CR-1 Visa - A Dual National (US/UK) Living in Scotland & Needing to Re-establish Domicile

[willwright 0]

Hi all,

I suppose it's best I start with some background on my situation:-

- I was born in Miami and lived there until I was 10 years old, at which point I moved to Scotland with my mother (in 1994). My father was American and my mother British so I hold both UK and US citizenships (incl. SSN).

- Late last year (2014) I discovered that, despite living abroad since I was 10, as a US citizen I should be filing yearly tax returns. To correct the situation, I completed the IRS Streamlined program between late 2014 and spring of this year and I am now fully tax compliant.

- My Swedish wife and I got married about a month ago and our plans are to move to the U.S. (LA) in July of 2016. We have been together for over 6 years and she has lived in the UK with me since May 2011. Being a US citizen, my intention was to be the sole sponsor for my wife's visa, however having not lived in the US since I was 10, this presents a number of potential issues and questions.

- One of my main concerns is that I will need to prove my intention to re-establish domicile (since I have lived in the UK since I was 10) and how I do this. I currently have no U.S. bank accounts (although I plan to open one shortly) and no home address in the U.S. (although my sister has always lived in the U.S., currently LA, and says we can use her address if and when required e.g. to open a bank account).

As I mentioned, the above has raised so many questions, so I'm not really sure where to start, but here goes (sorry for the long winded nature of this post!)...

- Has anyone been in a similar situation to the above and, if so, do you have any advice on the best way to prove intent to re-establish domicile? For example, is it worthwhile opening a bank account? Should I start applying for jobs in advance to prove intent to move back?

- With regards to my wife's visa, do the London Embassy do DCF? If so, how long does this typically take? (Although I have read that "DCF" is a misnomer in regards to London as the I-130 is filed with the overseas DHS office located within the embassy, not with the Consular Section)

- Given there is a chance I will move back with no job secured, I understand that we will need either a bank balance of $100,000, or a co-sponsor. Is this understanding correct? Our intent would be to have a co-sponsor and we have a couple options for this. Does the co-sponsor have to live where you intend on moving or can it be any U.S. citizen living in the U.S.?

- Is there anything we can apply for now to get the ball rolling, or information we should start gathering? For example, should we gather my wife's police records from the UK and Sweden, or do they need to be submitted around the same time as the application so they aren't months old? I have read that the I-130 can be done in advance of the rest of the application, is that correct??

- And finally, the golden question... With the above in mind, does anyone have advice on when we should start the visa process if our intent is to move in July 2016? (Granted this is a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question, just hoping for some information based on other people's experience!)

I guess that is a good point to stop before I get too much further ahead of myself. Thanks in advance for any advice, we are eagerly looking forward to any responses!

Regards,

Will (and Sanna)

[Ryan H 3,813]

Answers to your questions that I am able to answer are in bold and red:

- One of my main concerns is that I will need to prove my intention to re-establish domicile (since I have lived in the UK since I was 10) and how I do this. I currently have no U.S. bank accounts (although I plan to open one shortly) and no home address in the U.S. (although my sister has always lived in the U.S., currently LA, and says we can use her address if and when required e.g. to open a bank account). May be worthwhile to have her provide a letter that states you will be living with her upon your move.

As I mentioned, the above has raised so many questions, so I'm not really sure where to start, but here goes (sorry for the long winded nature of this post!)...

- Has anyone been in a similar situation to the above and, if so, do you have any advice on the best way to prove intent to re-establish domicile? For example, is it worthwhile opening a bank account? Should I start applying for jobs in advance to prove intent to move back? Opening a bank account and applying for jobs do show intent to re-establish domicile.
- With regards to my wife's visa, do the London Embassy do DCF? If so, how long does this typically take? (Although I have read that "DCF" is a misnomer in regards to London as the I-130 is filed with the overseas DHS office located within the embassy, not with the Consular Section) DCF does provided the fastest timeframe from petition to interview. I'll defer to others on specific timeframes in London who can better speak to that.
- Given there is a chance I will move back with no job secured, I understand that we will need either a bank balance of $100,000, or a co-sponsor. Is this understanding correct? Our intent would be to have a co-sponsor and we have a couple options for this. Does the co-sponsor have to live where you intend on moving or can it be any U.S. citizen living in the U.S.? To get the semantics out of the way first, joint sponsor is the proper term when referring to an I-864, not co-sponsor. If you only intended to use a bank balance to qualify, look at the current I-864P and multiply 3 by the number under the 125% column for your household size. What you have in the bank must be greater than or equal to the result of the equation I have just given. A joint sponsor does not have to live in the same state as the petitioner or beneficiary nor do they have to be related. Any US Citizen domiciled in the US or an LPR who meets or exceeds the requirements on the I-864P can be a joint sponsor.
- Is there anything we can apply for now to get the ball rolling, or information we should start gathering? For example, should we gather my wife's police records from the UK and Sweden, or do they need to be submitted around the same time as the application so they aren't months old? I have read that the I-130 can be done in advance of the rest of the application, is that correct?? If you elect to file at the USCIS office in the UK, then you should obtain the police reports closer to the time that you intend to submit the petition.
- And finally, the golden question... With the above in mind, does anyone have advice on when we should start the visa process if our intent is to move in July 2016? (Granted this is a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question, just hoping for some information based on other people's experience!)

I guess that is a good point to stop before I get too much further ahead of myself. Thanks in advance for any advice, we are eagerly looking forward to any responses!

Regards,
Will (and Sanna)

[willwright 0]

Thanks for the answers above, Ryan H. Some very useful information to help get us started!