I-130 petition without income, or having lived in the US for many years

[Chancy 6,241]

24 minutes ago, MJ Woo said:

I've retained my US passport and citizenship. I don't live in Japan now, but in my husband's home country in Malaysia.  

 

Thanks for the clarification.  That certainly makes it much simpler.

 

24 minutes ago, MJ Woo said:

regarding a joint sponsor, can a friend who is not a green card holder and not a citizen be a sponsor? 

 

No.  Only USCs or LPRs can be joint sponsor and they must be domiciled in the US.

 

24 minutes ago, MJ Woo said:

US residency: can i just use a friend's address or would i need to show proof of a rental place, etc.?

 

I'm not aware of how strict the US consulate in Malaysia is with regard to US domicile.  It's possible that they will be ok with a letter of intent to establish domicile in the US, along with evidence of your efforts towards that intent.

 

Edited July 17, 2021 by Chancy
typo

[MJ Woo 0]

2 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

If you are a US citizen you have to file taxes. Doesn’t matter if you haven’t worked in the US. If Japan is your home country and you aren’t a US citizen you can’t file I-30. One doesn’t necessarily call a country they were not born in a “home country”. Please clarify.

 

Will your income continue in the US? If not, you either need to move here first and obtain a job or find a joint sponsor who lives in the US that can support your family size. You don’t need this portion to submit the petition, however, it comes later on but definitely things to think of. If you are a US citizen, your obstacles would be that you’ve never filed taxes, income and proof of US domicile. Again, this wouldn’t be needed/an issue for when you first submit the petition.

I haven't worked since I was married. So have no income to report. To clarify, I am a US citizen with a US passport. I

 

How will never having filed taxes nor having any income to speak of affect my application down the road? I wanted to know to see if I can figure it out while I wait. 

Thanks for your advice

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

6 minutes ago, MJ Woo said:

Hi, I've retained my US passport and citizenship. I don't live in Japan now, but in my husband's home country in Malaysia.  

Valid US passport, and US birth cert = yes. 

Children don't qualify automatically because I have not spent 2 years as an adult in the US. So need to go through similar process. 

regarding a joint sponsor, can a friend who is not a green card holder and not a citizen be a sponsor? 

US residency: can i just use a friend's address or would i need to show proof of a rental place, etc.?

So, like someone who is a tourist in the US? No. They must be a US Citizen or a legal permanent resident. It is  basically a legal contract they are signing with the government that if your husband or kids ever become a public charge they could potentially be responsible for paying back the US government. It’s not a responsibility to be taken lightly. 
 

if you do not have someone willing/able to be a joint sponsor you can always move back to the US to establish domicile and obtain a job. Unfortunately, part of the immigration process usually requires separation at some point. You’ve been lucky you’ve never been separated from your family before. I wish you luck on your choice.

[MJ Woo 0]

1 minute ago, Luckycuds said:

So, like someone who is a tourist in the US? No. They must be a US Citizen or a legal permanent resident. It is  basically a legal contract they are signing with the government that if your husband or kids ever become a public charge they could potentially be responsible for paying back the US government. It’s not a responsibility to be taken lightly. 
 

if you do not have someone willing/able to be a joint sponsor you can always move back to the US to establish domicile and obtain a job. Unfortunately, part of the immigration process usually requires separation at some point. You’ve been lucky you’ve never been separated from your family before. I wish you luck on your choice.

Thank you for your clarification. I meant to type, greencard holder, not citizen. but this clarifies it. 

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

2 minutes ago, MJ Woo said:

I haven't worked since I was married. So have no income to report. To clarify, I am a US citizen with a US passport. I

 

How will never having filed taxes nor having any income to speak of affect my application down the road? I wanted to know to see if I can figure it out while I wait. 

Thanks for your advice

Have you EVER worked from age 16 up? (They don’t look at just your workings since marriage) if not- then you were never required to file taxes - so then this would not be a problem for why you don’t have them. 
 

If you have a valid joint sponsor then it would be no issue that you don’t have an income. If you can’t find a sponsor- then it’s basically not possible to immigrate with no income. 

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

3 minutes ago, MJ Woo said:

Thank you for your clarification. I meant to type, greencard holder, not citizen. but this clarifies it. 

Hi I may have misunderstood- do you have someone in mind who is a green card holder? If so they can be a joint sponsor.

[Chancy 6,241]

19 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Renouncing in front of a Japanese Ministry is not how you formally renounce US citizenship in the eyes of the US government.

 

Yes, the Japanese Ministry of Justice requires that the Japanese citizen formally renounce their other nationalities at the consulates of the other countries.

 

19 minutes ago, payxibka said:

What technical obstacle?  US immigration,  US law.

 

That's what I said -- it's not an obstacle to US immigration.

 

Anyway, OP has clarified that she retained her US citizenship and no longer lives in Japan.

 

Edited July 17, 2021 by Chancy
typo

[payxibka 10,045]

24 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

 

 

Anyway, OP has clarified that she retained her US citizenship and no longer lives in Japan.

 

Would make no difference.

[MJ Woo 0]

2 hours ago, Luckycuds said:

Have you EVER worked from age 16 up? (They don’t look at just your workings since marriage) if not- then you were never required to file taxes - so then this would not be a problem for why you don’t have them. 
 

If you have a valid joint sponsor then it would be no issue that you don’t have an income. If you can’t find a sponsor- then it’s basically not possible to immigrate with no income. 

Thanks. one further question. if i can prove my financial (or rather my husband's financial standings), can that replace a joint sponsor, even if i have no income? basically having strong financial assets under his/our name. Sorry for so many questions. thanks again. 

[payxibka 10,045]

1 minute ago, MJ Woo said:

Thanks. one further question. if i can prove my financial (or rather my husband's financial standings), can that replace a joint sponsor, even if i have no income? basically having strong financial assets under his/our name. Sorry for so many questions. thanks again. 

Sufficient liquid assets can be used to replace income at a 3:1 ratio.

[carmel34 3,633]

21 minutes ago, MJ Woo said:

Thanks. one further question. if i can prove my financial (or rather my husband's financial standings), can that replace a joint sponsor, even if i have no income? basically having strong financial assets under his/our name. Sorry for so many questions. thanks again. 

Read the I-864 and the I-864 instructions carefully.  It will tell you everything you need to know regarding how much US-based income and/or sufficient liquid assets you (or a joint sponsor) will need.  Here are the links:

 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864.pdf

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf

 

If you decide to proceed with the I-130 petitions for your family, you will have 6-12 months to wait for them to be adjudicated, so during that time you can figure out how to meet the financial requirements, on your own or with a joint sponsor, and prepare a plan to re-establish a US domicile.  The I-864s are filed after the petitions are approved, at the NVC stage, prior to the visa interviews being scheduled.  I strongly recommend that you become very familiar with the process and spend some time studying all the forms, requirements, costs, processing times, etc.  Visa Journey is a great place to ask questions, we are here to help you.  Good luck!

Edited July 17, 2021 by carmel34

[pushbrk 12,898]

I would second what is said by carmel34.  It's time for you to become an A-Student of the I-130 instructions and the form, and then the I-864 instructions and form.  Do some study and questions in the applicable regional forum here regarding how strict the US Consulate in Kuala Lumpur (Is Malaysia your current country of residence?) is regarding intent to establish domicile.  Reestablishing domicile is a somewhat different issue, but YOU will be establishing domicile from scratch, so need an actual plan and action.

[HRQX 4,145]

9 hours ago, Chancy said:

then that means she did not comply with Japanese law.

She may have complied with the Japanese law since that law allows certain technicalities/loopholes. There are about 925,000 Japanese (22 years old or older) in Japan who continue to hold two or more passports per a 2018 estimate by the Justice Ministry. Individuals who choose to keep their Japanese nationality are only "obliged to make an effort" to give up other citizenships.

Edited July 18, 2021 by HRQX

[Chancy 6,241]

1 hour ago, HRQX said:

She may have complied with the Japanese law since that law allows certain technicalities/loopholes. There are about 925,000 Japanese (22 years old or older) in Japan who continue to hold two or more passports per a 2018 estimate by the Justice Ministry. Individuals who choose to keep their Japanese nationality are only "obliged to make an effort" to give up other citizenships.

 

That's apparently an open secret in Japan, but the Ministry of Justice still considers those 22+ year-old Japanese as having broken the law.  But there's no penalty, so the Japanese government doesn't do anything about them.  It only becomes an issue with high-profile cases like tennis celebrity Naomi Osaka, who is supposedly no longer a US citizen.

 

Edited July 18, 2021 by Chancy
typo

[HRQX 4,145]

3 hours ago, Chancy said:

Naomi Osaka, who is supposedly no longer a US citizen.

The last thing that was officially stated was that she had "begun the process" of renouncing the US citizenship. But no further official update on that. There are rumors that she is instead relying on the "make an effort to give up" loophole. https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/WTA_Tennis/93920/is-naomi-osaka-about-to-give-up-her-us-citizenship/ "according to some rumors, Osaka has not yet given up her US citizenship, despite more than a year having passed since her twenty-second birthday"