I-864---financial questions

[grace413]

Hi,

My fiance and I are getting ready for our wedding, and I had some questions about our financial status.
Everything in the process of changing his status seems like it will go very smoothly, but my concern is that my finances are not in a great position now.

I am a student and I currently do not make 100% of the poverty line for 1 person. I make close to 11,000 per year.
I only just started working this past year, and that was only 6 months ago. I have substantial savings, and we both have cars in both of our names. His is a new car. He is supported completely by his parents, and will continue to be so until we both have jobs after graduation.

Considering this, will we be approved for the change of status? I am starting two new jobs now in the hopes of making more, and we are both continuing our studies this semester.

Could his income help at all? Should we think about asking a friend to help sponsor?

Thanks!

 

[Jackolantern]

Is one of a you a US citizen? If yes, every $3 of acceptable assets offsets the income requirement by $1.

If your household size is two, 125% of the poverty line puts you at $18,913 (more if you're in Hawaii or Alaska), so with $11000 income your assets would need to be 3 times the difference in assets, which is 3 x $7913 = $23739. If the two of you combined have that, you won't need a joint sponsor.

However, I don't think you can use the cars as assets, because a car can be counted only if you own more than one. You as an jointly own 2 cars, so that's like 2 half-cars; I'm not sure how that would be interpreted. Also, you have to subtract the loan balance from the appraised value.

 

[grace413]

Thank you for your reply!

Yes, I am a US citizen. He is here on an F1 visa (unexpired).
Our cars would be worth the $23,739. I could transfer the titles to have both in my name so we could count that. Also, there are no loans against the cars. I also do have savings of approximately $15,000. Could that count as well?

Should we wait to file until my tax returns have been filed? I don't have tax returns from the previous year.

 

[Jackolantern]

Our cars would be worth the $23,739. I could transfer the titles to have both in my name so we could count that.

Only cars beyond one car would count; you can't count the total of both cars.

Leave the cars as is if you can. Having both your names on both cars is valuable evidence for proving the bona fide marriage, and transferring it your name right before filing the green card paperwork doesn't look good.

I also do have savings of approximately $15,000. Could that count as well?

Of course! Savings in a US bank account is the best type of asset for this purpose. What about his savings? That also counts.

Should we wait to file until my tax returns have been filed? I don't have tax returns from the previous year.

Yes, I would recommend waiting until you have at least a tax return to submit, given that you have none from the previous year, and he has an F1 visa so he's not immediately dependent on the green card process to have or keep legal status.