And the question goes, "My husband is from Zambia. My income has changed. I'm currently collecting unemployment from the state. It exceeds income requirements but not sure if I can still be the sponsor for my husband."
I'll take this one, since you just spoke for a bit, and give you a break, but feel free to chime in. So, collecting unemployment, is that count as income? So, generally, no, just straight unemployment does not. In terms of proving your income, a couple of the things the government looks for is one, can you support this person when they get here, and they're not gonna go on any sort of welfare or public means. So, that is Wick, food stamps, unemployment, all that kind of stuff.
With that being said, if you're in between jobs, just do your best to get another job, and then show that proof of employment when you get to the interview stage. Or, if you haven't applied yet, maybe it's worth waiting a little bit, just so you're on a little bit better financial footing. Because the process is expensive, and the last thing you wanna do is be juggling paying for a medical exam, for example, and then your electricity bill.
So, I really recommend plan it all out, save some money. You can always use a joint sponsor as well. Feel free to give us a call if you have more questions about that or check out our website. But, there are other options out there, but the best thing I can tell you is, if you haven't started yet, take a break, catch up, get back on your feet, and then if you have, really explore the joint sponsor realm. Anything you add?
Yeah, you mentioned the joint sponsor. That's definitely something that's probably you're gonna wanna consider, simply because the consular officer is gonna look at your income over the last three years. They wanna see stable, sustainable income. If there's been a lapse anywhere in there in between, you may receive an RFE, a Request For Evidence, and usually in that RFE letter they're usually requesting the joint sponsor. So, that's something you may wanna go ahead and consider now, and just let you know that joint sponsor can be anyone that is a US citizen over the age of 18, and as long as they meet the income requirements.
And also note that you cannot combine incomes and try to join them together to meet the income requirement. They have to meet the income requirement on their own.
Yeah, thank you.
