I-130 , residing and working overseas

[applicant2 0]

What would happen to submitted I-130 for brothers and sisters if petitioner is residing and working overseas when the petition gets approved and the time comes for them to immigrate?

would there be any problems with obtaining a visa? can the petitioner sponsor them financially with his overseas income? if not, can they be sponsored by someone else that resides and works in the US?

[Boiler 45,486]

They need to be sponsored by somebody living in the US.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Family based visas are for family reunification. If the petitioner is not living in the US, the rationale for the visa falls away. That is why petitioners need to show US domicile. Separate issue from the financial one (which yes, also has to be a US resident, but can’t be one in place of the petitioner just by signing an AOS.)

[geowrian 22,337]

1 hour ago, applicant2 said:

What would happen to submitted I-130 for brothers and sisters if petitioner is residing and working overseas when the petition gets approved and the time comes for them to immigrate?

When the petition gets approved will likely have little to do with the timeline for the visa. The Priority Date (PD) will almost certainly be the factor that determines how long they wait. Even if the petition were approved in 1 day, it would just sit waiting for the PD to become current.

Where the petitioner lives at the time of petition approval doesn't matter. However, as noted above, the petitioner will need to be actually domiciled within the US in order for the visa to be issued. If they plan to return to the US as their permanent residence, then that's fine. If they plan to primarily live abroad, then there is no reason for the visa, and they won't meet the domicile requirement for one to be issued.

 

1 hour ago, applicant2 said:

can the petitioner sponsor them financially with his overseas income? if not, can they be sponsored by someone else that resides and works in the US?

Income must continue from the same source upon return to the US in order to be counted for the I-864. In most cases, this will exclude foreign income.

A joint sponsor can be utilized if necessary for the financial sponsorship. The CO still makes a judgement call based upon the totality of the circumstances. The sponsor generally should have a compelling reason to want to support the intending immigrant(s) - like family members or possibly long-term close friends.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

13 hours ago, applicant2 said:

What would happen to submitted I-130 for brothers and sisters if petitioner is residing and working overseas when the petition gets approved and the time comes for them to immigrate?

would there be any problems with obtaining a visa? can the petitioner sponsor them financially with his overseas income? if not, can they be sponsored by someone else that resides and works in the US?

Overseas income is counted as (zero) for purposes of the support affidavit

[Just Paul 4,595]

13 hours ago, applicant2 said:

would there be any problems with obtaining a visa?

You would need to have domicile or re-establish domicile prior to their interviews.  USCIS does not have to allow a substitute sponsor. 

[Hilde 381]

18 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

Overseas income is counted as (zero) for purposes of the support affidavit

What if the overseas income is well above poverty line? I believe that does count. 

[Just Paul 4,595]

1 minute ago, Hilde said:

What if the overseas income is well above poverty line? I believe that does count. 

Income does not count unless it is from a US Company and will continue.  (like a intra company job transfer)

[Nitas_man 3,100]

14 minutes ago, Hilde said:

What if the overseas income is well above poverty line? I believe that does count. 

Regretfully no matter how high, unless it continues from the same source (like a transfer back to the US for the same company), overseas income is (zero) for purposes of sponsorship.
 

Options:

1.  List liquid assets.  They should be in cash or investments, preferably in the US or easily transferred to the US.  Assets that can be used are defined as easily accessible or convertible to cash within a year without significant harm to the sponsor.

2.  Return to the US, establish employment above the required 125% of poverty before the interview

3.  Obtain a joint sponsor in the US that meets the requirements

 

Choose one.  If not, they send you back and advise you to do (2) or (3) and your case sits there until they are happy.

 

The sponsor has to be domiciled in the US.  In other words, I can’t be banking $350k(ish) a year in the middle east and sponsor my own spouse to live in the US with our USC kids, much less sponsor chain migrants.

Edited December 28, 2019 by Nitas_man

[geowrian 22,337]

1 hour ago, Hilde said:

What if the overseas income is well above poverty line? I believe that does count. 

How would they support somebody on an income that is terminating when they move to the US? That makes no sense.

Edited December 28, 2019 by geowrian

[Hilde 381]

30 minutes ago, geowrian said:

How would they support somebody on an income that is terminating when they move to the US? That makes no sense.

I always wondered that myself. Doesn’t leave many options for beneficiaries and petitioners who live abroad. I keep reading that assets aren’t a good proof at many embassies..

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

6 minutes ago, Hilde said:

I always wondered that myself. Doesn’t leave many options for beneficiaries and petitioners who live abroad. I keep reading that assets aren’t a good proof at many embassies..

These visas by their very nature are not fundamentally designed to be sponsored by petitioners who live abroad... that is why retuning to establish domicile ahead of the visa interview is generally recommended. Assets work to the extent that the sponsor can liquidate and repatriate them to the US.

 

Some people seem to think US family visas work like many European “ancestry” style visas do. That’s not the case. They don’t “pass on” rights, they are designed to reunite family members with a petitioner who lives in the US. If the petitioner lives in the US these problems don’t exist. If the petitioner doesn’t live in the US and doesn’t intend to, no need for the visa in the first place.

Edited December 28, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[geowrian 22,337]

19 minutes ago, Hilde said:

I always wondered that myself. Doesn’t leave many options for beneficiaries and petitioners who live abroad. I keep reading that assets aren’t a good proof at many embassies..

It leaves the 3 options @Nitas_man listed above: US employment, assets, and a joint sponsor.

1) US employment is the simplest (and addresses the domicile issue), although involves separation.

2) Assets must be considered for the I-864, although it is usually suggested to be well above the minimum level (which is 5x the income level for a sibling). So you would generally be speaking decently over 6 digits in assets - basically enough that the entire household size could reasonably live for 5+ years (when some public benefits become available to them) w/o having to work.

3) Joint sponsors are a common solution people utilize when the petitioner lives abroad. Just note that the petitioner's domicile is still an issue to address.

[Boiler 45,486]

This is a family reunification visa.

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

2 hours ago, Hilde said:

I always wondered that myself. Doesn’t leave many options for beneficiaries and petitioners who live abroad. I keep reading that assets aren’t a good proof at many embassies..

Sometimes, the petitioner moves to the US first, establishes domicile, and gets a job before the beneficiaries make the move.  Without a US based joint sponsor or assets, that would be the only way.