Proof of domicile rejected in children's cases, but accepted in spouse's

[angeljolie 188]

Hi everyone. My case has been DQ'd yesterday. But today, we received messages on our children's cases saying "(petitioner) might not have a principal residence or be domiciled in the United States. Please submit proof of domicile. For more information on domicile requirements, visit https://nvc.state.gov/fin."

 

I submitted the same proof of domicile which they accepted. 

Any ideas on what we should do? Thanks in advance.

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

43 minutes ago, angeljolie said:

Hi everyone. My case has been DQ'd yesterday. But today, we received messages on our children's cases saying "(petitioner) might not have a principal residence or be domiciled in the United States. Please submit proof of domicile. For more information on domicile requirements, visit https://nvc.state.gov/fin."

 

I submitted the same proof of domicile which they accepted. 

Any ideas on what we should do? Thanks in advance.

I am asking as someone who may be in the same boat as you, and a rookie here.  I was told that the cases could be linked when they are at NVC.  Did you ever get them linked?

[angeljolie 188]

22 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

I am asking as someone who may be in the same boat as you, and a rookie here.  I was told that the cases could be linked when they are at NVC.  Did you ever get them linked?

Thanks for your input. I actually don't know how to have them linked. We only had to submit one I-864, which had all of beneficiaries' names on it. We didn't request to pay for just one, but it appeared on the payment page that the affidavit is for 3 beneficiaries. That made me believe our cases have been linked. 

 

I'm curious as to why they rejected the proof of domicile explanation we submitted. On that document, we mentioned that

 

1. My husband is employed by a public international organization in which the US participates. (employment certificate submitted, which they accepted)

2. He filed tax returns (recent tax return submitted as a mandatory document, which they also accepted)

3. He maintains a US mailing address (which is indicated on his I-864, don't know how to send other proof for this)

4. He maintains US bank accounts (no proof of this)

 

The first item should have been enough, as this is on the State Dept website, under the I-864 FAQs on domicile:

 

 

I hope this doesn't push our cases back for weeks or months, as I have read here. 

Edited December 17, 2020 by angeljolie

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

11 hours ago, angeljolie said:

Thanks for your input. I actually don't know how to have them linked. We only had to submit one I-864, which had all of beneficiaries' names on it. We didn't request to pay for just one, but it appeared on the payment page that the affidavit is for 3 beneficiaries. That made me believe our cases have been linked. 

 

I'm curious as to why they rejected the proof of domicile explanation we submitted. On that document, we mentioned that

 

1. My husband is employed by a public international organization in which the US participates. (employment certificate submitted, which they accepted)

2. He filed tax returns (recent tax return submitted as a mandatory document, which they also accepted)

3. He maintains a US mailing address (which is indicated on his I-864, don't know how to send other proof for this)

4. He maintains US bank accounts (no proof of this)

 

The first item should have been enough, as this is on the State Dept website, under the I-864 FAQs on domicile:

 

 

I hope this doesn't push our cases back for weeks or months, as I have read here. 

It would appear that they must be linked, but hard to know for sure,  I suspect that the children are worked by a separate person / group.  In my case, I submitted my wife and stepdaughter's I-130s within minutes of each other, online, on Nov. 30th.  On Nov. 9th, my daughter's case was updated to  "Case Is Being Actively Reviewed By USCIS".  My wife's has no updates.

 

I'll throw this out there.  Perhaps many employees are working remotely, thus the level of communication between them is reduced??

 

I started a topic about my wife and step-daughter being linked.  I think someone recommended calling NVC.  Perhaps that is appropriate in your situation.  I will try to find that topic.

[angeljolie 188]

Thank you @seekingthetruth, the thread would be helpful. I have been googling since you mentioned it and have not really found something substantial yet. 

 

As for the proof of domicile, we stayed up late last night as my husband wanted to send a narrative in replacement for the previous explanation we attached. In the new explanation, he pointed the reviewing officer to the State Dept's own regulations on qualified employment abroad/domicile considerations. To his explanation, we attached the treaty by which the organization he works for was established (50 pages! lol), voter registration, and bank statements.  

 

About 3 hours later, we received emails of the kids' cases being DQ'd. What a relief! 

 

11 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

I'll throw this out there.  Perhaps many employees are working remotely, thus the level of communication between them is reduced??

Could be. My husband joked that it could be the Russian hackers that rejected the previous proof of domicile we submitted. 😨

 

Still can't believe the reviewer didn't seem to be aware of immigration regulations in place. They're probably part of the reason for backlogs too. Imagine adjudicating cases with limited knowledge. I hope the agencies provide rigid training to their reviewing officers. Not all cases are created equal, so it would be beneficial if they are provided simulation training using past complex cases.

[angeljolie 188]

27 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

It would appear that they must be linked, but hard to know for sure,  I suspect that the children are worked by a separate person / group.  In my case, I submitted my wife and stepdaughter's I-130s within minutes of each other, online, on Nov. 30th.  On Nov. 9th, my daughter's case was updated to  "Case Is Being Actively Reviewed By USCIS".  My wife's has no updates.

It does look like they are being worked on separately. We submitted identical documents but got different outcomes. Looks like you will be hearing from them soon based on the USCIS status. Good luck!

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

23 minutes ago, angeljolie said:

It does look like they are being worked on separately. We submitted identical documents but got different outcomes. Looks like you will be hearing from them soon based on the USCIS status. Good luck!

Here is the link to that topic:

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/749411-stepdaughter/#comments

 

On page 1,  Aaron2020 said
 

 Since there will be two I-130, there will be two separate and unrelated cases.  USCIS and the NVC will not coordinate the two cases.  Once the cases reaches the US Embassy, you can ask for their interviews to be conducted at the same time.   Since your stepdaughter is a minor, you will need to get the father's written permission for her to immigrate to the US at her visa interview.

 

Then payxibka said

 

you can get the i130s joined at NVC 

 

You are past that stage.  You said you only submitted one I-864.  Was that in the instructions?  I was expecting to submit two I-864, one for stepdaughter and one for wife.  I hope it is just one.  They seem to be linked at that point.

 

[angeljolie 188]

15 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

You said you only submitted one I-864.  Was that in the instructions?

No, it wasn't in the instructions. This is what's on the FAQs for I-864:

 

 

It says each should submit a "signed" I-864 (doesn't mean original, right?).

 

This is from CitizenPath:

 

 

Just make sure both their names are indicated on the affidavit. Your wife's on Part 2, and your daughter's on Part 3 under Family Member.

 

 

28 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

Then payxibka said

 

you can get the i130s joined at NVC 

We did send a message to NVC after my case was forwarded to them. Thru their inquiry form, we told them that my husband filed 3 petitions (we quoted their USCIS receipt number) and that we hope to process all at the same time. They got back and said they have not received the cases from USCIS. Almost a month later, the kids' cases were approved and were sent to NVC.

 

After creating our individual accounts on CEAC, I noticed that on the AOS payment page, it says  that the fee is for 3. I will look for the screenshot. I posted it somewhere here. 

 

32 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

Here is the link to that topic:

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/749411-stepdaughter/#comments

 

Thank you so much! We have some really great helpful folks around here! 

 

[angeljolie 188]

This is the screenshot of the AOS payment page. 

 

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

2 hours ago, angeljolie said:

Thank you so much! We have some really great helpful folks around here! 

Likewise!  Keep us posted!

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

6 hours ago, angeljolie said:

It does look like they are being worked on separately. We submitted identical documents but got different outcomes. Looks like you will be hearing from them soon based on the USCIS status. Good luck!

Off-topic question.  How do you put the Spouse and 2 Minor Children timelines at the bottom of your posts?  I would like to do that.  Is it an attachment that you update?

 

Your cases are progressing quickly.  I don't want that because I don't want my wife and daughter to get the medical until 2022.  So if my I-130s progress quickly, I have to slow everything down during the later stages.

[angeljolie 188]

10 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

How do you put the Spouse and 2 Minor Children timelines at the bottom of your posts?  I would like to do that.  Is it an attachment that you update?

It's a signature. If you click the arrow next to your username (upper right corner of computer screen), it will show a menu. Select "Account Settings" then "Signature." You can edit from there.   

 

10 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

Your cases are progressing quickly.  I don't want that because I don't want my wife and daughter to get the medical until 2022.  So if my I-130s progress quickly, I have to slow everything down during the later stages.

Better prepare early. You can always slow down the process once in NVC. In our case, we are actually very thankful that the process is so much faster than we thought. Our daughter is in 12th grade, and we thought the timing is perfect.

Edited December 18, 2020 by angeljolie

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

5 minutes ago, angeljolie said:

It's a signature. If you click the arrow next to your username (upper right corner of computer screen), it will show a menu. Select "Account Settings" then "Signature." You can edit from there.   

Thanks!  I had looked at my account settings and completely passed over signature.