Bolt from the Blue

[iftekhar 0]

Well not much to say except that I walked in for interview today with my wife (petitioner). Everything went well till we walked into the interview room.

Here is a bit of background:

1) My wife was born in usa and left usa at the age of 5 and never returned.

2) She had been hopping around countries for her father's job and finally came back to Bangladesh in 2005.

3) We married in 2007

4) Applied in January 2011 and after all hassle in convincing the embassy that the was eligible for DCF, finally i130 approved in April.

5) All things go smooth including medical , police cert etc

6) Interview was today.

7) My wife sponsored but with zero income my cousin in LA came up to be the joint sponsor and she also provided a letter stating that she will take care of our boarding and maintenance when we are in USA.

Interview experience:

1) The interviewer was not happy with our situation.

2) Our application was the most far fetched she has experienced so far

3) She kept on insisting on the point on how we will survive there. Despite my cousin having 6 digit income and me having roughly 17K dollar in liquid / liquid-able form

4) After a semi long interview, which was based on what we were planning to do, she discussed it with another colleague behind the window.

5) Then she told me "i cannot give a decision on this and i will forward it for review". says we will be notified in a week.

6) She then suddenly says that the wants to see my cousins 2010 tax return certified by IRS. She also commented that she doubted whether i will be able to provide it.

7) Finally was handed over the form 194 (blue).

8) In 212(g), she put a seal in the local language that we will be notified ASAP after some processing. Also the wrote there about the 2010 tax return attested by IRS.

So under the circumstance above, can any experienced person give me any houghts / highlight on what my fate is up to? Also in the case that I am rejected, what will be / can be my next course of action.

[Penguin_ie 5,992]

What did you hand in in terms of tax returns/ proof of income of you co-sponsor?

While it shouldn't matter as you have a co-sponsor, if you are asked to a second interview, it may help if you can prove you and/ or your wife have thought about how you will support yourself once in the USA. Ie proof of looking for jobs etc.

[iftekhar 0]

Thanks for your reply.

We provided tax returns for 2008, 2009, 2010. Then a salary certificate from my sister's employer and of course the AOS joint sponsor form.

I am not sure that we will get another chance ...as the officer is convinced its a denial but from her actions i personally felt that she has no other reason to deny us other than her gut feeling. She did back and forth a few times...she wanted to kep my pasport..when I asked her about returning it she said "let me keep it in case we need to stamp it after a week" then suddenly she asked for the approved return and gave me m passport back saying " I doubt whether you will be able to provide me this document".

[himher 634]

She is just nervous. Should take a couple weeks to get the transcripts (if the dam IRS server is working) otherwise there is not a clear reason to deny.

Unfortunately this seems to be the problem from the officer's point of view: (You) have a good case for intent to or establishment of domicile but you do not have to show that at all. Your WIFE the sponsor is supposed to either have or be in the process of establishing domicile and it probably seems far-fetched to the officer for the immigrant to have stronger domicile ties to the US than the US citizen sponsor and that is a fundamental requirement for DCF eligibility. Were someone in your wife's family to sponsor you then this would be a typical case. It probably is not typical for the immigrant's family member to sponsor the US citizen and her spouse. Just a guess.

If rejected the course of action is this: Your wife, the US citizen, has to clearly have, be in the process, or establish clear ties of domicile in the US for you to be eligible for DCF.

Anyway, I hope your case goes well. Good luck!

Edited September 29, 2011 by himher

[iftekhar 0]

Dear himher,

thanks for the support and the information. Now worst case happens and I am denied..then if my wife goes back to usa and establishes domicile, then do we have to start the process all over again? or there will be a shortcut.

Also my sister is a better choice as a sponsor because my wife does not have a close relative living in usa. As for my cousin, she is my first cousin and we almost grew up together. she got most of her education staying at her house. we do not make demarcations between us...unfortunately that is not very easy to prove to the officer.

To be very honest, she was actually quite rude to us for no apparent reason and left and right she was bombarding us with questions and she was changing track frequently. she would start a topic then meet a dead end and then open up another avenue.

I am really worried about the outcome.

Also when I send the IRS docs (from my sister) to the consulate, I can attach the following:

1) I can take a loan from my dad and drop it in our joint bank account and provide a statement of the deposit (Roughly $25,000/-)

2) Declare the gold that my wife has (roughly $30,000 if converted - i cannot produce any receipt because these are marriage gifts)

3) I can deposit another $5000 in my bank account (Already i have $5000 in that account)

I do not want to do the above activities unless there is any possibility that they will help me in any way. Roughly I can accumulate $60,000 in cash and convertible. all of them will be fresh deposits in my accounts and also the gold i can only claim cannot show receipts.

looking forward to hear from the experts soon.

Regards / ia

[himher 634]

This is from the department of state website. Please read and try to understand what the officer sees compared to the clearly listed guidelines that the officer has to follow.

Many U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents reside outside the United States on a temporary basis. "Temporary" may cover an extended period of residence abroad. The sponsor living abroad must establish the following in order to be considered domiciled in the United States:

•He/she left the United States for a limited and not indefinite period of time,

•He/she intended to maintain a domicile in the United States, and

•He/she has evidence of continued ties to the United States.

When a sponsor has clearly not maintained a domicile in the United States, he/she must re-establish a U.S. domicile to be a sponsor. The aspiring sponsor may take steps, including the examples given below, to show that the United States is his/her principal place of residence

•Find employment in the United States

•Secure a residence in the United States

•Register children in U.S. schools

•Relinquish residence abroad

•Other evidence of a U.S. residence

Your co-sponsor is fine but an I-130 and I-864 applies to the primary US citizen. Your wife, as your primary sponsor, was probably unable to meet any of these requirements and this is what I guess to be the reason that the officer was so hesitant to process your case.

Also - the officers are trained to trip you up. They do that to everyone.

[iftekhar 0]

so if the consulate is not satisfied with our case and denies it even after we provide the irs certified 2010 tax return of our joint sponsor, do we need to reapply again after my wife moves to us? or we can continue from any point in between.

Edited October 1, 2011 by iftekhar

[hellraiser 42]

Thanks for your reply.

We provided tax returns for 2008, 2009, 2010. Then a salary certificate from my sister's employer and of course the AOS joint sponsor form.

I am not sure that we will get another chance ...as the officer is convinced its a denial but from her actions i personally felt that she has no other reason to deny us other than her gut feeling. She did back and forth a few times...she wanted to kep my pasport..when I asked her about returning it she said "let me keep it in case we need to stamp it after a week" then suddenly she asked for the approved return and gave me m passport back saying " I doubt whether you will be able to provide me this document".

I believe what the interviewer meant by this is; this is a document the joint sponsor can provide, not you. So ask your joint sponsor to contact IRS and get a statement (these are free and can be obtained fairly quickly making phone calls). Also, I am not clear, did you furnish the application with tax transcripts for the past three years (including 2010)???

[hellraiser 42]

so if the consulate is not satisfied with our case and denies it even after we provide the irs certified 2010 tax return of our joint sponsor, do we need to reapply again after my wife moves to us? or we can continue from any point in between.

Thanks for your reply.

We provided tax returns for 2008, 2009, 2010. Then a salary certificate from my sister's employer and of course the AOS joint sponsor form.

I am not sure that we will get another chance ...as the officer is convinced its a denial but from her actions i personally felt that she has no other reason to deny us other than her gut feeling. She did back and forth a few times...she wanted to kep my pasport..when I asked her about returning it she said "let me keep it in case we need to stamp it after a week" then suddenly she asked for the approved return and gave me m passport back saying " I doubt whether you will be able to provide me this document".

I believe what the interviewer meant by this is; this is a document the joint sponsor can provide, not you. So ask your joint sponsor to contact IRS and get a statement (these are free and can be obtained fairly quickly making phone calls). Also, I am not clear, did you furnish the application with tax transcripts for the past three years (including 2010)??? Please note that tax transcript is quiet different than tax return and is certified by the IRS.

Also in terms of the response you got from the interviewer, please don't lose hope or patience. Keep in mind, this is the job for these people and they are trained to make sure right candidates are selected. And I am sure after dealing with too many negatives, these interviewers become bit pessimist by nature. One thing you haven't doen (I assume and could be wrong) is prepare yourself well before the interview. You should've been prepared with all the documents, considering all the if-else-and questions. These interviews can go way worse than what you experienced and there is no reason for you to lose hope.

If they are asking you to get document a, b, and c, make sure you walk in with those on your next appointment. I understand that you haven't got a date yet, but once you have the missing links (papers) in your hand, start contacting the embassy to set up further appointments. See what do they tell you. But please makes ure you cover all the bases. Be prepared, if that means over prepared, then be it. I don't think your financial condition would be an issue as the joint sponsor is way beyond the poverty level , hence no need to beef up your financial situation drastically than it was earlier. Keep in mind, and if it was me, I would be suspicious about the sudden change in your bank balance as well.

Good luck and keep up the positive spirity.

[iftekhar 0]

I believe what the interviewer meant by this is; this is a document the joint sponsor can provide, not you. So ask your joint sponsor to contact IRS and get a statement (these are free and can be obtained fairly quickly making phone calls). Also, I am not clear, did you furnish the application with tax transcripts for the past three years (including 2010)??? Please note that tax transcript is quiet different than tax return and is certified by the IRS.

Also in terms of the response you got from the interviewer, please don't lose hope or patience. Keep in mind, this is the job for these people and they are trained to make sure right candidates are selected. And I am sure after dealing with too many negatives, these interviewers become bit pessimist by nature. One thing you haven't doen (I assume and could be wrong) is prepare yourself well before the interview. You should've been prepared with all the documents, considering all the if-else-and questions. These interviews can go way worse than what you experienced and there is no reason for you to lose hope.

If they are asking you to get document a, b, and c, make sure you walk in with those on your next appointment. I understand that you haven't got a date yet, but once you have the missing links (papers) in your hand, start contacting the embassy to set up further appointments. See what do they tell you. But please makes ure you cover all the bases. Be prepared, if that means over prepared, then be it. I don't think your financial condition would be an issue as the joint sponsor is way beyond the poverty level , hence no need to beef up your financial situation drastically than it was earlier. Keep in mind, and if it was me, I would be suspicious about the sudden change in your bank balance as well.

Good luck and keep up the positive spirity.

Thank you so much for the help and kind words. The transcript has ben requested and hope to get it very shortly. Also we were quie prepared. The point she caught me was "What i would do in usa". I repeatedly told her that i am an mba and have over 7 years of job experience - i will find something out. It is difficult for me from here to specify what I will do. Also i gave er the letter from my sister about food and lodging and also told her that 17K dollar is good enough to survive till i get a job since my will also give away her spare automobile. She still seemed not convinced.

After hearing from you I got a large part of my hope back and really looking forward to the next encounter and i will try to be as prepared as possible.

[hellraiser 42]

Iftekhar,

One thing I learned from my personal experience is that the only thing that will get you going is hopes and thinking about the positives. This journey in general is so jagged and stressful that one could easily lose their sense with some of the stupidities and idiocy that are in place to make sure the right choices are made. At times the real, good candidates pay severe price for the crook ones. What can we do about it? Each time you get stuck, you will face attitude, doubts, questions and get treated like a criminal by someone. Did I feel like smacking someone at times, YES. Did I? No. Why? Because I couldn't.

So keep up your hopes high. Don't let those silly questions create any kind of negativity in you. If someone asks you what you will be doing, instead of saying "I will find something because I have an MBA". Come up with something more concrete or constructive because in this culture, hesitation or not enough info (even modesty at times) may get transpired as doubts, suspicious answers, or weakness. In that case, if you need to say, I will be an accountant, or a financial analyst or what not would sound more credible.

Take it easy and keep the forum posted with your experiences, at least that way, someone down the road may take some tips, guidance from what you are going through

Best wishes for you

[iftekhar 0]

thank you so much for the message. it helps so much. Definitely will keep the board posted.

[iftekhar 0]

Another development in our case. As we had informed that the consulate gave us a form 194 and asked for 2010 certified tax return for 2010. We received it from IRS yesterday and also we received another letter from the embassy with another form 194 (blue form) where they state us ineligible under 221(g) and asks us to prove domicile. They also mentioned that there is no specific time frame for this.

Our questions are:

1) Do we submit the irs return as requested by the embassy? or submit it along with the proof of domicile

2) is 4/6 months delay ok in submitting domicile docs to the consulate? or it will be too late.

Will really appreciate some help in this regard.

[himher 634]

The proof of domicile does not apply to you. It applies to the USC. I posted this earlier:

When a sponsor has clearly not maintained a domicile in the United States, he/she must re-establish a U.S. domicile to be a sponsor. The aspiring sponsor may take steps, including the examples given below, to show that the United States is his/her principal place of residence

•Find employment in the United States

•Secure a residence in the United States

•Register children in U.S. schools

•Relinquish residence abroad

•Other evidence of a U.S. residence

Some suggested steps (these are things we have that showed my domicile in the US)

1. Our bank accounts, credit cards are US-based and US-addressed

2. Our health insurance plan - US-based

3. Retirement / 402K - US based and US addressed

4. We have automobiles with current registration / insurance in the US

5. Drivers license kept current - US

6. We still have mobile phones that are US-based

7. We still have a home pbone based from the US (Vonage, aint technology grand)

So, our money, cars, phones, ID's are all current and all addressed back to one place. In the US. When they interviewed me (US citizen) they asked "do you have property in the US?) and I was like yep, <redacted> amount of money and a couple of cars - here is the insurance and registration and by the way we bought this one together. Here's my license.......

See what US domicile is? Remember it is not you, it is your wife's burden of proof.

[iftekhar 0]

Dear Himher,

It was the way i typed. I know that my wife needs to prove domicile not me. I am working on helping her to attain that proof. She if currently doing the following:

1) Joining an university at USA

2) Trying to open a joint bank account with my sister there

3) She might move to usa for a brief period of time ad sort out other issues like insurance, driver's license etc

My question is do we submit the rs certified form now? or wait till my wife accumulates prof of domicile and then we submit this document. And also what is the timeline for this? I mean how much time does my wife get to accumulate these things.

Regards