Questions about my responses to I-130 address questions

[spectrrr 14]

OK… I'm still not completely comfortable with my answers regarding addresses. I've debated back and forth a few times as to which address to use. Thinking about doing the below as a solution, but, I'm not convinced. Here's what I've got put down. Anyone have some thoughts? Can I do it this way?

Our situation:

I am an expat living in Venezuela. 21 months ago, I put everything in storage in the US, moved to Venezuela, got married, and have been living here with my wife since then. Same address, joint rental contract. I know domicile will soon become a big issue, but I’m not worrying about it right now, I’ll address that at the NVC stage.

We have THREE (3) different addresses available to use.

1. A VENEZUELA physical street address which does not receive mail.

2. A VENEZUELA P.O. BOX address with Mail Boxes Etc.

3. A USA P.O. BOX address with Mail Boxes Etc. that auto-forwards to the box here in Venezuela.

Everything in blue is what the USCIS would actually see.

Question B.2. – Petitioner address

My answer: “SEE CONTINUATION SHEET, PAGE 1”

Contents:

I-130 CONTINUATION, PAGE 1 OF 2

Section B. Information about you

Question 2. Address

NOTE:

I live together with my wife (the beneficiary) in Venezuela. We share the same addresses. The government administered postal mail service here in Venezuela is VERY UNRELIABLE.

We have a physical address (our apartment) which cannot receive mail. To receive mail, we also have a P.O. Box mailing address which forwards mail to a local Mail Boxes Etc. office here in Venezuela.

PLEASE USE THE USA POSTAL BOX ADDRESS FOR ALL WRITTEN COMMUNICATION.

PHYSICAL ADDRESS IN VENEZUELA.

Does not receive mail.

<address>

POSTAL BOX MAILING ADDRESS IN USA.

Auto-forwards all mail to our box here in Venezuela.

<address>

POSTAL BOX MAILING ADDRESS IN VENEZUELA.

Short format address, formatted for a limited size 4x32 character text block.

<address>

signature/date

Can I do that? Can I put down three addresses?

I really want to use my foreign addresses to make it CLEAR I'm living abroad.

But, I want them to send mail to the USA po box in Miami, to maximize reliability...

And of course, since I'm living WITH my wife, it seems to make sense to indicate the same address(es) for questions B.2. and C.2.....

Question C.2. – Beneficiary address

My answer: “SEE CONTINUATION SHEET, PAGE 2”

Contents: page 2 is identical to the response above on page 1 for question B.2., I just repeated the answer on a separate page to avoid confusion, and labeled it with the proper page heading and question number.

Question C.18. – Address in the United States where your relative intends to live

My answer: "TO BE DETERMINED"

I could put down the address of a friend’s house where it is likely we’ll end up for a few months when we get back to the USA, but I’d rather leave that sleeping bear alone until the domicile fun starts at the i864/ds260 stage.

Question C.19. – Your relatives address abroad

My answer: <Our PHYSICAL STREET ADDRESS here in Venezuela.>

Question C.21. – If filing for your spouse, give last address at which you lived together.

My answer: <Our PHYSICAL STREET ADDRESS here in Venezuela.>

Question C.22. – Adjustment of status / consular processing

My answer: Caracas, Venezuela

Edited February 5, 2015 by spectrrr

[Ryan H 3,790]

Answers:

• B2: They likely won't read your lengthy explanation, they will simply input the Miami PO Box as the default address and you go into the petitioner lives stateside queue. If you want to make it clear that you are living abroad, you will need to use the Venezuelan PO Box address.
• C2: Just write the PO Box, you don't need a lengthy explanation why you are doing so.
• C18: It's no big deal to write the friend's address in this line, you're not beholden to it because plans/circumstances can and do change. I don't know if writing "To Be Determined" here would cause issues or not.
• C-19: Venezuelan physical address
• C-21: Same as C-19
• C-22: You filled it in correctly.

[spectrrr 14]

Answers:

• B2: They likely won't read your lengthy explanation, they will simply input the Miami PO Box as the default address and you go into the petitioner lives stateside queue. If you want to make it clear that you are living abroad, you will need to use the Venezuelan PO Box address.
• C2: Just write the PO Box, you don't need a lengthy explanation why you are doing so.
• C18: It's no big deal to write the friend's address in this line, you're not beholden to it because plans/circumstances can and do change. I don't know if writing "To Be Determined" here would cause issues or not.
• C-19: Venezuelan physical address
• C-21: Same as C-19
• C-22: You filled it in correctly.

Great, thanks for the input Ryan

[mallafri76 1,012]

Because of my husband's circumstances, we added a continuation sheet to our I-130 petition as well, asking them to send any correspondence to a different address but USCIS totally ignored this page and send the NOA1 to the address we put on the I-130 form. Like Ryan H said, put the Venezuelan address on the I-130 to make sure they know you are both living abroad, which usually expedites your petition.