Can an In-Law Petition Under Certain Circumstances?

[arcueil_1 0]

I'm not sure if I'm on the right forum (things are massively complex around here), so I apologize if I posted in the wrong place.

My wife and I have been married since early 2004 and I would like to bring her to the States, hopefully by 2012. I am an American, while she is from the PRC. I have been living in the PRC for nearly 10 years and to be able to complete the process will take a very long time. You see, I was myopic enough not to file my income tax returns during the last few years because I didn't (and still don't) make enough US dollars in the PRC to bother (one does not need to pay tax if one is a legal resident abroad while simulataneously earning below a certain amount [which is considerably higher than what I earn in the PRC]). I am pretty certain that for me to be able to complete the visa process for her, I must have at least three consecutive tax returns filed.

I am sure that I have read elsewhere about in-laws petitioning for a son's or a dughter's alien spouse. I've even heard of sisters or brothers-in-law doing the same. My mom and my sister are interested in taking care of the process for me (one of them would take the task). However, upon reading the instructions for the I-130 petition, I found that, "8. A grandparent, grandchild, nephew, niece, uncle, aunt, cousin, or in-law," cannot petition anyone! Is this a relatively new thing or has everything I've read and heard been lies?

Are there any exceptions to the above rule? How could such an exception (if any) apply to us?

The idea of having to stay in the PRC for another three years or having to separate from my great wife for at least three years makes me sick to the stomach, literally...

Please, can an expert on the subject come forward and give me a simple yes/no answer or explain the exceptions (if any)? Thanx.

Edited May 25, 2010 by arcueil_1

[milimelo 4,413]

I'm not sure if I'm on the right forum (things are massively complex around here), so I apologize if I posted in the wrong place.

My wife and I have been married since early 2004 and I would like to bring her to the States, hopefully by 2012. I am an American, while she is from the PRC. I have been living in the PRC for nearly 10 years and to be able to complete the process will take a very long time. You see, I was myopic enough not to file my income tax returns during the last few years because I didn't (and still don't) make enough US dollars in the PRC to bother (one does not need to pay tax if one is a legal resident abroad while simulataneously earning below a certain amount [which is considerably higher than what I earn in the PRC]). I am pretty certain that for me to be able to complete the visa process for her, I must have at least three consecutive tax returns filed.

I am sure that I have read elsewhere about in-laws petitioning for a son's or a dughter's alien spouse. I've even heard of sisters or brothers-in-law doing the same. My mom and my sister are interested in taking care of the process for me (one of them would take the task). However, upon reading the instructions for the I-130 petition, I found that, "8. A grandparent, grandchild, nephew, niece, uncle, aunt, cousin, or in-law," cannot petition anyone! Is this a relatively new thing or has everything I've read and heard been lies?

Are there any exceptions to the above rule? How could such an exception (if any) apply to us?

The idea of having to stay in the PRC for another three years or having to separate from my great wife for at least three years makes me sick to the stomach, literally...

Please, can an expert on the subject come forward and give me a simple yes/no answer or explain the exceptions (if any)? Thanx.

You got this all wrong. YOU petition for your wife using I-130. Many other people haven't done their taxes in the past and it wasn't an issue - all you have to do is file back taxes or provide a letter as to why you didn't do so. You then find a co-sponsor for the Affidavit of support. You as the primary sponsor will have to fill out an affidavit of support even if you don't have an income. Check out the form and instructions on I-864 - affidavit of support.

[pushbrk 12,569]

You got this all wrong. YOU petition for your wife using I-130. Many other people haven't done their taxes in the past and it wasn't an issue - all you have to do is file back taxes or provide a letter as to why you didn't do so. You then find a co-sponsor for the Affidavit of support. You as the primary sponsor will have to fill out an affidavit of support even if you don't have an income. Check out the form and instructions on I-864 - affidavit of support.

Exactly right. The OP needs to wipe his memory clean of the misinformation. It was a great start to read the I-130 instructions. Now study the Direct Consular filing "Guide" here by clicking on the word "Guides" at the top of any page. K3 is obsolete. Ask your questions in the IR1/CR1 forum after studying the guide.

[payxibka 10,045]

I am sure that I have read elsewhere about in-laws petitioning for a son's or a dughter's alien spouse. I've even heard of sisters or brothers-in-law doing the same. My mom and my sister are interested in taking care of the process for me (one of them would take the task). However, upon reading the instructions for the I-130 petition, I found that, "8. A grandparent, grandchild, nephew, niece, uncle, aunt, cousin, or in-law," cannot petition anyone! Is this a relatively new thing or has everything I've read and heard been lies?

Not new... and stop reading where you have been reading

[Darnell 8,478]

Suggest instead, you file I-130 via Direct Consular Filing Process and secure a co-sponser / joint-sponser for the I-864 affadavit of support. Whilst yer at it, file yer back income taxes, include the foreign income exclusion - you WON'T be dinged for anything. There is IRS liason staffer in the US Embassy in BeiJing, if you need assistance there (or simply file them via paper filing , keep all copies for I-864).

Get prepped to file the I-130 via DCF, and file it to BeiJing, Chengdu, Shanyang or Guangzhou (whichever consulate/embassy yer homed to) about 5 months prior to yer final jump date. You'll have some issues with proving up USA domicile, but those can be fixed after the I-130 is approved (about 6 to 11 weeks before any interview date) by you returning to USA and getting a domicile (there's more to this, btw ).

I am sure that I have read elsewhere about in-laws petitioning for a son's or a dughter's alien spouse. I've even heard of sisters or brothers-in-law doing the same. My mom and my sister are interested in taking care of the process for me (one of them would take the task). However, upon reading the instructions for the I-130 petition, I found that, "8. A grandparent, grandchild, nephew, niece, uncle, aunt, cousin, or in-law," cannot petition anyone! Is this a relatively new thing or has everything I've read and heard been lies?

I'd love an opportunity to vette this, for you - so if you can find the urls that have the info (doesn't matter what the web portal language is, either) - please post the URLS here.

Edited May 26, 2010 by Darnell

[arcueil_1 0]

Thank you guys for the great help! It's greatly appreciated.

As I understand this now, I, and I alone, will file the I-130. When the I-864 comes into play, I also have to fill this out, but I can add a co-sponsor (i.e. my mom or sister). Is this correct?

Note to Darnell: I can't give you the URLs because I read that some time ago and can't remember where. I'm sorry about that. Anyway, it was on two or three different sites.

[Darnell 8,478]

re: I-864 - yup - can add a co-sponser.

When you have a mo, please check out the DCF guide --> http://www.visajourney.com/content/dcf

[Darnell 8,478]

Hey - any news ?

[Darnell 8,478]

Hullo? Any News?