Affidavit of Support

Can anyone shed more light on the I-864 Affadavit of Support and what it obligates you to exactly in the case of divorce? In terms of this agreement, what constitutes "125% of the Federal poverty guidelines"? And if a divorce occurs in the first two years of a marriage, under what conditions is the alien resident allowed to stay? I hate to ask such grave questions, but I want to know any possible negative consequences of marriage upfront. I remember reading the horror story of the guy who married the lady from Russia/hell.

[In the Know 2]

Zorro,
The affadavit of support I-864 has nothing to do with what responsibility it holds you to in case of divorce.

The I-864 affadavit came about as a result of California gov. Pete Wilson's efforts to kick illegal immigrants and legal immigrants off of the "welfare rolls". I-864 tells the U.S. government that you have enough income or financial wealth to support your bride to be. This requirement is only like $13,000 a year. No problem!

Zorro! If you marry a Colombian and you divorce she can sue you for half just like any American woman could. If she is a legal resident, and she will be if you marry, she has many rights! Your only protection would be a "pre-nuptial" thing. See Gary Bala!

The government does not want immigrants coming into the country only to ask for welfare sooner or later!

Think well before you marry! I am married and quite happy! (I still wanna throw her from the train from time to time!)

PS If you divorce within two years of your marriage she technically has to go back to Colombia but in most cases it ain't gonna happen. Why not? She can run to the INS and apply for a spousal abuse exception or just a general exception. If she pays the money and the fills out the forms the INS will not deport her. The INS only deports the crooks. It is all a bunch of horse you know what which is why there are some 6 to 20,000,000 illegals in the country. The government does not want to deport! Too expensive....food, transportation back home...that costs! Easy to let them stay and pay goverment fees and fill out forms!

[HonkyTonk]

Zorro, you'd be crazy NOT to ask these grave questions. The US is littered with failed foreign marriages including Colombianas. I wish some of the posters on this Board felt comfortable enough to share with the newer members their horror stories about their marriage to a Colombiana but I will ask no more They weren't the first and they won't be the last among the Gringos. Their stories are in the archives but I won't mention their names again.

I was told the amount of $ a gringo needs to make was about $22,000+ as of 2 1/2 years ago when I got a marriage visa. Whether $13 or 22K doesn't matter as we all make that or couldn't afford this expensive process.

Ask away or suffer the consequences of your ignorance. ITK2 is right in that they might have to go back if the marriage fails in 2 years but I never knew one that did that didn't want to. Also, depending on time, it varies between states whether she gets 1/2 of your stuff. Pre-nup a sticky situation but......ask a lawyer. Robert Vignola sometimes posts on here and is a lawyer so may be able to point you in the right direction if you're willing to use his services.

Cover your ass or I can asure you Murphy's Law was written just for you.

[Junfan]

Hola,
I'll try to help a little bit...Say a girl came here on a K-1 Visa, marries and recieves her "Conditional Permanent Resident" card, aka greencard. The 'conditional' card is good for two years, at which time you must petition for the conditional status be removed. It is conditioned on her still being married to you. So, if you get divorced before the two year period is up, she will be able to stay here, or even re-enter as she pleases until the 2 years is up, and there is nothing you can do about it. After the conditional card expires after 2 years, she could not leave and re-enter the US. But then again, why would you care if you were already divorced? This would be different if the girl was married on a K-1, has filed for her AOS, but is still waiting for her interview to get approval for her status change to 'conditional permanent resident'So, if you divorce before the AOS appointment, which can sometimes take years to get, she will not be able to adjust status as she would no longer meet the requirements. And remember, she can't adjust status without your sponsorship, and you are required to be there for the AOS interview with the INS. Of course, this will be different for someone who comes in on a Spousal Visa.

I'm not sure under what circumstances the gringo gets on the hook with the government. My impression is, it would be hard for most of these women to qualify for most entitlement programs as they have never worked here, etc.

The most important thing you can do if you are worried, outside of not marrying her, is to protect your assets. A prenup would be good and the Limited Liabilty Partnership is a damn near bullet-proof way of protecting your assets. Essentially, you are looking to protect the assets that you accumulated before marriage. In some cases this can be quite substantial. So, what you come into the marriage with is yours, and what was hers is hers. But everything accumulated and or earned after marriage is considered community property, to be split in a divorce. The trick is making sure you don't comingle 'Community Property' with 'Separate Property'. That's the jist of it.

good luck,
Mike

Thanks, guys. What made me start thinking about the Affidavit of Support was attorney Gary Bala's reference to how it relates to the premarital agreement, on his site at www.usaimmigrationattorney.com/article.html.
If I interpret what he is saying correctly, it is that the immigrant has no right to federal benefits of any kind until they have been here for 5 years. But, in terms of alimony, which can still be awarded with a premarital agreement if the immigrant decides to stay here, the judge may look to the Affidavit of Support as a guideline in determining alimony. Thus, he says, a sum of one-half of the sponsor's required amount of support under the I-864 would not be an unreasonable starting point for alimony and could be structured into the premarital agreement. From what I gathered on yet another website, the required support amount is 125% of the poverty level, which in 2001 for a 2-person household, was $14,512. So, if I'm interpreting Bala correctly, that translates to only about $7,256?

Mike, if you don't mind me asking, did you do a premarital agreement? If so, how did Beatriz react to it? I've talked to my fiancee about it some, and she didn't seem to object, but I'm not quite sure she really fully understood. If I get married, I'm certainly not planning on a divorce. But, I believe in being insured for the unexpected catastrophes of life, too. I decided several years back that I would have a premarital agreement regardless of who I marry. My feeling has always been that if they don't like the prenup, they better stick around after we marry and they won't have to worry!It's easy to say that when there's no definite potential marriage partner. Now that there's a real possibility in that role, I'm a little concerned how she will take it when it's in black and white, en espanol.

HT, yes I wish we could get the horror stories as well as the success stories from the guys on the board. How do I find those old stories you referred to? Is yours one of them? Being relatively new here, I'm not up on all the history.

[Chao]

Zorro, I'm glad you raised the premarital agreement thing. I am on the verge of filing a K-1 petition. I have thought about getting a pre-nup.

I have known my fiance for almost 18 months. I talk to her over the phone on a weekly basis. I have visited her four times since meeting her. I don't think she has any bad intentions. She has not misrepresented anything about herself.

I asked her to marry me during my last visit. She accepted after thinking it over for two weeks. She has some regrets, like leaving her family, her dog, friends, etc.

I own a house, but it has a large mortgage. I have retirement money socked away, plus some other assets, but I am not rich. I am solidly middle class.

Gentlemen, do I need a pre-nup?

chao

[HonkyTonk]

Zorro, I will refer you to the one X Gringo that no longer posts on here or he posts under a different name. Go to the top of the page and hit "search". Hit all forums/dates for the key word....Ben Had. Read the thread titled "I think I entered into a scam marriage." For you guys that already know this one like the back of your hand, I think it needs to be dredged up from time to time both for us all to remember and especially to make the newbies enter this whole deal with their eyes wide open. Dig deep into the Ben Had search and you will discover more

Mike, you've brought up something here with this Limited Liability Partnership thing. How does it relate to a prenup and does she even know about it? Just wondering because most of us will either be dealing with this or we will damn sure wish we had

Lawyers, schmoyers ... .

In regards to the I-864 Affidavit of Support, I have an excellent article from Lender's Immigration Bulletin, Vol. 5 - No. 3, Feb. 1, 2000 entitled "Affidavit of Support: The Ten Most Common Mistakes."

Send an email to me at sectorusa@earthlink.net , include your fax number and I will fax the article to you.

In regards to pre-nups I recommend that you read the book "How To Write Your Own Premarital Agreement" by Edward A. Haman. Mine cost me $ 19.95. I encourage you to read this book before consulting any attorney about pre-nups. And after reading the book you still decide to have an attorney write your pre-nup for you, the book will serve as good preparation before your initial consultation.

Sector International has a Spanish version of the premarital agreement from this book. Thanks to www.protranslators.com

Have fun convincing your Colombian fiancee / wife to agree to a pre-nup.

ALSO - if you are going to have a lawyer write your pre-nup you should HIRE A LAWYER IN THE STATE WHERE YOU RESIDE. Ante-nupitial agreements (pre-nups) and of course divorce laws differ from state to state.

Once upon a time I consulted with a lawyer whose name occasionally appears here on GringoTalk. This so called expert on pre-nups suggested an "alimony schedule" for the wife in the event the marriage should fail. (I was starting to wonder whose lawyer is he ?)

A friend who practices family law here in Minnesota reviewed the proposed "alimony schedule". He then told me that in Minnesota I would never have to pay any FUTURE wife ALIMONY (maintenance) as long as my income is based on disability. Which is what my income was, is and probably always will be. He went on to state that if I AGREE to pay her alimony vis-a-vis an alimony schedule in the pre-nup I am precluding the alimony payment exemption and more or less putting a noose around my neck.

In Minnesota, disability income is exempt from ALIMONY awards. HOWEVER child support IS NOT exempt nor is it in any of the other states.

So be careful. Know the law in your state. And if you are going to hire a lawyer I suggest you confer with one in your state FIRST.

My lawyer friend who read this "alimony schedule" in this proposed pre-nup asked "How much is your fiancee paying this guy ?" "You're going to get her a green card so she can come to the U.S., divorce you and then sit at home and wait for her alimony check to arrive while she's doing her nails and watching soap operas." "Why don't you just marry another American woman and skip the cost of the green card ?"

Enough said.

And remember we will go-fer you !!
www.sectorcali.com
www.protranslators.com
www.sectorinternational.com