US Citizen living in the UK wanting to Marry UK Citizen and Relocate to the US

[wolfft 0]

I’ve had a good look at this site and other web resources but have not found anything that really addresses our situation. Basically my girlfriend and I want to relocate from London to the US with our baby boy. Our plan is to do this in November when my current job comes to an end and I get a nice pay off lump sum payment. We are planning to move to the US (California) where I will look for a job in the same sector (Higher Education) as I’m in here in the UK. I most probably will not have a secured job by the time we plan to actually move ourselves and our belongings to the US

I’ll summarise our current statuses:

• I, am a dual UK/US citizen through have never lived in the US and have never paid US taxes. I have spent the majority of my life in the UK. I have voted in the US elections and do have a Social Security Number
• My girlfriend (aged over 21) is a British citizen. Her mother and sister live in the US as US citizens. Her father lives in the US on a Green Card. She has a currently has a B1/B2 visa and last used this visa in December 2013 when we visited her family for Christmas. She stayed in the US for 2 months. Part of the reason we won’t to move to the US is to be near her family who live there.
• Our 8 month old is a British citizen. We have submitted an application for his US citizenship via the N600K application route on the basis of his paternal Grandmother's (my mum's) US citizenship as she has lived in the US for more than required 5 years where I have not. The N600K application was accepted on 3rd December 2013 and we are now awaiting notification of an interview being scheduled and hope this to happen relatively soon. When it does we will go to the US for the interview and to hopeful get his US passport.

I’ve researched the following options and would really appreciate advice on the best option for us bearing in mind the above facts. These options are:

1. Marry in the UK very soon and submit an I-130 Petition filed in London via the US Consulate. The problem with this option is the Affidavit of Support (I-864) as I do not meet the requirement of being domiciled in the US, nor do I have any US income, tax receipts. I do not also have employment in the US and most probably won’t until we actually move there. Once I get my lump sum payment I could transfer this to a US bank account but that won’t be till November when we want to be move
2. Submit a K-1 fiancé(e) visa and use this to go to the US, marry and then submit the I-30. But again I believe I would need to provide an Affidavit of Support (I-864) so would face the same problems described above
3. My girlfriend could be sponsored by her family but as she is aged over 21 she would not be treated in the ”immediate family” category and thus there would be a lengthy wait
4. I relocate to the US on my own, get a job and re-establish my domicile in the US and then we apply using the K-1 fiancé(e) visa. This would mean being apart from my girlfriend and baby boy for some time which neither of us want
5. We all go to the US in November I, on my US passport, our baby on his US passport and my girlfriend on her 6 month B1/B2 visa. On arrival we state we are there visiting her family. After 3 months we get married and then submit an I-130. At that point I will be domiciled in the US will (hopefully!) have employment and all our savings will be deposited in a US bank account. Also her sister, dad and mum can all be co-sponsors This is the most attractive but obviously most risky route

So any thoughts. We obviously want to go for option 5 but I’m worried about the risk of “immigration fraud”..!

Cheers,

Tom

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Marry and file directly through the consulate. it is called "direct consular filing."

You will have to file your back taxes for any immigration path, so it's best to start on that asap.

You can establish intent to reestablish domicile, instead of current domicile. You can show that you have a job lined up, or got a lease for an apartment, or something to show that you have made solid plans to move to the US.

[Confusedtinybird 41]

1. DCF There have been quite a few people from the UK doing this. So you can ask around and post question in the 'DCF Forum'

This is a good thread about how to re-establish domicile in the USA http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/445020-i-864-re-establishing-domicile/

Do you have anyone who will do AOS for you?

[Ryan H 3,790]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to DCF Discussion.

[wolfft 0]

Marry and file directly through the consulate. it is called "direct consular filing."

You will have to file your back taxes for any immigration path, so it's best to start on that asap.

You can establish intent to reestablish domicile, instead of current domicile. You can show that you have a job lined up, or got a lease for an apartment, or something to show that you have made solid plans to move to the US.

Thanks for the advice.I'm onto filing my back taxes. How many years do I need to go back? I've never filed any tax return with the IRS. I've been told 3 years is sufficent. Does that sound ok?

Thanks,

1. DCF There have been quite a few people from the UK doing this. So you can ask around and post question in the 'DCF Forum'

This is a good thread about how to re-establish domicile in the USA http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/445020-i-864-re-establishing-domicile/

Do you have anyone who will do AOS for you?

Thanks. I'm not 100% sure what you mean by "Do you have anyone who will do AOS for you?" What do you mean by AOS?

[Confusedtinybird 41]

Sorry,

I meant by 'AOS' Affidavit of Support. You mentioned you did not have an income, but do you have any family members or friends that will help and be a sponsor?

[US/UKHubbyUKWife 1]

Thanks for the advice.I'm onto filing my back taxes. How many years do I need to go back? I've never filed any tax return with the IRS. I've been told 3 years is sufficent. Does that sound ok?

Thanks,

I started from a similar situation to you, except already married but no kids. DCF via London is pretty straightforward and there is a ton of info here and on the Embassy website to guide you through,

I was in the same position in relation to taxes. After some research, and speaking to the IRS section in London, I followed this process: http://www.irs.gov/uac/Instructions-for-New-Streamlined-Filing-Compliance-Procedures-for-Non-Resident-Non-Filer-US-Taxpayers

It looks scary but it is fairly straightforward. The IRS phone line at the Embassy is useful, when they answer!

Don't sweat the residency, you can take some steps to show your intent to re-establish residency and still apply without having to go first

[wolfft 0]

I started from a similar situation to you, except already married but no kids. DCF via London is pretty straightforward and there is a ton of info here and on the Embassy website to guide you through,

I was in the same position in relation to taxes. After some research, and speaking to the IRS section in London, I followed this process: http://www.irs.gov/uac/Instructions-for-New-Streamlined-Filing-Compliance-Procedures-for-Non-Resident-Non-Filer-US-Taxpayers

It looks scary but it is fairly straightforward. The IRS phone line at the Embassy is useful, when they answer!

It's great to hear positive and encouraging advice. Thanks so much.

I've read somewhere else that you can file your tax reruns via the IRS in London and that if you include copies they'll return the copies to you stamped as received to be used as evidence of the filed returns when applying for the visa. I'm guessing that's no longer the case? If I follow http://www.irs.gov/uac/Instructions-for-New-Streamlined-Filing-Compliance-Procedures-for-Non-Resident-Non-Filer-US-Taxpayers how quickly will I get evidence that my tax returns have been filed? Also do I really need to file FBARs for the past 6 years? I've tried phoning the IRS at the London Embassy to ask these questions but they're not answering!

[US/UKHubbyUKWife 1]

It's great to hear positive and encouraging advice. Thanks so much.

I've read somewhere else that you can file your tax reruns via the IRS in London and that if you include copies they'll return the copies to you stamped as received to be used as evidence of the filed returns when applying for the visa. I'm guessing that's no longer the case? If I follow http://www.irs.gov/uac/Instructions-for-New-Streamlined-Filing-Compliance-Procedures-for-Non-Resident-Non-Filer-US-Taxpayers how quickly will I get evidence that my tax returns have been filed? Also do I really need to file FBARs for the past 6 years? I've tried phoning the IRS at the London Embassy to ask these questions but they're not answering!

As far as I know, you don't get any evidence from IRS that you filed your taxes. So take photocopies of your forms before you submit them. The ask from the embassy is for copies, not originals.You can get proof of delivery of your packet, if you use a mail service that provides it.

As of 2012 taxes you only need to file an FBAR if you had more than $10,000 in overseas (i.e. Non-US) bank accounts at any point during the year. Not sure if that number has changed for 2013 taxes.

[wolfft 0]

Sorry,

I meant by 'AOS' Affidavit of Support. You mentioned you did not have an income, but do you have any family members or friends that will help and be a sponsor?

That's correct. Yes, as I will not have guaranteed employment in the US at the time of the application /interview we will be using a joint-sponsor. My wife's mum who lives in the US and is a USC. I have a question about that actually which I'm hoping someone can answer. My wife's mum lives on her own (her kids are all over 21 and she is divorced) Therefore when she completes the I-684 should she state a household size of two? I.e her self and the immigrant (my wife/her daughter). I'm assuming I won't need to be included in the household size as I am a USC and therefore will not need to be sponsored by her. I'm also assuming that for our son will be using an I-864W (as he is the son of a USC I've been told he doesn't need to be sponsored via a 'AOS' and thus a I-864w should be used. if that's correct then he won't need to be included in the household size?

Does this sound like a correct interpretation..? I'm hoping so..

[GF1804 12]

As far as I know, you don't get any evidence from IRS that you filed your taxes. So take photocopies of your forms before you submit them. The ask from the embassy is for copies, not originals.You can get proof of delivery of your packet, if you use a mail service that provides it.

As of 2012 taxes you only need to file an FBAR if you had more than $10,000 in overseas (i.e. Non-US) bank accounts at any point during the year. Not sure if that number has changed for 2013 taxes.

You can send your back tax filings to the IRS via London Embassy and the IRS service there will send you a doc to prove you have filed. You need to send a stamped addressed envelope so they can post the proof back to you. Make sure you keep photocopies of your filings though.

Hope this helps.

G