My husband (USC) and I (British citizen) have been married for 16 years, living in the UK all that time. We now want to move back to the States with our 2 children (born in the Uk but with US passports too.)

My husband is about to file a DCF case in London, for the I-130 etc for me. The initial delay is that my British passport is about to expire and I am sending it off to be renewed, using the 2 week process. Once it is back he will file the DCF.

I hope someone can help with a couple of questions I have! Thanks in advance!

Firstly, if he files the DCF now, and it could apparently take 4-6 months for me to get the immigration visa, am I allowed to travel to the States on holiday during that time?

Lets say he files it on 26th August. We have long-standing plans to visit his family in the States for a family celebration in October. We also want to use this visit to look at where we will be living in the States and look at schools for the children. Will the US Embassy be holding onto my passport- or my husbands? Will I be allowed to travel to the US for the holiday (2 1/2 weeks) and will I need to prove that I will be returning to the UK? Is there a chnace that I could be called to the Embassy for an appointment during the time that I happen to be away in the States?!

Secondly, should my husband put his parents house in the US as 'his permenat address', or, since he is currently living in England and working here, should he put our UK address? He has a current US drivers licence and does get mail sent to him at his parents US home, including some kind of voting registration form. He also has an active US bank account. Does this help?

He does not yet have a job lined up in the States, although he is currently looking; can we still start the application?
Should he put down his UK income on the affidavit of support?
Should we get his father to be a joint sponsor for me?

We are really keen to get out there and have the kids in school as soon as possible- we know it won't happen before Christmas but is January/ February possible?....I know this is the million dollar question, how long is a piece of string, etc!!! Some of your applications seem to have taken quite a bit longer....


Thanks for your patience with all my questions, and for taking the time to read this!!! If anyone can help with some advice or answers I will really appreciate it!

You can send in the I-130 before you renew your passport. The Embassy will only keep your passport for a few days after you have your visa interview. That is around 5 months away from when you file the i-130. The Embassy will not need any passport until then.

We DCF through London last year. My wife sent copies of her US passport with the I-130. We had lived in London for 10 years and also had a house in the US. He can put his address as the London address and for where you will live in the US show his parents address. His US bank account etc show he is still maintaining his "residence" in the US.

When you return packet 3 to indicate you are ready for interview, if you do that before you visit the US, include with that a note to say you are visiting the US and the dates you will not be in the UK for interview. But I very much doubt even if you send the I-130 this week you will be ready for interview by October. Getting the I-130 approved is about 10 -12 weeks and then for apply for the visa and the interview is about 6 to 10 weeks after that.

You can travel to the US during this process but it is very prudent to be able to show the immigration officer at the airport that you are returning to the UK. Especially as the whole family will be with you.

We DCF'd through London. My husband has always lived in the UK, never in the US.

Firstly domicile was not an issue at the interview. We used our UK address on everything except when asked where we intended to live. For domicile, we put "Current: UK, Intended: USA".

Secondly, on the issue of travelling to the States, I used VWP during 2006 before filing for the visa. As soon as we filed, I was strongly advised not to travel to the States even for a short holiday, as I was more likely to be turned back than allowed in simply by virtue of being married to USC and having started visa process. The wealth of evidence put to me was too great, so I didn't risk it.

As an aside, you are technically allowed to travel as long as you can show ties to the UK. I applied for a tourist visa in January, had proof of job, home, family, obligations etc, all in the UK, and I was refused on the basis of lack of ties to the UK, because I was married to a USC, albeit one who had never lived in the US. And this was before I had started the visa process!!

That being said, other VJ'ers have travelled to the States during the visa process with no problems. So it all boils down to immigration on the day and how well prepared you are with documents to prove your ties.

Good Luck.

Good comments about how to put down addresses.

With regards to travelling to the US, I think the trouble with the tourist visa is that it would have allowed you in for quite a long time. When the OP goes to the US in October on the VWP for just a short trip, as long as she brings proof of their return to the UK, I can't see how it would be a problem. Return tickets (for both her and her USC husband), plus info on their job(s), residence in the UK, would show they really did intend just to visit for a family function and then shortly leave. She wouldn't mention the immigration process unless it was raised.

Hello. Four months would be really fast this time of year. But February is possible and even likely actually. He could put down his UK income, but unless it would continue in the states it wouldn't count towards the income requirement. So, what we're doing and what your best is, your husband would fill out the I-864 as the main sponsor and then his dad would fill out a I-864 as a joint sponsor. His dad could also include income of anyone else in his household and have them fill out the I-864A.

You won't have any trouble with the domicile issue. Just putting "USA" as domicile and putting his parents' address as your intended USA address will be fine. You don't have to actually live there to use it. We're using my parents' address and we'll be staying with them for a couple weeks before we find out our own place. The important thing is to use the AR-11 form every time you change address in the US until you're a US citizen.

Has your husband been filing US tax returns? If not, he will need to speak to someone at the IRS or the embassy in London about backfiling as soon as possible. As long as he never made more than $80,000 USD or so in any year he didn't file, he won't be in any trouble or owe any taxes. But for any year he made over the minimum filing amount, he needs to have filed a tax return and 2555 foreign income exclusion. The IRS is surprisingly helpful though.

[Has your husband been filing US tax returns? If not, he will need to speak to someone at the IRS or the embassy in London about backfiling as soon as possible. As long as he never made more than $80,000 USD or so in any year he didn't file, he won't be in any trouble or owe any taxes. But for any year he made over the minimum filing amount, he needs to have filed a tax return and 2555 foreign income exclusion. The IRS is surprisingly helpful though.
[/quote]

Thanks for the reply, you guys are great here. Glad you mentioned the taxes.....no, he hasn't been filing US tax returns, and yes, he has been earning more than $80,000 -although not in the last 3 years. How many years is he meant to have been filing for? He was definitely under this amount in the last 3. He's going to be contacting the embassy about this on Monday, I'll make sure of it!

This forum is great- you all have such a wealth of experience and knowledge between you...I'd be truly lost in all the paperwork if it wasn't for kind folks replying to my questions! Thanks guys.

We haven't filed yet because my (US) husband has realised he doesn't have a copy of his birth certificate....long story, lol! Does anyone know if he has to contact the hospital where he was born to obtain that?
He also has to address the US taxes situation.....as he hasn't been filing.....plus- contrary to what I originally told you. his US drivers licence expired about 4 months ago!! So, he's now thinking of making use of a business trip in early September to NJ and stopping off in NY to renew his drivers licence.

I think we will most likely still try to get out to NY in October for the family party, even though we will have filed the I-130 weeks before then; we'll have to be really well prepared like you said with documentation to prove that I am coming back to the UK.

Thanks for all the replies. This is really very exciting!

Most US States have this information online. It can take a bit of finding but once you find the details you can normally order copies of the documents. Try a google for birth certificate, state, county

We needed a copy of my wife's birth certificate and once we found out where to order it from, we contacted them and paid by credit card. It did entail sending a fax of her Oregon driving licence and the credit card we were using but we had the copy in the UK in 5 days. The people in the US couldn't have been more helpful.

The Embassy will want to see the last 3 years. The problem will be the IRS might want to know why there is a gap between when he last filed and the first of those 3. He should have filed every year he has been out of the US, if he should have filed if he had been in the US. (Hope that makes sense)

Thank you so much for replying again....I'm not certain that he has filed US taxes at all since he's been living here, which has been 16 years. Can't clarify that with him as he's away but will be finding out.
If he hasn't filed at all, what happens next? How might that affect the application?
Help:(

It will not effect filing the I-130 if my memory serves me correctly, I think the tax returns are only need when you come to apply for the visa.

However the problem is going to be getting the tax returns filed. If he has been earning more than $80,000 in some years I would guess he may owe back tax as well.

As has been said elsewhere, contact the IRS at the US Embassy in London. It is going to have to be sorted and they can help and advise and just what has to be done. He needs to ascertain just how many years they would want filed and if he can just get away with the last three.


This should help http://london.usembassy.gov/irs/