I was wondering if anyone could help me with the following...

My wife and daughter are currently in the US. My wife has a valid Dutch resident permit and our daughter has dual citizenship. We have been living here (NL) since 12/05. Our daughter is enrolled in preschool in the US and my wife is already looking for jobs in the area.

Could my wife start working there already and then come back to file an I-130 petition at the Consulate in the Netherlands? Or would working in the US be considered having taken up residence in the US and make her ineligible to apply for a visa here?

Thanks a lot for your help.

She should have filed for you before she left. However, if her permit is still valid and she does not put down her address in the USA on her initial petition nor sends it to the consulate from the US (meaning it would have to go to you first and then them), she could probably still petition for you from the local embassy. The US citizen only needs to be present in the country to file the initial petition generally speaking. Everything else you could do yourself.

Wouldn't it be a problem when they see the starting date at her new job in the US on her affidavit of support, that she started before filing the petition?

She should file the I-130 petition as soon as possible, job or not right now, in my opinion. The I-864 does not need to be presented until it is time for the interview. By then she should have found a job.

The trouble is that she is currently in the US and already has a job that would start soon if she takes it and the start date of the job will be before she files the I-130 because she needs to be in the NL to file it. I would be concerned enough to make a trip back asap to file the I-130 and then return to start the job, especially if I could afford it at such short notice. Is that possible for her?

To make this clear - in the NL, she has to file the I-130 in person instead of mailing it in, right?

That is something that they will have to find out, but I doubt they would have to file in person. What would have to happen would be that it would have to appear to have been mailed from the Netherlands with an address stating that that was where legal residence of the petitioner is at the time of filing along with the permit. Of course, how legal this is, I don`t know, I just know other people here have done it.

Yes, I was thinking it would be not too big of a deal if it could be mailed, but I've just confirmed it by going to the embassy web site -

http://amsterdam.usconsulate.gov/i130_spouse.html

She does have to go in person to file the petition.

So, even if it's a temporary job, once she starts working she cannot file the I-130 here anymore?

The job thing isn`t what is important anymore. Unfortunately, it looks like your wife would have to fly back to the Netherlands and file the petition in person. If that is not possible, she will have to file from the US.

I understand that, but could she still file here and do the DCF if she has already worked in the US? She wouldn't lose her Dutch resident permit if she worked in the US.

It is tricky. I think it would depend on the length of the job in the US, which is why if you really want to pursue this option, you should get this going as soon as possible.