Can you interview from a country other than your home country?

[MichaelC0728 0]

Long story short.
I am US Citizen
I am living in Phnom Penh Cambodia and will be marrying a Cambodian woman later this year
She has 2 children 9 and 12

Once we get married, we would like to move to south America (Ecuador was first choice but with recent violence thinking Colombia)
We will get a retirement visa there (I am 50 and get disability income from my time in the US Marine Corps.)

Our plan is to get there, get situated, and then file for her CR-1 Visa to the US, and to remain there....together....until the visa is approved.

The question that I have is this.

If she is living in Colombia with me for a year or 18 months prior to the interview.

Will they allow that interview to occur where we are living (Colombia) and not where her home country is (Cambodia)?

 

 

[NorthByNorthwest 350]

13 minutes ago, MichaelC0728 said:

Our plan is to get there, get situated, and then file for her CR-1 Visa to the US, and to remain there....together....until the visa is approved.

The question that I have is this.

If she is living in Colombia with me for a year or 18 months prior to the interview.

Will they allow that interview to occur where we are living (Colombia) and not where her home country is (Cambodia)?

 

Interviewing in a country she has a long-term visa for is not a problem, but as the petitioner you will be required to show that you have either established domicile in the US by the time of the interview, or show that you will re-establish it. Otherwise you will need an affidavit of support from someone in the US.

[MichaelC0728 0]

9 minutes ago, NorthByNorthwest said:

 

Interviewing in a country she has a long-term visa for is not a problem, but as the petitioner you will be required to show that you have either established domicile in the US by the time of the interview, or show that you will re-establish it. Otherwise you will need an affidavit of support from someone in the US.

I have maintained my bank in the US. 
I still consult for my old employer in the US and file taxes.
I am planning to vote in the US elections.
I have 3 children (2 adult) and a grandbaby

From what I have read, other than maybe needing to lease an apartment or stay with my son when I initially move back, I should be OK on that front.

This is 2 years away, but do you see any other things that I should do or think about to prove that I plan to return once my wife can as well?

 

[NorthByNorthwest 350]

1 hour ago, MichaelC0728 said:

I have maintained my bank in the US. 
I still consult for my old employer in the US and file taxes.
I am planning to vote in the US elections.
I have 3 children (2 adult) and a grandbaby

From what I have read, other than maybe needing to lease an apartment or stay with my son when I initially move back, I should be OK on that front.

This is 2 years away, but do you see any other things that I should do or think about to prove that I plan to return once my wife can as well?

 

I don't have any personal experience with the domicile part, but I'm sure there are others on the forums that do.

 

At the end of the day, the domicile requirement is only there to qualify you as an I-864 sponsor. As long as you meet the income requirements and can show you'll have your primary residence in the US by the time the beneficiary enters the country your background looks pretty solid.

 

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

[millefleur 5,046]

1 hour ago, MichaelC0728 said:

I have maintained my bank in the US. 
I still consult for my old employer in the US and file taxes.
I am planning to vote in the US elections.
I have 3 children (2 adult) and a grandbaby

Some embassies are stricter than others on domicile, it also depends on how long you've been out of the US. The nomadic lifestyle of first Cambodia, then Colombia might cause them to be a little stricter if you have that kind of job where you can easily work from any country. 

If you have some kind of work permit abroad, proof that you have abandoned this or are planning to is also good. If you can't get proof, then at least a letter explaining your plan to leave and relocate back to the US helps.

 

Voter record, taxes, proof of mailing address and driver's license/ID maintained in the US, US bank accounts, letter of explanation plus lease or agreement of where you intend to live are all good to include.

[pushbrk 12,876]

2 hours ago, NorthByNorthwest said:

 

Interviewing in a country she has a long-term visa for is not a problem, but as the petitioner you will be required to show that you have either established domicile in the US by the time of the interview, or show that you will re-establish it. Otherwise you will need an affidavit of support from someone in the US.

Whoa.  A joint sponsor does not overcome the need to show intent to re-establish Domicile.  Petitioner MUST satisfy the Consular Officer of their intent to live together in the USA, or there will be no visa, qualified joint sponsor or not.

 

[pushbrk 12,876]

1 hour ago, millefleur said:

Some embassies are stricter than others on domicile, it also depends on how long you've been out of the US. The nomadic lifestyle of first Cambodia, then Colombia might cause them to be a little stricter if you have that kind of job where you can easily work from any country. 

If you have some kind of work permit abroad, proof that you have abandoned this or are planning to is also good. If you can't get proof, then at least a letter explaining your plan to leave and relocate back to the US helps.

 

Voter record, taxes, proof of mailing address and driver's license/ID maintained in the US, US bank accounts, letter of explanation plus lease or agreement of where you intend to live are all good to include.

OP/Petitioner is disabled Marine.  No need for a joint sponsor, or work permit in another country.

[MichaelC0728 0]

7 hours ago, millefleur said:

Some embassies are stricter than others on domicile, it also depends on how long you've been out of the US. The nomadic lifestyle of first Cambodia, then Colombia might cause them to be a little stricter if you have that kind of job where you can easily work from any country. 

If you have some kind of work permit abroad, proof that you have abandoned this or are planning to is also good. If you can't get proof, then at least a letter explaining your plan to leave and relocate back to the US helps.

 

Voter record, taxes, proof of mailing address and driver's license/ID maintained in the US, US bank accounts, letter of explanation plus lease or agreement of where you intend to live are all good to include.

I do not think this will be too much of an issue. I came to Cambodia to be with my fiance and then would be moving to a second country only to be in the same US time zones as well as be easier to see my family while we wait for the Visa process. This is my first time out of the country since the military which I left in 1999.

Also I will not have a work visa wherever I go. I have a 70% disability rating from the VA and I do some freelance work online from the US (aprox $1,000 a month is all right now).  

I am also going back to school for CyberSecurity online, paid for by the US Veterans Administration and should be done with that around the same time that our visa is approved.

 

 

 

6 hours ago, pushbrk said:

OP/Petitioner is disabled Marine.  No need for a joint sponsor, or work permit in another country.

Correct. I am not going to have any work permits outside of the US. I will live on my VA money and some freelance work I do online for a client in the US.

I am only 70% disabled though. So I will need to show income requirements are met or have a joint sponsor won't I? There is no special program for Disabled Vets that allow them a different income threshold that I have seen anywhere online. 

[Boiler 45,466]

The amount to sponsor is not that much, presumably you have checked that.

[millefleur 5,046]

11 hours ago, MichaelC0728 said:

I do not think this will be too much of an issue. I came to Cambodia to be with my fiance and then would be moving to a second country only to be in the same US time zones as well as be easier to see my family while we wait for the Visa process. This is my first time out of the country since the military which I left in 1999.

Also I will not have a work visa wherever I go. I have a 70% disability rating from the VA and I do some freelance work online from the US (aprox $1,000 a month is all right now).  

I am also going back to school for CyberSecurity online, paid for by the US Veterans Administration and should be done with that around the same time that our visa is approved.

I'd just to include all of that explanation in your letter. Sorry I missed the part about being retired, but still including some form of abandoning/leaving behind the retirement visa is not a bad idea as it shows you intend to leave and move back.

Edited January 12 by millefleur

[SalishSea 17,819]

13 hours ago, pushbrk said:

OP/Petitioner is disabled Marine.  No need for a joint sponsor, or work permit in another country.

Disabled vets don’t need to meet the same financial parameters as everyone else to sponsor immigrants? 

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

Can she get a residency permit in Columbia to interview there?   

you need  to research this 

 

FYI if she can get a residency permit ,  she should get the criminal reports from Cambodia before she leaves (to any country she may go to to live) and have it translated into English for Immigration purposes  later.

[pushbrk 12,876]

1 hour ago, SalishSea said:

Disabled vets don’t need to meet the same financial parameters as everyone else to sponsor immigrants? 

I had concluded the VA benefits would be sufficient, but the percentage disabled is not the issue.  Presumably, he qualifies to sponsor.

[SalishSea 17,819]

55 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

I had concluded the VA benefits would be sufficient, but the percentage disabled is not the issue.  Presumably, he qualifies to sponsor.

Not with that current income.

[pushbrk 12,876]

1 minute ago, SalishSea said:

Not with that current income.

I'm not clear on his current income.  The 1k figure appeared to be his sideline income, not his total income.  Would be good to clarify.  Sideline "revenue" often ends up as little or no income carried forward as taxable.