USC petitioner living abroad

[chaine1 116]

Our Australian address.

Good Luck! I hope you are expedited. Please come back to let us know if that happens or not.

[BBCC 16]

1. Country USC resides in: Canada

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: September 2011

4. How long had you been living abroad: 1 year

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: Work permit

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes, but used my US residence address on the visa application DS-260/I-864 (I own also home in US)

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes. Joint apartment lease in Canada

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? No

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2?

We did not know exedited processing was available so we did not request it. Our I-130 petition was approved in 5 days (NOA1 to NOA2).

Using VJ information, we had all of our documents scanned and ready to be emailed the moment requested. We typically submitted our documents within two hours of an email request for them.

We also had previously submitted a I-129F/K-3 petition prior to our wedding and then switched to the I-130 petition immediately after our wedding outside the US.

One other thing...a five week delay due to an RFE just prior to the scheduling did not seem to slow processing down once we submitted documents requested in the RFE.

Edited March 18, 2012 by BBCC

[Ryan H 3,812]

We did not know exedited processing was available so we did not request it. Our I-130 petition was approved in 5 days (NOA1 to NOA2).

You wouldn't have requested expedited processing. There appears to be a trend at USCIS to quickly process petitions (without any request made) filed by US Citizens who live abroad and DCF is unavailable in the country the petitioner lives in. Your case (5 days from NOA1 to NOA2) is another example of this trend.

Edited March 18, 2012 by Ryan H

[TattooedAesa 0]

See my main concern is I am in the UK and we have a field office but I have to apply in the USA

[BBCC 16]

You wouldn't have requested expedited processing. There appears to be a trend at USCIS to quickly process petitions (without any request made) filed by US Citizens who live abroad and DCF is unavailable in the country the petitioner lives in. Your case (5 days from NOA1 to NOA2) is another example of this trend.

We were stunned at five days. We barely had sent off our I-129F/K-3 petition when the NOA2 arrived.

We had previously filed a I-129F/K-1 petition some months previous before finally deciding to get married outside the US and I had wondered if the administrative work at USCIS had somehow assisted the I-130 petition work.

[hjones 1]

We just sent our I-130 (finally!) last week to Chicago Lockbox from Scotland, so I'm interested to see if we get into a fast queue! I will provide any and all updates here!

[sjmg 0]

1. Country USC resides in: Spain

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: November 21, 2011

4. How long had you been living abroad: 4 years

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/other - work

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? NO and the office still keeps denying this fast track exists, I've heard 3 times now that no one with an NOA1 date after me has gotten an NOA2, obviously they are clueless or told to lie.

12. We're with the California Service Center

****Please note, someone wrote to me earlier about this here, and suggested that maybe since we filed a K-3 as well that might explain not getting processed, but the K-3 cover letter said the only reason we're filing is because US Citizen living abroad and we want to find the quickest way for us to return home. They can't deny that they knew the USC was living abroad, postmarked DHL Spain.

Great idea getting all this info together. thanks!

[Laure&Colin 558]

****Please note, someone wrote to me earlier about this here, and suggested that maybe since we filed a K-3 as well that might explain not getting processed, but the K-3 cover letter said the only reason we're filing is because US Citizen living abroad and we want to find the quickest way for us to return home. They can't deny that they knew the USC was living abroad, postmarked DHL Spain.

Great idea getting all this info together. thanks!

Weird, because you just did everything, there's no difference between your application and mine, we filed pretty much at the same time, and yet you didn't get expedited.

Except for the I129F, it's the only thing that would make your case any different from the others we have seen here.

[sjmg 0]

I know, and the K-3 was sent in about 2 weeks later, but according to my case info, I've never had a "touch" last action was the same date it was received, I actually just sent a copy of all our info to our state senator who has offered to help us. I have a job offer back home and the USCIS keep suggesting I move home without him and I, as well as my senator, think that I should not have to do so. Frustration and tears...

[jaycali 415]

This is interesting! Keep em coming

[lemayz 2]

Laure&Colin....such a good idea to put this together, since I think it can be really helpful for people just starting out with the process, seeing as how it is a new development.

Here are my answers:

1. Country USC resides in: Chile

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: Feb 2012

4. How long had you been living abroad: 6 years

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/other - Work

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? No, I sent it to my mother in the US, who then sent it to USCIS.

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Not on purpose, but documents dealing with bona fide relationship, marriage certificates, bank accounts, etc. all showed that I was living abroad.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? No

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Yes, 11 days.

I am thinking that one element we could add to this discussion is how all of us are going to show proof of domicile for the NVC stage. I realize that this is not directly related to the original post (sorry Laure&Colin, I'm not trying to hijack!), but I think it IS very relevant for all of us. Seeing as how we all live abroad, we have similar circumstances and difficulties in how to prove US domicile or reestablishment of domicile. I'd love to hear people's experiences in this area.

Thanks!

[Laure&Colin 558]

In our case it was very simple: my husband went back to the US to start a new job in January, a day before NVC assigned our case number. So when the time came to send the I-864 package, he had a letter of employment and his first pay stub showing he was working in the US. For the interview, we'll bring a new employment letter, all his pay stubs, the lease contract for the house he rents, and utility bills.

[lemayz 2]

Yes, seems like your case was pretty straightforward, that's great! In my case, I won't have a job or be moving back before my husband, so it's a bit more difficult. I am wondering if other people also have experiencies in this area....?

[JNEKG 4]

I agree lemayz, I am in a similar situation. We won't go untill we are approved. We won't look for jobs until approval either. We are just trying to build proof or re-establishing domicile. Voter registration for my USC husband, ordering new SSN card for him, enrolling kids into school etc. I saw a post on here somewhere of someone in a similar situation, they suggested getting quotes from moving companies. It seemed to work for them. I am interested to hear the thoughts and ideas of others in this area. It would be nice to have a dedicated group for USC filing abroad - like the country groups. Can that be done?

[mariay 0]

Hi, I've been reading this post from the day it was written and hoping to be in the same situation by having a fast processing of our I-130. Now that the NOA2 email has just arrived (!!!!!), I'm able to answer the survey:

Here are my answers:

1. Country USC resides in: Spain

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: Feb 2012

4. How long had you been living abroad: 30 years

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: other

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Not specific evidence, but everything (bank account, marriage certificate, last 5 years domicile, etc...)was in Spain.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? No

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Yes, 11 days.