Case FE Review Note Query

[Deceitful_Fox 0]

Hello again all! I come once again to humbly seek your guidance. 

 

First, to clarify our situation: My wife, the applicant, is currently living with me in the UK, but it has always been our intention to move back to the US together. To that end she kept her bank accounts open, filed taxes correctly, and we got a signed affirmation from her stepmother that we would be living at her address when moving back to the US. I submitted that information along with her I-864 and hoped that would be enough to establish domicile in the US, but as you can guess by the title that has not been the case. 

 

Today I received the following notice regarding our case:

'JESSICA might not have a principal residence or be domiciled in the United States. Please submit proof of domicile. For more information on domicile requirements, visit https://nvc.state.gov/fin.'

 

All the other documents were accepted.

 

What options do we have regarding this? Are there any other pieces of evidence I could scrounge up that might satisfy them? The only other alternative we can think of is sending her back ahead of me, submitting the plane ticket etc. and having her open a new bank account, renew her driving licence and so on once she gets there. We'd like to avoid that if possible as I'm sure you can understand, but I'm not taking that option off the table. If she did go back, would she be able to visit me on a regular ETA visa while we wait?

 

Thank you in advance for taking the time to help. 

[pushbrk 14,251]

I'm a little confused, not about the notice but who is who in this case.  You say your wife is the applicant, but it sounds like she is the US Citizen petitioner and it is YOU who is applying for the visa.  If so, please clarify.

[Deceitful_Fox 0]

3 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

I'm a little confused, not about the notice but who is who in this case.  You say your wife is the applicant, but it sounds like she is the US Citizen petitioner and it is YOU who is applying for the visa.  If so, please clarify.

Oh terribly sorry, you are correct. She is the petitioner and I am the applicant. 

[pushbrk 14,251]

1 minute ago, Deceitful_Fox said:

Oh terribly sorry, you are correct. She is the petitioner and I am the applicant. 

I assume you clicked on the link and read their suggestions already.  The option of having her go ahead and go back to set up some things like a new bank account and driver license with the US address might work.  If she can do more, like actually look for a more long term place to live without making any commitment, that would help.  London is not known to be very strict on domicile issues, but you are not dealing with London yet.

[Deceitful_Fox 0]

30 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

I assume you clicked on the link and read their suggestions already.  The option of having her go ahead and go back to set up some things like a new bank account and driver license with the US address might work.  If she can do more, like actually look for a more long term place to live without making any commitment, that would help.  London is not known to be very strict on domicile issues, but you are not dealing with London yet.

Yes the suggestions are why I was proposing that perhaps she should go back. The plan is to live with her stepmother briefly while we get on our feet (this is the address I provided for all of the US address fields in all forms so far). I note that having a permanent US mailing address is also considered valid evidence. What if we set up a new bank account remotely, using her stepmother's mailing address, my wife's name, and transferred some money into it? We could then use a bank statement addressed to the place where we plan to live, showing money transferred in preparation for the move. 

 

My concern here is that if I keep throwing rejected evidence at them, are they going to reject the case? Perhaps it would be better to just bite the bullet and send her back if that is the guaranteed move?

[pushbrk 14,251]

3 minutes ago, Deceitful_Fox said:

Yes the suggestions are why I was proposing that perhaps she should go back. The plan is to live with her stepmother briefly while we get on our feet (this is the address I provided for all of the US address fields in all forms so far). I note that having a permanent US mailing address is also considered valid evidence. What if we set up a new bank account remotely, using her stepmother's mailing address, my wife's name, and transferred some money into it? We could then use a bank statement addressed to the place where we plan to live, showing money transferred in preparation for the move. 

 

My concern here is that if I keep throwing rejected evidence at them, are they going to reject the case? Perhaps it would be better to just bite the bullet and send her back if that is the guaranteed move?

No, they won't reject the case.  But they easily detect contrived evidence.  It's quite possible that your temporary stay with family in the USA is not going to be enough evidence of your wife's intent to re-establish US domicile.  More concrete actions like looking for long term housing, or if there are children looking into school registration are examples.  Others will have more suggestions for you.

[Deceitful_Fox 0]

2 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

No, they won't reject the case.  But they easily detect contrived evidence.  It's quite possible that your temporary stay with family in the USA is not going to be enough evidence of your wife's intent to re-establish US domicile.  More concrete actions like looking for long term housing, or if there are children looking into school registration are examples.  Others will have more suggestions for you.

Thank you pushbrk, I appreciate you taking the time to reply, and I don't want to waste too much of your attention. We don't have any children yet unfortunately. What would the evidence look like to prove something like looking for long term housing? It can't be as simple as browsing things on Zillow and screenshotting the houses we like, can it? As for rental properties, don't you have to prove US income to qualify?

[pushbrk 14,251]

1 hour ago, Deceitful_Fox said:

Thank you pushbrk, I appreciate you taking the time to reply, and I don't want to waste too much of your attention. We don't have any children yet unfortunately. What would the evidence look like to prove something like looking for long term housing? It can't be as simple as browsing things on Zillow and screenshotting the houses we like, can it? As for rental properties, don't you have to prove US income to qualify?

No, it can't be that simple or contrived.  I'm talking about actual concrete action taken with your wife back in the USA, even if for a preliminary visit.  There may well be more and better suggestions coming. I'm just clarifying what I mean by one of MY suggestions.