World Journal Weekly Q & A - June 12, 2011

Q & A 1. 2. 3.


Q&A 1.

Good Friend Wants Daughter to Attend High School in San Francisco. How to Do It?

Yang reader asks:

My good friend in China wants to send his daughter who is in first-year high school to attend high school in San Francisco next year.  He has asked me to find out the related procedures and information.  My questions are:

  1. How many ways a child can apply to attend high school in the U.S.?
  2. How to search for high school in San Francisco?  Should it be public or private school?
  3. How to apply a child to enter the U.S. after finding a school?  What are the specific procedures?
  4. How many application fees are there and how much in total?
  5. How much would be the child’s cost of living, tuition and other expenses after she arrives to the U.S.?
  6. What are my responsibilities in terms of financial and health insurance if I sponsor the child to attend school in the U.S.?

Dear reader:

1.   I assume that your good friend's daughter is neither a permanent resident nor U.S. citizen and must apply for a F-1 student visa to attend schooling in the States.  In that case, a child can apply to attend private or public school in the U.S. regardless of whether public or private so long as the school has the authority to issue I-20 student acceptance forms. 

2.   You can search for a high school in San Francisco through the telephone directory, a listing of schools in the area, or through the Internet, etc. 

3.   The school will have to issue an I-20 form after examining the applicant's qualifications.  I-20 issuance means at the very least payment of the SEVIS fee of $200.  A further fee for F-1 visa application at the American consulate is $140. 

4.   The child's cost of living, tuition and other expenses can be calculated from the I-20 form, which is the school's best estimate of these costs. 

5.   If you are the financial sponsor of the student, you will be filling out an I-134 affidavit of support form with documentation.  The I-134 is a non-binding affidavit of support under which you are trusted to support the student up to the level you indicate on the form. 

6.   I note two other facets of which you and your good friend in China should be aware.  Obtaining a student visa for a child in high school is usually not an easy task, and public schools are only allowed to keep F-1 students for one year.  A condition of attending a public high school under F-1 status is that the school district must be reimbursed for the full cost of schooling.  Attendance at a public high school under F-1 status for more than one year would make your friend's daughter excludable from the U.S. for five years.

Q&A 2.

Low Income's Effect on Naturalization and Sponsoring Husband.

Li reader asks:

Will my low income status with the free insurance card affect my naturalization application and application for my husband in the future?  Do I need to file tax return when I apply for my husband and what is the minimum I have to file?

Dear reader:

Low-income status with a free insurance card has no effect on the naturalization application.  In order to sponsor your husband for immigration, you must provide a binding affidavit of support on form I-864.  If your husband is overseas, U.S. consulates usually expect to see a current job letter, pay slips, banking statements, and three years tax returns.  Many consulates have rejected affidavits of support where there is low-income for two years and higher income just in the year of sponsorship.  Of course, this would depend upon the reason for the rise in income.  Generally speaking, if you and your husband have no children and you have sponsored no one previously for permanent residence, the amount of income needed under the poverty guidelines is $18,387.50.  In the event that you are unable to provide an adequate affidavit of support, you can have a relative or close friend provide a co-sponsorship through his or her binding I-864 affidavit of support.

Q&A 3.

The Rules of Cross Chargeability Speeding Up an Employment Based Green Card Case.

A Chinese wife asks:

I am from China, have an approved labor certification and I-140 petition under the EB-3 category, and filed my I-485 in July 2007.  My priority date is in May 2006.  I married my husband from Hong Kong three months ago.  He is presently on H-1B visa status.  I want him to get the green card at the same time that I do.  How can I go about doing this?

Dear reader:

You must wait until the time that your May 2006 priority date becomes available before your husband can put in his I-485 application to adjust status to permanent residence.  Although your I-485 application is already pending, that does not mean that your husband can put in his I-485 at this time.  Filing of Form I-485 requires immediate visa availability.  At the time that you filed the I-485 form, all employment based categories were open only for that one month.  I do note that because your husband is from Hong Kong, he enjoys the world wide quota instead of the China quota so long as he was born in Hong Kong.  This applies even though Hong Kong is now part of China.  Currently for the month of June 2011, the EB-3 cutoff date for China born is May 15, 2004, while the date for most of the rest of the world is September 15, 2005.  Under the immigration laws, your husband can immigrate under the EB-3 cutoff date for Hong Kong instead of China, and he can at the same time give you the country chargeability to Hong Kong instead of China.  This is the concept of country cross chargeability.  At the time that your priority date becomes available under the Hong Kong quota, your husband can submit his I-485 application and you can request a cross- charging of his country quota for your case.

 

Copyright © 2003-2012 Alan Lee, Esq.
The information provided here is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Law Office of Alan Lee or establish an attorney-client relationship.