Can US Citizen living in Vietnam Sponsor Wife for CR-1?

[Anh map 2,098]

Do you know exactly what statute we would be violating if we applied for the IR-1 without actually intending to live in the US? It might be helpful to have this information if we do end up re-applying for the tourist visa.

There is nothing that would prevent you from going through the spouse process in order to visit the US. It's an expensive and time consuming way to do it. And that would show immigrant intent so that info would remain in your spouse's USCIS file and likely make any visitor visa tougher to obtain. A frustrating Catch-22 situation for you two.

The biggest challenge (from what you are saying here) could likely be your establishing US domicile. Also, have you been filing US tax returns? If not, you'd need to get the last 3 years filed, regardless of any any tax being owed or not.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

The path for you, as bothersome and as ridiculous as it appears, is to get your wife a Green Card, and then formally exchange the Green Card for a B2. The reasoning behind this is actually not as twisted as it prima facie appears: The U.S. consulate officers are required to assume immigrant intent to the U.S. as a default. Hence, no tourist visa for her. But if she formally immigrates to the U.S. the presumed immigration intent becomes pointless. And after she has received authorization to immigrate to the U.S. and returns her Green Card, it is fair again to assume that she does not have immigration intent.

Is that crazy or what?

[confusedasheck 21]

Regarding a green card, I believe you cannot be out of the country more than one year.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_1333.html

"A permanent resident (called lawful permanent resident or LPR) or conditional resident (CR) who has remained outside the U.S. for longer than one year, or beyond the validity period of a Re-entry Permit, will require a new immigrant visa to enter the U.S. and resume permanent residence. A provision exists under U.S. visa law for the issuance of a returning resident special immigrant visa to an LPR who remained outside the U.S. due to circumstances beyond his/her control. This webpage is about Returning Resident Visas. If you are an LPR unable to return to the U.S. within the travel validity period of the green card (1 year) or the validity of the Re-entry Permit (2 years), you may be eligible and can apply at the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for a Returning Resident (SB-1) immigrant visa."

So this should mean that as long as you enter the US once every year, her green card should remain active. But you probably have to keep evidence of a residence there. I have no idea how that would work with your taxes.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

That's a good thing that the Us Consulate finally has decided to close the loophole by stopping the DCF process. For people who don't care to live and contribute (paying taxes) to the system, why should the US gov't care to provide any service to?

Sound fair to me.

They didn't stop DCF's. They stopped accepting them at consulates in countries that don't have a USCIS field office. US citizens living abroad can still file an I-130 by sending it to USCIS in the US.

[Diem Kieu 2]

They didn't stop DCF's. They stopped accepting them at consulates in countries that don't have a USCIS field office. US citizens living abroad can still file an I-130 by sending it to USCIS in the US.

I only post in Vietnam forum. If it's not clearly indicated, it's best to assume my posts only respond to Vietnam specifically. The DCF issue I voiced my opinion this time only applies to the US Consulate in VN/Saigon.

Nevertheless, it's 100% certain the US Consulate won't issue any tourist Visa to the OP's S/O anytime soon and the process to obtain am immigration Visa won't be any easier either. And that's frustrating the OP.

Edited September 30, 2011 by Diem Kieu

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Post violating TOS and posts quoting same have been removed. Posting obscenity is a violation of the TOS on Visa Journey - even when posted in a language other than English.

[themachine 1]

I was working in SE Asia and during the interview process at the HCM consulate, the interviewer asked my spouse if I was waiting outside so he could talk to me.

The interviewer proceeded to ask me if I planned on going back to the U.S. in the near future as my spouse's entry visa would expire on a specified date.

The interviewer also asked if my domicile was in the United States, if I owned property/investment in the U.S., and if I currently pay U.S. taxes. All, answers were yes. I asked the interviewer the purpose of these questions and the reply in short was that the interviewer wanted to verify if I met these requirements so that a visa could be issued to my spouse.

and then continued to explain that the purpose of the visa is to have a begin a life in the U.S. and continue this life with my spouse in the United States.

I asked, what if I lived in Vietnam and never wanted to go back to the U.S. and happily be married to my spouse. The reply was that I need to denounce my U.S. citizenship. or continue on my visitor/permanent resident visa and renew when applicable. or wait until my spouse applies and becomes a U.S. citizen and after that go back to Vietnam and live happily.

[themachine 1]

I was working in SE Asia and during the interview process at the HCM consulate, the interviewer asked my spouse if I was waiting outside so he could talk to me.

The interviewer proceeded to ask me if I planned on going back to the U.S. in the near future as my spouse's entry visa would expire on a specified date.

The interviewer also asked if my domicile was in the United States, if I owned property/investment in the U.S., and if I currently pay U.S. taxes. All, answers were yes. I asked the interviewer the purpose of these questions and the reply in short was that the interviewer wanted to verify if I met these requirements so that a visa could be issued to my spouse.

and then continued to explain that the purpose of the visa is to begin a life in the U.S. and continue this life with my spouse in the United States.

I asked, what if I lived in Vietnam and never wanted to go back to the U.S. and happily be married to my spouse. The reply was that I need to

(1) denounce my U.S. citizenship. or (2) continue on my visitor/permanent resident visa and renew when applicable. (3) or wait until my spouse applies and becomes a U.S. citizen and after that go back to Vietnam and live happily.

I would take Option 3, being that currently I am in good status with my U.S. taxes.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I was working in SE Asia and during the interview process at the HCM consulate, the interviewer asked my spouse if I was waiting outside so he could talk to me.

The interviewer proceeded to ask me if I planned on going back to the U.S. in the near future as my spouse's entry visa would expire on a specified date.

The interviewer also asked if my domicile was in the United States, if I owned property/investment in the U.S., and if I currently pay U.S. taxes. All, answers were yes. I asked the interviewer the purpose of these questions and the reply in short was that the interviewer wanted to verify if I met these requirements so that a visa could be issued to my spouse.

and then continued to explain that the purpose of the visa is to begin a life in the U.S. and continue this life with my spouse in the United States.

I asked, what if I lived in Vietnam and never wanted to go back to the U.S. and happily be married to my spouse. The reply was that I need to

(1) denounce my U.S. citizenship. or (2) continue on my visitor/permanent resident visa and renew when applicable. (3) or wait until my spouse applies and becomes a U.S. citizen and after that go back to Vietnam and live happily.

I would take Option 3, being that currently I am in good status with my U.S. taxes.

Your status with your taxes wouldn't matter. The US government wouldn't accept a renunciation of citizenship if you owed taxes. That's one of the circumstances where they are explicitly not allowed to accept it. Another would be if you were attempting to renounce your citizenship to evade prosecution in the US.

They asked the questions about domicile, property, and taxes because it's required that an I-864 sponsor be domiciled in the US. If you didn't intend to return to the US before or at the same time as your wife, and if you hadn't maintained your domicile in the United States, then you wouldn't be eligible to submit an I-864 affidavit of support. It's not really about her eligibility to receive a visa, but about your eligibility to be a sponsor.

[Teacher Mark 53]

That's a good thing that the Us Consulate finally has decided to close the loophole by stopping the DCF process. For people who don't care to live and contribute (paying taxes) to the system, why should the US gov't care to provide any service to?

Sound fair to me.

I file taxes every year. The thing is I'm allowed to make up to 90K a year before I owe anything.

I also qualify for Pell grants, so Uncle Sam is paying for me to go to school as well. Life is good.

I don't think a true DCF ever existed in Vietnam, but you could file an I-130 at USCIS/Diamond Plaza. That office is closed now and a US students services office opened. I imagine you'd have to travel to Thailand now to file. The real trick would be to get a work permit in Vietnam...

Edited October 18, 2011 by Teacher Mark

[Happytime 0]

After looking around here extensively, I haven't seen someone with a situation resembling mine and I have a few, very specific questions

To give some background here is my situation;

I am a 27 year old expat living in Vietnam, I have been here for the last 3+ years (went back to the US for a grand total of 5 months, the last time I didn't hold a visa for Vietnam was early August 2011). I currently hold a work permit for Vietnam. I met my wife who is about 6 years younger than me in an English class I was teaching (she was 19 at the time, it was at an English center not a school which, if you don't know, is like dating your yoga teacher). We dated for a little more than a year when we decided to get married. We were married approximately a year and half after we began dating (we were legally married in early November, but the ceremony was in December 2011).

For cultural reasons, we did not live together before getting married, but we do now. She speaks advanced English and I speak almost no Vietnamese.

For secondary evidence we have; A lease with both our names, a bank account with both our names, Neither of us are big on taking pictures, so we have maybe 50 at most to submit (a lot more from the wedding, but from what I understand those are not the ones they are worried about), about 90 pages of skype calls/conversation, About 20 pages of facebook messages, about the same for emails, a one and a half page timeline of relationship that I am not sure I have formatted correctly, I have my visas and plane tickets from over the years, I have our itinerary from our honeymoon to Thailand.

We do not have affidavits of support at this time and I only want to include them if absolutely necessary because gathering them will be tough and expensive since I am out of country. We do not have phone records since both of us use prepaid phones. We do not own property together and we don't have any bills in our name (we live in an apartment in the landlord's house and they show us the bill for our part and we pay it. Due to things being a pain here I am not sure this can be changed).

I am applying for the IR1/CR1 visa and am currently at the very beginning completing the i-130 packet

The big reason we are moving to America is because I have been here a long time and need a change of scenery and she wants to go to school abroad. We are planning on living in DC but do not have a residence lined up, I am going to list my mother's house as the residence, as she is the co-sponsor and that is where we will start anyway.

I have heard that the HCMC consulate is quite strict and with good reason as there is a lot of scamming going on in this country

So given all that, here are my questions

1) is any of the above info going to send up a red flag? if so what, and is there anything I can do to make a red flag less likely?

2) is there any secondary info that we absolutely should have before filing?

3) Can anyone point me to an example of an already completed I-130 or guide that gives specific infor for someone filing out of country?

Sorry for all the info, but I want to make sure all bases are covered. Thanks for any help anyone can give.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

1) is any of the above info going to send up a red flag? if so what, and is there anything I can do to make a red flag less likely?

The affidavit of support is not optional. It's mandatory. When your I-130 is approved and sent to the National Visa Center you will be required to submit an I-864 affidavit of support and corresponding fee. You must be domiciled in the US, or prove that you have taken steps to reestablish domicile before your spouse enters the US as an immigrant, or your I-864 will not be accepted.

Your relationship evidence will likely not be questioned because of the amount of time you've been living in Vietnam. You'll be required to submit some evidence to prove you cohabitate.

2) is there any secondary info that we absolutely should have before filing?

Mundane stuff like her passport, birth certificate, some forms, etc. I would include most of the relationship evidence with the petition. The consular officer might not ask to see further evidence at the interview. Including it with the petition will ensure that the consular officer has an opportunity to see it, and they can't claim it doesn't exist.

3) Can anyone point me to an example of an already completed I-130 or guide that gives specific infor for someone filing out of country?

There is no difference between filing in-country or out of country since you can't file DCF. Click on the Guides link at the top of the page.

Some people have had difficulty filing an I-130 from abroad and giving a foreign address. USCIS sometimes doesn't send the notices to the foreign address, or they get lost in the notoriously bad VN mail system. You might want to provide an address of a family member in the US who can receive mail for you.

[Happytime 0]

The affidavit of support is not optional. It's mandatory. When your I-130 is approved and sent to the National Visa Center you will be required to submit an I-864 affidavit of support and corresponding fee. You must be domiciled in the US, or prove that you have taken steps to reestablish domicile before your spouse enters the US as an immigrant, or your I-864 will not be accepted.

Your relationship evidence will likely not be questioned because of the amount of time you've been living in Vietnam. You'll be required to submit some evidence to prove you cohabitate.

Mundane stuff like her passport, birth certificate, some forms, etc. I would include most of the relationship evidence with the petition. The consular officer might not ask to see further evidence at the interview. Including it with the petition will ensure that the consular officer has an opportunity to see it, and they can't claim it doesn't exist.

There is no difference between filing in-country or out of country since you can't file DCF. Click on the Guides link at the top of the page.

Some people have had difficulty filing an I-130 from abroad and giving a foreign address. USCIS sometimes doesn't send the notices to the foreign address, or they get lost in the notoriously bad VN mail system. You might want to provide an address of a family member in the US who can receive mail for you.

thanks for the detailed answers and quick response, the affidavits I was referring to were the ones in support of the bona fide marriage evidence. The ones that state, I have knowledge that these two people are married.

As far as the AOS goes, that is being done by my mother, we are also planning on moving to that address and listed it as domicile. In reality that is where we are going to start but may quickly move away. I assume that might send a red flag but is it illegal? Should we plan on remaining at the residence we send as domicile for some time and is how would one go about proving that?

[aloram 1]

I'm in a very similar situation to HappyTime. From reading everything here, it seems like in Vietnam it's best to load the I-130 packet with all kinds of supporting evidence (photos, emails, affidavits, etc.). Correct?

Edited August 22, 2012 by aloram

[Anh map 2,098]

I'm in a very similar situation to HappyTime. From reading everything here, it seems like in Vietnam it's best to load the I-130 packet with all kinds of supporting evidence (photos, emails, affidavits, etc.). Correct?

Correct.

If you have more questions/comments it's best to start your own thread rather than tag on to an old one.