Ok, so I'll try to make this as short as possible. I am the USC my husband the intending immigrant. I filed the I-130 on Friday June 1. I asked a few questions while I was there speaking with the counsel. He said that one of the things is that we had to have proof that we were intending to stay and live in the US during the interview process. Now I have lived in Poland for almost a year and Europe going on 3 years this July. My plans are to have my mother be a joint sponsor. The counsel said that I should have a work contract or a lease signed to show that we are intending to live in the US. Now how am I supposed to do that first because I don't know when they will approve the visa and second if they will and third exactly when we will be able to leave here (we both have signed contracts at work). My question is will they deny my husband a visa if we don't have definite plans? We are in no hurry to leave here and there is the 6 months you have after it has been approved, so I don't see why I need to get a lease or work contract so soon.
Any help or comments are greatly appreciated.

That sounds really weird to me. You should have US domicile I think, but all that truly involves is continuing to file US tax returns and perhaps maintaining some accounts, like a US credit card. The whole point of allowing people to file directly as US consulates is that those US citizens aren't currently living in the states. And how can you be in the states during the interview process when the interview doesn't take place in the states? And your husband could very well get turned away at the US because it would look like he was intending to immigrant on that trip.

Your husband will be asked about the address where he intends to live in the US - just use your mother's address. Or if you'll be staying with someone else when you first arrive, you would use that address.

That's how London deals with domicile but she won't be going through them. She said the counsel (I'm guessing she meant consul) is telling her that she has to have a lease and/or a job.

Technically, proving you have maintained domicile in the US should be the same thing, regardless of the embassy at which you're filing. It should be enough to show you've filed taxes, that you still have American bank accounts, that you have an address in the US, that you're still registered to vote, etc. It can help to show that you have been looking for a job in the United States, but then this is pretty difficult to document, and also, as you said, difficult given that you don't know exactly how long this process will take and when you will make the move back to the US.

I would not worry too much about the job, particularly if you have a joint sponsor. You will, however, need to have an address in the US to put down as your domicile in the US as you continue with this process. I used my parents' address, since I have all of my belongings stored there and that is where my mail has been going since we've been living in Germany.

Best wishes,
Mary

Technically, it should be the same. Realistically, it is not. Just ask some of the people in the Philippines forum about domicile.

You could be domicile-less and still be approved in London. We were. Bank accounts? Nope. Address? Nope. Registered to vote? Nope. Apparently if you are not domiciled in the US you cannot be approved through Manila, but you can through London.

So...technically, it's not the same.