A little assistance, please?

senior citizen

Guest

« on: March 04, 2005, 05:00:00 AM »

As you know, I married Honey when bringing home a Filipina bride was as easy as adopting a stray kitten. So all the rigamarole attendant with today's process is confusing to me.

I have an nodding acquaintance with Zachary. Zack is wanting to bring his Indonesian (Christian) sweetheart over on a K-1 I believe it is (fiancé visa). Zack is retired and lives off his tax-free munies. He owns his own home outright, and a nice one at that, is widowed these past 6 years, has grown children and no worries. The lady in question is 43 years old and a librarian, never been married. She is very attractive in her photos.

Anyhow, he apparently ran afoul of the feds over his ability to support her. He makes about $49,000/year, tax-free, on his munies. He hasn't filed federal or state taxes in years as all his income is non-taxable. This is equivalent to over $60,000/year if it were taxable. But since he has not filed taxes in like forever, the INS or whomever kicked back his forms saying he needed to include IRS forms, so that he has to file back for 7 years, even if he owes no taxes since his income is non-taxable. They want him to file back tax forms on non-taxable income because they say they MUST have IRS 1040 tax forms to process his paperwork. It sounded bogus to me, like he got an idiot at INS on a bad day.

What say you?


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senior citizen

Guest

Thanks to everyone

« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2005, 05:00:00 AM »

... in response to A little assistance, please?, posted by senior citizen on Mar 4, 2005

I was just curious. I may have gotten what he said wrong. It sure seemed to me that he had enough for two to live o comfortably.


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Bob S

Guest

In brief:

« Reply #2 on: March 05, 2005, 05:00:00 AM »

... in response to A little assistance, please?, posted by senior citizen on Mar 4, 2005

1. Ray's right. Proof of ability to support for an Affidavit of Support is not required for a K-1 visa (see: http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/fianceapp.htm ). That comes later when you try to adjust status (see: http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/LPRApplication.htm ).
Your buddy must be trying to do something different. Maybe marry her there and bring her over on a K-3 (see: http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/Appproc.htm )? That may also require an I-864 Affidavit of Support even though it doesn't say so in the "How To" page but does on the Affidavit page (see: http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/affsupp.htm ).

2. Jeff's right. If you do not have proof of income, you may use assets as proof of support ability. In this case it is something like net worth of 5 times the income requirements (about 125% of the poverty limit) (see: http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/I-864p.htm ) or about $80,000 to $100,000 depending on family size. A really nice motorhome alone can be worth that much. I had to use this method to bring my wife over as I was between jobs at the time of her interview.


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Ray

Guest

Confused...

« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2005, 05:00:00 AM »

... in response to A little assistance, please?, posted by senior citizen on Mar 4, 2005

[This message has been edited by Ray]

Something is wrong with this story señor. First, the INS (currently referred to as the CIS) does NOT ask for or require copies of tax returns for a fiancée (K-1) petition. She wouldn’t be asked for tax returns until she applied for the visa overseas after it had been approved by the CIS. Even then, tax returns are not always required.

The consular officer would be looking at the totality of the applicant’s situation, particularly the petitioner’s financial status, to insure that the applicant is not likely to become a public charge in the U.S. The consulate usually requests a Form I-134 Affidavit of Support and evidence of sufficient income, preferably from steady employment. If the petitioner is self-employed or retired, then they will need to see solid evidence of a steady income or substantial assets. They like to see copies of recent tax returns and W-2’s if applicable, but if the petitioner was not required to file returns, they only need a written statement and detailed explanation of why the filing of tax returns was not required under IRS regulations. If he can show evidence of an annual income above about $16,000 or so then he should have no trouble qualifying. The consular officer has a lot of discretionary authority in evaluating the public charge provisions of the law so perhaps the evidence of income and assets was not fully documented.

If the fiancée petition has not yet been approved and sent to the embassy overseas, then perhaps your friend is just imagining the potential financial problems that don’t exist yet(?). If he can post here in person, then it would be much easier to evaluate his problem.