Problematic Case: Petitioner not in US

[Emgee 13]

Hi! I have a pretty complicated case and I would greatly appreciate some insights from you, guys here at VJ...I was born in a US Territory (That's how I got a US citizenship and a US passport) but have lived in the Philippines most of my life. I am now married, we have a daughter and another baby on the way. Someone offered to help get us to the US by being our joint sponsor way back 2018. We started the paperwork for my husband and my daughter and got an approved petition on March 2019 then a case number by May 2019. Due to certain circumstances, we stopped processing and thought that our joint sponsor can no longer help us but just this January 2020, she wanted us to push through with our application and paid the visa fees and the AOS fees for my husband and daughter. A travel consultant have been assisting us since we started the process and gave us hope that we have a chance of getting approved even though I have never been to mainland US and am currently residing in the Philippines. He said he would assist me in processing for dual-citizenship or recognition as a Filipino citizen so I wouldn't have a problem with the Philippine Immigration for "overstaying". As for the affidavit of support, a joint sponsor who is in the US would suffice. To make things more problematic, I just learned that this travel consultant passed away last year. Taking his place is another person who told us that US immigration have been stricter and a lot of changes have been implemented. Since we also have a baby on the way, we need to work on another petition. I was told that processing times have been longer and in most cases, the petitioner has to be in the US with a stable job to get approved for a visa. Our goal is to move together at the same time if there's a way. Is this a hopeless case? Thanks in advance!

[geowrian 22,335]

Having a suitable joint sponsor is fine for the financial side of things. The CO will determine if the beneficiary is a public charge or not based upon a totality of the circumstances.

They are more strict with this recently, but a suitable sponsor is still fine.

Not sure what "a lot of changes" is that they are referring to. The overwhelming majority of family based cases have no perceivable changes since 2018.

 

The petitioner must have US domicile or show sufficient intent to establish US domicile (even if they have a joint sponsor). Since you lived most of your life outside the US, you will likely need a good amount of evidence to show intent, or to actually move first and establish US domicile.

Check out the domicile section on the wiki for some ideas: https://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process

 

Depending on if the child will obtain US citizenship at birth from you or not, they may need a separate petition at that time.

Check here for requirements on deriving citizenship via a parent: https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-parents

[Ryan H 3,790]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.