Traveling outside the country while on AOS

[rssantana 0]

Hello all,

this is my case:

I am in the process of AOS (I-130, I-485, I-765) and I have been waiting for 81 days now. My wife is the only one working and she just got a job offer from her company to work from China. So we have decided that because the uscis is taking forever to process anything, I am staying in the US and she is going by herself and I am going to apply for a AP. The question now is: how long can I stay outside of the country? I saw on the form I-131 that it is possible to leave the country multiple times. So I would like to know what are all opinions about this?

[Roel 7,192]

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/can-stay-outside-us-advance-parole-while-awaiting-adjustment-status.html

 

[rssantana 0]

Hi!

So I am in the process of AOS and my wife got a job offer to work in China. The question is: is it going to mess up with the AOS process? 

[geowrian 22,337]

There's no fixed time period for being abroad while going through AP, just that you cannot leave until you have AP without abandoning your AOS application, and you must re-enter on AP, which expires after 1 year or if AOS is denied.

No entry is guaranteed, and if it appears that you abandoned your claim to permanent residency, then that can be an issue for re-entry.

 

The petitioner working abroad isn't a reason to deny AOS in itself, but:

1. She must have US domicile to qualify as a a sponsor on the for the I-864, which is required for AOS. I know she was already required to send one with the I-485 package, but I would presume the IO would question if that is still accurate if she is living/working abroad. She may no longer qualify to file an I-864 at that point, and even if so, her foreign-sourced income probably would not count anymore so she would need a joint sponsor.
2. Do you both intend  to live in the US permanently? A green card is for permanent residence. If you intend to live/work abroad for an indeterminate amount of time, then this could present issues.

Edited June 23, 2018 by geowrian

[rssantana 0]

On 6/19/2018 at 9:50 AM, Roel said:

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/can-stay-outside-us-advance-parole-while-awaiting-adjustment-status.html

 

Nope. I am staying in the US and she would come back and forth. She is going to get a chinese work visa but I think(hope) that would not be a problem. 

If she is not longer able to be my sponsor, would I be able to use like her parents as my sponsors? 

[Jojo92122 1,924]

24 minutes ago, rssantana said:

Nope. I am staying in the US and she would come back and forth. She is going to get a chinese work visa but I think(hope) that would not be a problem. 

If she is not longer able to be my sponsor, would I be able to use like her parents as my sponsors? 

Family based immigration is about reuniting families.   With your wife living and working in China, it's going to complicate your AOS.  Domicile will be an issue.  Another is why does the US need to give you a green card to live in the US with your wife when she is leaving the US to go live and work in China?  

 

Is your wife going to live and work in China worth potentially screwing up your AOS?

Edited June 23, 2018 by Jojo92122

[geowrian 22,337]

2 minutes ago, rssantana said:

Nope. I am staying in the US and she would come back and forth. She is going to get a chinese work visa but I think(hope) that would not be a problem. 

If she is not longer able to be my sponsor, would I be able to use like her parents as my sponsors? 

So you married and are planning to live apart? Again, not an absolute killer, but will certainly raise questions about the marriage that need to be overcome. The purpose of AOS based on marriage is for family reunification.

She must be a sponsor, and have US domicile as a result of that. If she doesn't meet the financial requirements, then a joint sponsor can be used for the financial /public charge side of things.

[Jojo92122 1,924]

1 hour ago, geowrian said:

There's no fixed time period for being abroad while going through AP, just that you cannot leave until you have AP without abandoning your AOS application, and you must re-enter on AP, which expires after 1 year or if AOS is denied.

No entry is guaranteed, and if it appears that you abandoned your claim to permanent residency, then that can be an issue for re-entry.

 

The petitioner working abroad isn't a reason to deny AOS in itself, but:

1. She must have US domicile to qualify as a a sponsor on the for the I-864, which is required for AOS. I know she was already required to send one with the I-485 package, but I would presume the IO would question if that is still accurate if she is living/working abroad. She may no longer qualify to file an I-864 at that point, and even if so, her foreign-sourced income probably would not count anymore so she would need a joint sponsor.
2. Do you both intend  to live in the US permanently? A green card is for permanent residence. If you intend to live/work abroad for an indeterminate amount of time, then this could present issues.

To claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, she would need to claim residency abroad.  That works against having a US domicile.  Filing Chinese tax returns and US tax returns for the difference (presuming US tax rates are higher than Chinese tax rates) is not going to be fun or easy without the FEIE.

[rssantana 0]

23 minutes ago, geowrian said:

So you married and are planning to live apart? Again, not an absolute killer, but will certainly raise questions about the marriage that need to be overcome. The purpose of AOS based on marriage is for family reunification.

She must be a sponsor, and have US domicile as a result of that. If she doesn't meet the financial requirements, then a joint sponsor can be used for the financial /public charge side of things.

We never planned on living a part but this opportunity came around and she is the only one working and making money.

 

And I agree with yall. 

 

Thank you guys for the input

[rssantana 0]

It is just ###### up. We got married in Brazil and lived there for a lil over two years then we decided to move back to the US and start our lives here. However I havent been able to get a ###### job because I don’t have my WP so I am just sitting at home making mo ###### money at all. She has been working for both of us and this oportunity came around so we have been trying to figure out the best way to make it work. If I was able to work it would have not been an issue in out lives right now.  

 

I just had to say that! Thank you all for helping!

[Jojo92122 1,924]

59 minutes ago, rssantana said:

It is just ###### up. We got married in Brazil and lived there for a lil over two years then we decided to move back to the US and start our lives here. However I havent been able to get a ###### job because I don’t have my WP so I am just sitting at home making mo ###### money at all. She has been working for both of us and this oportunity came around so we have been trying to figure out the best way to make it work. If I was able to work it would have not been an issue in out lives right now.  

 

I just had to say that! Thank you all for helping!

Why didn't you choose a CR-1 visa if you were married and living in Brazil for over two years so you could immigrate and upon entry be able to work?  By choosing to enter the US on an non-immigrant basis and AOS to avoid the wait for a spousal visa, you must have known that you couldn't work for 5-6 months until you get your AP.

[A&H2018 146]

You can push for an expedite once mear 100 days, if you can find a job offer. Maybe all of this is mute and the job offer for her outweights everything. Guess what eveyrone wants to know is would you consider relocating to China long-term? If so maybe best to switch to CR soon or push back AOS,