US Citizen living abroad with spouse during I-130 processing

[minnie5621 0]

Hi everyone,

I am in a somewhat unusual scenario - at least I think I am - and if someone else is in the same or similar situation, perhaps they can help me out.

My husband is a New Zealand citizen and I am an American citizen. He and I met in New York, where he was working on a J-1 (one year work) visa. Close to the time of the expiration of his visa he had to head back to New Zealand. We decided to get married around this time. We got married in Queenstown, and then he had to head off to Auckland a week after our wedding to complete his final semester at university. I returned to NY, but I was miserable so we came up with the following solution:

I remained in New York for two weeks and during this time, I filed his I-130 petition. At the same time I applied for a working holiday visa to go to New Zealand; this visa allows a US citizen under a certain age (under the age of 30, I think) to travel and work in New Zealand for a year. So immediately after filing that I-130, I moved to Auckland to wait out the processing time with him.

Our only incentive for doing this, was to avoid having to spend a year living in different countries. I do not intend to live anywhere but the US and I maintain a domicile in the US where all correspondence is sent to - my parent's house, where I'd been living before moving to Auckland.

I hadn't informed the USCIS of any of my address changes, since we were moving around so much after arriving in Auckland. Currently we are in Melbourne, Australia. Regarding the next step, which is sending an affidavit of sponsorship to the NVC, my dad and I are going to file a joint sponsorship, since I am not currently earning income in the United States.

A few days ago I was informed via email that my petition had finally been approved (yay!). It took just a few days over 6 months from the date our petition was received. I realized, my husband's mailing address needs to be changed to Dunedin, where his parents can receive documentation that is sent to him. I don't know if our Australian address is valid as a mailing address, since he is a New Zealand citizen, so I don't want to create confusion as to why we are in Australia. Also, do we need to inform the NVC of all the addresses he has lived at in between? AND most importantly, do I need to report my move out of the country to the NVC? The reason I hadn't done this, again, was to avoid confusion, because the USCIS does not correspond outside the country - because my mailing address in the US was still good for receiving correspondence (my parents just scanned all documents they received and scanned and sent them to me), and I didn't want to create confusion regarding my mailing address in the United States.

However, I have worked for 3 months, while I was in Auckland, so my most recent tax return (which my dad is currently doing for me for the past year) will display income earned in New Zealand. So I don't want this information to create confusion as well if I don't report that I have been living outside the US.

Any advice on this situation is much appreciated.

Edited February 16, 2014 by minnie5621

[nightingalejules 678]

Hi everyone,

I am in a somewhat unusual scenario - at least I think I am - and if someone else is in the same or similar situation, perhaps they can help me out.

My husband is a New Zealand citizen and I am an American citizen. He and I met in New York, where he was working on a J-1 (one year work) visa. Close to the time of the expiration of his visa he had to head back to New Zealand. We decided to get married around this time. We got married in Queenstown, where his family lives, and then he had to head off to Auckland a week after our wedding to complete his final semester at university. So we flew from Queenstown to Auckland, and in Auckland, I got on a connecting flight back to New York. Upon arriving back in New York, however, I was miserable so we came up with the following solution:

I remained in New York for two weeks and during this time, I filed his I-130 petition. At the same time I applied for a working holiday visa to go to New Zealand; this visa allows a US citizen under a certain age (under the age of 30, I think) to travel and work in New Zealand for a year. So immediately after filing that I-130, I moved to Auckland to wait out the processing time with him.

We both remained there until December, when we decided to spend some time with his parents, who live in Dunedin. We spent close to a month in Dunedin, and then decided to spend some time in Australia, since New Zealand citizens are eligible to live and work in Australia for as long as they like without undergoing any immigration process. I simply applied for another work and holiday visa to travel to Australia, where I currently am.

Our only incentive for doing this, was to avoid having to spend a year living in different countries. I do not intend to live anywhere but the US and I maintain a domicile in the US where all correspondence is sent to - my parent's house, where I'd been living before moving to Auckland.

I hadn't informed the USCIS of any of my address changes, since we were moving around so much (hadn't originally intended to, but we ended up doing so because I quickly grew sick of Auckland and felt homesick if I remained in one place too long). Regarding the next step, which is sending an affidavit of sponsorship to the NVC, my dad and I are going to file a joint sponsorship, since I am not currently earning income in the United States.

A few days ago I was informed via email that my petition had finally been approved (yay!). It took just a few days over 6 months from the date our petition was received. I realized, my husband's mailing address needs to be changed to Dunedin, where his parents can receive documentation that is sent to him. I don't know if our Australian address is valid as a mailing address, since he is a New Zealand citizen, so I don't want to create confusion as to why we are in Australia. Also, do we need to inform the NVC of all the addresses he has lived at in between? AND most importantly, do I need to report my move out of the country to the NVC? The reason I hadn't done this, again, was to avoid confusion, because the USCIS does not correspond outside the country - because my mailing address in the US was still good for receiving correspondence (my parents just scanned all documents they received and scanned and sent them to me), and I didn't want to create confusion regarding my mailing address in the United States.

However, I have worked for 3 months, while I was in Auckland, so my most recent tax return (which my dad is currently doing for me for the past year) will display income earned in New Zealand. So I don't want this information to create confusion as well if I don't report that I have been living outside the US.

Any advice on this situation is much appreciated.

There are quite a few people on the forums who are living abroad with their spouses for whatever reason. Don't worry about it. Obviously, the most important thing is to be honest if anyone asks anything. No need to stress about things that they don't ask though.

Now that you're headed to NVC, you just need to provide an address where your husband can have things mailed to. It doesn't really matter where it is; there are also a number of people who are living in a third country altogether, working or what have you. There's usually a place on the forms to differentiate between current and permanent addresses if you want. I think, assuming that your husband wants to do his interview in NZ as opposed to OZ he'll want to put his parents' address down as his mailing address.

Keep track of any and all addresses he's lived at, though, since they will be required (along with dates) on the new DS-260 (or whatever the name of that form is)... and if he's been in Australia for more than 6 mo, he will need a police report from there as well as NZ.

Your tax return with Australian income is no big deal, given that you're applying with a joint sponsor anyway. Just make sure that you have proof (by interview time) of your "good faith effort" to re-establish domicile in the US (the fact that you have active bank accounts, a place to live, updated voter registry, your tax returns, etc etc).

My husband (dual USC and Canadian citizen) has been living in Canada since before I met him - he came here to go to university and has stayed 10years(ish). We got married last summer and he wants to move back to the US and bring me with him. So we're facing many of the same issues.

You'll be fine - good luck on your journey!

[minnie5621 0]

There are quite a few people on the forums who are living abroad with their spouses for whatever reason. Don't worry about it. Obviously, the most important thing is to be honest if anyone asks anything. No need to stress about things that they don't ask though.

Now that you're headed to NVC, you just need to provide an address where your husband can have things mailed to. It doesn't really matter where it is; there are also a number of people who are living in a third country altogether, working or what have you. There's usually a place on the forms to differentiate between current and permanent addresses if you want. I think, assuming that your husband wants to do his interview in NZ as opposed to OZ he'll want to put his parents' address down as his mailing address.

Keep track of any and all addresses he's lived at, though, since they will be required (along with dates) on the new DS-260 (or whatever the name of that form is)... and if he's been in Australia for more than 6 mo, he will need a police report from there as well as NZ.

Your tax return with Australian income is no big deal, given that you're applying with a joint sponsor anyway. Just make sure that you have proof (by interview time) of your "good faith effort" to re-establish domicile in the US (the fact that you have active bank accounts, a place to live, updated voter registry, your tax returns, etc etc).

My husband (dual USC and Canadian citizen) has been living in Canada since before I met him - he came here to go to university and has stayed 10years(ish). We got married last summer and he wants to move back to the US and bring me with him. So we're facing many of the same issues.

You'll be fine - good luck on your journey!

Ah, thanks so much for that detailed response! That makes me feel a lot better. And I wish you luck with your journey as well. Do you know if the NVC corresponds immediately with the beneficiary after receiving the petition from USCIS, or will they correspond with me first regarding the affidavit of support; as far as I'm aware, whatever documents have to be submitted from my husband's side are done online. We're planning to email the NVC with the address we want my husband's mail to be sent to first thing on Monday, but I just wanted to know if they correspond with the beneficiary (my husband) immediately upon receiving the petition from USCIS, since the NOA2 I received said that they will send information regarding the next steps to the beneficiary.

[Jawaree 718]

He has to interview in NZ unless he is a legal AU resident

he should maintain the parents address to be sure to get

correspondences, however he has to mention his stint in

AU it will be in his PP and he will need a police record there

also from NZ I agree do not complicate things by changing addresses

[Ryan H 3,813]

A few days ago I was informed via email that my petition had finally been approved (yay!). It took just a few days over 6 months from the date our petition was received. I realized, my husband's mailing address needs to be changed to Dunedin, where his parents can receive documentation that is sent to him. I don't know if our Australian address is valid as a mailing address, since he is a New Zealand citizen, so I don't want to create confusion as to why we are in Australia. Also, do we need to inform the NVC of all the addresses he has lived at in between? AND most importantly, do I need to report my move out of the country to the NVC? The reason I hadn't done this, again, was to avoid confusion, because the USCIS does not correspond outside the country - because my mailing address in the US was still good for receiving correspondence (my parents just scanned all documents they received and scanned and sent them to me), and I didn't want to create confusion regarding my mailing address in the United States.

Answers to the above:

• You can input his address in Dunedin on the DS-260
• Other answers regarding his addresses for the DS-260 are correct
• You don't need to report your move out of the country to the NVC

To add, if the NVC has both of your email addresses on file, they will correspond with you via email, they will mail anything.

[NikLR 13,227]

Also if you are not already familiar with the NVC process I suggest going here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/478133-nvc-filers-february-2014/ read everything in the first two posts and the links. Any questions you have regarding the NVC process can be asked there as well.

Congrats on NOA2.

[mattawara 19]

Not much to add, as the others have said, you're not alone.

I'm a kiwi, my wife is an american, we're living together in Melbourne currently - she got the subclass 462 visa. As it was a good place to wait out the processing of the I-130.

As the others have said, just show you intend to re-establish your domicile in the states when the visa is issued - which in your case should be dead easy. Enjoy your time over here, and get off to wilsons prom, the 12 apostles, and other great sights before you depart this pretty awesome place.

He has to interview in NZ unless he is a legal AU resident

Kiwis are free to live in aussie, we get issued a special category visa.