I am hoping that you may be able to help us. My wife, a US citizen living in the UK on a student visa (limited leave to remain), and I are trying to fill in the I-130 form. As she has limited leave to remain in the UK, she cannot file at the embassy. We tried ringing USCIS, but found the lady was unwilling to offer advice, so I am turning to this forum!

Firstly, since marrying in October, my wife has not changed her maiden name in her official documents as she had to travel etc. She wants to change to my surname, but we also want to file an I-130. Can we file the I-130 and at the same time send her passport off for name change? Or would it be more simple to leave name changes till we are in the US. Or to do name change and then file I-130?

Secondly, she does not have a job lined up yet, so we do not know where we will be moving to in the states, so are unsure what to put in question 18 (Address in the United States where your relative intends to live). Do we leave it blank? Do we put her parents address as that is where we stay when we visit the states? The girl on the USCIS helpline said without an answer/address for this question, we could not file it and that we would have to wait until my wife had a job, and then when she had an address, we could apply.

Any thoughts on these matters would be greatly appreciated,

Regards,

Andrew

Name change. You can use her new last name on the I-130 form. I have only a few things changed in my new last name. The form ask for other names used so put her maiden name there. You will be okay.

I would put her parents address on the form. Would her parents be your guys co-sponsor financially. If not she needs a job here and needs to make 125 percent above the poverty guidelines for you guys to get accepted.

When did she arrive on her student visa? Many people have experienced the London USCIS accepting petitions from USCs who have been in the UK on a non-visitor type visa for 11 months or more, despite the official rule on the web site. If she's been living in the UK for 11 months or more, I would definitely submit the I-130 to London first with a cover letter asking them to return to you if they aren't able to accept it so that you can send it to the US with proper payment.

And as the other commenter said, use her parents' address on the form. Use her parents' address as her main address on the form as well as if filing at a US center as people have had trouble with getting the US service center to contact them or deal with a foreign address (see user saywhat for an unforunate example of this). Her parents would have to forward you mail.

Also, does she have a long time left on her student visa? Having to apply at a US service center and go the full immigrant visa route will take a long time, I believe it can be over a year. Waiting until she's able to file in London (11 mos or more after arriving as a student should do it really), would mean about six months from filing to having the visa in hand.

About the name change, my husband and I have decided to wait until we're settled in the US to change my name. We've found that option to be a lot easier for us.

Well, my wife has been in the UK on a student visa for around 3 years. She is submitting her phd in Sept and I believe her visa expires in January (although would have to check with her). Does that sound like we could submit to London?

Secondly, my wife doesn't have a job yet, as she is not near enough to finishing her studies to look. When she does get a job, she will certainly make above the 125% that "BelwinMills" quotes. Does that mean we can or can't file yet? Or to file before she has a job, we NEED to have her parents as a sponser? If so, how so we go about having a co-sponser? Is there another form? Also, I hadn't heard about this figure; where does it come from?#

Many Thanks,

Andrew

I would say you should definitely try submitting to London first. I don't know if it helped that I changed to a spousal visa, but if they based it purely on the amount of time I've been in the country, than they're sure to accept her I-130 petition. Check out this link http://london.usembassy.gov/dhs/uscis/i130filing.html (ignore the bit about ILR) and look at the checklist link under "How do I file the petition?" Have her include a cover letter requesting that the petition be returned directly to her if they're unable to take it so that the correct form of payment can be added. London USCIS takes credit card but the US service centers do not. If they accept it, you'll see the card charged within a few business days and should probably receive a postcard with your receipt date although not everyone does. The whole process should take about six months to gain you a CR1 if you've been married less than two years at the interview or a IR1 if you've been married more than two years by the interview. That is definitely the ideal route. Saves time, money, and headaches.

Unfortunately, yes, you will definitely need a joint sponsor unless you want to wait in the UK while she lives and works in the US for a while alone. Or unless you have huge assests, totally something like three times the yearly requirement I think. I haven't seen the official word on that, but I have heard others talking about it. I believe the 125% figure comes from the I-864 form, which is the form that the sponsor and any joint sponsor fills out. If you go the London route, this form has be completed by the interview date. She has to fill one out as she is the main sponsor, even if she's reporting zero income. There might be some confusion with not having filed taxes in the US the past three years, but hopefully someone else can give advice on how to prove that she didn't have to file. If she made any money in the UK, she'll find it best to look into how to back file taxes. The US Embassy in London should be able to help her, or even the IRS helpline. Don't worry about her owing anything though - she'd have to make more than $82,000 USD in the UK in one year in order to owe the US govt any money. As long as she's been in the UK 330 days of the year for each of the years she's been gone, she's fine.

The joint sponsor or sponsors don't have to be her parents. It can be anyone who meets the guidelines willing to fill out the form and agree to cover your back for 10 years or until you become a citizen. I think they're only liable if you actually have to claim welfare or something, so really it's just a matter of forms in your case.

The forum at www.diveinamerica.com is a great place for US/UK couples who are filing in London.

Another reason to submit to London first is that if you have to file through a US center, which takes longer especially with her parents having to send things back and forth, it's more than likely going to mean that your wife will need to pay for a new UK visa, and the UK visa fees are rising. For her to apply for the visa she'd need when her student one ran out, do it within the UK currently costs £500 and may soon cost £595.

Well, she has actually filled with the IRS reporting all of her income (inc part tie job, scholarship, interest etc), but has not filed with her state. Will this help us? Would it be an idea to speak to a USCIS officer at the embassey first by making an appointment before we apply?

Thanks you for your helps so far! You are stars!

Andrew

She's totally fine then if she's been filing federal taxes. If she's not earning in the state, there's nothing to report as the state wouldn't get any of her foreign-earned money even if she ever did earn over the threshold. And the scholarship and interest are also at a federal level. I would still count on having to ask one of her parents or a close friend/family member in the US to be a joint sponsor.

I wouldn't try to speak to anyone at the USCIS London office first. They can't tell you anything before the petition is sent in - all they would do is give you the official line. Just send in the petition with a cover letter and the checklist from the link I gave you when you have all the papers ready and see what happens. I'd actually be pretty surprised if they didn't accept it in London. If they do send it back to you, you won't have lost anything except a couple weeks of time. There's no penalty for submitting it to them incorrectly and your wife would just have to change her address on the petition and include the right form of payment before sending it to a US service center.

Margot, your help has been great! Many Thanks! My wife and I are greatly appreciative.

Andrew

Glad to help. Let us know how everything goes.