Phase 2 of our lives

[Steven2014 0]

I visited this site years ago when my then fiance and I were trying to get married and figuring out which of our countries was easier to do so in. We chose Norway.

• I am a US Citizen, she is a Norwegian citizen

• Our now 1 year old daughter holds a US passport

I got a fiance Visa back in june 2012 and we were married in Nov 2012 in Norway. It is now 2015, we have resided in Norway (since June 2012) for about 2.5 years now, and boy we did not intend on being here this long! whew!

• The Goal Now: Attain the proper visa for my wife so we can move our family of 3 to the US. From my research it seems the DCF applies to us; I have emailed the Swedish American Embassy to confirm this. The Norwegian Consulate no longer deals with immigration visas.
  
• I truely hope to not mess up on our application. We have our heart set on moving to the US no later than July, this year.

Challenges : The paperwork, not being able to do interview in Norway but rather must travel to Stockholm when its time. Not being able to file the I-130 at an office; we have to send it via mail to Lockbox (also my wife has no idea what a money order is or the like, going to have to call the bank and see what they have here)

Questions in no particular order:

1. We will be staying with my Aunt and Uncle initially when we move to the US. They have both also agreed to be Joint sponsers for my wife. I have instructed them to Fill out a I-864 and a I-864a; my understanding is the "a" form is for the second sponser, is that correct?

2. Since they will be filing those forms, Do I also need to fill out a I-864 form?

- I have worked about half of the 2.5 years while in Norway. Would I too need to track down a copy of my W-2 for the year prior to moving to Norway? I am assuming the tax returns I have for Norway mean nothing.

-- I have more questions, will post later, kid just woke up from nap

thank you all for your time and responses.

[awaywego 28]

Unfortunately for your timeline, you will not be filing DCF, as there is no USCIS field office in Norway (or Sweden; list here) to process those petitions. Filing to the lockbox means that you will take the more common path outlined in the IR-1/CR-1 guide. This is taking a little over a year, from what I've seen.

To your questions:

1. The joint sponsor fills out the I-864. The joint sponsor's spouse (then also a joint sponsor) fills out the I-864A. The spouse does not need to also sponsor, but it sounds as though both aunt and uncle plan to do so.

2. As the petitioner, you will be the primary sponsor, which means you will fill out an I-864. This requires your tax information for the past three tax years.

If you include tax transcripts, you won't need to track down W-2s or any other pieces that are sent in with the return. You can get these online here.

You are correct that your Norwegian tax returns don't mean anything for the I-864. They only care about your US taxes.

Have you been filing US taxes while living in Norway? USCs are subject to IRS filing requirements even when living abroad. (See the IRS's widget and site for more info.) For any years that you were required to file, get that going now, and look into the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion so that you will not pay taxes twice on the Norwegian income. For any years that you were not required to file (e.g., if your income was below the threshold when you were unemployed), see the I-864 instructions for how to note this.

[Steven2014 0]

I had not been filing my taxes for back home, but have here in Norway. We are going to address that this weekend. I am hopeful that there wont be much of a penalty.

I emailed the swedish consulate and linked them the description of DCF from visajourney; I was under the impression we fit that to a T. But he told me that they only do "Exceptional Filing" for people with medical issues/humantiarian reasons. So that means this is OUT.

We are just a normal couple.

So now I need to figure out where to start and get the ball rolling. Is there any chance of applying and moving at some point with a waiver?

[awaywego 28]

Start with the IR-1/CR-1 guide linked above. (If you're wondering, your wife will receive an IR-1 because you've been married more than two years. That is good for ten years, and you will not have to remove conditions.) It will tell you what to send and when. There is information in the instructions for various forms and even more information on these forums.

You and your daughter could move to the US at any time, as you're citizens, but I know of no waiver that will allow your wife to live in the US before she has a visa that allows her to live there.

There was for a while talk on VJ about some auto-expedites when the USC lives abroad, depending on where the petition was sent after the lockbox. I'm not sure if they're still happening, and I couldn't find the thread to link with more information than my memory, sorry.

[Steven2014 0]

thank you for your reply -

Guess we are going to get started and adjust accordingly.

[Confusedtinybird 41]

Hi,

You might want to follow this thread it might be helpful to you. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/357465-usc-petitioner-living-abroad/

USC Petitioner living abroad but DCF is not available. You can follow other time lines and look at suggestions.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Confusedtinybird

[Steven2014 0]

Thank you for the link Confusedtinybird -

This has rekindled the hope in my wife and I to be able to move before a years time!

I am going to study this thread.