Confused, overwhelmed, and need help with Visa options

[Boiler 45,670]

38 minutes ago, smoothoperaytor said:

They do other things too like prepare you for interviews and help you make sure you're doing all the steps in the correct order.

 

My fiance and I wasted several months trying to get her a tourist visa to the US. She was rejected twice because they felt like she wouldn't return back to Russia, which is silly. They just saw that she had an American boyfriend and that was all it took for the rejection. She has a savings in Russia, family in Russia, property in Russia, and friends in Russia, but they still rejected her. Should we have used a company, I think we (she) would have been better prepared for the interview and process. 

 

We tried in Vladivostok by the way because appointments were faster there than in Moscow. They couldn't wrap their head around why we would do that. They also were confused about the fact that were were traveling so much. She told them I worked online and they were confused about that as well. It's as if they had a mindset from the 1960s.

So she does not want to move to the US?

[smoothoperaytor 40]

Just now, Boiler said:

So she does not want to move to the US?

We haven't decided where we'll live permanently. Right now we're thinking to have homes in both the US and Russia and travel back and forth depending on the time or year or situation. Of course, this will be more complicated with kids. One step at a time.

 

The goal first was to bring her to the US and spend time here. I want to show her America. There are also several places in the US I haven't visited, like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. The problem before was trying to bring her here as a tourist, not my wife.

[Boiler 45,670]

Bear in mind you are applying for her to live permanently in the US, visits to Russia would be ok so depends what you mean by splitting your time

[Crazy Cat 41,981]

Green Card holders can be out of the US for up to a year....and longer with a proper re-entry permit.

Edited September 28, 2020 by Lucky Cat

[JFH 12,190]

13 hours ago, smoothoperaytor said:

Plus, I don't want to spend hours of my time researching when I could be doing other things.

What “other things” could be more important than the paperwork to allow your and your wife-to-be to live together permanently? 
 

If my husband had told me he didn’t want to waste his time on our paperwork, I’d question his commitment. 

Edited September 28, 2020 by JFH

[Ontarkie 14,280]

~~One post removed as requested by the poster~~

[carmel34 3,639]

1 hour ago, smoothoperaytor said:

I have property in the US, so hopefully the US domicile isn't an issue. 

Time to do more research on US domicile, especially from the Russian embassy/consulate reviews, as it can vary by country.  Owning property in the US is good, but it may not be enough unless you also have a primary residence in the US, voter registration, driver's license, past three years of US income tax returns, US bank accounts, etc.

Edited September 28, 2020 by carmel34

[Chancy 6,241]

7 hours ago, smoothoperaytor said:

Thanks. This is all uncharted territory. It helps to find other people navigating these same issues. I have property in the US, so hopefully the US domicile isn't an issue. 

 

Here's some guidance from the Department of State on how to maintain US domicile while living abroad temporarily --

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition/i-864-affidavit-faqs.html#aos22

 

As others already mentioned, embassies have varying degrees of strictness when it comes to the domicile requirement.  Best to reach out to those who have dealt with the US embassy in Moscow for more info.

 

[smoothoperaytor 40]

6 hours ago, JFH said:

What “other things” could be more important than the paperwork to allow your and your wife-to-be to live together permanently? 
 

If my husband had told me he didn’t want to waste his time on our paperwork, I’d question his commitment. 

Let me put it this way. If you needed brain surgery, would you expect your husband to:

• Learn how to do it himself?
• Have him take you to a brain surgeon?

Because my reasoning is, there are things I do with my time that are more valuable. Such as, making money that I can use to hire people who are better than I am at certain things. That being said, I researched enough to understand what's going on. 

[smoothoperaytor 40]

6 hours ago, carmel34 said:

Time to do more research on US domicile, especially from the Russian embassy/consulate reviews, as it can vary by country.  Owning property in the US is good, but it may not be enough unless you also have a primary residence in the US, voter registration, driver's license, past three years of US income tax returns, US bank accounts, etc.

Yes, I have all of the above. I'm from the US. Born and raised. No legal problems. I dropped out of high school (but earned a degree — i.e., a near-worthless piece of paper — later), but I don't think that matters...