Proving domicile when not living in the U.S.

[NikLR 13,228]

I thought your wife had a job lined up?

[darth vader 133]

17 minutes ago, NikLR said:

I thought your wife had a job lined up?

Yes, she'll be taking it. Thanks for your help!

Edited June 7, 2018 by darth vader

[NikLR 13,228]

1 hour ago, darth vader said:

Yes, she'll be taking it. Thanks for your help!

Okay cool.  You're welcome. 

[gad33 47]

To be clear the USC doesn't have to have a job in the US. It's just Montreal's favourite to grant approval. Proof that they are living in the US (reestablished domicile) is acceptable.

[anonyc 0]

I'm a USC living in Toronto with my Canadian wife. I'm preparing to submit I-130.

 

I'm dreading having to quit and move to the US for a job as soon as we are approved for an interview, so I'm wondering about an option I haven't seen anyone discuss: in my line of work, I'm easily able to find remote-friendly positions in the US. (I also have Canadian PR so I'm able to do this.) Could I find a remote position in the US (in the city we intend to eventually move to), begin working remotely, and use this letter of employment from a US employer as sufficient intent to establish domicile? I could even have the employer specify that they expect I will relocate to the US by a certain date to work locally.

 

If this would be acceptable, I'd be able to move to the US at the same time as my wife. Anyone have insight or experience with this?

[NikLR 13,228]

12 hours ago, anonyc said:

I'm a USC living in Toronto with my Canadian wife. I'm preparing to submit I-130.

 

I'm dreading having to quit and move to the US for a job as soon as we are approved for an interview, so I'm wondering about an option I haven't seen anyone discuss: in my line of work, I'm easily able to find remote-friendly positions in the US. (I also have Canadian PR so I'm able to do this.) Could I find a remote position in the US (in the city we intend to eventually move to), begin working remotely, and use this letter of employment from a US employer as sufficient intent to establish domicile? I could even have the employer specify that they expect I will relocate to the US by a certain date to work locally.

 

If this would be acceptable, I'd be able to move to the US at the same time as my wife. Anyone have insight or experience with this?

It's not just a job they want you to have, it's domicile. 

You need a place to live and evidence that you will move there.  Because of the shared border and ease of visiting between the USA and Canada, often unless you've already moved by interview, domicile will become an issue.  You can always try of course but you add weeks to months onto your case if you fail.   The choice is always yours. 

[Jojo92122 1,924]

12 hours ago, anonyc said:

I'm a USC living in Toronto with my Canadian wife. I'm preparing to submit I-130.

 

I'm dreading having to quit and move to the US for a job as soon as we are approved for an interview, so I'm wondering about an option I haven't seen anyone discuss: in my line of work, I'm easily able to find remote-friendly positions in the US. (I also have Canadian PR so I'm able to do this.) Could I find a remote position in the US (in the city we intend to eventually move to), begin working remotely, and use this letter of employment from a US employer as sufficient intent to establish domicile? I could even have the employer specify that they expect I will relocate to the US by a certain date to work locally.

 

If this would be acceptable, I'd be able to move to the US at the same time as my wife. Anyone have insight or experience with this?

No.  You can work remotely in Canada.   That doesn't show your intent to move back to the US.  Theoretically, you could continue to live in Canada and do a remote US job.

You will need to move back to prove domicile.  There are lots of US and Canadian couples.  If there was a work around, these people would have done it and shared it.  You are not going to find something new that they all missed.  You will have to take your medicine just like they did.  

[anonyc 0]

Thanks. I thought I read about people being accepted in Montreal by having a letter of employment for a job in the US, without having to have already moved there by the time of the interview, which is why I thought this might be a realistic analog of that.

[Jojo92122 1,924]

4 minutes ago, anonyc said:

Thanks. I thought I read about people being accepted in Montreal by having a letter of employment for a job in the US, without having to have already moved there by the time of the interview, which is why I thought this might be a realistic analog of that.

Canada is one of the hardest country to deal with the domicile issue.  I have never seen anyone do it with just an employment letter.  The general consensus about Canada is that the US citizen should move and establish domicile before the visa interview.  

[anonyc 0]

Thanks for clarifying! I will investigate the timing of moving. I'd ideally begin by seeking work that I can do remotely to provide a buffer on timing, and then relocate to the US as soon as I need to establish domicile for the interview (in time to get things like medical insurance as evidence). My parents living in the same city as we'd relocate to helps as I'll have a rent-free place to use as my address during the transition.

 

One more question: I have sufficient assets (cash or stocks) in Canada for spousal I-864. Is the consensus that Montreal requires these assets to be relocated to the US (cash in an account)? I suppose though that by the time we have the interview and I live in the US with a new job, I will be able to redo my I-864 using US income instead of assets.

[NikLR 13,228]

2 hours ago, anonyc said:

Thanks for clarifying! I will investigate the timing of moving. I'd ideally begin by seeking work that I can do remotely to provide a buffer on timing, and then relocate to the US as soon as I need to establish domicile for the interview (in time to get things like medical insurance as evidence). My parents living in the same city as we'd relocate to helps as I'll have a rent-free place to use as my address during the transition.

 

One more question: I have sufficient assets (cash or stocks) in Canada for spousal I-864. Is the consensus that Montreal requires these assets to be relocated to the US (cash in an account)? I suppose though that by the time we have the interview and I live in the US with a new job, I will be able to redo my I-864 using US income instead of assets.

If you live in the USA by interview with a US based job you can redo the I-864.  

Montreal may or may not use foreign assets, they don't have any obligation to but they can choose to do it.  Just remember the value has to be in USD not CAD.

[gad33 47]

On 8/18/2018 at 12:06 PM, anonyc said:

Thanks. I thought I read about people being accepted in Montreal by having a letter of employment for a job in the US, without having to have already moved there by the time of the interview, which is why I thought this might be a realistic analog of that.

Our approval was 6 1/2 years ago but Montreal would not accept a house in escrow but did accept an employment letter. I can't remember exactly what it said but it had employment and salary.

 

If you are going to be living with your parents then you should draw up a formal letter from them saying that as proof of where you will be living. Many people have done that.

[Loois 21]

I am a US citizen and my spouse is Canadian. We both live in Canada (I have lived here for 10+ years).

 

My husband has a job offer in the US and we both intend to move when his CR-1 is approved. 

 

We are currently waiting for an interview time slot with a September 10, 2018 case complete date. Two different immigration lawyers assured us that my husband’s employment letter as well as a signed letter from myself stating my intention to move with my spouse will be sufficient. However, based on the discussions I’ve read on this thread, I am beginning to sense that the evidence we have is not enough.

 

Do we need to do more? What, if anything, could you recommend in the potentially short time period between now and our interview?

 

Thanks!

[JobinJo 1]

My understanding is that the job offer should be enough but if you want to improve your chances find a place to rent where the job is.

 

In my case after being asked for more documents at the interview, (I didn't have a job offer) my wife and I signed a lease with some short term rental apartment near LA and we figured we'd go live there for a bit before finding something better. In the end we ended up changing our plans and canceled the lease which only cost us the $150 deposit so it worked out pretty well. You could do that and even if you don't end up renting there you're not wasting too much money.

 

I also sent others documents such as truck rental contracts, end of lease in Canada, end of contracts for our Canadian jobs. Anything that supported the fact that we'd leave Canada and move to the US.

[Boiler 45,735]

Well for many places that would be fine, but this is for Canada.

 

Did both Lawyers discuss the Canada specific aspects with you?