domicile question

[FPS81 3]

I'm petitioning my wife to go to the US, currently at USCIS stage, currently lives with her abroad, currently do not have domicile in the US, but will precede her to the US and find a place to live.  My question is can I wait until interview to present proof of domicile?  as this entails a shorter separation with my wife than if I need to turn in proof of domicile at NVC stage.

[Shark777 25]

You're going to have to prove domicile during NVC stage prior to the interview. You can show domicile by providing US bank accounts, US investments, US permanent mailing address, real estate ownership, proof of paying state/local taxes. The idea is to show that your trip abroad is only temporary and the place you call home was and always will be the US. I just had an interview in guangzhou china. I've been living here for a few years and was able to show domicile through some of the things listed above.

Edited November 12, 2022 by MarctheShark

[Mike E 11,726]

When you sign I-864, you must have domicile. As noted above that will be during NVC processing.  

[pushbrk 12,232]

5 hours ago, MarctheShark said:

You're going to have to prove domicile during NVC stage prior to the interview. You can show domicile by providing US bank accounts, US investments, US permanent mailing address, real estate ownership, proof of paying state/local taxes. The idea is to show that your trip abroad is only temporary and the place you call home was and always will be the US. I just had an interview in guangzhou china. I've been living here for a few years and was able to show domicile through some of the things listed above.

All that is required is to provide evidence of intent to re-establish domicile, but it is needed at the NVC stage.  It cannot wait until the interview.  Often, nothing more than a letter stating your intent and how you plan to go about it will satisfy NVC.  (More is needed coming from Canada, but from China, not so much.)  It also depends on your status in China.  If it's clearly temporary, that helps.  Provide more details to get a better answer.

 

Just now, Mike E said:

When you sign I-864, you must have domicile. As noted above that will be during NVC processing.  

No.  You must provide evidence of intent to re-establish domicile.

 

[Mike E 11,726]

1 minute ago, pushbrk said:

 

 

No.  You must provide evidence of intent to re-establish domicile.

 

I suspect COs in Montreal will disagree with you.  For example:
 

Depending on the CO to give the petitioner a break isn’t a great plan.  Adios. 

[pushbrk 12,232]

2 minutes ago, Mike E said:

I suspect COs in Montreal will disagree with you.  For example:
 

Depending on the CO to give the petitioner a break isn’t a great plan.  Adios. 

I mention things are different in Canada in my earlier reply.  This is a China case.

 

[FPS81 3]

13 hours ago, Mike E said:

I suspect COs in Montreal will disagree with you.  For example:
 

Depending on the CO to give the petitioner a break isn’t a great plan.  Adios. 

Well, by the time my wife gets to see a CO I'll have my own domicile, and I'm not trying to use a family's house either.  Like I said I'll move back to the US ahead of my wife, get a lease etc.  It's just that I want to do it later in the process.  ie. before the interview but not during NVC stage which I heard is many months before the interview.

[FPS81 3]

14 hours ago, pushbrk said:

All that is required is to provide evidence of intent to re-establish domicile, but it is needed at the NVC stage.  It cannot wait until the interview.  Often, nothing more than a letter stating your intent and how you plan to go about it will satisfy NVC.  (More is needed coming from Canada, but from China, not so much.)  It also depends on your status in China.  If it's clearly temporary, that helps.  Provide more details to get a better answer.

 

No.  You must provide evidence of intent to re-establish domicile.

 

My absence from the US was not temporary, which is why I need to re-establish domicile.

 

Currently I have a US bank account, bank statement to goes to my brother's house,  and I intend to apply to professional school in the US and have registered for the national exam required for admission.

 

Are these enough to show intent to re-establish domicile to get me through the NVC stage?

[FPS81 3]

14 hours ago, pushbrk said:

I mention things are different in Canada in my earlier reply.  This is a China case.

 

FYI my wife will do the interview in Taiwan, but she is a Chinese citizen.

[Shark777 25]

The intent to establish domicile in the US  is done during the NVC stage of the process. We are happy to help out but we need more information/details about your situation. Have you ever lived in the US? When was the last time you lived there? Did you just recently submit I-130 or has it been months? I was only in the USCIS stage for a few months, some people stay there for over a year.

 

Proving domicile is often difficult for people who are US citizens but have never actually lived there or haven't lived there in many years. If that's you, I found some information that you'll need to show when you submit your I-864 to the NVC.

 

A petitioner who is unable to demonstrate that he or she is domiciled in the United States who wishes to qualify as a sponsor must demonstrate that:

• He or she has either already taken up physical residence in the United States; or
   
• He or she has taken concrete steps to establish a domicile in the United States and will do so concurrently with the applicant no later than the date of the intending immigrant’s admission.

The sponsor does not have to precede the applicant to the United States but, if he or she does not do so, he or she must arrive in the United States concurrently with the applicant.  Evidence that the sponsor has established a domicile in the United States and is either physically residing there or intends to do so before or concurrently with the applicant may include the following:

• Opening a bank account
   
• Transferring funds to the United States
   
• Making investments in the United States
   
• Seeking employment in the United States
   
• Securing a residence in the United States
   
• Registering children in U.S. schools
   
• Applying for a Social Security number
   
• Voting in local, State, or Federal elections

 

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by MarctheShark

[Shark777 25]

5 hours ago, FPS81 said:

My absence from the US was not temporary, which is why I need to re-establish domicile.

 

Currently I have a US bank account, bank statement to goes to my brother's house,  and I intend to apply to professional school in the US and have registered for the national exam required for admission.

 

Are these enough to show intent to re-establish domicile to get me through the NVC stage?

I find it's easier to step back and look at the bigger picture. Why is immigration asking you to prove domicile or the intent to establish one? If your wife cannot support herself and applies for government assistance, they will sue you to get back their money. So they want you to actually be living there permanently. Applying to and going to college doesn't prove that. They're going to want to see more of an intent to live there forever, if in fact your trip wasn't temporary. I would personally show try to show them everything on the list above if possible.

 

It sound like you are going to the US to secure a lease before she gets there, which is what the NVC needs to see. It also sounds like you'll be going there earlier than you thought out of necessity, or you'll have to delay your wife's arrival by sitting at the NVC stage and not submitting anything. But again, we don't know how long you have been at the USCIS stage, or how long you will be there. The timing might work out for you. 

Edited November 13, 2022 by MarctheShark

[seekingthetruth 1,219]

5 hours ago, FPS81 said:

Are these enough to show intent to re-establish domicile to get me through the NVC stage?

I have lived overseas with my family for 10 years so I did a lot of research on domicile and intent to re-establish it.

 

What I did was write a detailed letter to include with the I-864, and called it "Petitioner's Declaration to Re-Establish U.S. Domicile".  In that letter, I detailed out what I had been doing overseas and our exact plans for moving to the U.S.  I described in the letter all of my ties to the U.S. and attached exhibits of banking, voting, etc., etc.  The final lines of the letter are:

 

"I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, and that I will be returning to the U.S. on or before the beneficiary’s entry date.", and of course signed it.  I did not have it notarized.

 

Now we are holding off on the visas, so I can't tell you how this worked.  The worst that can happen is that they will ask for additional proof which you will have when you move.

[pushbrk 12,232]

6 hours ago, FPS81 said:

My absence from the US was not temporary, which is why I need to re-establish domicile.

 

Currently I have a US bank account, bank statement to goes to my brother's house,  and I intend to apply to professional school in the US and have registered for the national exam required for admission.

 

Are these enough to show intent to re-establish domicile to get me through the NVC stage?

Probably for Guangzhou, yes.

 

6 hours ago, FPS81 said:

FYI my wife will do the interview in Taiwan, but she is a Chinese citizen.

Same same with regard to the domicile issue.

 

[FPS81 3]

20 hours ago, MarctheShark said:

The intent to establish domicile in the US  is done during the NVC stage of the process. We are happy to help out but we need more information/details about your situation. Have you ever lived in the US? When was the last time you lived there? Did you just recently submit I-130 or has it been months? I was only in the USCIS stage for a few months, some people stay there for over a year

 

 

I have lived in the US for years, left in 2004, submitted I-130 in August of this year.

 

20 hours ago, MarctheShark said:

I find it's easier to step back and look at the bigger picture. Why is immigration asking you to prove domicile or the intent to establish one? If your wife cannot support herself and applies for government assistance, they will sue you to get back their money. So they want you to actually be living there permanently. Applying to and going to college doesn't prove that. They're going to want to see more of an intent to live there forever, if in fact your trip wasn't temporary. I would personally show try to show them everything on the list above if possible.

 The problem is most of those things on the list are not something I can get without being physically in the US, which is not something I want to do until before the interview, if possible.  So you're saying what I have is not enough at NVC?

[OldUser 5,069]

2 minutes ago, FPS81 said:

The problem is most of those things on the list are not something I can get without being physically in the US

That's the whole point of establishing domicile. You gotta do it if you want to sponsor your spouse.