Understanding how to satisfy interviewers with your K1 Visa income requirements.
A sponsor must meet the K1 Visa Income Requirements. USCIS Poverty Guidelines, Employment, Financial supporting records, IRS Tax records, Assets, Joint sponsor. In this post, we will teach the sponsor how to be prepared for the K1 Visa interview.
Page Jump
- Sponsor, how many dependents will you have?
- The most common issues the K1 sponsors face.
- Some possible solutions for sponsors with income problems.
- Are K1 Sponsors affected if they ever filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy?
- What about owed money to the US government like student loans?
- I was a joint sponsor or sponsored my ex-wife
- Do you meet the USCIS poverty guidelines for a K1 sponsor?
- At what point does the sponsor income and financial records get used?
- Would you like a free K1 visa evaluation in 24 to 48 hours?
- Are you and your fiancee looking for an affordable K1 Visa assistance?
Sponsor, how many dependents will you have?
You will need to count yourself as the sponsor plus your alien fiance. If the sponsor has any dependents they also need to be counted even if only joint custody. If your K1 Fiancee has any K2 children that are a part of the process, count them also.
Often times I have sponsors that tell me they have children but only through joint custody with the ex’s? You will still need to count them as a whole.
Sponsors if you have ever filed for another spouse through a previous marriage using a K1 or spouse visa and they are not yet US Citizens yet, then you may have to include them as well?
Knowing the requirements before filing an I-129F Petition for Alien Fiancee can save you from getting an RFE – Request for Evidence later on or even worse from getting a denial?
Let’s take a look at the most common issues that K1 sponsors face.
Since 2003, I have consulted with thousands of American men who were preparing to go through with the process of a K1 Fiancee Visa and based on the answers they gave me about their employment and income I have discovered that many of them weren’t ready?
What are some issues that cause a sponsor to not be ready to proceed with the I-129F?
- He doesn’t earn enough based on his household size.
- He is still in college and living with his parents not employed.
- He has a seasonal job only and gets terminated at the end of each season.
- He is self-employed and has no IRS tax records from previous tax years.
- He is on social security disability with low income and can’t work.
- He doesn’t have stable employment hops from job to job with low wages.
- He owes a large amount of taxes and needs to go on a payment plan or else get denied.
- He owes arrears on child support which places him in an automatic denial situation.
It can be painful for someone who is so anxious to bring his fiancee over to the USA. And oftentimes they don’t like it when I tell them what needs to be done? But every last one of them followed my instructions even if it took them an additional 1 to 2 years to complete.
What are some solutions to get them on track?
Low Income – College student – Seasonal job – Job hopper.
If a sponsor is falling short of earning the annual income amount that he needs to be based on his family size then he has some options if he is willing to use them?
He either needs to change jobs to a better paying job or go get another part-time job and depending on how much he is falling short of I suggest to him to borrow money and stick it in a US Savings account and not touch it for one year.
In many cases, if he is starting a new job, he would also be best off to stay at the new job to get some time behind his belt and accumulate a paper trail of employee-pay-stubs, direct deposits, a W-2 Statement and file his taxes to have record of that income.
For the above solutions, everybody may have slightly different situations and therefore different lengths of time to achieve the goal, versus tax records, a paper trail and possibly assets like savings account untouched for one year.
Self-employed no tax records
I have communicated with a number of sponsors who earned decent incomes and are self-employed. The problem is they haven’t been paying taxes or did not earn enough from the previous tax years and didn’t owe anything.
However when you’re going to be doing something like a K1 Visa that later requires tax records, checking account statements, then you better have supporting documents to prove to the US embassy interviewer and later USCIS that you pay taxes and earn enough?
Many of these guys ended up going to a tax accountant and paying their taxes and filing late tax records even though some did not owe any you still have to have a record saying that that you did not earn enough. In this situation, you don’t have many options.
Social Security disability
Every year I communicate with want to be sponsors of the K1 Visa and sometimes have no choice but to disappoint them. Not everyone can qualify to get a K1 Fiancee visa. And for a guy barely surviving on a monthly Social Security disability check the US government will deny you.
Are there any solutions for this type of situation?
Yes, there are possibilities that some are able to achieve. Does he have any liquid assets which are considered to be most favorable such as savings deposits, stocks, bonds or certificates? If he is a homeowner, does he own land that can be converted into cash within one year?
You can use 1/3 of the dollar value of certain assets, such as real estate, stocks, and bonds. If you have someone willing to co-sponsor, such as a family member or friend, you can use their income but not as part of the K1 Visa interview only during the adjustment of status process.
Other alternatives depending on his annual income which oftentimes is very low would be to borrow money in the amount that your falling short of? For example, if he is getting paid 12,000 per year and needs $17,000 he would need to borrow $5,000.
By putting $5,000 in a US Savings account and not touching it for one year. that would qualify him. He still would later be able to get a co-sponsor to help with the adjustment of status after he and his fiancee married within the 90-days allowed.
Owes Taxes – Arrears Child Support
I haven’t had too many with this situation but I have had some. Whether self-employed, employed or retired if you are late in paying the IRS or havent paid them for so many years but you earned enough income, then you need to get on a payment plan.
If you have arrears in child support the same as owing the IRS you need to get on a payment plan here also. The US Embassy interviewer and later on the USCIS for adjustment of status most likely would deny you until you have reached a certain satisfactory level in your payments?
This will depend on how much you owe? It also depends on how much you earn? But until you have supporting documents to show you are making the payments and that you have at least the bulk of the owed money paid back otherwise they can deny you.
As a sponsor would I no longer meet the K1 Visa income requirements if I filed a chapter 7 Bankruptcy?
Whether you filed a Chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy years ago or recently there are no laws to disqualify you as a petitioner from meeting the K1 Visa income requirements. It happens often especially after a divorce which was the case for me filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy.
If you owe the hospital money, or your mortgage is behind, or maybe you had a vehicle repossessed, the electric got turned off, or you owe a lot of money to your phone service provider or you have credit card debt up to your eyeballs, none of these will disqualify you.
What about US government loans?
Yes if you owe the US government money, say a student loan, or any US government loans then your K1 petition could be rejected or denied until the money you owe has been paid back? And normally it takes 90-days before any of this shows up in the system.
Remember the IRS belongs to the US government and you have to pay them so owing for a student loan is no different.
I was a joint sponsor or sponsored my ex-wife
This tends to be a problem for some guys that I have consulted with in the past. They have an ex-wife that they petitioned as either a K1 Fiancee or on a Spouse visa and have gone through the process of sponsoring that person to adjust their status making him liable.
Liable means that he signed a contract with the USCIS when he became the sponsor in filing the I-864 on behalf of his wife. If he needed a joint sponsor due to his income not being enough then that joint sponsor is also liable. The joint sponsor signed an I-864A form.
Or some guys meet a girl in the United States that arrived there as a nonimmigrant or even on an immigrant visa looking for a guy to marry only for the sole purpose to get that guy to becomes her sponsor making him liable to USCIS. Then later some of those women file a divorce.
Once they get what they want they will file a divorce while the sponsor is still liable to USCIS.
So what does it mean to be liable to USCIS?
It means that whether you are the sponsor or the joint sponsor you signed a contract with USCIS that says you will be liable if the immigrant needs US government aid. This could be food stamps, medical, student loans etc…
And even if you divorced him or her and they remarry to someone else you are still liable to them and to USCIS. How can a sponsor and joint sponsor get off the hook and how long does it take?
The only way the sponsor and joint sponsor can get out of this contract will be one of the following ways mentioned below?
- The immigrant moves back to their country.
- The immigrant dies.
- The immigrant becomes a US citizen.
- Or the immigrant completes 40 quarters with IRS.
So sponsor, if you where a sponsor to another or a joint sponsor and that person you sponsored is not yet in one of the 4 mentioned above, then you are still obligated which means you have to count that person or persons as independents.
So the question at the beginning was, sponsor, how many dependent will you have?
Take a look at the USCIS poverty guidelines this is form I-864P
For the 48 Contiguous States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands:
| Sponsor’s Household Size | 100% of HHS Poverty Guidelines* | 125% of HHS Poverty Guidelines* |
|---|---|---|
| For sponsors on active duty in the U.S. armed forces who are petitioning for their spouse or child | For all other sponsors | |
| 2 | $16,910 | $21,137 |
| 3 | $21,330 | $26,662 |
| 4 | $25,750 | $32,187 |
| 5 | $30,170 | $37,712 |
| 6 | $34,590 | $43,237 |
| 7 | $39,010 | $48,762 |
| 8 | $43,430 | $54,287 |
| Add $4,420 for each additional person | Add $5,525 for each additional person |
For Alaska Residence:
| Sponsor’s Household Size | 100% of HHS Poverty Guidelines* | 125% of HHS Poverty Guidelines* |
|---|---|---|
| For sponsors on active duty in the U.S. armed forces who are petitioning for their spouse or child | For all other sponsors | |
| 2 | $21,130 | $26,412 |
| 3 | $26,660 | $33,325 |
| 4 | $32,190 | $40,237 |
| 5 | $37,720 | $47,150 |
| 6 | $43,250 | $54,062 |
| 7 | $48,780 | $60,975 |
| 8 | $54,310 | $67,887 |
| Add $5,530 for each additional person | Add $6,912 for each additional person |
For Hawaii Residents:
| Sponsor’s Household Size | 100% of HHS Poverty Guidelines* | 125% of HHS Poverty Guidelines* |
|---|---|---|
| For sponsors on active duty in the U.S. armed forces who are petitioning for their spouse or child | For all other sponsors | |
| 2 | $19,460 | $24,325 |
| 3 | $24,540 | $30,675 |
| 4 | $29,620 | $37,025 |
| 5 | $34,700 | $43,375 |
| 6 | $39,780 | $49,725 |
| 7 | $44,860 | $56,075 |
| 8 | $49,940 | $62,425 |
| Add $5,080 for each additional person | Add $6,350 for each additional person |
When does a sponsor’s financial records come into play?
The only time the sponsor’s financial and income records are looked at is when the alien fiancee attends their U.S. Embassy interview. The list below may or may not be required by the sponsor depending on your situation?
The below information is only used for the K1 Fiancee US Embassy interview and not to be mistaken for the Adjustment of Status process.
• You will need to complete the I-134 Affidavit of Support Application.
• The most current IRS Tax records 1040.
• W-2 Statement for the most recent tax year.
• Checking Account Statements preferably the most previous 12 months.
• If applicable your employee pay-stubs preferably the last 12 months.
• If possible a letter from your supervisor on the companies letterhead.
• If tax exempt due to collecting Social Security or Social Security Disability provide records.
• If your using assets you will have to prove each one with supporting documents.