US K1 Fiancee Visa from Thailand

K1 Visa Requirements

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K1 Visa Requirements

K-1 Visa Requirements / K-3 Visa Requirements:

Affidavit of Support

K-1 Visa requirements and K-3 Visa requirements are essentially, Immigration officials want to ensure that the immigrant spouse or fiancé will not become a public charge (welfare recipient) once he or she enters the United States

When bringing a spouse or fiancé from Thailand to live permanently in the U.S, a petitioner must accept legal responsibility for financially supporting the spouse or fiancé. The petitioner accepts this responsibility and becomes a K-1 or K-3 sponsor by completing and signing a document called an Affidavit of Support.

K-1 Visa Requirements / K-3 Visa Requirements:

Income Requirement

Part of the K-1 Visa requirements and the K-3 Visa requirements is to ensure that the petitioner is able to meet the income eligibility requirement in the Affidavit of Support he or she must show that his/her income is 125% of the poverty line. The chart below shows the current poverty guidelines for 2009 along with the calculation necessary to determine if a petitioner’s income meets the 125% requirement. (Note: Active Duty military personnel need only show an income that meets the poverty guidelines level).

2009 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR IMMIGRANT VISA PROCESSING (125% of Poverty Line)

Persons in Family or Household	48 Contiguous States and D.C.	Alaska	Hawaii
1	$10,830 ($13,538)	$13,530($16,913)	$12,460 ($15,575)
2	$14,570 ($18,213)	$18,210 ($22,763)	$16,760 ($20,950)
3	$18,310 ($22,888)	$22,890 ($28,613)	$21,060 ($26,325)
4	$22,050 ($27,563)	$27,570 ($34,463)	$25,360 ($31,700)
5	$25,790 ($32,238)	$32,250 ($40,313)	$29,660 ($37,075)
6	$29,530 ($36,913)	$36,930 ($46,163)	$33,960 ($42,450)
7	$33,270 ($41,588)	$41,610 ($52,013)	$38,260 ($47,825)
8	$37,010 ($46,263)	$46,290 ($57,863)	$42,560 ($53,200)
For each additional person, add	$3,740 ($4,675)	$4,680 ($5,850)	$4,300 ($5,375)

SIAM LEGAL SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 74, No. 14, January 23, 2009, pp. 4199–4201

Petitioner for a K-1 Visa who does not meet the K-1 Visa Income Requirement

K-1 visa requirements and K-3 visa requirements does not have a hard and fast formula for qualifying a person as a sponsor. The most weight will be placed on income from current employment and the total unadjusted income shown on the three most recent tax returns. In most cases, a sponsor who is employed and can demonstrate the ability to earn income at or above 125% of the poverty line for the number of persons who will be supported will be found eligible. Immigration will look at the “whole picture” with regard to financial status if a petitioner does not have sufficient income to meet the K-1 visa requirements. USCIS will look at assets such as stocks, bonds, bank account balances, real estate, and any businesses owned by the petitioner.

Assets such as theseare only counted at 1/5th of their current market value after subtraction of any debt, mortgages or liens.

Calculating Assets and Income for Thai K-1 Visa Requirements or K-3 Visa Requirements

Let’s say a petitioner is single and makes $11,500 per year. He owns a home worth $100,000 with an outstanding mortgage in the amount of $50,000. He also has a bank balance of $5,000. The USCIS will likely compute this situation as follows for the K-3 Visa and K-1 Visa requirement:

. $100,000-$50,000=$50,000/5=$10,000

. $5,000/5=$1,000

. $10,000+1,000=$11,000

We now take this $11,000 and add it to petitioner’s yearly income of $11,500. $11,500+$11,000= $22,500

It is clear that this amount ($22,500) exceeds 125% of the 2009 poverty guidelines ($18,213) even though petitioner’s yearly income does not meet the necessary standard for supporting two people at 125% of the poverty guidelines.

Immigration Lawyers in Thailand for US Visa

Eliza Stefaniw is a member of the California, Washington, DC and Patent bars. She focuses her practice on US immigration from Thailand. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Eliza specializes in handling difficult immigration cases along with routine K1 fiancee visa and K3 Spouse visa applications from Thailand.