Hong Kong Interview Woes

[kerry_and 3]

Hi guys

We finally had our interview today in Hong Kong. I am currently sponsoring my wife, and we both live in Hong Kong. Thus far, it has taken us 18 months to get to this position, with no RFEs, with the exception of not writing "n/a" in the 864a in the "complete only if necessary line" (no, that is not a joke, and that sent us to the back of the nvc line for another 60 days).

So everything went well, with the exception of proof of domicile, at the interview today according to my wife. I was told I could not go in with her. She was the last one to leave as they felt that I did not provide acceptable prof of domicile. I had:

Us Drivers license

Multiple bank accounts and credit cards

Maintained my car at my parents house

Got insurance quotes for when I come back

Had brochures and information for a school I would like to attend when we get back

A letter from my parents stating that I am able to stay with them when we arrive in the states

We showed that our Hong Kong visas will expire in January.

Apparently, this was not good enough to show that we plan to move to the states, and now we have to show more proof. I don't understand how I would be able to get a job offer or even an apartment contract as we have no idea when we can get this visa! Does anybody have any suggestions? The people at the embassy were useless in answering any follow up questions, which of course I could not ask after we were told to leave. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Jawaree 717]

Would have been better to say you were renting from parents BUT don't

change to that now you have to be consisent, I say get about 3 job offers,

get something from the school not just brochures & hope its another CO

it seem like you had almost everything

[sexymackeral 14]

Hi guys

We finally had our interview today in Hong Kong. I am currently sponsoring my wife, and we both live in Hong Kong. Thus far, it has taken us 18 months to get to this position, with no RFEs, with the exception of not writing "n/a" in the 864a in the "complete only if necessary line" (no, that is not a joke, and that sent us to the back of the nvc line for another 60 days).

So everything went well, with the exception of proof of domicile, at the interview today according to my wife. I was told I could not go in with her. She was the last one to leave as they felt that I did not provide acceptable prof of domicile. I had:

Us Drivers license

Multiple bank accounts and credit cards

Maintained my car at my parents house

Got insurance quotes for when I come back

Had brochures and information for a school I would like to attend when we get back

A letter from my parents stating that I am able to stay with them when we arrive in the states

We showed that our Hong Kong visas will expire in January.

Apparently, this was not good enough to show that we plan to move to the states, and now we have to show more proof. I don't understand how I would be able to get a job offer or even an apartment contract as we have no idea when we can get this visa! Does anybody have any suggestions? The people at the embassy were useless in answering any follow up questions, which of course I could not ask after we were told to leave. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Other suggestions are:

-proof of paying taxes both state and federal

-proof of voting record or voter's id card

-proof of permanent mailing address in the US

-proof of US health insurance

-proof of car insurance/car registration current in your name

-proof of submitting employment applications for jobs in the US -many can be submitted online so perhaps apply and print the confirmation page and the page with the job description (location of job in US)

-if you can move beyond just information about schools to actually applying or even better proof of registering for classes

I'm not sure how your parents phrased their letter- but perhaps rewriting it to state that you would be living in the U.S. with them for X number of months after your wife receives her visa so that you can 'get back on your feet' and that they may call if they have questions..... more like a formal rental agreement- even if you aren't going to pay rent this may help to show concrete steps to prove domicile.

Also on the flip side having proof showing that you will be in Hong Kong temporarily- your visas expiring are a good example but also showing your lease expireing or providing an intent to vacate letter signed by your current landlord.

Document everything needed for your move and include that as evidence i.e will you ship your belongings back to the states? If so, include a quote from a shipping company as evidence. What about your mail? Do you have a postal box in Hong kong? Show that you plan to close it when you move.

Good luck!

[relativeways 27]

I remember during my interview in HK, another woman was turned away with a letter to provide more proof of domicile.

She had shown similar things to yours actually and her answers were similar (e.g. where are you going to be staying? My husband's sister's house. What are you going to be doing? I don't know if I'll work, etc were some of her answers).

Personally, I think what your list lacks are specifics.

Us Drivers license (Doesn't prove anything, just that you can drive there)

Multiple bank accounts and credit cards (Also doesn't prove anything, a foreign student can open an account there and leave it there)
Maintained my car at my parents house (Are you paying for the insurance right now? Is there any insurance being paid at the moment?)
Got insurance quotes for when I come back (I guess not)
Had brochures and information for a school I would like to attend when we get back (Specifically what kind of program? What is your career trajectory? Explain why you want to go to school in the states and what these schools can offer your future career that HK/China might not be able to)
A letter from my parents stating that I am able to stay with them when we arrive in the states (You need a letter to say that they will allow you to stay until you get a job and can move out on your own).
We showed that our Hong Kong visas will expire in January. (I assume you can re-new them).

Basically the gist I got from watching that other woman during the interview was that the consular officer sees a lot of these cases - people going to the US for 2 years, getting a green card and moving somewhere else. The CO actually said "immigration is permanent. It's not for you to just get a green card and then leave."

I think it might help for your wife to show reasons for HER to stay, not just you. I assume her family and friends are all elsewhere - what's going on in the CO's head is they're probably thinking "this woman's going to get homesick and want to leave." She needs a reason, other than you her husband, to stay in the US. Does she see future career/education/schools for your future kids there?

[Darnell 8,478]

ya, domicile proof is for the USCitizen,

and there's 2 paths -

1. proof of USA domicile or

2. proof of intent of re-establishing USA domicile.

It's specific, must choose 1 or the other path. We've some example form letters in the NVC Process wiki here.

For the OP, sorry, not enough.

Suggest a Lease Document from the Parents, with all original signatures.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Darnell