IR-1/CR-1 Visa without US income and without a joint sponsor

[SBHbb67 21]

Hello everyone, 

 

We applied for an IR-1/CR-1 visa and our visa just got issued. I just wanted to put this out there for anyone who may go through what we went through and can't find an example.

 

Quick summary: Me and my spouse got married (Jul 2020) and filed an I-130 (Sep 2020). Our case was transferred to NVC in Aug 2021, and we got an interview for April 2022. 

 

I am a US citizen, but I have never lived in the US (except for 1 year in 2019) and have almost zero connection to the US. This brings about two major issues:

1. financial requirement to sponsor a green card
2. domicile requirement

 

For the financial requirement: I do not have a US income (or even a US bank account), and my foreign income has been very small due to the exchange rate (about 5-6k). Because of this, we wanted to use assets to meet the financial requirement. We put a little more than 3 times the 125% of HHS Poverty Guidelines ($68k) in a bank account overseas (We placed the bulk of the money in the account just before our initial submission to the NVC, which was 6 months before our interview date, so not 1 year; we also added a letter explaining that the bulk sum was added to the account as a gift from the father of the petitioner). I wanted to place the money in a US bank account, but I couldn't open one from abroad, therefore we opened a bank account in both our names. The guidelines indicate that the required amount is 3 times the 125% HHS-PG for spouses, and 5 times for everyone else. The rule for using foreing assets is that they have to be in the name of the beneficiary spouse, but we opened a bank account in both our names so that we could hopefully benefit from the "3 times for spouses" rule, and also as additional proof that our marriage is genuine. After our initial submission to the NVC, we got a Case FE Review note saying "This case does not meet the minimum income requirement to sponsor the intending immigrants. To avoid delays, an additional Affidavit of Support Form I-864 from a joint sponsor may be submitted." Turns out, this is a generic message for everyone who uses assets to meet income requirements. 

 

For the domicile requirement: I have never lived in the US other than one year. I do have a social security number, but no bank account, no address, no family, no phone number, pretty much nothing. However, our intention to move to the US has been genuine (this is exemption 3 in the I-864: to intend in good faith to establish domicile in the US after admission of my spouse to the US). To prove this, we supplied tax returns from 2019, 2020, and 2021, my voter registration card, my vote ballot from 2020 elections. Other than these, we reached out and looked for rentals and jobs. We obviously couldn't secure anything since we do not know when we can go to the US without having a visa, but just correspondence can be proof enough. We also included e-mail correspondance concerning the relocation of our pet dog as additional proof. All proof of intent to reestablish domicile was provided after we got an interview date! Not during our initial submission to the NVC. We also included a letter of "Declaration of Intent to Reestablish Domicile", for which I found a template online.

 

We did ask a distant relative if he could possible sponsor our green card in case it's needed, and our plan was to go to the interview without a joint sponsor and to provide a joint sponsor if the consular officer asked for one. And to our surprise, they did not. They were satisfied with our case and granted our visa. 

 

So the message of this post is: if you are a US citizen who has weak ties to the US due to having spent most of your life outside the US for any reason, it is possible to get a green card by using foreign assets (in our case, both in the name of the beneficiary and the petitioner) and by showing the consular officer that you do intend to move to the US, even if you never have lived there.

 

Good luck to all!

 

[Dashinka 24,504]

Congratulations on your success and good luck with your move to the US.

[SBHbb67 21]

Just now, Dashinka said:

Congratulations on your success and good luck with your move to the US.

Thank you so much, this is a gruelling process only people who go through it can understand. There have been more than one hurdle to overcome, and it is hard to believe we made it through 😅

[Redro 4,611]

16 minutes ago, SBHbb67 said:

Hello everyone, 

 

We applied for an IR-1/CR-1 visa and our visa just got issued. I just wanted to put this out there for anyone who may go through what we went through and can't find an example.

 

Quick summary: Me and my spouse got married (Jul 2020) and filed an I-130 (Sep 2020). Our case was transferred to NVC in Aug 2021, and we got an interview for April 2022. 

 

I am a US citizen, but I have never lived in the US (except for 1 year in 2019) and have almost zero connection to the US. This brings about two major issues:

1. financial requirement to sponsor a green card
2. domicile requirement

 

For the financial requirement: I do not have a US income (or even a US bank account), and my foreign income has been very small due to the exchange rate (about 5-6k). Because of this, we wanted to use assets to meet the financial requirement. We put a little more than 3 times the 125% of HHS Poverty Guidelines ($68k) in a bank account overseas (We placed the bulk of the money in the account just before our initial submission to the NVC, which was 6 months before our interview date, so not 1 year; we also added a letter explaining that the bulk sum was added to the account as a gift from the father of the petitioner). I wanted to place the money in a US bank account, but I couldn't open one from abroad, therefore we opened a bank account in both our names. The guidelines indicate that the required amount is 3 times the 125% HHS-PG for spouses, and 5 times for everyone else. The rule for using foreing assets is that they have to be in the name of the beneficiary spouse, but we opened a bank account in both our names so that we could hopefully benefit from the "3 times for spouses" rule, and also as additional proof that our marriage is genuine. After our initial submission to the NVC, we got a Case FE Review note saying "This case does not meet the minimum income requirement to sponsor the intending immigrants. To avoid delays, an additional Affidavit of Support Form I-864 from a joint sponsor may be submitted." Turns out, this is a generic message for everyone who uses assets to meet income requirements. 

 

For the domicile requirement: I have never lived in the US other than one year. I do have a social security number, but no bank account, no address, no family, no phone number, pretty much nothing. However, our intention to move to the US has been genuine (this is exemption 3 in the I-864: to intend in good faith to establish domicile in the US after admission of my spouse to the US). To prove this, we supplied tax returns from 2019, 2020, and 2021, my voter registration card, my vote ballot from 2020 elections. Other than these, we reached out and looked for rentals and jobs. We obviously couldn't secure anything since we do not know when we can go to the US without having a visa, but just correspondence can be proof enough. We also included e-mail correspondance concerning the relocation of our pet dog as additional proof. All proof of intent to reestablish domicile was provided after we got an interview date! Not during our initial submission to the NVC. We also included a letter of "Declaration of Intent to Reestablish Domicile", for which I found a template online.

 

We did ask a distant relative if he could possible sponsor our green card in case it's needed, and our plan was to go to the interview without a joint sponsor and to provide a joint sponsor if the consular officer asked for one. And to our surprise, they did not. They were satisfied with our case and granted our visa. 

 

So the message of this post is: if you are a US citizen who has weak ties to the US due to having spent most of your life outside the US for any reason, it is possible to get a green card by using foreign assets (in our case, both in the name of the beneficiary and the petitioner) and by showing the consular officer that you do intend to move to the US, even if you never have lived there.

 

Good luck to all!

 

Great news!

Where did you interview? 

[SBHbb67 21]

4 hours ago, Kor2USA said:

Great news!

Where did you interview? 

Ankara

[carmel34 3,633]

5 hours ago, SBHbb67 said:

Ankara

Your experience seems to be more likely in countries that are not strict on US domicile.  For example, Montreal would have been much more difficult.  Congratulations!

[SBHbb67 21]

2 minutes ago, carmel34 said:

Your experience seems to be more likely in countries that are not strict on US domicile.  For example, Montreal would have been much more difficult.  Congratulations!

Thank you for this comment, I think it is important to underline that in the end, the decision is up to the consular officer, and it is never a one-size-fits-all type situation. As you said, the very same case may have had a very different outcome in a different consulate.

 

However, when we were applying, we saw zero posts that would be relevant to our situation and just wanted to put this out there for people who may need uplifting information. There are tens of thousands who are in the same boat, who are US citizens but do not have financial or social roots in the country. I wanted for them to see that it is at least possible to do it without a sponsor or without very strong ties to the US.