Which Service Center?

[fedekat 0]

As we all have our little complicating factors to simple situations...

I am currently in Argentina and filing from here.

So, I am not sure which Service Center to file with because of this situation:

-I am a California resident, I file CA tax returns.

BUT

I live in NY, and have since 2003, and I own a business in NY.

Should I send my package to the Vermont or California Service Center?? I would rather sent it to VT because it is faster and I am putting on my forms (truthfully) that we will live in NY.

Thanks.

[YuAndDan 153]

Since you file tax returns for California, that is considered your Domicle and CSC is where you need to file.

I used to work for a company in Wisconsin years ago, but my home was in NY, and that is where my taxes were paid, so NY was my domicile.

[bora bora 1]

It's too bad that's the answer because Vermont is so fast.

I should never have left NY

[TimsDaisy 0]

I don't think you're out of the running for VSC quite yet.

The I-129F instructions say: If you live outside the United States, mail your petition to the USCIS Service Center listed above that has jurisdiction over the last place you lived in the United States.

You said in your first posting that you live in New York and have since 2003. According to the plain language of the I-129F instructions, I would say you would file with New Yorkers in the Vermont Service Center.

Where you file your tax returns is irrelevant at this stage of the process. Your financial records only become relevant when you provide your fiance with the aff. of support - and even that document doesn't require tax returns (later AOS forms may, I think, but at that point, does it matter? No, probably not).

If New York was the last place you lived, then you should mail your app to the service center with jurisdiction over New York.

(p.s. not to legal-nerd out here - but the legal definition of "domicile" is more fluid than being based on simply tax returns. Also - in most areas of the law, your RESIDENCE is NOT necessarily the same as your DOMICILE. In this case, the form asks for "residence," it does not ask for domicile.)

Edited February 8, 2007 by TimsDaisy