Filing I-129f while living abroad

[mikefromNJ 5]

Hello,

I am USC and live in Ukraine with my fiance and our son. Is filing I-129f while living abroad possible?

if not possible, I also have a close friend in USA whom could mail the application for me.

Would my friend sending the application be considered not legal?

Could I get into trouble if USCIS finds out that i were not me who mail the application of I-129f?

Thank you.

[JMEngland 438]

4 hours ago, mikefromNJ said:

Hello,

I am USC and live in Ukraine with my fiance and our son. Is filing I-129f while living abroad possible?

if not possible, I also have a close friend in USA whom could mail the application for me.

Would my friend sending the application be considered not legal?

Could I get into trouble if USCIS finds out that i were not me who mail the application of I-129f?

Thank you.

You need to have a residence in the United States, but more importantly, a US income meeting 125% of the poverty rate. If you are currently living and working in Ukraine, then your job will not be valid on the i134 that you file later, because obviously when you move back to the United States that job will end. You must move back to the United States, establish residence, and establish employment with a salary that meets the cutoff. Marrying her will not change this as the rules for sponsoring a wife are generally the same. 

[met 106]

4 hours ago, JMEngland said:

You need to have a residence in the United States, but more importantly, a US income meeting 125% of the poverty rate. If you are currently living and working in Ukraine, then your job will not be valid on the i134 that you file later, because obviously when you move back to the United States that job will end. You must move back to the United States, establish residence, and establish employment with a salary that meets the cutoff. Marrying her will not change this as the rules for sponsoring a wife are generally the same. 

True. But still they can start the process right now while he is still outside the US.

 

This is what we did. At the time of filling we were living together in Poland. We did use my future mother in law for gathering some documents in US. We send her out part of paperwork (like photos, signed  forms). She attached extra documents, a filing fee check and mailed the package to the USCIS. Although, our mailing address was in Poland. Without no problems we received NOA1 and NOA2 to our Polish address. Right after NOA2 my Fiance moved back to US to establish domicile and start working there. 

 

We got approved without any problems (visa issued I am awaiting passport delivery). 

 

Personally I belive that through the fact that you actually live and work in Ukraine, not to mention you guys have a kid together you already prooved bonafide relationship. 

 

And when it comes to sponsoring the petition - you will be always - no matter what - a main sponsor. You can get co-sponsors if meetting the income requirements is a hardship. I advise you to search for fellow VJ from Ukraine for more specific answers.

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/98-russia-ukraine-and-belarus/

 

For us, we had future mother in law as a co-sponsor. But in the Embassy no one wanted to see affidavit from her, the one from my Fiance was enough. 

 

Good luck!

[mikefromNJ 5]

1 hour ago, met said:

True. But still they can start the process right now while he is still outside the US.

 

This is what we did. At the time of filling we were living together in Poland. We did use my future mother in law for gathering some documents in US. We send her out part of paperwork (like photos, signed  forms). She attached extra documents, a filing fee check and mailed the package to the USCIS. Although, our mailing address was in Poland. Without no problems we received NOA1 and NOA2 to our Polish address. Right after NOA2 my Fiance moved back to US to establish domicile and start working there. 

 

We got approved without any problems (visa issued I am awaiting passport delivery). 

 

Personally I belive that through the fact that you actually live and work in Ukraine, not to mention you guys have a kid together you already prooved bonafide relationship. 

 

And when it comes to sponsoring the petition - you will be always - no matter what - a main sponsor. You can get co-sponsors if meetting the income requirements is a hardship. I advise you to search for fellow VJ from Ukraine for more specific answers.

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/98-russia-ukraine-and-belarus/

 

For us, we had future mother in law as a co-sponsor. But in the Embassy no one wanted to see affidavit from her, the one from my Fiance was enough. 

 

Good luck!

at the time of receiving NOA1, Was your Fiance working at American origin company? I mean did he have reportable US based income or Europe based income?

 

we have savings account in ukraine that would be little over 125% of the poverty rate. Would that be enough for the financial side of the requirement?

 

Thank you for answering MET and  JMEngland.

Edited February 22, 2019 by mikefromNJ

[met 106]

24 minutes ago, mikefromNJ said:

at the time of receiving NOA1, Was your Fiance working at American origin company? I mean did he have reportable US based income or Europe based income?

 

we have savings account in ukraine that would be little over 125% of the poverty rate. Would that be enough for the financial side of the requirement?

 

Thank you for answering MET and  JMEngland.

Nope, he did not have a US based income at the time of filing the petition or receiving NOA1 or NOA2. He was a student and he had no reportable income of any sorts. 

 

The ability of sponsor the immigrant is checked at the Embassy stage. That is why I advice to seek answers from the fellow Ukrainians that completed the process. I have no idea how Kiev Embassy is with co-sponsorship for example (that has to be checked). 

 

The general rule is that income should be US based one. You can use your assets/savings that can be quickly accessable, but as far as I remember they have to be 5x the requirement for using income. Taking a co-sponsor might be better option for some cases.

Remember that at some point you will have to move back to US to establish domicile and since that will be prior the Embassy stage, you will be able to use your new employment/contract/whatever sort of income you will be having in US in your affidavit. 

 

 

[mikefromNJ 5]

On 2/22/2019 at 8:54 AM, met said:

......

We did use my future mother in law for gathering some documents in US. We send her out part of paperwork (like photos, signed  forms). She attached extra documents, a filing fee check and mailed the package to the USCIS. Although, our mailing address was in Poland. Without no problems we received NOA1 and NOA2 to our Polish address.

.....

did you put your mother-in-law's address in the I-129f form? 
I have a friend in US, whom could  mail the i-129f package from inside US. Do i have to write her address in i-129f anywhere?

[met 106]

On 3/14/2019 at 3:18 PM, mikefromNJ said:

did you put your mother-in-law's address in the I-129f form? 
I have a friend in US, whom could  mail the i-129f package from inside US. Do i have to write her address in i-129f anywhere?

We’ve only used her address for my future address „address in US where beneficiary intends to live”. 

 

We used our Polish address for mailing.