I864 Domicile, Sponsorship & Timeline

[Ccox32 0]

My husband and I live in the UK. I am a USC and have lived in the UK for 7 years; I am currently on a UK spousal visa.

Domicile:

Although I have lived in the UK for some time I have maintained the following connections to my USA residence:

--bank account (now shared with my husband)

--drivers license

--voter registration

--social security

Is this enough to prove domicile? If not what else can I do?

Sponsorship:

Both my husband and I have UK salaries. My UK salary is above the household poverty line; however, I will need to leave my job when we move to the USA; therefore can we only show assets? Will my parents, whom we intend to live with, need to be co-sponsors?

Timeline:

Is it possible for my husband, whom I am sponsoring, to move to the USA before I do? If I have to travel before or at the same time is is possible to get an extension to his visa so I can leave my job at a natural break (April 2014 or July 2014)? His appointment is in September. If he changes his interview appointment to suit our timeline is there an expiration on his medical examination results?

Thank you!!

[NikLR 13,231]

You're doing DCF right?!

[Ccox32 0]

Yes--US Embassy London

[NikLR 13,231]

***moved to DCF from IR1/CR1 process and procedures***

Awesome let me move you over there so you can get the exact responses you'll need! Lemme see if I can help a little however.

The beneficiary cannot move to the USA before the petitioner. You have to arrive together or he after you. That doesn't mean you have to stay if you have business to finish up, but also remember you should have 6 months from the medical (possibly the interview date) to move to the USA after obtaining the visa. Medicals expire after 6 months generally speaking.

You can try to qualify off assets, but they should be US based assets. Or you can ask your parents to co-sponsor. I suggest if you want to do that to do it quickly since the I-864 will need to be mailed (the embassy will require an original signature.) If your parents file their taxes MFJ then whomever makes the most money should sign a completed I-864 and whomever makes less should sign an I-864a to accompany it.

I'll let someone else help you with the domicile issues. Sorry I don't know much about them.

[Ccox32 0]

Thanks for putting me where I need to be! Also thanks for your advice. Just a quick clarification. If I enter the USA with the beneficiary and stay for a short period of time I would then be able to return to the UK to finish business, even if it was for say 4 months?

[lost_at_sea 995]

Thanks for putting me where I need to be! Also thanks for your advice. Just a quick clarification. If I enter the USA with the beneficiary and stay for a short period of time I would then be able to return to the UK to finish business, even if it was for say 4 months?

Yeah, that would probably be fine. I'm not even sure why they have that "has to be in the USA ahead of the beneficiary" thing. Well, I do understand, but I don't know how they would know at POE, nor is the petitioner being there at POE a guarantee that they're staying in the USA.

Better be on the right side of things than not, though, with this immigration business.

When it comes to the interview and I-864, they're going to want to see evidence of your US domicile (or intent to re-establish it). That's the most important thing as far as DCF paths go.

p.s. Please complete your timeline. It helps folks answering your Qs to know how far along the process you are: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=166851

Edited August 19, 2013 by lost_at_sea

[LauraDP 10]

We just got our visas in hand yesterday so, given we are at the other end of this process now, I feel a bit more qualified to offer my perspective.

The USC has to move to the US either before or at the same time as the beneficiary.

You will probably need your parents to be co-sponsors. My husband was the primary sponsor for our four kids and I but - because he has not lived in the US for 20 years and our assets are, therefore, UK based - we needed a USC actually resident in the US to be our co-sponsor. Although my husband has family there who could have acted as co-sponsor on our behalf, we actually had a close family friend do it. Therefore, it does not have to be family. However, if you are planning on living with your parents and your parents meet the financial criteria to sponsor you then it makes most sense to use them. Both sponsoring parties will need copies of their most recent tax returns so be sure you and your parents have those to hand.

When we were at the interview, the guy who sorted out all of our documents at the pre-processing stage pondered allowing us through on assets but decided to use the co-sponsor simply because all of our assets are UK based. So I think unless you have property or substantial savings in the US, the co-sponsor route is probably the one you will have to take.

The evidence of establishing domicile was a biggy for us to prepare because my husband has not lived in the US since he was 16 (he is a dual national and came back to the UK to complete his schooling and go to university) so that meant he had very little to prove a connection to the US beyond his having maintained his US passport, his SSN and his voter registration. He did, however, take out a US credit card over a year ago and we had opened a US joint bank account through our current UK bank and we also had all of the evidence of him starting a new job in the US. We also had evidence of us beginning to wind up our affairs in the UK (house being on the market being the major thing but also our resignations from our jobs). After compiling this massive dossier of evidence, however, in the end they never even queried our intent to establish domicile. They did not ask to see it and they asked no questions about it. Of course, had we not had all of that information at our disposal you can be sure they would have asked to see it.

Best of luck with everything!

Laura