USC living in Canada: Vermont or Consulate?

[choles 0]

Hey All,

I have a question regarding WHERE to send our I-130..

We are stuck on this part, taken from the INSTRUCTIONS for filing I-130:

Petitioners residing abroad: If you live in Canada, file your petition at the Vermont Service Center. Exception: If you are a U.S. citizen residing in Canada, and you are petitioning for your spouse, child, or parent, you may file the petition at the nearest U.S. Embassy or consulate, except for those in Quebec City. If you reside elsewhere outside the United States file, your relative petition at the USCIS office overseas or the U.S. Embassy or consulate having jurisdiction over the area where you live.

a) Does this mean if you are a USC, u can file in either VERMONT or CONSULATE? You have both options?

b) If we file in VERMONT, will we still have to prove DOMICILE (just like we would if we did it via CONSULATE)? Or does filing in VERMONT mean since you are applying IN the US, you don't have to prove domicile?

c) Since my wife lives almost half the year in the USA, and other half in CANADA, can she just show an US address and just send the I-130 to Illinois instead? I think this way there is no issue of DOMICILE correct? Or is that problematic to suggest she lives equally in two cities.. etc? Hence she should only apply from Canada (consulate or vermont) because the kids/husband/etc are all living in Canada and that should be her true home/residence?

THANK YOU ALL IN ADVANCE!!!

You guys are great!!

We are so thankful for this forum!!!!

Choles

[mustafa1232 3]

Hey All,

I have a question regarding WHERE to send our I-130..

We are stuck on this part, taken from the INSTRUCTIONS for filing I-130:

Petitioners residing abroad: If you live in Canada, file your petition at the Vermont Service Center. Exception: If you are a U.S. citizen residing in Canada, and you are petitioning for your spouse, child, or parent, you may file the petition at the nearest U.S. Embassy or consulate, except for those in Quebec City. If you reside elsewhere outside the United States file, your relative petition at the USCIS office overseas or the U.S. Embassy or consulate having jurisdiction over the area where you live.

a) Does this mean if you are a USC, u can file in either VERMONT or CONSULATE? You have both options?

b) If we file in VERMONT, will we still have to prove DOMICILE (just like we would if we did it via CONSULATE)? Or does filing in VERMONT mean since you are applying IN the US, you don't have to prove domicile?

c) Since my wife lives almost half the year in the USA, and other half in CANADA, can she just show an US address and just send the I-130 to Illinois instead? I think this way there is no issue of DOMICILE correct? Or is that problematic to suggest she lives equally in two cities.. etc? Hence she should only apply from Canada (consulate or vermont) because the kids/husband/etc are all living in Canada and that should be her true home/residence?

THANK YOU ALL IN ADVANCE!!!

You guys are great!!

We are so thankful for this forum!!!!

Choles

hi choles yes you can filed petation for usa consulate in canada this meant your wife filed (dcf) direct consular filling is the cheaper and money saving and fastest process for ir1 and cr1

if your wife filed petation in canada your wife must requied usa domicile

requirement for dcf is for usa citizen is he or she out side the usa atleast 6 month

if your wife do not have a domicile yet it is better for your wife go back to usa and then filed i-130 petation for you and your children because at the time of your interviw consular officer ask you for your wife domicile

if your wife filed petation in canada usa consulate she must required maling address canadian address

if your wife filed petation in usa the whole process took place minimum 8 to 10 month or maximum 11 to 15 month this process time is only for usa if your wife filed petation in usa

if your wife petation in canada usa consulate dcf it take 6 to 8 month for whole process

if you have any question you can feel free to ask me

[sachinky 465]

Is the USC petitioner a legal "resident" of Canada? This is different from just visiting Canada. If yes, then go via the DCF route. Much quicker and easier.

If no, you will have to file the I-130 in the U.S.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

What is your wife's legal status in Canada? Is she a resdient? on a work permit? Or does she simply visit you and enter as a tourist?

Your wife must be a legal resident of Canada (as in LPR). If she is not, you will need to file in Vermont. If she is then you may file in the consulate of the city in which you all live.

If you file in the consulate, you must show domicile in the US, Canada is getting really strict about domicile.

Good luck

[Malrothien 6]

I am a Canadian LPR, American USC, and filed at Vermont. We originally were going to go the K3 route since we lived in Vancouver, but USCIS had other plans for us.

If you do decide to file Stateside, file in Vermont.

[choles 0]

My USC wife has her Canadian PR application pending... but is legally here now on work-permit...

So the qtn is... in order to AVOID proving domicile etc, should we just file in VERMONT anyway instead of CONSULAR?

Other than VERMONT, does she have option to apply to other places too such as Illinois? Or does applying in ILLINOIS require an active US address (we would use her parents')...

Am I correct in my understanding that if she files in VERMONT or ILLINOIS then in both cases she DOESNT have to worry about proving domicile etc?

Is it worth avoiding the domicile issue given her CDN PR application is still in final stages (pending)?

Thanks a lot

Choles

[Malrothien 6]

You cannot avoid the domicile requirement.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

It does not matter, you will have to face the domicile requirement.

Illinois does not process applications. It looks like you can either apply through the consulate in Canada or through Vermont (filing through the consulate may be faster)

Good luck.

[choles 0]

thank you Malrothien & canadian_wife

since my wife spends half the year in the USA, what if my wife uses her parents' US address and files the I-130 for me within the States?

does she still have to prove domicile then? Note, the above would be just like a USC living in US, while spouse lives abroad, no?

in the end, if it cannot be avoided, we WILL go ahead and follow your advices and do it DCF... I hear it's cheaper too?

thanks

choles

[canadian_wife 1,822]

If she has a pending Canadian PR applicaiton, it is not just like a USC living in the US and USCIS and the embassy will know this.

I doubt it will be avoided, and trying to do so could get complicated.

Good luck.

[mustafa1232 3]

thank you Malrothien & canadian_wife

since my wife spends half the year in the USA, what if my wife uses her parents' US address and files the I-130 for me within the States?

does she still have to prove domicile then? Note, the above would be just like a USC living in US, while spouse lives abroad, no?

in the end, if it cannot be avoided, we WILL go ahead and follow your advices and do it DCF... I hear it's cheaper too?

thanks

choles

hi choles if your wife filed i-130 in usa she did not required any domicile and yes she use her parents address in usa without any worries

in the case of pr in the canada she dont worry about it this pr is not a issue any more she can easily filed dcf in canada but she must required her usa domicile in canada

in my advise she have a good chance to filed i-130 dcf in canada as i mention in my last post this is the faster cheaper free of headache and time saving process

in my thinking your dcf i-130 process completed in only 6 month in canada if you have any other question you can feel free to ask me have a nice day

[trailmix 77]

mustafa, being a PR of Canada can be an issue.

choles

Your wife works in Canada half of the year. Is this reflected on her income tax returns? I see where you are going with this. Even though she has a PR application pending, she still has part time residence in the U.S. - so if you don't tell them and they don't ask, how will they know that she is also a part-time resident of Canada with a pending PR application? At least I think that is where you are going.

Well the answer is, they probably won't know.

If you decide to take that course, then you cannot file DCF. That is only for people residing in Canada and you have to prove long term residence in Canada (Canadian driver's license, health care card etc etc). Once you give them this information - you will have to prove reestablishing domicile in the U.S.

If you decide to mail your application in to the U.S. service center, then yes, perhaps it will not be an issue. I say perhaps because if she does get asked about it - well you better be prepared to prove reestablishing domicile anyway.

Edited March 5, 2010 by trailmix

[mustafa1232 3]

mustafa, being a PR of Canada can be an issue.

choles

Your wife works in Canada half of the year. Is this reflected on her income tax returns? I see where you are going with this. Even though she has a PR application pending, she still has part time residence in the U.S. - so if you don't tell them and they don't ask, how will they know that she is also a part-time resident of Canada with a pending PR application? At least I think that is where you are going.

Well the answer is, they probably won't know.

If you decide to take that course, then you cannot file DCF. That is only for people residing in Canada and you have to prove long term residence in Canada (Canadian driver's license, health care card etc etc). Once you give them this information - you will have to prove reestablishing domicile in the U.S.

If you decide to mail your application in to the U.S. service center, then yes, perhaps it will not be an issue. I say perhaps because if she does get asked about it - well you better be prepared to prove reestablishing domicile anyway.

hi trailmix your question about pr in canada

no she dont need any long term residence in canada she only need to prove 6 month residence in canada according to usa imigration law because she have a pr pending reciept and this pending reciept is the strong ties proof at the time of her husband interview

as my knowledge of canadian law canadian law have a very very soft corner about america and american citizen that why canadian imigration easily approved pr or canadian green card to american citizen and in other hand canadian goverment under influence of america

and your question about income tax if her husband have a strong bank account this will be a no issue because at the time of sponsorship husband and wife asset equally count because minimum requirement of income tax is 1 year and maximum 3 year 1 year is applay is only that time when benificary and petationer have a strong bank account

[trailmix 77]

Hi,

I don't really have a question about PR in Canada, I am very familiar with it. Really all of the answers you have given are not quite right, I will explain.

hi trailmix your question about pr in canada

no she dont need any long term residence in canada she only need to prove 6 month residence in canada according to usa imigration law because she have a pr pending reciept and this pending reciept is the strong ties proof at the time of her husband interview

She does need proof of long term residence in Canada - 6 months, 3 months, doesn't matter, I guess our definitions of 'long' are different. What I was saying is that she will need proof that she is resident in Canada and has been for some time - you don't need to take my word for it, the U.S. consulate in Canada webpage spells it out:

Evidence of Petitioner's legal long term residence status in Canada, such as a provincial healthcare card, provincial driving license or Canadian immigrant card.

The Canadian PR can be an issue with regard to proving reestablishing domicile - many have been temporarily denied asking to provide more proof. Two people that post here on VJ have been told to relinquish their Canadian permanent residency. I am referring to domicile when I say PR can be an issue.

as my knowledge of canadian law canadian law have a very very soft corner about america and american citizen that why canadian imigration easily approved pr or canadian green card to american citizen and in other hand canadian goverment under influence of america

Canadian law has nothing to do with U.S. immigration law, so i'm not sure what your point is really. I don't know what you mean "Canadian government under influence of america".

and your question about income tax if her husband have a strong bank account this will be a no issue because at the time of sponsorship husband and wife asset equally count because minimum requirement of income tax is 1 year and maximum 3 year 1 year is applay is only that time when benificary and petationer have a strong bank account

I also have no questions about income tax that I posted?

I mentioned this because it is obvious that the poster does not want to claim that his wife is even a part time 'resident' of Canada. You would understand this if you read my full reply.

I don't see that the original poster mentioned anything about having assets to use instead of income, so again, i'm not sure what your point is there either.

Anyway, we will leave it at that, no reason to highjack this poster's thread with our - not on topic conversation.

Edited March 5, 2010 by trailmix

[choles 0]

Background:

US Citizen wife, lives in Canada half the year, but rest of the time she lives in USA.

Our small kids travel back/forth with my wife.

Her CDN PR application is still pending, in its final stages. She has CDN & US driving license, provincial health-care, bank accounts in both countries, etc...

She has paid taxes in both US and Canada so far. As such, we think she MAY just qualify for DCF & Local-USA filing.

I don't mind us proving domicile, but it just seems like if she applies from the USA with a USA address, then we don't have to go through this hassle...

But on the flip side, does it make things more convoluted for USCIS agents or Canadian agents, ultimately leading to a rejection of HER PR app in Canada and my app in USA? (yes, i know a veryyy WHAT IF type of qtn)

Is it proven that USCIS can ask a USC to give up her PR in Canada in order to prove domicile? I mean you are PERMITTED to have dual citizenship, so why ask to relinquish it?

sorry for all the questions!

I guess all of us posting on this forum are confused, hence, asking and sharing our concerns!

Thanks to all the replies so far!

Edited March 5, 2010 by choles