I-864 Domicile

[MelanieR18 29]

Hi all,

 

My husband and I have lived together abroad for 10 years and we are at the NVC stage. We are working on the I-864 form where it asks 'Country of Domicile.' It is my understanding that I (as the USC) can put United States as my country of domicile because I can show intention to reestablish domicile even though I am not currently there. Our lawyers are saying that we must put the foreign country as our country of domicile on the I-864 because that is where we live and work. 

My questions are:

Has anyone listed a foreign country as their country of domicile on the I-864 form and been approved?

If we list a foreign country as our country of domicile, will the NVC then ask us to prove intention to reestablish domicile or will the form just be rejected?

 

I have no issues proving intent to reestablish domicile, I just want to be sure we are putting the right info on the form because it is a bit confusing and we definitely don't want to cause any delays. 

 

Thanks!! 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

1 hour ago, MelanieR18 said:

Hi all,

 

My husband and I have lived together abroad for 10 years and we are at the NVC stage. We are working on the I-864 form where it asks 'Country of Domicile.' It is my understanding that I (as the USC) can put United States as my country of domicile because I can show intention to reestablish domicile even though I am not currently there. Our lawyers are saying that we must put the foreign country as our country of domicile on the I-864 because that is where we live and work. 

My questions are:

Has anyone listed a foreign country as their country of domicile on the I-864 form and been approved?

If we list a foreign country as our country of domicile, will the NVC then ask us to prove intention to reestablish domicile or will the form just be rejected?

 

I have no issues proving intent to reestablish domicile, I just want to be sure we are putting the right info on the form because it is a bit confusing and we definitely don't want to cause any delays. 

 

Thanks!! 

Lawyer(s)?

 

I put KSA (Saudi) as “domicile” on my support affidavit.  Didnt use a lawyer but that’s where we physically lived and that’s where I was working.

Edited May 19, 2021 by Nitas_man

[seekingthetruth 1,218]

1 hour ago, MelanieR18 said:

It is my understanding that I (as the USC) can put United States as my country of domicile because I can show intention to reestablish domicile even though I am not currently there. Our lawyers are saying that we must put the foreign country as our country of domicile on the I-864 because that is where we live and work. 

Following.  I also live overseas.  I have not submitted my I-864 but in my draft I put my domicile as USA, thinking that I will have the "intent" letter attached.

[Hilde 381]

3 hours ago, MelanieR18 said:

I have no issues proving intent to reestablish domicile, I just want to be sure we are putting the right info on the form because it is a bit confusing and we definitely don't want to cause any delays. 

 

Thanks!! 

Hello there,

 

I filed for an IR1 and recently had my interview which was approved.

I lived for >5 yrs abroad with my husband and put US as my domicile on the 864. It is the address that we are going to be living when we move back to the US. 

I was told by my lawyer (and in many threads here on VJ) that when living abroad for so long, you really need to show ties to the US. Basically, the consular officer really wants to make sure that you ARE INDEED going to move back to the US when your visa is approved.

This is what I used to prove US domicile in my interview packet:

 

*US state driver's license

*US apartment deed

*US bank information with my US address

*Letter of acceptance for my child in a local school showing US address

 

Good luck!

 

[MelanieR18 29]

9 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

 

 

I put KSA (Saudi) as “domicile” on my support affidavit.  Didnt use a lawyer but that’s where we physically lived and that’s where I was working.

Thanks for replying! Could I ask at what point in your process did domicile come up? Did NVC ask for any proof of intention or did that only come up at the embassy interview?

[MelanieR18 29]

9 hours ago, seekingthetruth said:

Following.  I also live overseas.  I have not submitted my I-864 but in my draft I put my domicile as USA, thinking that I will have the "intent" letter attached.

Thanks for your reply. That was my thought too but the place we hired to help us has advised not to do so and I'm not sure what is correct

Hoping to hear from a few people who've gone through it already and get some ideas on whats best to do!

[MelanieR18 29]

7 hours ago, Hilde said:

Hello there,

 

I filed for an IR1 and recently had my interview which was approved.

I lived for >5 yrs abroad with my husband and put US as my domicile on the 864. It is the address that we are going to be living when we move back to the US. 

 

 

Thanks for replying

Could I ask if the NVC asked you for any proof to be uploaded or was it just the embassy that needed to see the proof?

[Hilde 381]

2 hours ago, MelanieR18 said:

Thanks for replying

Could I ask if the NVC asked you for any proof to be uploaded or was it just the embassy that needed to see the proof?

I uploaded my proof of domicile when I uploaded the documents in the NVC stage. I brought all of the originals with me to the interview, just in case. They didn't ask though.

My suggestion is usually to play safe: upload what you have into the NVC stage. If you don't, they can request further evidence (and this will delay the process further). The consular officer can always request for more info on the day of the interview... but if everything has gone though the NVC stage, it is less likely.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

4 hours ago, MelanieR18 said:

Thanks for replying! Could I ask at what point in your process did domicile come up? Did NVC ask for any proof of intention or did that only come up at the embassy interview?

Domicile?  Not sure I remember any questions about domicile in particular.  We did this twice.  We lived outside the US, filed as outside the US, used our foreign address as “residence” and US address as “mailing”.

 

All our banking / investments / CC accounts were and always have been in the US.  We had drivers licenses, car insurance, vehicles, registration, storage fees (the receipts were with our tax returns), active mobile phone accounts, and nobody blinked.  
 

Definition of domicile is where you sleep.  There is nothing wrong with being domiciled overseas if you intend to move back before or with your spouse.

 

Edited May 20, 2021 by Nitas_man

[MelanieR18 29]

1 hour ago, Nitas_man said:

Domicile?  Not sure I remember any questions about domicile in particular.  We did this twice.  We lived outside the US, filed as outside the US, used our foreign address as “residence” and US address as “mailing”.

 

All our banking / investments / CC accounts were and always have been in the US.  We had drivers licenses, car insurance, vehicles, registration, storage fees (the receipts were with our tax returns), active mobile phone accounts, and nobody blinked.  
 

Definition of domicile is where you sleep.  There is nothing wrong with being domiciled overseas if you intend to move back before or with your spouse.

 

Thank you so much, that is super helpful

[seekingthetruth 1,218]

12 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

Domicile?  Not sure I remember any questions about domicile in particular.  We did this twice.  We lived outside the US, filed as outside the US, used our foreign address as “residence” and US address as “mailing”.

 

All our banking / investments / CC accounts were and always have been in the US.  We had drivers licenses, car insurance, vehicles, registration, storage fees (the receipts were with our tax returns), active mobile phone accounts, and nobody blinked.

Thanks for sharing.  You were very solid.  I am a bit less solid in that I don't have the things in bold.  I am documenting our move planning and execution to be part of our "reestablishing domicile" story.

E.g., records of selling items prior to moving, contact with moving companies, contact with U.S. realtors, contact with schools, etc.   The sale of our house here overseas will be a big addition too.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

5 hours ago, seekingthetruth said:

Thanks for sharing.  You were very solid.  I am a bit less solid in that I don't have the things in bold.  I am documenting our move planning and execution to be part of our "reestablishing domicile" story.

E.g., records of selling items prior to moving, contact with moving companies, contact with U.S. realtors, contact with schools, etc.   The sale of our house here overseas will be a big addition too.

My experience on here since 2006 is this:  the folks with the most difficulty are petitioners who really have never been to the US or lived in the US but want to use previously obtained US citizenship to sponsor a spouse and move.  No assets in the US, no address history, no history of filing taxes - they come on here, quickly (after being advised) file three years of income taxes, then wonder why they need proof of domicile before their spouses or children get immigrant visas.

 

I have seen them sent or have to go to the US to establish ties.  Not saying this doesn’t happen.  It’s more common for a US expatriate to get processed right through.  I attended both interviews.  IO wanted a plan, I (not Nita) laid it out and they processed us and let us go home.  You just need to show up front good faith groundwork and you will be fine.

[Ryan H 3,791]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.

[P0907 127]

After living outside of the US for 6 years (and listing our domicile as a different country), we wrote a letter explaining that we would be reestablishing domicile and included evidence to prove so. In our case that included flights, new phone number, new car insurance plan, the invoice and itinerary from shipping our pets etc. Basically anything that someone would only do if they were actually moving long term.