Domicile- which service center

[epitome 0]

London will not entertain a I-130 as my USC wife has been resident in UK less than 2 years and say it should be sent to the service center covering her last USA address (ex) ... that would be Nebraska.

Now we have to establish domicile by buying or renting in the USA . One option is buying a small apartment in Florida for holidays and to keep her property investment intact and to satisfy the domicile requirement. I fear the service center covering Florida (texas) has long timelines so don't want to submit to them.

I have visions of submitting the I-130/864 etc to nebraska quoting our intended address on re-entering the USA as florida - and they forward it to texas after sitting on it 2 months and then texas send lots of notices to the empty florida apartment ! I know - I am paranoid - but I know em from before.

How does the rental thing work ? we would have to rent a place prior to the I-130 (it asks for intended residency) and leave it empty for the 6 months or whatever until we get approved ? is there a slicker way ? I dont think they would believe we were going to live with her mother in a 1 bed old folks place - - not if they can talk body language and can see my face at the interview....(its a joke mumsy)

could we perhaps quote her mother's place on the I-130 but then buy a place after the petition is approved but before the point where I apply for my immigrant visa and have to submit the 485 which talks about domicile ? Or does the address we have to give on the I-130 have to be substantiated to the same level of proof that the domicile address on the 864 does ?

can anyone suggest a cheap efficient way of handling the domicile thing ?

all 'only just legal' suggestions appreciated

many thanks

London will not entertain a I-130 as my USC wife has been resident in UK less than 2 years and say it should be sent to the service center covering her last USA address (ex) ... that would be Nebraska.

Now we have to establish domicile by buying or renting in the USA . One option is buying a small apartment in Florida for holidays and to keep her property investment intact and to satisfy the domicile requirement. I fear the service center covering Florida (texas) has long timelines so don't want to submit to them.

I have visions of submitting the I-130/864 etc to nebraska quoting our intended address on re-entering the USA as florida - and they forward it to texas after sitting on it 2 months and then texas send lots of notices to the empty florida apartment ! I know - I am paranoid - but I know em from before.

How does the rental thing work ? we would have to rent a place prior to the I-130 (it asks for intended residency) and leave it empty for the 6 months or whatever until we get approved ? is there a slicker way ? I dont think they would believe we were going to live with her mother in a 1 bed old folks place - - not if they can talk body language and can see my face at the interview....(its a joke mumsy)

could we perhaps quote her mother's place on the I-130 but then buy a place after the petition is approved but before the point where I apply for my immigrant visa and have to submit the 864 which talks about domicile ? Or does the address we have to give on the I-130 have to be substantiated to the same level of proof that the domicile address on the 864 does ?

can anyone suggest a cheap efficient way of handling the domicile thing ?

all 'only just legal' suggestions appreciated

many thanks

Edited September 11, 2006 by epitome

[Married_my_love 0]

You may get a response by posting this to the DCF forum; more people are familiar with the domicile process over there.

[meauxna 15]

e: I'll finally say it outright: You do not need to rent your own apartment to maintain domicile.

You are making this very complicated.

[epitome 0]

e: I'll finally say it outright: You do not need to rent your own apartment to maintain domicile.

You are making this very complicated.

Dear Meauxna- please forgive my hand wringing approach to this - i just got my knickers in twist over the imbra thing (we had 2 k1's) which doesnt apply to cr-1 i reckon - i hope ...

Could you nail it on for me as to how we establish domicile ? She will have a bank account/credit card but she will be living in the uk with no job or house in the US - as i understand it, in these circumstances, she needs to have a 'place' - surely they wont accept her mother's old people's home as her domicile ? Will they ? When I go for the interview will they ask about where we are going to live - as declared on the visa form and the support form ?

I am not finding much detail on the domicile thing so far so I need to have it straight in my mind - that would save me a few quid as well if we dont need to buy/rent

can you expand a bit on the accomodation requirement that the notes all refer to ? thanks

sorry to be a pest

[aussiewench 9]

e: I'll finally say it outright: You do not need to rent your own apartment to maintain domicile.

You are making this very complicated.

Dear Meauxna- please forgive my hand wringing approach to this - i just got my knickers in twist over the imbra thing (we had 2 k1's) which doesnt apply to cr-1 i reckon - i hope ...

Could you nail it on for me as to how we establish domicile ? She will have a bank account/credit card but she will be living in the uk with no job or house in the US - as i understand it, in these circumstances, she needs to have a 'place' - surely they wont accept her mother's old people's home as her domicile ? Will they ? When I go for the interview will they ask about where we are going to live - as declared on the visa form and the support form ?

I am not finding much detail on the domicile thing so far so I need to have it straight in my mind - that would save me a few quid as well if we dont need to buy/rent

can you expand a bit on the accomodation requirement that the notes all refer to ? thanks

sorry to be a pest

At least you're a pest with humor hahahaha

Found a thread by using the search function that may help you and provide further links for you to research.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6493&hl=domicile

Edited September 12, 2006 by aussiewench

[meauxna 15]

e,

At the bottom of the DCF Guide there are three links to the 'official' stand on domicile with tips on how to maintain a US one. I can't give you a list of to-dos because each case is individual, but you and your wife should be able to get a good idea of the requirements from that read.

You also already found good suggestions here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...st&p=435418

I find that the new I-864 (currently posted at uscis.gov) has a good description right in the instructions. Domicile only concerns you because of the I-864. The I-864 FAQs will explain why.

I own my own house in the US and used that option as part of maintaining my domicile. For that reason, I dont' like to use my own example--it's impractical for anyone who doesn't have my exact circumstances.

Most USCs abroad do something to keep ties to the US for practicality's sake. When I'm living abroad, the internet now makes it SO easy that there is no excuse to not have banking, voting and other official ties. I can manage my investment accounts, banking, property taxes, insurance etc from anywhere. Those things are part of my maintaining my US domicile.

You'll also find that London is not particularly harsh with UK/US couples on this topic.

You can also visit the us-yankee forum or other US-expats-in-the-UK forum. IOW, there is no cookie cutter approach, you have to just do some reading and make your own domicile plan.

Your wife will surely benefit from a stable, secure mailing address in the US. I don't know what state her mum is in; my DMIL was a mailing address for us in the UK, but she did have all her wits about her and was very reliable abouit forwarding necessary mail to us. We also used a relative's address in the UK for that sort of business.

Barring any personal contacts, one can rent a mailbox with international forwarding service--you pay mind you, but this could be an option.

As for projected residence in the US, 'to be determined' is one option. City + State is another. It doesn't have to be as specific as you think, and you WILL have to secure some kind of housing when you are going to return. I suspect some of this will make more sense the further along you are.

Have to run right now.. chew on this for awhile?

[epitome 0]

Have to run right now.. chew on this for awhile?

yes chewed and content for a while !

The I-130 simply asks for intended address of the imported one > and provides 'country' for the petitioner so a uk address for petitioner and any old US address for the imported person seems ok... looks like just an indication of where to find me in the US at that stage - as in where i can be contacted...

then the I-864 allows for the USC to be resident in another country (asks for mailing address and residence and provides for 'country' on both) then simply asks for country of domicile (USA !) but asks no details connected with that such as an address...

I conclude that the shoot out is at the interview and as long as we have a ton of proof at that stage -we will- then it should be ok....

I read a couple of other contributors have put their house up for sale in the uk and registered with a realtor in the states and the paperwork from those two has been ok... Think I will sow it up tighter than that but if that will wash then its not the expensive exercise I thought it would be...

phew ok i will relax on this stuff and think of something else to get twitchy about !

sooper dooper top banana - let me know if I have it wrong ? but otherwise many thanks....

[lquin 0]

Have to run right now.. chew on this for awhile?

yes chewed and content for a while !

The I-130 simply asks for intended address of the imported one > and provides 'country' for the petitioner so a uk address for petitioner and any old US address for the imported person seems ok... looks like just an indication of where to find me in the US at that stage - as in where i can be contacted...

then the I-864 allows for the USC to be resident in another country (asks for mailing address and residence and provides for 'country' on both) then simply asks for country of domicile (USA !) but asks no details connected with that such as an address...

I conclude that the shoot out is at the interview and as long as we have a ton of proof at that stage -we will- then it should be ok....

I read a couple of other contributors have put their house up for sale in the uk and registered with a realtor in the states and the paperwork from those two has been ok... Think I will sow it up tighter than that but if that will wash then its not the expensive exercise I thought it would be...

phew ok i will relax on this stuff and think of something else to get twitchy about !

sooper dooper top banana - let me know if I have it wrong ? but otherwise many thanks....

Just a quick thought....

If you rented a place and used that as her address this is where her paperwork from the NVC would be sent, forms such as the I-864.. so if there is nobody there how are you going to get the forms ?..

When you nominate an agent this only counts for the beneficiarys paperwork..