Sponsor free to move to US once filed/I-864 question

[jonnydi 0]

My wife (US Citizen) and I have recently decided we would like to move over to the US and are about to send off our I-130 petition to the US embassy in London. A bit of background, we have been married for almost a year and my wife has been living in the UK for just over one year which i think makes us eligible for DCF. I just have a couple of questions which I would be really grateful if someone could answer:

1.) Is it possible for my wife to send off the I-130 and then relocate to the States before a final decision on the visa is reached? It sounds like I can complete the remainder of the process on my own in the UK while she seeks employment before I subsequently move over on issue of a CR-1 visa. How would this be viewed by the embassy? From our point of view it would be great if one of us had a stable job before we both move over and hence this is our preferred option.

2.) Would it be worthwhile for her to move back early from an I-864 perspective? My wife did have income in the US and UK in the last tax year and can show this on her tax returns and in addition her Mother and and Step Father would be willing to put themselves forward as joint sponsors (exceeding 125% of the poverty line) if we need help meeting the financial requirements, however my wife has very little in savings and assets in the US and no job lined up for when we move over- is it acceptable to be completely reliant on co-sponsors?

3.)The guidance I am looking at talks a lot about 'household income' however my wife has not lived with her parents at all for many years, can we still use them as joint sponsors?

It would be useful to know if anyone has been in a similar position.

Many thanks

[Penguin_ie 5,995]

1. Yes she can leave the day you two send the I-130 if you want; we generally recommend staying until the I-130 is approved, just in case it gets lost or gets denied or something, but that is a very very rare occurance. The petitioner moving before interview is reasonably common.

2. Yes it is acceptable and very common for DCF cases, as foreign income doesn't count. If her mom and step-dad are sure they are willing to co-sponsor, and have income comfortably above the poverty line, you will be fine and can stay together.

3. Yes you can; the co-sponsor need not even live in the same state as the petitioner and beneficiary- they also don't need to be relatives, not that that matters in your case. Mom would file a second I-864 same as your wife, and then step=dad files a I-864A to join his income with mom's.