QUESTION
How long must I work to be able to prove that I am able to complete with the requirements of the affidavit of support?
Asked on Apr 16th, 2015 on Immigration - North Carolina
More details to this question:
Hello. I am an American and my husband is a Chilean. My petition for his immigration has been approved. We received a letter that said:"The National Visa Center (NVC) received your immigrant visa petition from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. We will work with you to complete your immigrant visa case and schedule your visa interview." The next steps require an affidavit of support. Since I have been living overseas with my parents, I have not been able to work. In August I will begin to work to be able to fulfill the affidavit requirements. I have 3 questions. 1) How long must I work to be able to prove that I am able to complete with the requirements of the affidavit of support? 2) How long will the processing take from this point to conclusion? 3) Can my husband come to the States at any point during this processing; either as a visitor, or through some other petition, so that we don't have to be separated
1 ANSWER
Immigration and Nationality Law Attorney serving New York, NY
Partner at
Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Attorneys at Law
3 Awards
Generally speaking, U. S. consulates want to see 3 years of tax returns to determine whether individuals have the wherewithal to financially sponsor relatives. From the time that the NVC acknowledges having received an immigrant visa petition and where there is immediate immigrant visa availability, the process takes approximately 4-8 months if there are no delays. Presently the NVC is experiencing backlogs and sending out notices to applicants that its review of documents is delayed by at least 60 days. From the time of selecting an agent, it will usually take up to 6 weeks for NVC to make the fee bill available. Immigration inspectors may allow your husband to enter as a visitor if they know you are sponsoring your husband, but only if convinced that he is making a temporary visit and will soon return to Chile. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.
Answered on May 15th, 2015 at 3:03 PM