends on it.
My own advice is to do 2 things –
1) Get bank statements for any funds you have and any funds you might be able to raise in some way so that you can show it if they ask for it.
2) If it is possible to do so, bring an affidavit of support from your friend in the US too, just in case they ask for it.
If by any chance you cannot get an affidavit of support then don’t worry about it much. As you said it might not be necessary in the US embassy in bangladesh. Also even if it is necessary for some people, they might not ask it from you since you have good qualifications.
There is also one thing you have to keep in mind. Even if the consular officer decides that an affidavit of support is necessary for you to be given a immigration visa, just because you don’t have it at the time of the interview (as far as I know) doesn’t mean it is the end of the journey. If that is the case he will probably temporarily reject your application and ask you to come back to the embassy with an affidavit of support from a US citizen or green card holder.
So if you really don’t feel comfortable right now to ask your friend in the US for an affidavit of support, then (as far as I know) you will have the option of doing so after the interview if it becomes clear that being able to go to America depends on it.
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Corrections made
Please note that I've eddited some of my previous comments 2 make a correction.
According to this state department document, the sponsor who signs an I-134 affidavit of support has to have an income sufficient to cover himself, his dependants, the immigration applicant and his family at only 100% of the official US poverty level. (Not 125% as I stated earlier)
The 125% figure applies only to the I-164 form.
Please note that I've eddited some of my previous comments 2 make a correction.
According to this state department document, the sponsor who signs an I-134 affidavit of support has to have an income sufficient to cover himself, his dependants, the immigration applicant and his family at only 100% of the official US poverty level. (Not 125% as I stated earlier)
The 125% figure applies only to the I-164 form.
Hi every one.I am one of the winners of dv lottery 2008 though I haven't got...
Hi every one.I am one of the DV 2008 winners from Eritrea.I am wondering if the packages that were sent to the rest of you who are DV 2008 winners had a letter included to write your affidavid of support.This was there during the DV 2007 one.Please let me know
Hi every one.I am one of the DV 2008 winners from Eritrea.I am wondering if the packages that were sent to the rest of you who are DV 2008 winners had a letter included to write your affidavid of support.This was there during the DV 2007 one.Please let me know
Another question.
As soon as I got the NL from KCC,I fillled and sent back the forms to them.I later discovered this embarresment.I found out that I left two spaces blank with out answering them.That was a total confusion.Then I had to email the office and state what was going on and I recieved an email that I could go online and fill the forms again and return them back to the office.They told me that they were going to include this with my previous file.That gave a little breath.Do you think guys they will make fill that space on my behalf.Please drop your messages on this.Thanks
As soon as I got the NL from KCC,I fillled and sent back the forms to them.I later discovered this embarresment.I found out that I left two spaces blank with out answering them.That was a total confusion.Then I had to email the office and state what was going on and I recieved an email that I could go online and fill the forms again and return them back to the office.They told me that they were going to include this with my previous file.That gave a little breath.Do you think guys they will make fill that space on my behalf.Please drop your messages on this.Thanks