RFE I864 Help Pls!

[ayk]

I'm a ph.d. student on a J1 visa without the two year rule. In October 2018 I filed I485, I130, I131 and I765. On Feb 20th my case status changed to request for initial evidence mailed. I received it a couple of days ago, and the RFE was for form I864. It said that my wife's (U.S. Citizen) income did not meet the 125% of federal poverty level and I needed to get a joint sponsor or show additional assets. In the original submission we knew this and provided a bank statement for a checking account that had 6x the difference between her income and the poverty level (only required 3x) but I think it was rejected because we had opened the joint account only a few weeks before and therefore didn't have 12 months of statements. I have a few questions about responding to this RFE:

1. My mother in law is willing to be a joint sponsor, and the RFE says that the joint sponsor should fill out an I864 form. My question is, do they mean an I864A form or a regular I864? Because the instructions for I864A says she must be in the same residence or have my wife as a dependent, which she is neither.

2. My wife has a mutual fund account with stocks and bonds that would cover the asset requirement. We did not try to use that account because we figured we had enough in the checking account and wanted to avoid more paperwork. Is it a problem that we didn't report it in the original submission? Can we just use it now?

3. If we use the mutual fund account, do we need to submit a new I864? The RFE only mentions a joint sponsor filing a new I864, it does not say that if you send evidence of assets you need to update the I864 but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

4. Unrelated to the RFE, my DS-2019 expires in May, and I got a notice from the university to file for an extension if I don't graduate by then, which I won't. Am I allowed to file for an extension to my DS-2019 even though I have a pending I485? I don't want to negatively impact my green card application but also am afraid of losing my status in the university.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Dukeith]

I'm a ph.d. student on a J1 visa without the two year rule. In October 2018 I filed I485, I130, I131 and I765. On Feb 20th my case status changed to request for initial evidence mailed. I received it a couple of days ago, and the RFE was for form I864. It said that my wife's (U.S. Citizen) income did not meet the 125% of federal poverty level and I needed to get a joint sponsor or show additional assets. In the original submission we knew this and provided a bank statement for a checking account that had 6x the difference between her income and the poverty level (only required 3x) but I think it was rejected because we had opened the joint account only a few weeks before and therefore didn't have 12 months of statements. I have a few questions about responding to this RFE:

1. My mother in law is willing to be a joint sponsor, and the RFE says that the joint sponsor should fill out an I864 form. My question is, do they mean an I864A form or a regular I864? Because the instructions for I864A says she must be in the same residence or have my wife as a dependent, which she is neither.

2. My wife has a mutual fund account with stocks and bonds that would cover the asset requirement. We did not try to use that account because we figured we had enough in the checking account and wanted to avoid more paperwork. Is it a problem that we didn't report it in the original submission? Can we just use it now?

3. If we use the mutual fund account, do we need to submit a new I864? The RFE only mentions a joint sponsor filing a new I864, it does not say that if you send evidence of assets you need to update the I864 but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

4. Unrelated to the RFE, my DS-2019 expires in May, and I got a notice from the university to file for an extension if I don't graduate by then, which I won't. Am I allowed to file for an extension to my DS-2019 even though I have a pending I485? I don't want to negatively impact my green card application but also am afraid of losing my status in the university.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hello
I would suggest that letting your department know that you status is I485 pending AND letting your university to update your GLACIER as well. Ask them what options do you have.

[hpx3000]

I'm a ph.d. student on a J1 visa without the two year rule.

J1 research scholar here also without the two year rule. Married to USC but my spouse has no income so I showed my income without joint-sponsor. All good. If you get stipend from your school, you can show that with all supporting documents (visa, I-94, tax returns, offer letter, etc etc). Got an RFIE for not showing enough proof of legal source of income, learned the hard way haha.

1. Regular I-864 I believe.
2. Yes.
3. Not sure about this one but I would send a new form with a cover letter. But don't take my advice on this one, see what others have done.
4. Yes. My international office told me that until I bring them proof of permanent citizenship, the current status will continue to remain in their system. If you get your EAD card before May, have your payroll switch you to that and let your international office know of this. Not sure what status they will put you in then but until you "register" your EAD or green card with the school, they are unaware of your AOS process.

[Guest]

1. Regular I-864 and if it's not her income alone (for example, household joint income), then her spouse would do the I-864A.
2. No (not a problem) & yes (you can use it now), but a cosponsor is better than assets in my personal opinion.
3. Yes, along with evidence. You would need to submit an I-864 that accurately reflects any assets that are missing from the original.
4. Shouldn't be a problem but I don't know much about this area TBH.

These are just my thoughts, maybe others can be more helpful.

I'm a ph.d. student on a J1 visa without the two year rule. In October 2018 I filed I485, I130, I131 and I765. On Feb 20th my case status changed to request for initial evidence mailed. I received it a couple of days ago, and the RFE was for form I864. It said that my wife's (U.S. Citizen) income did not meet the 125% of federal poverty level and I needed to get a joint sponsor or show additional assets. In the original submission we knew this and provided a bank statement for a checking account that had 6x the difference between her income and the poverty level (only required 3x) but I think it was rejected because we had opened the joint account only a few weeks before and therefore didn't have 12 months of statements. I have a few questions about responding to this RFE:

1. My mother in law is willing to be a joint sponsor, and the RFE says that the joint sponsor should fill out an I864 form. My question is, do they mean an I864A form or a regular I864? Because the instructions for I864A says she must be in the same residence or have my wife as a dependent, which she is neither.

2. My wife has a mutual fund account with stocks and bonds that would cover the asset requirement. We did not try to use that account because we figured we had enough in the checking account and wanted to avoid more paperwork. Is it a problem that we didn't report it in the original submission? Can we just use it now?

3. If we use the mutual fund account, do we need to submit a new I864? The RFE only mentions a joint sponsor filing a new I864, it does not say that if you send evidence of assets you need to update the I864 but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

4. Unrelated to the RFE, my DS-2019 expires in May, and I got a notice from the university to file for an extension if I don't graduate by then, which I won't. Am I allowed to file for an extension to my DS-2019 even though I have a pending I485? I don't want to negatively impact my green card application but also am afraid of losing my status in the university.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[onendaft]

with #1 just be careful with a size of her household, for example, if she is married then poverty guideline should be for 3 members (her+her husband+you), if she has other dependents it will increase the household size and poverty guideline as well. Don't forget to attach all supporting documents as requested in the form instruction (in the case of a few people in her household it might be documents for all members who earns money for the household).
You can use bonds and stocks as a safety pillow for sure, will not harm.

[ayk]

Thanks to all the responders. Do you think that if I have the option, I might as well send both the joint sponsor and mutual fund evidence?