We both live abroad. Affidavit of support?

[evandocarmo 0]

My wife is planning on petitioning for my green card. However, we live outside of the US and we read she needs to be domiciled in the US to sponsor me (affidavit of support).

How should we go about this? Can my father-in-law in the US be my substitute sponsor? Would she have to move back to the US without me before we apply so she can sponsor me? How long would that separation take?

I've read about the K-3 visa, which would be perfect for our situation, but it seems very difficult to get.

Any help is appreciated.

Evan

[Penguin_ie 6,002]

The K3 is obsolete and almost impossible to get.

Your wife doesn't need to live in the USA, but she needs to prove that she either never abandoned her domicile there (for example, still has bills in her name, furniture in storage etc), or that she intends to re-establish domicile at the same time as you move (for example enroll kids in school, sign up with job agencies, rent a place for you to move to).

If your father in law is willing to go-sponsor, that would be the best option, it means you two can stay together and move to the USA together once your visa is approved. Your wife would still need to fill in the I-864, and provide tax returns (US citizens need to file these even when living abroad), and the co-sponsor would also file a I-864.

[L&M&kids 0]

We were in the same situation: both living abroad.

I just got my visa, through consular process in Paris.

We had to overcome 2 hurdles: income and domicile requirement.

Here is what worked for us:

Income:

- my wife income was above the requirements for our household size, but it would discontinue when moving to the US as this is foreign earned income: our guess was that the NVC would not count it

- we used the proof of assets with my and her banking and savings accounts

- we added a letter to explain our case, with a list of the assets used and 12 months of statements

Domicile:

- we added a letter to explain that my wife never cut ties with the US: we made regular visits to see the family, we provided a copy of her social security card (with her married name), a copy of her overseas voter history

- we explained that she planned to re-establish her domicile in the US as this was a family project (we asked visas for me and our children), we provided proof she was actively looking for a job in the US (copy of emails and interview date)

With these documents, the NVC didn't ask anything else and there was no question about it during the interview at the embassy in Paris.