Just want to make sure we have this right. Also a couple questions.

[zach21uk 3]

Hi There,

My wife and I just want to make sure we have a complete understanding of the process we are about to embark on once she files the I-130. My wife lives with me in Cyprus, so she is filing from outside the US. This is what we understand from having read this forum and some other resources online:

1) We file I-130 along one G-1145 and two G-325A (one for me, one for her). A cheque for $420 dollars, 2 photos, a copy of my wifes birth certificate, an official copy of our marriage certificate and other evidence of our marriage such as photos etc.

2) Some time after, my wife will receive a notice of acceptance by email or SMS.

3) USCIS pass our paperwork over to the National Visa Center? (Is this right?)

4) NVC then contacts us and requests a boat load more paperwork? (does anyone know what paperwork they'll ask for?)

5) After we mail that back to NVC, assuming all is in order, they will eventually contact our local embassy and schedule a visa interview and to this interview we have to bring the list of documents specified by our embassy here and at this interview, I get questioned and then either approved or rejected.

Is all this correct? Obviously we know its a lot more involved than this, but these are the five basic steps we have understood.

We understand that the average timeline for the entire process is around 12 to 18 months - is this correct? We understand it will take longer if we fail to send paperwork they ask for.

My wife's uncle has agreed to do the I-864 for us as my wife currently earns no income (shes in university). At what point do we present this Affidavit of Support? My understanding is that we send a COPY to NVC and bring the original to the consular interview? Is this right?

Relating to the I-864, I am self employed and my income/earnings will remain consistent/stable even once I have relocated to the US. On the I-864, Section 7, Item 6 of the I-864 it says I can declare my ASSETS. What about my earnings? Can they be declared given that they will remain the same?

Finally, my wife currently resides here in Cyprus with me. We've been told my wife has to demonstrate that she intends to re-establish domicile in the US. How exactly do we do that? The plan is to sell up and move to the US once I am approved. We would ship all of our items by cargo ship and they would arrive in the US around 3 months after we do, giving us plenty of time to rent a house/apartment and furnish it. However we have been told that my wife may need to go back to the US in advance on her own and establish domicile BEFORE my consular interview?

Thanks in advance all.

Zach & Liz.

Edited April 23, 2016 by zach21uk

[sanil1986 26]

1) good

2) she will receive the acceptance by email/sms and also by physical mail ( I-797 )

3) correct once case is approved ( 3-4 months ) it is sent to NVC , the petitioner gets another email/sms and physical mail

4) read this http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process

5) once everything is ok with nvc , your case is completed , an interview is scheduled and the beneficiary is asked to do her/his medical before that ( make sure all vaccinations are done prior to your medical if possible and bring the report at the medical ) , once medical is done you take the reports tp the interview . you have your interview and the there the CO decides if you will get the visa or not , then within 3-4 weeks you get the visa to enter US within 6 months

avg time - 1 year

AOS is sent at the NVC stage , yes copy to nvc and all originals at the interview

[zach21uk 3]

Thank you Sanil.

We have just been reading through the NVC Process link you sent. We have a couple questions about the part that states:

Domicile Please note, if the petitioner lives with the beneficiary abroad, you'll need to provide proof of US domicile with the AOS package, as well as bring it with you to the interview.

My wife has concerns about this as she resides full time here with me. She left the US at age 18 and as such currently has no US bank account, no US drivers license, no car etc. She does have a Florida State ID and she is registered to vote at our local embassy I believe.

Our intent on entering the US is to initially stay with her uncle (he has stated we can stay with him whilst we search for an apartment/house) and then apartment/house hunt and move into our own rental ASAP.

Given that we are right at the start of this process, is there anything she could/should do to help improve this aspect of things?

[Lemonslice 4,836]

Thank you Sanil.

We have just been reading through the NVC Process link you sent. We have a couple questions about the part that states:

My wife has concerns about this as she resides full time here with me. She left the US at age 18 and as such currently has no US bank account, no US drivers license, no car etc. She does have a Florida State ID and she is registered to vote at our local embassy I believe.

Our intent on entering the US is to initially stay with her uncle (he has stated we can stay with him whilst we search for an apartment/house) and then apartment/house hunt and move into our own rental ASAP.

Given that we are right at the start of this process, is there anything she could/should do to help improve this aspect of things?

Some embassies/consulates are way more strict on domicile than others. Very strict is Montreal, long thread in the Canada forum to give you ideas. Try to read on past interviews where you'll go - see what was requested of them. She might have to move back before you do if she can't gather enough proof, depends how strict they are.

[Michael and Ganna 104]

Hello Zack,

I hope this helps a bit. This is the check list that NVC sent us......I have no idea if it is country specific.

===============================================================================

1. Document Cover Sheet................................ [ ]

2. Original, signed Affidavit of Support..........[ ] [ ] [ ]

3. Photocopies of Financial Documents:

IRS Tax Transcript............................... [ ] [ ] [ ]

Federal Income Tax Returns................. [ ] [ ] [ ]

Form W2............................................... [ ] [ ] [ ]

Evidence of income............................... [ ] [ ] [ ]

Proof of relationship............................. [ ] [ ] [ ]

Proof of U.S. status............................... [ ] [ ] [ ]

Social Security Earnings Statement...... [ ] [ ] [ ]

Proof of assets....................................... [ ] [ ] [ ]

4. Photocopies of Supporting Documents:

Adoption documentation....................... [ ] [ ] [ ]

Birth certificates.................................... [ ] [ ] [ ]

Court and prison record(s).................... [ ] [ ] [ ]

Marriage certificate............................... [ ] [ ] [ ]

Marriage termination documents.......... [ ] [ ] [ ]

Military records..................................... [ ] [ ] [ ]

Petitioner documents............................. [ ] [ ] [ ]

Valid, unexpired passport.................. [ ] [ ] [ ]

Police Certificate(s).............................. [ ] [ ] [ ]

Translations........................................... [ ] [ ] [ ]

If you have not submitted Form DS-260 "Online Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Application", please do

so. We cannot forward your petition to a U.S. Embassy overseas until you submit Form DS-260. You must

submit this form online at http://ceac.state.gov. You will need your National Visa Center case number and

invoice ID number to access the form online.

CR1

[zach21uk 3]

Thanks for your reply Lemonslice.

Also thank you very much for that list Michael. It says "original" affidavit of support - did you actually send the original? I thought the embassy needed the original at the interview.

---

We have one more thing we are not sure about - as mentioned above, my wifes uncle is doing the Affidavit of Support for us as my wife is currently in university and thus has zero income. Does my wife ALSO have to fill out an Affidavit of Support declaring that she earns nothing and that we're using her uncle as our support? How does it work?

We have everything ready for our I-130 packet to send on Monday which we will FedEx to Chicago, so we want to start working on things for the NVC right away so that when they ask for stuff, we have it all immediately ready to send!

[JFH 12,190]

Your wife is your sponsor even if she earns nothing. So she must still complete an I-864 even if she has no income whatsoever.

[zach21uk 3]

OK thank you for clarifying that. So I suppose my wife checks the box that says "I am the petitioner" and then her uncle checks "I am the only joint sponsor" right?

Thanks everybody for all your help.

[JFH 12,190]

OK thank you for clarifying that. So I suppose my wife checks the box that says "I am the petitioner" and then her uncle checks "I am the only joint sponsor" right?

Thanks everybody for all your help.

That is correct.