I-130 with foreign address

[ntd0 0]

I'm submitting a petition for my spouse and am not sure what is best to put for my address on the I-130 and G-325A. I am currently residing in Brazil and have applied for a permanent visa so I can stay past the 6 months that the tourist visa allows. Since the process takes so long here all I have is a piece of paper with a protocol number that states that I applied. I also have an address in the US that I use for correspondence and a valid driver's license with that address listed.

I called the USCIS and they could only tell me that they don't reply to foreign addresses (I didn't see anything in the instructions that explains this). I don't see any area for a mailing address so I am not sure what they would use to send the reply if I put a foreign address on the two forms. The only space that would have the US address is the place where I intend to live. I remember that when the consulate was accepting applications that a proof of residency was required and the protocol number would suffice. I am not sure if the same proof is required to send the application from out of the country because there is nothing stated in the I-130 instructions about this.

My questions are;

Would there be a problem using the US address on both forms and have the foreign address for my wife?

Could I put the US address on the I-130 and the foreign address on the G-325A so they mail back to the US address and see that I am currently residing with my wife outside the US?

If I use the foreign address, do I need to send proof of residency in Brazil as well? How would they handle the mailing address?

I'd appreciate any help you could provide. Thanks.

[pushbrk 12,974]

I'm submitting a petition for my spouse and am not sure what is best to put for my address on the I-130 and G-325A. I am currently residing in Brazil and have applied for a permanent visa so I can stay past the 6 months that the tourist visa allows. Since the process takes so long here all I have is a piece of paper with a protocol number that states that I applied. I also have an address in the US that I use for correspondence and a valid driver's license with that address listed.

I called the USCIS and they could only tell me that they don't reply to foreign addresses (I didn't see anything in the instructions that explains this). I don't see any area for a mailing address so I am not sure what they would use to send the reply if I put a foreign address on the two forms. The only space that would have the US address is the place where I intend to live. I remember that when the consulate was accepting applications that a proof of residency was required and the protocol number would suffice. I am not sure if the same proof is required to send the application from out of the country because there is nothing stated in the I-130 instructions about this.

My questions are;

Would there be a problem using the US address on both forms and have the foreign address for my wife?

Could I put the US address on the I-130 and the foreign address on the G-325A so they mail back to the US address and see that I am currently residing with my wife outside the US?

If I use the foreign address, do I need to send proof of residency in Brazil as well? How would they handle the mailing address?

I'd appreciate any help you could provide. Thanks.

Based on what you wrote above, you are visiting Brazil, not "residing there". Let that be your guide to answering your questions. There's a place on the I-130 to indicate where you last lived together. Put the Brazil address there with the corresponding dates.

[ntd0 0]

Based on what you wrote above, you are visiting Brazil, not "residing there". Let that be your guide to answering your questions. There's a place on the I-130 to indicate where you last lived together. Put the Brazil address there with the corresponding dates.

Thanks for the reply.

The thing is, I have actually spent more time in Brazil in the last 5 years so my residence history on the G-325A has about half the addresses in Brazil. I believe they consider someone a resident after 6 months. I have several stays over this time even though I was on a tourist visa. I just had to pay fines for overstaying the tourist visa. The first address listed in the 5 year history is the current one in Brazil which is also what I put for the foreign address we last lived together. Section B on the I-130 doesn't state "residence" so I was wondering if I could only change that to a US address. If I don't consider myself a resident here then I'd have to change all the addresses on the G-325A for the 5 year history to the US address but it would look like we didn't live together for an extended amount of time since she has never had a US visa.

[BBCC 16]

My wife and I live outside the US together.

I maintain a US residence, US driver license, US voter registration, US vehicle registrations, US auto insurance, and file taxes from US residence.

There is someone at my US residence that can receive my mail for me and forward it to me when I'm not there.

In this situation, my wife and I used only our non-US address for the I-130 and G-325A for both of us.

Then, after it was all passed over to NVC and we started the actual DS-260 visa application process,

I started putting my US address for me and our non-US address for her.

I used my US address for my I-864 financial sponsorship as I needed to have a US domicile in order to sponsor her visa.

I list our US address for our destination and green card address.

We electronically submitted all our documents and chose email for contact. The USCIS and NVC never sent anything by mail except our NOAs for the I-130 to her. Since we got email copies of the NOAs, it didn't matter if the paper copies were sent to one of our address I wasn't at.

This works if you are in Brazil 100% of the time if there is someone who can manage/handle your incoming mail at your US address.

Hope this helps.

Edited February 9, 2012 by BBCC

[ntd0 0]

...

That helps, thanks. I will be submitting a G-1145 to notify me by email so I guess that will be enough for me to monitor the progress.

Did you submit a proof of residency for the foreign address? This is still listed on some consulate/embassy websites, but maybe it was only required for DCF.

[BBCC 16]

The USCIS and NVC never asked for any proof of residency, specifically. We submitted our non-US lease for our I-130 petition as proof of a bona fide relationship (indicating a joint financial commitment). It was the only such proof that we provided for bona fide relationship proof. This was enough for them. The threshold of proof at US consulates in Canada may be a little lower than other locales so "your mileage may vary."

We did not file DCF as it is not available in Canada, probably due to being so close in proximity to the US.

My wife is from a third country. In this situation, the beneficiary is required to normally be interviewed in the US embassy/consulate local to their home country. They will allow, however an interview in a different country if the beneficiary can provide a copy of a foreign visa/residence permit that indicates right to remain in the foreign country for at least six months. We provided this but still were not required to provide proof of our specific address...only the Canadian visa. If the alien spouse is from Brazil, then this will not be a factor for you.

Good luck!