Spouse Visa From India

[Anirban Majumdar 0]

Hello Everyone

 

My wife is a US CITIZEN but she has been residing with me in India after we married in December 2015.  She has been to and forth to the States a couple of times but she has been residing continuously with me since April.  We have finally decided to move to the states but my wife plans to remain with me and we wanted to apply for the spouse visa from India Itself, I have a few questions and points mentioned below: - 

 

-> Can we apply for the spouse visa whilst my wife remains with me here in India

-> I am a working professional in Delhi and since my wife is not working I will have my aunt who is again a us citizen be the joint sponsor to meet the income requirements

-> We are legally married in India, I wanted to know how to proceed with this and is everything in place with our approach

-> I was planning to go with RapidVisa.com since they seem to be professional and legit

-> Any other suggestions or other means which could possibly help us ease the process

-> How long is the duration for such an application

 

We will really appreciate any guidance or help.

 

Thanks

Anirban

[Dashinka 24,602]

You may want to see if Direct Conseulor Filing (DCF) is available in India.  I am not very familiar with that process, but there is a forum regarding that potential.

 

Good Luck!

[geowrian 22,337]

You should be able to do DCF fine if she's been residing there since April. I agree...look into the exact requirements from the embassy, but that would be - by far - the fastest method.

 

There's a recent very, very bad experience with RapidVisa here where not only did they make a significant mistake (they told them NOT to DCF when they should have done so), but they are unwilling to assist with the proper filing or even refund their own fees for their error. I'm not one to just bad mouth places and RapidVisa is normally fine in doing what they say they will do (despite I think they are unnecessary anyway), but I would highly suggest looking through the process yourself and save the money and hassle. And, of course, asking questions here.

[Anirban Majumdar 0]

Thank You folks!

 

This is great information, I will consult the Embassy about the same.  

 

One question - would this procedure not require a sponsor/joint sponsor?

 

Thanks again!

[geowrian 22,337]

8 minutes ago, Anirban Majumdar said:

One question - would this procedure not require a sponsor/joint sponsor?

Your wife must still be the primary sponsor as the petitioner. Assuming her income won't continue from the same source upon returning to the US, she must either sponsor via assets (at 3x the required income level / gap) or she must find a joint sponsor in the US who meets the requirements.

 

She must also show US domicile, or sufficient intent to establish US domicile before they will issue the visa. Note that domicile is not the same a residency or housing.

[Anirban Majumdar 0]

Awesome, I have my aunt in New York who is more than willing to be a Joint Sponsor so that is sorted but how will she prove her US Domicile, I mean shwe has the following: - 

 

-> Her parents address in US (both of them are US citizens)

-> She has her SSN

-> University certificate

-> Bank Account

-> Drivers License 

-> US Passport

-> OCI

 

any suggestions? 

 

Apologies for all the questions but we want to be completely prepared before we proceed.  

 

Appreciate your guidance!

Edited December 12, 2017 by Anirban Majumdar

[geowrian 22,337]

3 minutes ago, Anirban Majumdar said:

Awesome, I have my aunt in New York who is more than willing to be a Joint Sponsor so that is sorted but how will she prove her US Domicile, I mean shwe has the following: - 

 

-> Her parents address in US (both of them are US citizens)

-> She has her SSN

-> University certificate

-> Bank Account

-> Drivers License 

-> US Passport

-> OCI

Items in red would be evidence of US domicile. The other items have nothing to do with showing that she currently lives in the US or has intention and means to do so.

 

What exactly qualifies as sufficient evidence to establish domicile is a judgement call by the CO. There are some examples in this wiki (search for "Domicile"), or you can run some searches on the threads here as it's a pretty common topic.

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process

No single piece of evidence is likely to be sufficient. It's about showing a strong case / convincing story that you are compelled to live in the US before or at the same time as the intending immigrant. Things like getting quotes for moving expenses, looking for jobs (or having an offer), getting insurance, etc. are all part of that equation.

[Anirban Majumdar 0]

Brialliant! Thanks a ton, this help a lot.