Hello! I've read the Direct Consular Filing Guide...but being new I just wanted to clear this up.

I've been living in Thailand for the past 3 years, I have a "domicile" in the United States.

But I am employed by a Thai Company. In other words, my income is not U.S. based and will not continue once I return to the United States. Does this directly disqualify me for DCF filing?

I assume it does...but I just want to make sure.

Thank you!

First off have you been filing your tax returns, even if living over seas? If not you will want to do that, it will cause you problems on the I-864 form, It states clearly that you must file the tax returns.

You may want to see if you can get a joint or co-sponsor to help you, a parent, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, friend. They would fill out an additional I-864.

I believe if you can prove the domicile, you can still use DCF if you have a joint sponsor... but they won't accept the joint sponsor if you can't clearly convince them of the domicile.

orlandoiam,

No it does not, indeed it pretty well qualifies you for DCF in Thailand - the USCIS office in Bangkok is pretty strict about accepting I-130 petitions for processing.

You do have a potential problem with the visa application, however. You will either need to get a suitable job in the USA or get a Joint Sponsor before the consulate can issue your husband a visa. This is true whether or not the USCIS accepts your petition for DCF processing.

Yodrak





Married_my_love,

Don't confuse DCF (I-130) issues with visa application issues. US domicile and US-based income are not relevant to DCF, although they are important for the visa application. Quite the opposite, in fact. If they haven't done sufficient forward planning, many people who qualify for DCF in Thailand have not retained US domicile and find that their spouse's visa is held up until they get back to the USA and re-establish a US domicile.

Yodrak

orlandoiam, no, this does not disqualify you, as Yodrak explains. While a US job is not a requirement, you must be able to satisfy the I-864 with income or assets.
I wasn't employed when I had my I-864 accepted.

Thanks for all the quick replies. It looks like I have 3 things to do.

First: understand the I-864 to check out my income and asset requirements.

Second:find out how to get a joint sponsor

Finally: figure out the most solid way to prove a domicile in America.

Thank you for your help! I feel like I finally hit the tip of the iceberg (granted, the iceberg's pretty huge). But up till now, I've kind of felt as if I've been swimming around a bit aimlessly. So- woohoo!

orlandoiam,

Those are your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th things to do. Your first is to do what I suggested to you in another of your threads - contact William (Bill) F White at his office in Bangkok. He can probably be particularly helpful with the domicile issue based on his knowledge of how the consular officers in Bangkok look at the issue.

He can also help you with that 'swimming around aimlessly' problem.

Yodrak

oh! okay! Perhaps I'll give that a shot too! Sorry, the first time I had just assumed that "William F White" was some type of company to help me acquire the visa. Although at first I thought I would try some fiancee/spouse visa company, after checking the prices I decided against it!

Much too stiff for me. But thank you, tomorrow I have the day off. So I'll telephone Mr.White as well.

orlandoiam,

Smart move to stay away from those visa assitance outfits! Bill is an experienced US immigration attorney. He is the kind of guy who will give you tips and advice after reviewing your circumstances with you, and will tell you if he thinks there's little he can do for you that you can't do on your own.

Yodrak

Hi Yodrak! I made the telephone to Mr. White in Bangkok today.

He seemed quite informed (but not pushy) and said he'll email me some more information.

I didn't have the nerve to ask the costs of his services yet. It's seems as if it would be very nice to be hand-held while acquiring everything, but pretty sure I can't afford the coddling.

Anyways, thank you very much for the tip though! He helped further my understanding of the process, and gave me some "visa vernacular" as well.

orlandoiam,

I'm glad to know that you made the call and that you found it to be worth the effort.

Yodrak

On filing tax returns; even if you haven't filed returns as long as you don't actually owe money, i.e. if your foreign income doesn't exceed the foreign earned income exemption ($80,000 last year) then it shouldn't be a huge deal if you file late, as long as you file. This is what I was told, anyway.

I filed my 2004 return late and never heard a thing about it. I think they only get stroppy if you owe them money.