John and Martha's K1 Visa Adventure

The Dreaded I-134

The I-134 Affidavit of Support states in not so many words that you ( the US citizen ) agree to support your fiancé while he/she is here AND that they will not end up on welfare for quite a number of years. ( like 10 I think! )Also, the form MUST be notarized. In case your not sure what this is, don't worry. All you need to do is find a public notary ( look in the Yellow Pages, that funny book that shows up now and again with TELEPHONE numbers in it ). They'll probably be at a real estate office ( like mine was ) or a law office or maybe at a Kinko's or Mail Boxes Etc. Call them up and set an appointment. Bring all your I-134 stuff in and a picture ID. The notary swears you in, checks your ID, takes down some info then he/she punches your I-134 with a seal and signs it. Then it's notarized. Easy!! Oh yeah, they might want ten or so bucks for this service.

Filling out the I-134 shouldn't be too tough but you need some other documents.

TWO (2) letters from your employer showing:
1. Date and nature of employment.
2. Salary paid.
3. Whether position is temporary or permanent.
TWO (2) letters from an officer of your bank stating:
1. Date account opened.
2. Total amount deposited for the past year.
3. Present balance.
IF you're self-employed:
1. Copy of last income tax return filed. OR
2. Report of commercial rating concern.

Also, if you're claiming any Bonds as part of your wealth you need to include serial numbers, denominations and name(s) of record owners.

Note: The letters from the bank seem to be difficult to acquire. For example, my bank ( BofA ) sent me form letters which really only covered points one and three claiming point two wasn't available. ( TRANSLATE: They're too lazy to pull the data you're asking for. ) I hope this works for me. Some people have suggested ( a good suggestion I feel. ) sending copies of your last twelve bank statements. Unfortunately, most of mine found their way into the circular file.

No sir. I'm not trying to imply anything.

The Catch!

All done and good? You're probably saying that wasn't so hard. What isn't mentioned anywhere with the exception of the NewsGroup and the K-1 pages is the income requirement.
You as the petitioner need to make 25% ABOVE the poverty level for the number of people you support. The minimum number of people would be TWO ( you and your intended spouse ). Currently, the income requirement for two is about $13,500 (Circa 1998) a year. If you add more people ( ex. kids from previous marriages ) then the number goes up. As long as you meet this requirement everything, as far as the money aspect is concerned, is hunky-dory.
But I'm a student / single parent / etc. and I don't meet the requirement!

Don't worry. If this is the case, all is not lost. You merely need to find a co-sponsor. ANYONE can co-sponsor you, however, they will incur the same responsibilities towards the intending immigrant that you have. Also, things start to get confusing when you got a co-sponsor.

Example:

Jane ( the US citizen ) want to marry Joe ( the non-US citizen ). Jane's a student and makes, for sake of argument, nothing. Jane's dad, however, agrees to co-sponsor the young lovebirds. How much does dad need to make to meet the requirement?

Well..... he has to make 25% above the poverty level for the NUMBER OF PEOPLE he's supporting.

1 dad + 1 mom (maybe) + 1 Jane + 1 Joe = 3 or 4 people. If Jane has siblings, there are even more people. All this means is dad needs to make more money.

What about the money my spouse will make when he/she gets here?

Unfortunately, this income has NO bearing on the I-134. The INS is only interested in what the US citizen makes.

Conclusion

So, as you can see, EASY ( very tongue in cheek )! Just make more than about $13,500/year, get two letters from your bank and your employer, go see a public notary, and zip it off to your spouse-to-be, or find someone who makes enough money to do the above stuff for you!