The Curious Case Of Moving To America

[ImminentImmigrant 1]

Hey,

So I am a resident of Mumbai, India. Just got married last month in India. My spouse is a a citizen of USA, studying in Houston, Texas. I plan to join her in the US and do an MBA, after which I may live there with my wife or we may move back to India together.

Having consulted an immigration lawyer, they determined that the CR-1 Visa would be the best route for us to proceed with.

However, in most cases of CR-1 Visa, the US Citizen will be supporting the immigrant. However, in this case, my wife is still a student, staying with her family. Also, since we are not staying in the same country and she has now gone back, we do not have joint bank statements or other financial documents.

My questions are:

1) If I name my wife as my sponsor, does that mean she HAS to be financing me? Or should I name my father in law as a co-sponsor too? I wouldn't want to unnecesarily get into extra paperwork.

2) She is going to start filling the I-110 form for me from Texas. Does she need the original of our Marriage Certificate, or do I hold on to that for the interview and simply send her a copy?

3) In the I-130 form, will the lack of any financial data for Proof Of Marriage make them suspicious? We have our wedding album, invitations, relatives and friends who can attest it is real, and Skype/IM Transcripts. Will these suffice?

4) If I tell the Immigration Authorities that I may or may not stay in the US permanently after my MBA, will that be a reason for them to reject me?

Thanks in advance.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

1. Your wife is the primary sponsor, even if she makes no money. Her dad can be the joint sponsor- ie he needs to fill in a I-864 too, submit tax papers etc, when the time comes.

3. No, the government realises you won't have joint accounts etc when you do not live together. Evidence of spending time together (airline tickets, photos etc) and communicating (emails, phone bills etc) are fine.

4. Not by itself, but they may find it odd. I would not mention it unless they specifically ask.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

1) If you'd take a look or a search around the forum you'd see that she would need a cosponsor.

2) I think you mean for your I-130. You need to send a photocopy with the application. For the NVC stage you'll want the original.

3) I'd try and get a little more than what you have. You can try and find this in a variety of ways, but I'd just go for as much as possible.

4)No, but it is a little unusual, especially because you may receive government assistance to study that you are not going to pay back with taxes.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Nola123

[caly 48]

Hey,

So I am a resident of Mumbai, India. Just got married last month in India. My spouse is a a citizen of USA, studying in Houston, Texas. I plan to join her in the US and do an MBA, after which I may live there with my wife or we may move back to India together.

Having consulted an immigration lawyer, they determined that the CR-1 Visa would be the best route for us to proceed with.

However, in most cases of CR-1 Visa, the US Citizen will be supporting the immigrant. However, in this case, my wife is still a student, staying with her family. Also, since we are not staying in the same country and she has now gone back, we do not have joint bank statements or other financial documents.

My questions are:

1) If I name my wife as my sponsor, does that mean she HAS to be financing me? Or should I name my father in law as a co-sponsor too? I wouldn't want to unnecesarily get into extra paperwork.

2) She is going to start filling the I-110 form for me from Texas. Does she need the original of our Marriage Certificate, or do I hold on to that for the interview and simply send her a copy?

3) In the I-130 form, will the lack of any financial data for Proof Of Marriage make them suspicious? We have our wedding album, invitations, relatives and friends who can attest it is real, and Skype/IM Transcripts. Will these suffice?

4) If I tell the Immigration Authorities that I may or may not stay in the US permanently after my MBA, will that be a reason for them to reject me?

Thanks in advance.

1. Your wife is the primary sponsor, even if she makes no money. Her dad can be the joint sponsor- ie he needs to fill in a I-864 too, submit tax papers etc, when the time comes.

3. No, the government realises you won't have joint accounts etc when you do not live together. Evidence of spending time together (airline tickets, photos etc) and communicating (emails, phone bills etc) are fine.

4. Not by itself, but they may find it odd. I would not mention it unless they specifically ask.

Her dad should fill in the I-864A (instead of the I-864) if they live in the same household, right?

Pretty sure I've got this right but someone please correct me if I'm wrong.. We didn't use a joint sponsor so I may not have my facts straight!

Good luck, OP!

Edited to add: Nevermind what I said! Seems the I-864 is the way to go if her dad qualifies on his own. Read this thread for an explanation. Sorry for the confusion!

Edited December 10, 2012 by caly

[ImminentImmigrant 1]

Thanks for the clarification you guys! Earlier I was considering hiring a Lawyer to walk me through the process, but after reading experiences here I think its doable by myself.

[Roosha 51]

Definitely doable by yourself. Even preferable seeing as your case is straightforward, there are no complications. Hiring a lawyer might even delay your case since no one will follow up on your case and care about it as much as your or your wife do.

Send your wife this link: http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/How_to_bring_your_foreign_spouse_to_live_in_the_US and tell her to get on this site. The first part of this process is all about her, it's only after you get approval from USCIS that you'll be more involved. So she needs to read the guide (as a start) and start researching and gathering documents.