Best option...

[USAkiwi]

Update

Well things have progressed...

I got all the confirmation letters (May 24th) & have had my biometrics appointment (what a fun way to spend a Friday afternoon! ). Now I've had a request for more evidence around income for I-485. This is probably an area where a lot of applicants new to the US have challenges providing proof but as my wife is in the process of finding work, it's difficult to prove we earn above the minimum here. I have part time work in London which far exceeds the requirement and can show evidence of this for periods outside the US but am also able to work remotely once legally eligible in the US.

I applied for I-765 and have the receipt letter but nothing further. Will there be some sort of acceptance confirmation I have to wait for, or am I ok with starting to work remotely now? Presumably only my I-485 is paused at the moment as that is all I have listed on the request for evidence.

Could also go down the asset route but that is also a matter of providing sufficient proof of overseas assets so I'm trying to keep it simple.

Thanks!

[rayb]

Kiwi Guy,

Since you are not yet legally eligible to work in the U.S., you cannot sponsor yourself based on earned income while in the U.S. Solid proof of liquid assets at least three times the income requirement might suffice, but if such assets are outside the U.S., you will be creating more documentation problems by offering such assets for sponsorship purposes.

The fastest way to make this work is to find an eligible co-sponsor to sign the I-864 and provide proof of U.S. status, a 2014 income tax return, W2 and/or 1099 forms and employment verification.

--Ray B

Well things have progressed...

I got all the confirmation letters (May 24th) & have had my biometrics appointment (what a fun way to spend a Friday afternoon! ). Now I've had a request for more evidence around income for I-485. This is probably an area where a lot of applicants new to the US have challenges providing proof but as my wife is in the process of finding work, it's difficult to prove we earn above the minimum here. I have part time work in London which far exceeds the requirement and can show evidence of this for periods outside the US but am also able to work remotely once legally eligible in the US.

I applied for I-765 and have the receipt letter but nothing further. Will there be some sort of acceptance confirmation I have to wait for, or am I ok with starting to work remotely now? Presumably only my I-485 is paused at the moment as that is all I have listed on the request for evidence.

Could also go down the asset route but that is also a matter of providing sufficient proof of overseas assets so I'm trying to keep it simple.

Thanks!

[USAkiwi]

Thanks (again!) Ray,

I could probably ask my Father-in-law but he recently retired so I'm not sure how that all would work. I could transfer cash over to my wife's account here to meet the asset requirement. We have 87 days so I could also wait a few weeks & see how my wife's job hunt goes, as any job she gets will meet the requirements.

It seems that waiting for the I-765 is a risk as it could still be a couple of months. I could also head back to London for a few weeks but I haven't received anything further on the I-131 either, so would prefer not to risk it. Both those options would be based on overseas income anyway, so that's probably another level of difficulty. I did initially send evidence of my overseas contract & bank account details but it seems (as you state below), they prefer everything to be US based.

Will look into the sponsor option so that I am prepared if necessary.

Thanks!

Kiwi Guy,

Since you are not yet legally eligible to work in the U.S., you cannot sponsor yourself based on earned income while in the U.S. Solid proof of liquid assets at least three times the income requirement might suffice, but if such assets are outside the U.S., you will be creating more documentation problems by offering such assets for sponsorship purposes.

The fastest way to make this work is to find an eligible co-sponsor to sign the I-864 and provide proof of U.S. status, a 2014 income tax return, W2 and/or 1099 forms and employment verification.

--Ray B

[USAkiwi]

Have submitted further detail & received a receipt of this but my question is: how long should the I-765 take? I've heard nothing more than the initial receipt (in April) and have had numerous enquiries from people wanting to know when I'm eligible to work here, so it's a little frustrating. Does anyone know at what stage they generally approve? Am I confused about the purpose of I-765 as I thought it provided applicants authorisation to work while the application is being processed.

Thanks,
Allan

[USAkiwi]

All done!

Finally have been approved for a 10 year Green Card, which is apparently on its way. Interview was extremely straight forward - just took all the paperwork requested on the interview letter (even though they'd been sent it all as part of the original application) and we were done in 15 mins. Bear in mind that we've been married more than 10 years so it may not be as easy for newlyweds.

Thanks again to those who have provided guidance throughout the process, in particular Ray B, whose wealth of knowledge was invaluable.