K-3 USC living abroad - two questions

[beldos 0]

Hi everyone!

I am the USC living in the UK for six months with my British husband and we are just starting the process.

My questions:

Is it OK to use my parents' address in Michigan as my official address on all forms? Or would that be considered suspect, as I actually reside abroad?

If I do use the MI address, is that the state I should file with? The last state I lived in was California, but I'm not sure if that matters to the officials. Does anyone have advice?

Thanks in advance.

Sarah and Will

[Leney 0]

I believe all K-3 visa applications are filed through the Vermont Service center if you are applying as a resident of the USA for your spouse. As far as residency - if your only there for 6 months are you there on VWP or a UK spousal visa? If you are on a spousal visa and can prove you legally live and reside in the UK I believe there is something called DCF that you may qualify to do. If you are only there visiting on your passport, I would use your permanent American address (if that's your parents then use that address) Though someone else may have a better answer for you! Good luck with everything

Also, this guide is great: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=k3guide

Edited May 10, 2007 by Leney

[beldos 0]

Thanks for your response - I am living here with a Visa and can stay for up to two years but am not a resident as of now so cannot use DCF.

I didn't realise about the Vermont service centre processing the K3 - I'll make sure to give a careful read to the info.

In the meantime, can anyone else see anything wrong with using my US address despite residing the UK?

[homesick_american 1]

Thanks for your response - I am living here with a Visa and can stay for up to two years but am not a resident as of now so cannot use DCF.

I didn't realise about the Vermont service centre processing the K3 - I'll make sure to give a careful read to the info.

In the meantime, can anyone else see anything wrong with using my US address despite residing the UK?

How do you know you can't do a DCF?

[Reba 2]

for DCF the USC has to have legal permanent residency status in the spouse's country, and has to have lived there for 2 years. Unless its changed since it was re-instated.

As for your US address, where do you and your husband plan to live when you move to the US? Will you be staying with your parents for a while until you get settled? If the visa process takes longer than 6 months (which is likely) will you be going on ahead to the States alone, or are you going to stay in the UK until he's got his K3 or CR1 and can go with you? How are you planning on supporting him and showing income on the affidavit of support when the time comes?

Its not just a matter of can your parents accept mail for you while you're in the UK, they're also going to consider abode and income for the affidavit of support.

[homesick_american 1]

for DCF the USC has to have legal permanent residency status in the spouse's country, and has to have lived there for 2 years. Unless its changed since it was re-instated.

As for your US address, where do you and your husband plan to live when you move to the US? Will you be staying with your parents for a while until you get settled? If the visa process takes longer than 6 months (which is likely) will you be going on ahead to the States alone, or are you going to stay in the UK until he's got his K3 or CR1 and can go with you? How are you planning on supporting him and showing income on the affidavit of support when the time comes?

Its not just a matter of can your parents accept mail for you while you're in the UK, they're also going to consider abode and income for the affidavit of support.

Yes Reba, it has changed; check out the UK forum.

OP, I recommend you contact the embassy directly instead of going on outdated information. The government seems to change its mind rather frequently and you should verify and re-verify anything you're told on here anyway.

When we did a DCF through London in 2005 the residency requirements were different from what they are now. In fact, I cannot find any information on the US Embassy in London's website relating to the amount of time you are required to have lived here in order to do a DCF. When we did ours, it was spelled out quite clearly.

CALL THEM!

[Yodrak 7]

Probably better to contact the USCIS office in London rather than the embassy. It's the USCIS that is going to process the I-130. Or not.

Yodrak

.....

OP, I recommend you contact the embassy directly instead of going on outdated information. The government seems to change its mind rather frequently and you should verify and re-verify anything you're told on here anyway.

.....

[homesick_american 1]

Probably better to contact the USCIS office in London rather than the embassy. It's the USCIS that is going to process the I-130. Or not.

Yodrak

.....

OP, I recommend you contact the embassy directly instead of going on outdated information. The government seems to change its mind rather frequently and you should verify and re-verify anything you're told on here anyway.

.....

Thanks for that Yodrak.

I'm assuming that the OP is also capable of finding the phone number herself, but just in case...would you like to give it to her?

[pushbrk 12,894]

Probably better to contact the USCIS office in London rather than the embassy. It's the USCIS that is going to process the I-130. Or not.

Yodrak

.....

OP, I recommend you contact the embassy directly instead of going on outdated information. The government seems to change its mind rather frequently and you should verify and re-verify anything you're told on here anyway.

.....

This is good advice. Residency requirements for DCF do tend to vary both with time and by the country. However, I've never heard of legal "permanent residence" being a requirement. In the US, "legal permanent resident" means you have a green card. The word "permanent" is pretty darn specific.

For instance, the most recent requirements for filing DCF in China were that the USC have a specific visa that allowed them to work or remain long term as a student. There is a huge difference between the meaning of the terms visiting, residing and permanent. Things also get lost in interpretation. For instance my Chinese wife (by direct translation) speaks of "living" in a hotel for a night when the correct translation is "staying" or "sleeping". You get the picture.

[homesick_american 1]

Hi everyone!

I am the USC living in the UK for six months with my British husband and we are just starting the process.

My questions:

Is it OK to use my parents' address in Michigan as my official address on all forms? Or would that be considered suspect, as I actually reside abroad?

If I do use the MI address, is that the state I should file with? The last state I lived in was California, but I'm not sure if that matters to the officials. Does anyone have advice?

Thanks in advance.

Sarah and Will

Beldos:

With regards to a direct consular file in London, this is from the US Embassy's website:

Who can file their I-130/I-360 at the London Field Office?

The USCIS London Field Office has jurisdiction for adjudicating I-130 and I-360 petitions from U.S. citizens who have permission to reside AND who do principally reside in the United Kingdom. See the I-130 Checklist for more details.

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/dhs/uscis/i130filing.html

I-130 checklist for alien spouse states:

Residency Requirement: You must show evidence that you have permission from the United Kingdom to live and work submitting:

• Appropriate UK Entry Clearance Stamp(s) for the UK; OR
  
• If Dual National, your EU Passport; or
  
• If U.S. military, a copy of your PCS orders assigning you to the UK.
  

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/dhs/forms/i130..._for_spouse.pdf

Even if you only have a limited leave to remain visa, that entitles you to live and work here and to me that satisfies the residency requirement. If you're married to a UKC, you can get one of those. They don't take long to process either. When I moved to the UK you could apply for indefinite leave to remain after one year, but I think they've upped it to two. Either way, I think an LLR is good enough.

Double-check, though it looks pretty good so far. Good luck.

[homesick_american 1]

This is good advice. Residency requirements for DCF do tend to vary both with time and by the country. However, I've never heard of legal "permanent residence" being a requirement. In the US, "legal permanent resident" means you have a green card. The word "permanent" is pretty darn specific.

For instance, the most recent requirements for filing DCF in China were that the USC have a specific visa that allowed them to work or remain long term as a student. There is a huge difference between the meaning of the terms visiting, residing and permanent. Things also get lost in interpretation. For instance my Chinese wife (by direct translation) speaks of "living" in a hotel for a night when the correct translation is "staying" or "sleeping". You get the picture.

Thanks. Given what I've read on this board in the time I've been here, requirements seem to vary slightly from place to place and have changed at least once since we filed our I-130 in London in summer 2005.

In these cases it's always best to go straight to the source (in this case, the USCIS field office in London, lest I get another snotty correction from Yodrak) and ask the question there since the info given here with regards to residency requirements in the United Kingdom is often incorrect.

[beldos 0]

i want to thank everyone again for their advice. i had previously read on this forum that i would need to live in the UK for at least two years to do DCF - "go straight to the source" is excellent advice. i will call them and let everyone know what the outcome is.

Sarah

[homesick_american 1]

i want to thank everyone again for their advice. i had previously read on this forum that i would need to live in the UK for at least two years to do DCF - "go straight to the source" is excellent advice. i will call them and let everyone know what the outcome is.

Sarah

Let us know what they say! One thing we learned when going through this process is that the rules changed...constantly!

[beldos 0]

It's true! I have just spoken with someone on the Visa hotline about doing DCF through the London field office. He said that the rules have changed in the past month and now anyone who has permission to live and work in the UK (including if they've lived here for under six months) is eligible!! spread the word!

thanks for your help! I would never have found out about the rule change if people hadn't suggested phoning for info...

[homesick_american 1]

It's true! I have just spoken with someone on the Visa hotline about doing DCF through the London field office. He said that the rules have changed in the past month and now anyone who has permission to live and work in the UK (including if they've lived here for under six months) is eligible!! spread the word!

thanks for your help! I would never have found out about the rule change if people hadn't suggested phoning for info...

AWESOME!

You'll save so much time going through London. Don't take my timeline as a typical example of how long it takes...we farted around a lot gathering documentation. I met a couple at our interview who filed their I-130 4 months prior to their interview date, and there they were getting the visa. It looks like their processing times have slipped a bit since then, but it should be faster than doing it all from the USA.

Good luck!