Need some advice about foreign visa in relation to I-130 petition / CR-1 process

[elvenshadow 19]

Now that my I-130 packet has been mailed out, I am waiting for NoA1 to find out what service center will process our petition. Based on that information I can get a rough estimate of how long I might expect the process to take.

If the estimated time is low enough (6 months or so) I am considering not re-contracting for my current job for another year. I don’t want to separate from my wife, but I also don’t want to stay in Japan a whole more year. The current contract ends July 31^st. I can stay in Japan for 90 more days after my contract legally without doing anything. However, I do have the option of simply changing my visa status to a spouse visa. If I do that, I can stay for a much longer time without even having a job, and my job options are not limited which would allow me to still make enough money for the period we stay and I wait for her visa process to finish. We also want to go to the interview together at the Tokyo embassy. This would act as a safety net in the case that something does go wrong unexpectedly and pushes us beyond the 90 days after July 31^st.

So here is my question: Will changing my visa status to spouse visa in Japan bring up any flags to USCIS that might cause delays in our application process? Would they maybe be suspicious as to why someone with intent to return to the US would suddenly renew their visa in Japan? Would it make it more difficult to establish US Domicile for the next phase of the process?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Edited April 22, 2014 by elvenshadow

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

It;s fine for you to be on a spousal visa.

You can either show you never abandoned domicile,. OR show that you intend to re-establish domicile; the second is often easier if you have been abroad several years.

[elvenshadow 19]

I see. Thank you for the reply. Yes, I have been abroad nearly 7 years so I will need to show intent to re-establish domicile.

I will wait and see what my estimated processing time is after we get NoA1 and then decide if I should change my visa status from instructor to spouse from there.