Proving domicile when not living in the U.S.

[NikLR 13,229]

Tickets to the USA do not prove domicile. Your bank accounts, voter registration, driver's licence, leases, mortgage, job, etc... those prove domicile. Having the contract for your home stuff in storage will help. The fact that you're retired then they likely will not expect you to have employment but I'm not a CO and cannot extrapolate what goes on in their heads. I have just read, time and time again, about people in Montreal being issued a 221g for reestablishment of domicile.

We share a large border and the government doesn't care about any personal issues, just if their guidelines are met. It seems they don't care if you are staying home with your young children or are retired or whatever else, those are personal problems not their issue. In a way they are correct, this is a privilege not a right. But it is also more than annoying that it feels like a government doesn't care about their citizens on a personal level.

[sanchez411 0]

It seems all the interviews to establish domicile is at the Montreal Consulate. I live in Toronto so can this not be done at the Toronto Consulate or would I have to travel to Montreal?

Thanks,

[Flames9_RN 358]

It seems all the interviews to establish domicile is at the Montreal Consulate. I live in Toronto so can this not be done at the Toronto Consulate or would I have to travel to Montreal?

Thanks,

What visa are you going for? Where is the USA spouse/partner now?

[sanchez411 0]

What visa are you going for? Where is the USA spouse/partner now?

My wife (US Citizen) and myself(CAN citizen) live here in Canada. We are planning a move to the US so I will need a Green card to work. When it comes for the interview to prove domicile, do we have to go to Montreal or can this be done at the US consulate in Toronto.

Thanks

Edited March 31, 2014 by sanchez411

[Flames9_RN 358]

My wife (US Citizen) and myself(CAN citizen) live here in Canada. We are planning a move to the US so I will need a Green card to work. When it comes for the interview to prove domicile, do we have to go to Montreal or can this be done at the US consulate in Toronto.

Thanks

Only Montreal for all married couples gong the cr-1/Ir-1 route in Canada

[gad33 47]

Reading this thread has left me feeling extremely worried.

I am a USC who has been living in Canada since 2004 with my Canadian husband. We have a 2-yr old daughter who received her CRBA in February. Since having my daughter I've been feeling extremely homesick so my husband and I have been talking about moving to Connecticut so that we can be closer to my family. Of course living in Canada for so many years it is obvious that I don't have a "domicile" in the US. When I initially began looking into the whole visa process I wasn't very worried about not being able to satisfy "intent to re-establish a US domicile" to the consular official performing the visa interview, but after looking at everyone's experiences with their interviews at the Montreal consulate now I'm not so sure.

Our plan is it initially move in with my mother (who would also be acting as co/joint sponsor for my husband since I will not meet the financial requirement of the AOS alone) until we both find jobs and are able to afford an apartment of our own. I have maintained my US bank account and during our last visit I made sure that it was still considered to be an active account at my bank. I am behind on filing my US taxes, but I have downloaded/printed all of the forms that are needed to get back in to compliance and plan to do so before even submitting the I-130. I was also considering going back to school once we moved back so I can finish getting my Bachelors degree.

Given the age of our daughter, it would be extremely difficult for us if we had to be separated if me and my daughter - since she's also a USC and my husband would not be able to care for her on his own - had to move to the US in order to provide proof of domicile that would be accepted by the Montreal consulate. I would be willing to go to CT temporarily and apply for a driver's license and import/register my car and apply for car insurance but remaining there without my husband really isn't much of an option at this point in time. While there I would also apply for my daughter's SSN since we didn't do this at the same time we filed for the CRBA.

I don't work in a specialized field so the chances of finding an employer who would give me an offer of employment without a guaranteed date on when I could start is extremely unlikely. And I don't have any friends or relatives who own their own business who would be willing to hire me and provide a letter of offer of employment.

Since we haven't actually begun the process, right now I'm basically looking for advice on what types of documents are being accepted by the officers at the Montreal consulate as proof of or proof of intent to re-establish domicile. Any help all of you would be able to provide would be very much appreciated. I really really don't want my family to be separated.

Montreal would really prefer it if the USC was living in the US by the time of the intereview although this isn't practical for most of the couples where both live in Canada. Montreal's favourite proof of re-establishing domicile is a job. After that they will accept proof of new address. Whereas most embassies will accept, "I'm going to be living with my in-laws", Montreal likes to see a lease.The lease just has to look official. I don't mean that you have to rent somewhere from a third party. If this can be backed up with driver's license, voter's registration all the better.

Bank accounts are not sufficient as proof of reestablishing domicile.

When submitting paperwork at NVC stage you have to send proof that domicile is being reestablished but in that case you can follow the guidelines on the government website.

[gad33 47]

NLR,

Can you elaborate on what you mean by Montreal is strict? Example, I am leaving California next month to go stay with my wife in Montreal until this immigration non-sense is over (we are in the NVC stage now). So I will still have all of my american bank accounts/retirement accounts, a vehicle with insurance, and have my personal belongings in storage in California but I wont have an address because why pay rent when you are on a 4-6 month vacation. The only thing we wont have is a plane ticket because how are we supposed to know when they will approve us. Do they really expect people to know when they are going to get approved so they can buy a ticket home just to prove domicile? Thanks.

Were you living in the US when you filed and used a US address for yourself?

[Christopher1384 12]

Were you living in the US when you filed and used a US address for yourself?

Yes, i am living here now and have filed everything up through the IV package. Just waiting on NVC to process everything. I am not leaving California until Mid April to go visit my wife in Canada until September...

[gad33 47]

So up to this point you don't have a domicile issue becauae you live in the US but I don't know how this changes if you no longer have a US address. An address is needed by the time the green card is activated as it needs to be sent somewhere and you don't want to have to deal with it being lost in the mail.

I also hope you are prepared for questions at Canadian immigration. They won't be too happy if they find out you don't have a home in the US.

[Christopher1384 12]

So up to this point you don't have a domicile issue becauae you live in the US but I don't know how this changes if you no longer have a US address. An address is needed by the time the green card is activated as it needs to be sent somewhere and you don't want to have to deal with it being lost in the mail.

I also hope you are prepared for questions at Canadian immigration. They won't be too happy if they find out you don't have a home in the US.

I think I got ahead of myself because I dont believe I need to prove domicile. I have a permanent US address and that is the intended address of the immigrant on the DS 260 so when the interview happens they will see the US address and that's that. Technically nothing is changing, I am just going on a 5 month vacation and then returning to California. I just wont be at that address during the interview.

Canadian immigration has never been an issue for me, they are always very friendly in my opinion, even friendlier than the american workers. They are more concerned if I am bringing a gift for my wife than anything and last time I went the girl stopped asking me questions mid sentence when she saw all of the Canada stamps in my passport pages haha.

[gad33 47]

In your first post you said that you won't have an address because why pay rent. This may not be a problem with US as long as you have an address when the green card is activated. But it could be a problem with the Canadians when you enter Canada if it comes to light when you cross the border. Just something to be prepared for as every immigration officer is different.

[coltsmom 0]

Are the original posters still on this forum? I know this is from 2009 but my situation is near identical to macdude and would love to chat!

[Rlelle09 28]

Just wondering if there is anyone who had an interview with children involved. I have two petitions pending right now, one for spouse and one for stepson. My spouse and I also have two children together who both have CRBA's.

The proof we are providing is :

CRBA for daughter

CRBA for son

Proof of SSN application for son (we should actually have the SSN at the time of interview for both)

Proof of SSN application for daughter

Documents with permanent address

US bank accts being used

Voter registration

Correspondence between schools for children's enrollment

Letter from mother-in-law stating we will be living with her

Moving quote from upack

Moving quote from another moving company

Petitioners newly renewed drivers license

We also plan to start looking for work in the US about a month or so before the interview to show to CO correspondence.

What do you guys think of my list? Sorry if there are o father people in this thread with similar situations as mine that have posted, but there is NO WAY I could read this whole thread. If there are any experiences of people with a situation similar to mine, please let me know.

[NikLR 13,229]

CRBA doesn't prove domicile neither does SSN, I wouldn't bother with those.

The rest of the list looks fine, especially if you add the work applications or preferably a job offer letter. (cross yer fingers.)

[Rlelle09 28]

CRBA doesn't prove domicile neither does SSN, I wouldn't bother with those.

The rest of the list looks fine, especially if you add the work applications or preferably a job offer letter. (cross yer fingers.)

Thank NLR! We'll also be getting a job offer letter from my husbands fathers company saying he'll be working for him when mine and my sons visas are issued. Does this add icing to the cake?