Hi, I'm a USC petitioning for my wife for a cr-1 visa at the US consulate in Sydey Australia. I'm having trouble establishing domicle in the states because Ive lived and worked here in Australia for the past 13 months. Before I came to Australia 13 months ago, I resigned from my job in New York and moved to my sisters home in Florida. But I only stayed in Florida for a week before I left for Australia. When I was in florida for that week I opened a bank accont there locally, but the account has since been closed for about 7 months now. That was not a concern for us as we had established an account here in Australia the first month I arrived.
We plan to move to Florida and find work there immediately. My sister in florida has offered to let us stay with her indefinitely when we arrive in the states and her husband has offered to be a joint sponsor financially for the petition.
The consulates info on the matter is very confusing, on one hand they need me to prove that I am living here in Australia for the past six months before I can petition for my wife, but they also state that a USC living abroad cannot be a sponsor They say I must prove that I have maintained domicile in the states, which I sort of have done at my sisters home in Florida, but I dont know how to prove that. Also I have been in Aus. with a temporary(5 year) visa, is the fact that I have a temporary visa here prove I only intend on being here temporarily?
Does anyone know how I should go about all this domicile stuff? Please help, thanx

Disclaimer: I don't know how all the information I am about to give really applies in the field of immigration law, but I do know a thing or two about the definition of domicile.

The terms "domicile" and "residency" are often confused, probably even by the consulate. Domestically, it usually comes into play when there is a conflict of law. That is, when it is not clear which State's law should be applied in a given case. In such cases, residency usually means nothing, unless there is a specific statutory requirement. Residency requires that a person live someplace for a certain period of time. The OP is almost certainly a RESIDENT of Austrailia. However, he is certainly not a DOMICILIARY of Austrailia. One could make a strong argument that he is a DOMICILIARY of Florida. That is the place he lived before moving temporarily to Austrailia, and the place he intends to return. To establish domicile, one must prove intent to stay in a State, quite separate from the residency requirements.

I would be a lot more sure of my advice if this were a question of establishing domicile in one of the United States or the other, but I am really not sure how this would apply to immigration law. So all of this is probably no help whatsoever. Hopefully, another more knowledgeable person can take it from here.

Good luck to you in addressing your problems. I'm with you, brother.