IR-1 Domicile Questions

[Daniel Thornton 2]

My wife and I and 4 yr old son live in the Philippines, we filed I-130 3 weeks ago and have questions on domicile requirements. Since we both live here and will be going back to US together as a family it is problematic on obtaining a domicile beforehand. We plan to stay in temp (AirBnB) while hunting for a rental house but worried that this will be a problem with NVC, any comments or suggestions would be appreciated 

[ztiberiusd 38]

Do you have a family member's address you could use? 

 

For the record, you don't need to have a house in the US to prove that your country of domicile is the US. Your country of domicile can still be the US so long as you have some sort of address there that you can use. For the purposes of completing I-864, your domicile has to be the United States in order to sponsor, but you don't physically need to be in the US so long as you can prove other ties that show your domicile is the United States. 

 

 

and: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/555686-showing-intent-to-re-establish-domicile/

[Suze1 366]

When we did DCF in Manila several years ago, the only hickup/issue we had was regarding domicile.

It alone through us into AP (administrative processing) for two weeks.

 

US spouse owned and lived in a place in the US and we had residences in the Philippines we shared together for 5 years.

And, the US spouse had just returned from an extended stay in the US just 3 months earlier, but still, we had to establish to consular officer satisfaction that the US citizen was (going to be) domiciled in the US, given the ambiguity.

 

He had a lot of questions, including:

1) Where does the US citizen live?

2)  Where will you live once you get the visa?

3) How does the US citizen pay taxes (as a resident of the US or not)? What is on the tax return?

4) If the US citizen voted, how, and from where? Did you vote absentee overseas or did you vote in the US?

...

 

What we learned from the experience was that:

1) You just have to show that you have plans to move to and reside in the US together once you get the immigrant visa.

2) Evidence of a job offer or even seeking a job in the US mattered.

3) Having a specific city in mind helps.

4) Evidence of definite plans for where you would stay matters. You do not need to already have/rent it, or own it.

 

And they are going to need an address to send you the green card, etc. so you need an address at some point. If it changes, you need to update them.

 

Bottom  line, they just want to feel that you have concrete plans to live in the US together ONCE you get the visa.

 

When we sent (emailed) evidence of definite plans, the visa was approved the next day,  and we were in the US two weeks later.

 

Hope this is helpful.

Good luck to you.

 

Edited June 27, 2021 by Suze1

[Suze1 366]

By the way,  in our case, we did not know where exactly we would be. We knew that we would move to Tampa, but had never been there, and had no property there.

In fact, we stayed in a hotel for the first two weeks, until we found a place. And told the consular officer that.

 

So,  even though we owned a residence (in NYC) that did not matter as much as THAT we would be resident in the US together.

So, don't sweat not already having a place yourself. They can handle that.

 

We were able to use our NYC address for  the greencard/communications, but went to Florida immediately after arriving in NYC.

 

You are going to need a mailing address for the greencard, so have a specific address you can use (say, family, friend's place, etc.).

And actually staying in a hotel is not an issue.

 

Just the definiteness of your plans matters a lot.

 

Edited June 27, 2021 by Suze1

[Suze1 366]

So, see if you have a family member or friend where you can use their address at least for mail, etc.

And select a hotel where you expect to live, get info on it, rates, availability etc.

Show your definite plans on where you guys will live.

You won't have dates yet, so making a reservation won't mean too much, but at least show your seriousness.

Also, just LOOKING for a job in the area is helpful. (Make sure you can meet the financial sponsorship requirements, of course, either yourself or with a joint sponsor).

Just give the consular officer enough to see that you guys will be together in the US once you get the visa. That is the main thing.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Suze1

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

15 hours ago, Daniel Thornton said:

My wife and I and 4 yr old son live in the Philippines, we filed I-130 3 weeks ago and have questions on domicile requirements. Since we both live here and will be going back to US together as a family it is problematic on obtaining a domicile beforehand. We plan to stay in temp (AirBnB) while hunting for a rental house but worried that this will be a problem with NVC, any comments or suggestions would be appreciated 

I am the same as you.  IR1 with kids.  I have been in the Philippines for 9 years and now we are moving to the U.S.  Is your son a U.S. citizen?  I think that helps a bit.  Two of my daughters are U.S. citizens and our oldest is my stepdaughter.  My wife and stepdaughter need visas.  If you look up my posts, you will find some of my related questions.

 

Suze has some great info here and I picked up on a few new things.  I think what ztiberiusd is missing, is that you are NOT domiciled in the U.S. while living in PH unless you can show that you meet one of the exceptions.  Read this carefully:

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition/i-864-affidavit-faqs.html#aos18

 

If you don't meet one of the exceptions, then you are like me:

 

The sponsor intends in good faith to establish his or her domicile in the United States no later than the date of the intending immigrant’s admission to the United States.

 

I think the most important part of making them understand this is to have a well documented plan.  You will attach this as extra document when you submit your I-864.  I tend to be a bit over zealous on this but I want to avoid any hiccups, as I hope to meet our timeline.  My "Plan to reestablish domicile" document will include all the typical stuff others mention (banking, investments, taxes, voting, etc.) but also include things like:

 

--  Our overall plan, emphasizing our family unit.  Why we were living in the Philippines, why we are moving to the U.S., our timeline, etc.

--  Contact with realtors and/or Air BNB owners.  Like you, it is unlikely we will have a place live at the time of the interviews.

--  Records of selling our household goods in the Philippines.

--  Records of what household goods we will bring and contact with moving companies.

--  Records of selling one of our vehicles and our plan to sell the other one right when we move.

--  Plans to sell our house in the Philippines and if needed, temporary housing plans for PH.

-- Plans to travel to the U.S. together

-- Plans for schools

 

Etc., etc.

 

I think what caused Suze a problem is that they didn't document their plan well enough beforehand, so the CO needed more information. The questions that the CO asked could have been answered in the plan, and the CO would read it before the interview (hopefully!).  Be very honest in the plan and tell them exactly what is going to happen.

 

Good luck!  Where are you in PH?  We are in Subic.

 

[Suze1 366]

@seekingthetruth Thanks for the remarks.

 

In OP's  case, he is clearly a PH resident, and merely has to establish his definite intent to re-establish domicile /residency in the US with his immigrating family.

 

Regarding Our Situation

What threw us was several things.

The US citizen spouse :

1) Had to satisfy current PH residency requirements to be able to file DCF in PHs.

2) Newest PHs ACR card now had "Tourist" on it...a new development. Previous one(s) did not. We saw THAT as a major problem.

3) Had residence addresses in NYC, Hawaii, and Philippines. (Raised  questions of "Where do you REALLY" live, we guessed, later.)

4) Had just spent an extended time in our NYC place (2 years), but definitely wanted to do DCF.

5) Had just returned to the Phils from the US several weeks before the upcoming US election, and had not made arrangements to vote.

6) Did not anticipate domicile was going to be a big issue, given had just been there for 2 years and had continued to own the residence(s) and two corporations in the US. So, we did not see this being an question in our case.

7) Attended the interview with the beneficiary and the Consular Officer was from the same small home town area (basically). Was very cordial to us.

 

What kicked us over the line (we suspect) was our sharing email from the White House thanking spouse for considering a position there as a senior policy advisor,  and emails reflecting the facts that US spouse had just been a featured speaker at the United Nations,  as well as at the most highly-regarded management consulting firm in the US (world), just a few months earlier, in NYC. We think they went - "Ah, okay, no worries...have a nice day!" smile.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Suze1

[Daniel Thornton 2]

On 6/27/2021 at 9:42 AM, Daniel Thornton said:

My wife and I and 4 yr old son live in the Philippines, we filed I-130 3 weeks ago and have questions on domicile requirements. Since we both live here and will be going back to US together as a family it is problematic on obtaining a domicile beforehand. We plan to stay in temp (AirBnB) while hunting for a rental house but worried that this will be a problem with NVC, any comments or suggestions would be appreciated 

Thanks for all of your comments, Feel better now about Domicile. We are living in Pamplona Negros Oriental and have been here about 6 years. 

[Suze1 366]

Great! Sure thing.  Anytime. You will be fine.

Miss the Philippines...a LOT!

We were in Legaspi Village (Greenbelt 5 area), on Legaspi Street actually, if you know Makati.

 

 

[Suze1 366]

4 minutes ago, Daniel Thornton said:

Feel better now about Domicile.

Fantastic! Forward and upward.