Hello everybody!
I hope someone could help me a bit. My husband is from the USA and he came to my country (Bosnia and Herzegovina)2.5 years ago where we married, and now he has so called "temporary residency" based on marriage with a Bosnian citizen. This approval has to be renewed every year and he gets a big sticker in his passport. He also must not leave Bosnia for over 90 days, because he would lose this status). When he called the embassy asking for the DCF, a lady told him that those stickers are not enough, and that he has to actually prove that he was here for 6 months and basically did not leave the country. She told him to provide proof in the form of a banking account, paid bills on his name, I guess some kind of physical trail, but he basically did not go back to the USA for over two years, he does not pay taxes there and he is unemployed here (He could not find a job, and that is why he decided to go back), so he has no bank account. She also told him we needed no joint sponsor, which I clearly doubt because he has no income here or in the USA.

Does anybody have any idea how to prove his physical presence in Bosnia? The whole procedure scares me, and I am always afraid we will not have something to provide. We were completely sure the stickers would be more than enough. Maybe there was a misunderstanding, maybe the lady did not quite understand him, maybe he should not ask stuff over phone anymore...

I'm not sure if your embassy is operational, if so you can go in person with the documents and try to get the necessary clarifications in person. maybe go prepared to file for the DCF process incase you are eligible. if not they would let you know what are the other documents required. I believe in India, they ask for Affidavits from neighbors or landlords about the residency of an individual incase you have no bills to prove.
best of luck

Thank you for the answer Mohgli.
The embassy in my country started processing immigrant visas in October last year. Before that, people had to go to Croatia for an interview and medical exam. In any case, my husband is waiting for the person in charge to come back, and that will be April 2. He does have documents with his signature on them, such as health insurance policy from November, a form from police with which he reported his place of residency from January, but it freaked him out when they asked bank stuff, like an account, and I do not know how that can prove anything. He can open an account and still leave I guess. He also has a sticker for the whole year 2007, so it is not 6 months, it is basically two years of residency.

We will see what happens. Thank you again.

You need to prove he is Bosnia?

What about exit/entry stamps in his passport? I think crossing a border and getting a stamp by an immigration official serves as good evidence.

Can you get a police clearance in Bosnia stating your American husband is living at such and such address?

What about written statement from your landlord noting your husband is a tenent in the building or property?

Welcome to VisaJourney LA80!

I am sure the official who comes back on April 2 will be able to give you the correct information. As someone has suggested, be prepared to file for DCF when you go see this person.

Best of luck!

milimelo

As I could understand him, he needs to prove that he was living here continiously for 6 months. He has no exit stamps in his passport, he has two big stickers, the new one allows him to stay till November 2008, and the old one valid till November 2007 that he had to renew.
There is a certain system in my country for geting temporary permits. Temporary permit of residence can be obtained if you work, if you are a student (I know thet students have no right to apply for immigration of their spouse), if you are married to a Bosnian, etc. This permit is renewed every year, and after 5 years, you have right to apply for permanent residence permit. In order to get this temporary permit, one basically has to go through the same stuff as someone who wants to immigrate to the USA, but since we do not have immigration visas for Bosnia, my husband would have to renew his temporary residence 5 times, and only then get the right to apply for permanent residence and citizenship. The procedure is costly, nerve-smashing and repetative. He, for example, has to have a medical exam every year and take HIV and hepatitis C test every year!
We figured out that it is much easier to get a US immigrant visa for me, although we both wanted to stay in Bosnia and start a family, and to take the medical test only once than to repeat the Bosnian procedure five times. His family is more than willing to help. His father and brother want to sponsor us.

About the police clearance...when my husband got temporary residence sticker, he also got a document, i.e. the final decision by the Ministry explaining in detail the basis of the permit (actually permit renewal), listing the address where we live, all the documents that my family and I had to supply as a guarantee. Our landlord is my dad who had to give a statement at the police that he would allow us to stay at his place for free. I mean, it just drives me insane that after all that we had to go through somebody asks for a bank account and does not know the alternative?

I just keep thinking that all was a huge misunderstanding, the lady in the end admitted her boss was away, and I wish April 2 could come faster so we could finally see if we are good to go or not. I admit, I am panicking already, and we have not even started.

Thank you everybody for the encouragement and advice.

Thailand has a similar policy of yearly extension of stay based on work or marriage. The Bangkok USCIS office accepts having one as meeting the residency requirement. Not sure why it would be different any place else. I’m sure you talked to person caught up in the bureaucracy of the place. Was this by chance a local employee?
TH

My hubby found the lady in charge earlier because he could not wait anymore. First he tried the phone again, and then he took a nice little walk to the Embassy. We can apply through DCF.

I can see that asking questions over the phone is not the best policy here. Now we have to make an appointment and submit the application.

I admit I was panicking, but there is only one thing that pisses me off and that is bureaucracy.