Sponsor U.S. Domicile - establishing & proof

[Prince-Akeem 1]

My wife, who is a U.S. citizen is about to prepare her I-1864 and so we have a question with regards to sponsor domicile.

She is the petitioner for myself and our daughter and although a U.S. citizen (with a valid U.S passport and social security number) she has never lived in the U.S. and does not have an address there so not domicile.

From all the research that we've done we understand that it is possible to still be a sponsor if you can prove you have the intention of establishing/re-establishing domicile in the U.S and provide proof of steps taken.

We're preparing a cover-letter to accompnay her form and transcripts and looking into what we can do to prove intent of domicile. Our cover letter will include a checklist of steps we're taking, such as opening a bank account, speaking with estate agents, potential job offer, etc, but is this enough?

Can anyone confirm whether providing a checklist of "steps taken" is enough, what else we might be able to do and/or if they have successfully been sponsored by someone who was not domicile in the U.S.?

Thanks

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

You'l be wanting to submit proof along with your checklist- bank statement from the US bank, rental agreement, that sort of thing. Enrolling your daughter in school is also a very solid proof.

How will she sponsor you financially though? Do you have enough assets to do so?

[Prince-Akeem 1]

Thanks,

For proof we were hoping to submit samples of communciations with prospective schools and estate agents. We're hesitant to confirm schooling or accomodation as my wife is still going through a (long) interview process and has not recieved a confirmed offer yet. And as a result we have not agreed on the final city that we would live in - we are down to a shortlist of two options.

Our aim was to secure the job offer before submitting our package to the NVC, and this may still be possible as we await for her transcripts to become available, but if not we planned to submit what we can now and hopefully bring further proof to interview.

As for financial proof, she currently earns above the minimum required and can provide proof of earnings (in Vietnam). We assumed additional assets would be irrelevant if this is the case as the issue would be whether she can prove intent of domicile rather than income?

Regarding things like bank account and voter registration we're looking into whether she can register without a US address and if a bank will allow her to open an account using her (American) passport only for now as once again, she has no US address.

Without the job confirmation we're not sure what else we can do as it would be unwise to confirm schooling or accomodation?

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Domicile is one thing, income is another. You MUST be bale to financially support the beneficiary as outlined on the I-864, and foreign income does not count, as it will stop once you move. Neither will a job offer, because an offer is not an actual job. So this is an issue you need to solve- either via assets, or the petitioner moving first and getting a job in the US or, as most people do when living abroad, a co=sponsor who stands guarantoor and lives in the USA.

[Prince-Akeem 1]

Thank you, that's great advice.

We will ensure to show proof of assets in addition to "foreign" income.

As you say though, domicile is different. For that, until we have a confirmed offer all we can do is show intent but not solid arrangements.

[dnp2014 44]

Thank you, that's great advice.

We will ensure to show proof of assets in addition to "foreign" income.

As you say though, domicile is different. For that, until we have a confirmed offer all we can do is show intent but not solid arrangements.

I think for a household of 3 you probably need $150,000 in assets... or joint sponsor

[Prince-Akeem 1]

Thank you dnp, that's good to know.