I-864 address question

[allanr 5]

My wife's I-130 petition was approved after 50 days (submitted April 4).  In preparation for the interview, I'm working on the I-864 form (EZ).

 

I am retired and have been living in the Philippines since early 2015.  I have a mailing address that I use for filing income taxes, banking, etc. in California, but it is my old home currently in my ex-wife's name.  I'm intending to stay there temporarily once my current wife's visa is approved, before moving to our own place.  

 

Do I use my USA address as the mailing address on the I-864EZ form, or should I use my current Philippines address?  The whole "domicile" aspect of the process and being sure that is satisfied is a bit hard to understand.  

[carmel34 3,654]

35 minutes ago, allanr said:

Do I use my USA address as the mailing address on the I-864EZ form, or should I use my current Philippines address? 

Since you're doing DCF, I would suggest using your US mailing address where it asks for mailing address, and include your Philippines address where it asks for physical address.

[allanr 5]

9 minutes ago, carmel34 said:

Since you're doing DCF, I would suggest using your US mailing address where it asks for mailing address, and include your Philippines address where it asks for physical address.

Thanks Carmel... is that what you did?    What you are saying seems to make sense, but it's a bit confusing.   If they need the mailing address for eventually sending a green card, then that's the correct way to do things.  If they are planning on sending me documents i might need prior to moving back to the USA, it might not be.  

 

I used my Philippines address for the DCF of the I-130 form. It is where they are mailing a copy of the approval letter.

Edited May 27, 2019 by allanr

[Just Paul 4,595]

4 hours ago, allanr said:

is that what you did?

Once we had our petition approved then we only used the US address on the I-864, on the Visa and green card fees.

[slc12312 11]

I'll chime in on this, but first, I totally get your confusion as to what to put in terms of mailing address, residence address, and then the country of domicile, especially when you have been living out of country for quite some time. I did the DCF in Thailand. First off, I've lived here since 2013 which is what qualified me to go with consular filing. To file the I-130 I had to prove I was a resident of Thailand as it is the requirement for DCF's. After approval, I eventually got to the I-864 and decided to go with my mailing address in Hawaii (used to be CA) because that is where my taxes go, banking statements, credit card statements and everything else goes. I used my residence address here in Thailand because that is actually where I live, and also because I had to use it with the initial I-130 application, I was worried about getting tripped up in the process using multiple addresses. Got to the part about domicile and didn't really know how to address that. I decided to put Thailand as my country of domicile, but provide proof... lots of proof... that I have maintained close ties with Hawaii (or Calif in your case). Sent ALL of that stuff in with Packet 3.  Evidently that was okay enough for the consulate as they gave my wife her interview appointment 8 days later. When she went to the interview, she took all original copies with her just in case they wanted to see them, they didn't. As a matter of fact, they really only glanced at the "proof of relationship", and only asked her six questions. 
 

[allanr 5]

3 hours ago, slc12312 said:

I'll chime in on this, but first, I totally get your confusion as to what to put in terms of mailing address, residence address, and then the country of domicile, especially when you have been living out of country for quite some time. I did the DCF in Thailand. First off, I've lived here since 2013 which is what qualified me to go with consular filing. To file the I-130 I had to prove I was a resident of Thailand as it is the requirement for DCF's. After approval, I eventually got to the I-864 and decided to go with my mailing address in Hawaii (used to be CA) because that is where my taxes go, banking statements, credit card statements and everything else goes. I used my residence address here in Thailand because that is actually where I live, and also because I had to use it with the initial I-130 application, I was worried about getting tripped up in the process using multiple addresses. Got to the part about domicile and didn't really know how to address that. I decided to put Thailand as my country of domicile, but provide proof... lots of proof... that I have maintained close ties with Hawaii (or Calif in your case). Sent ALL of that stuff in with Packet 3.  Evidently that was okay enough for the consulate as they gave my wife her interview appointment 8 days later. When she went to the interview, she took all original copies with her just in case they wanted to see them, they didn't. As a matter of fact, they really only glanced at the "proof of relationship", and only asked her six questions. 
 

 

Thanks...i'll do what you and Carmel recommend....My address in the USA is only an address of convenience since the property now belongs to my ex wife, but my taxes and banking go through there and we are on great terms (I do stay there sometimes)...so I'll go ahead and use it.... thanks for your reply!!

[slc12312 11]

On 5/28/2019 at 7:07 PM, allanr said:

 

Thanks...i'll do what you and Carmel recommend....My address in the USA is only an address of convenience since the property now belongs to my ex wife, but my taxes and banking go through there and we are on great terms (I do stay there sometimes)...so I'll go ahead and use it.... thanks for your reply!!

Haha, well leave it to the USCIS to f up my address. I just paid the $220 immigrant fee, and part of it is to verify the address. So I see they want to mail the green card to the house's physical address... which is not the same as the mailing address. I get ZERO mail delivery where my house is (out in the boonies in Hawaii). Theoretically I'm supposed to be able to change the address on the USCIS "my account page" but it won't allow me to do that, lol. Typical. Hope you have better luck when your time comes!!!!

[allanr 5]

42 minutes ago, slc12312 said:

Haha, well leave it to the USCIS to f up my address. I just paid the $220 immigrant fee, and part of it is to verify the address. So I see they want to mail the green card to the house's physical address... which is not the same as the mailing address. I get ZERO mail delivery where my house is (out in the boonies in Hawaii). Theoretically I'm supposed to be able to change the address on the USCIS "my account page" but it won't allow me to do that, lol. Typical. Hope you have better luck when your time comes!!!!

Hi SLC...

 

They managed to incorrectly copy my wife's email address too...but we corrected it without much effort.  The three times I've called the Manila hotline, they've answered the call on the first ring..although you have to wade through a minute or two of pre-recorded prompts and messages prior to being allowed to transfer to a live person. 

 

I'm actually slow-playing the visa approval process right now.  I was expecting it to take about 10-12 months, but if I pushed for the interview at the earliest available time slot, we could have gotten it around the end of this month..or less than 3 months after I started the process.  Since I had made plans to move back to the USA early next year based on how long I thought the process was going to take, I decided to move the interview out another month.  I've heard that you are told after the interview whether you have been approved or not, and that once the visa is granted, you only have 6 months to move to the USA.  I didn't want my wife's Visa to expire prior to our planned mid-January move date.

 

Question....does the 6-month visa validity start on the interview date or when they actually mail back to you the passport with the Visa Stamp?

Edited June 1, 2019 by allanr

[slc12312 11]

10 minutes ago, allanr said:

Hi SLC...

 

They managed to incorrectly copy my wife's email address too...but we corrected it without much effort.  The three times I've called the Manila hotline, they've answered the call on the first ring..although you have to wade through a minute or two of pre-recorded prompts and messages prior to being allowed to transfer to a live person. 

 

I'm actually slow-playing the visa approval process right now.  I was expecting it to take about 10-12 months, but if I pushed for the interview at the earliest available time slot, we could have gotten it around the end of this month..or less than 3 months after I started the process.  Since I had made plans to move back to the USA early next year based on how long I thought the process was going to take, I decided to move the interview out another month.  I've heard that you are told after the interview whether you have been approved or not, and that once the visa is granted, you only have 6 months to move to the USA.  I didn't want my wife's Visa to expire prior to our planned mid-January move date.

 

Question....does the 6-month visa validity start on the interview date or when they actually mail back to you the passport with the Visa Stamp?

The 6 month validity actually starts on the date of the medical exam, not on approval date. My wife's medical exam was on May 15th (interview was on May 22nd), her visa is valid to Nov 14th, so needless to say, we have to travel by then. My understanding is that if you can't travel by that date, you need to notify the Consulate where you got the visa, and have another medical exam performed. At least that is how it works in Thailand. In Thailand, the medical exam was almost $400, plus it required having to fly to Bangkok to get it done, so it is something I'd like to avoid doing again, lol. Once you enter the port of entry, my understanding is that that is when they actually process the physical green card and mail it to you. In my case, it would be nice if they sent it to the correct address!

[allanr 5]

27 minutes ago, slc12312 said:

The 6 month validity actually starts on the date of the medical exam, not on approval date. My wife's medical exam was on May 15th (interview was on May 22nd), her visa is valid to Nov 14th, so needless to say, we have to travel by then. My understanding is that if you can't travel by that date, you need to notify the Consulate where you got the visa, and have another medical exam performed. At least that is how it works in Thailand. In Thailand, the medical exam was almost $400, plus it required having to fly to Bangkok to get it done, so it is something I'd like to avoid doing again, lol. Once you enter the port of entry, my understanding is that that is when they actually process the physical green card and mail it to you. In my case, it would be nice if they sent it to the correct address!

We already have the airline tickets bought for the medical exam at the end of this month...looks like we'll have to move back a month early.  Grrrrrr..... I should have checked a day earlier.

 

Edited June 1, 2019 by allanr

[slc12312 11]

4 hours ago, allanr said:

We already have the airline tickets bought for the medical exam at the end of this month...looks like we'll have to move back a month early.  Grrrrrr..... I should have checked a day earlier.

 

Maybe you can reschedule your flight? The medical appointment should be easy to bump back a month or two. We weren't allowed to do the medical exam until we got the interview appointment. That email verification had to be shown at the hospital during the time of the exam. It would be nice if you could push it back a month or two to better fit your travel plans. 

In my case, when we got my wife's passport back after the interview, we saw they had voided her tourist visa. We had planned on traveling on that before using the IR1 because I have to come back to Thailand in October for dental follow up and she has a wedding she can't miss. The plan was use the IR1 after that, flying to the states the first week of Nov. I just worry a little about her flying back to Thailand just three and a half months after she entered. One day if we get citizenship, then of course it won't matter how long she is gone or how often she travels... but until then, I just don't trust the political scene right now, and things could change quickly. 

[allanr 5]

2 hours ago, slc12312 said:

Maybe you can reschedule your flight? The medical appointment should be easy to bump back a month or two. We weren't allowed to do the medical exam until we got the interview appointment. That email verification had to be shown at the hospital during the time of the exam. It would be nice if you could push it back a month or two to better fit your travel plans. 

In my case, when we got my wife's passport back after the interview, we saw they had voided her tourist visa. We had planned on traveling on that before using the IR1 because I have to come back to Thailand in October for dental follow up and she has a wedding she can't miss. The plan was use the IR1 after that, flying to the states the first week of Nov. I just worry a little about her flying back to Thailand just three and a half months after she entered. One day if we get citizenship, then of course it won't matter how long she is gone or how often she travels... but until then, I just don't trust the political scene right now, and things could change quickly. 

 

You're right....i could...but I'd have to cancel the flights I've booked already.  My wife's flight for the medical appointment...and then i've already booked and paid for our flights to the interview as well, which I'd probably have to cancel since the July 25 date is just over 6 months from my planned date of arrival in the USA of January 23rd.   I've already taken one extra trip to manila when a page was missing from my initial package (they could have let it slide, but the USCIS person didn't).  I'll probably just head to the USA a month early.   That's doable.  Thanks again for your help on this.