I-765 WS Questions

I have a question on the I-765 WS on the asset part, and I'm not sure what to put, here is my situation: we have a house that's under me and my father's name, and there is still half of the value of the house on mortgage, the house is owned by my parents, but technically it is half owned by me since my name is on it, how much asset should I put on the I-765WS? I consulted a lawyer and was told that I don't have to put anything because USCIS is not really going to check it and no need to explain anything. I really need to seek more advice on this part.

Also, is Stocks holding consider as assets?

If the house is not under your name, then do not mention it. In regards to the stock, i would not mention it.

Hi Resistant,

Both my name and my father's name are on all documents related to the house.

I never registered until seeing your question today, i've just been reading posts so far. Your lawyer is ignorant for saying that. My lawyer stated that I should put the value of any positive equity from my home into the asset line plus an explanation. He was concerned about this home ownership portion. So let's say your mortgage due (principal debt) is $500,000 and your local county assessment valued your home at $520,000, that means that if you sold your home today at the market value, you'd have $20,000 in your pocket (cash). Since you mention you own half of the title, then your own positive equity in the home would be $10,000 (half of the positive equity of your home). So on the other side, lets say your home is under water (you owe more than its market value), that would be a good thing as then you do not have any positive equity in your home - so nothing goes in the asset line for 765ws. This was what my lawyer (an experienced attorney) told me to do. And lastly yes, stock ownership is considered asset ownership. Hope this helped.

So I guess it goes the same for cars... I put zero on assets Im making payment on my car but I owe more than its worth

If you do not own the car (as in you don't have the car title) and are making monthly payments to a bank or car loan company to drive the car, then you're fine by not reporting it as an asset - it's not your car.

Well, in that case do mention it and do not forget to give an explanation.

Hi Dreamer83,

Thank you for your thorough explanation, now my problem is whether to go with the local county's assessment value or the market value, the assessment value is much less than the market value. Another problem is no matter which value to go with, the equity (house value - mortgage due) is still very high, say somewhere 250k-300k if I use the assessment value, and 400-500k if I use the real market value. Did your lawyer mention anything if there is a large amount in asset?
On the stocks ownership, since they are assets, should I add into the assets?

Btw, I think I understand my lawyer's logic, since he said USCIS barely checks this part, putting a $0 asset might just pass through, and putting a big asset will raise a big question why this applicant needs a work permit.

Any suggestion is appreciated~

Hi Skyisthelimit,

So I used the local county assessment value and provided a printout from my local county website's assessment value. I would recommend, if you decide to add the value, then yes go with the county assessment value. Unfortunately, my lawyer did not address the part in regards to a high positive equity (as in your case) since my positive equity was a small fraction compared to what you have. Since you're telling me that at minimum if you sold your home today, you'd end up with a net profit (cash in pocket) of at least $300,000 I would *not* recommend putting that in the assets line as they'll seriously think you're well off and are not in a state of economic necessity. I am NOT a lawyer, but if i was an adjudicator and saw your asset value at over $300,000 i'd start to doubt as to why you need a work permit. Maybe you should go with what your lawyer said and not put it in the 765ws form. Or best case scenario you could give up your ownership of the home and get your name removed from the home title and just give it to your parents only. That would relieve you of any liability that you have any ownership/equity in the home. Just an FYI, i submitted all my mortgage bills, 1040 tax forms so I had to surrender all my asset info. And yes, put the stock ownership (as you bought them) under the asset value line of the 765ws form. Hope this helped you out sir/ma'am

Hi Dreamer83,

I'm a guy If I don't put any asset down, I'm concerned as well since they say they will do a background check on us at the time of application, I'm afraid they will have all these public household information in-front of them from the county database.

I guess I will have to see another lawyer.