I-130 from abroad - what happens if I move?

[familybasedvisa12 23]

Hi everyone,

 

My wife and I currently reside in Ireland - we submitted an online I-130 from here in late March 2020.

 

Given the situation, we are considering moving to her home country, Israel, in the meantime. I have a few questions:

 

1) Will this affect the time it takes to adjudicate our petition?

2) When we change our physical/mailing address to one in Israel does that automatically update the interview location to Israel?

3) If the answer to the question above is 'yes', would we have to establish residency in Israel in order to attend the interview?

 

Any and all information would be greatly appreciated - I'm concerned that moving with a pending application can prolong the process.

 

Thanks!

Edited July 2, 2020 by familybasedvisa12
Clarification

[SalishSea 16,746]

8 minutes ago, familybasedvisa12 said:

Hi everyone,

 

My wife and I currently reside in Ireland - we submitted an online I-130 from here in late March 2020.

 

Given the situation, we are considering moving to her home country, Israel, in the meantime. I have a few questions:

 

1) Will this affect the time it takes to adjudicate our petition?  At USCIS?  No.

2) When we change our physical/mailing address to one in Israel does that automatically update the interview location to Israel?  No.  You have to request it, depending on where you are in the process.  If it is at NVC, you can ask them to change the embassy.  If it has already been sent to the original embassy, you would be asking the new embassy if they are willing to take it.

3) If the answer to the question above is 'yes', would we have to establish residency in Israel in order to attend the interview? You must be legally resident in a country in order to interview at a US embassy or consulate for an immigrant visa.

 

Any and all information would be greatly appreciated - I'm concerned that moving with a pending application can prolong the process.  Since you're quite early in the process, and with the COVID-related delays, it should not be an issue.  I would start with contacting the NVC.

 

Thanks!

 

[familybasedvisa12 23]

3 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

 

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

Can you please clarify the following:

 

1) It is currently at USCIS. If I understand correctly I will have the opportunity to select the embassy at the NVC stage? 

2) You must be legally resident in a country in order to interview at a US embassy or consulate for an immigrant visa. It takes time to establish residency (~6 months). If we get to the interview stage before that time, is it enough that we are both Israeli citizens? If not, our residency is in Ireland, but we wouldn't be living there at the time we schedule the interview - would we be able to fly back to Ireland for the interview? It's a bit of a mess because we would be de facto non-residents of both states. 

[SalishSea 16,746]

1 minute ago, familybasedvisa12 said:

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

Can you please clarify the following:

 

1) It is currently at USCIS. If I understand correctly I will have the opportunity to select the embassy at the NVC stage? 

2) You must be legally resident in a country in order to interview at a US embassy or consulate for an immigrant visa. It takes time to establish residency (~6 months). If we get to the interview stage before that time, is it enough that we are both Israeli citizens? If not, our residency is in Ireland, but we wouldn't be living there at the time we schedule the interview - would we be able to fly back to Ireland for the interview? It's a bit of a mess because we would be de facto non-residents of both states. 

So  you're citizens of Israel, but not residents?  I would think citizenship trumps all else.  Do you actually have to take steps to re-establish residency in your own country?

 

Yes, there isn't an easy way to change the embassy on the petition while it is at USCIS.  Once it gets to NVC, you can contact them and request the change.  

[familybasedvisa12 23]

2 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

So  you're citizens of Israel, but not residents?  I would think citizenship trumps all else.  Do you actually have to take steps to re-establish residency in your own country?

 

Yes, there isn't an easy way to change the embassy on the petition while it is at USCIS.  Once it gets to NVC, you can contact them and request the change.  

That's correct - similar to how I'm a US citizen but I'm not a resident of the US. It's the same within the US as well - when you move states it takes time to establish residency. 

 

So that's the essence of my question - if we are non-resident citizens, but are living in Israel at the time - would we still be able to interview at the US embassy in Israel? 

[payxibka 10,044]

5 minutes ago, familybasedvisa12 said:

That's correct - similar to how I'm a US citizen but I'm not a resident of the US. It's the same within the US as well - when you move states it takes time to establish residency. 

 

So that's the essence of my question - if we are non-resident citizens, but are living in Israel at the time - would we still be able to interview at the US embassy in Israel? 

Interviews can take place in alien's country of residency or country of nationality.   

[familybasedvisa12 23]

Just now, payxibka said:

Interviews can take place in alien's country of residency or country of nationality.   

Ok that answers my question, thanks! Any idea where I can see this in writing? I'm on the relevant embassy website here, but can't find anything.  

[payxibka 10,044]

A citizen always had the right of abode to there country which doesn't require any re establishment

[SalishSea 16,746]

3 hours ago, familybasedvisa12 said:

That's correct - similar to how I'm a US citizen but I'm not a resident of the US. It's the same within the US as well - when you move states it takes time to establish residency. 

 

So that's the essence of my question - if we are non-resident citizens, but are living in Israel at the time - would we still be able to interview at the US embassy in Israel? 

Except that as a USC, there is no need to re-establish residency for any benefit.

 

 

[SalishSea 16,746]

3 hours ago, familybasedvisa12 said:

Ok that answers my question, thanks! Any idea where I can see this in writing? I'm on the relevant embassy website here, but can't find anything.  

Like I said, once the petition reaches the NVC from USCIS, you can ask for a transfer to the consulate in Israel.  
 

Since you are citizens, it is nothing more complicated than that.

[payxibka 10,044]

2 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Except that as a USC, there is no need to re-establish residency for any benefit.

 

 

Yes, residency should not be confused with domicile 

[familybasedvisa12 23]

10 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Like I said, once the petition reaches the NVC from USCIS, you can ask for a transfer to the consulate in Israel.  
 

Since you are citizens, it is nothing more complicated than that.

 

8 hours ago, payxibka said:

Yes, residency should not be confused with domicile 

Thank you both for your help - much appreciated! Have a great 4th of July weekend