US Immigration from New Zealand

I know this question is kind of like asking how long is a piece of rope, but perhaps I can describe my circumstances and someone could make an educated guess at how long the CO would want to see me in a job role before approving the I-864 for my wife's case.

We are both still living in New Zealand completing our second Bachelor's degrees. At the end of the year we will hold four degrees between the two of us, which I think provides a great earning potential when looking at totality of circumstances and lowering the risk of my wife becoming a public charge. Because we have been living in NZ and studying, I don't have any US-based income in the last three years. We will finish our degrees in November and I plan on moving to the US and into a job immediately. I predict that I will be able to find a job paying $50-60k. So I will file taxes with the IRS at the end of 2021 with one month's worth of US-based income, and then how long should I expect to work before filing the I-864 with pay stubs and employer letter?

We are coming from a very low-fraud country. I am aware of the "six months of pay stubs" language used in the I-864 instructions, but as @pushbrk has repeatedly pointed out in threads that I've read, one pay stub is sufficient to show your current income, and YTD income is basically irrelevant as long as current income is above the threshold. But then this poses the question, what would be the harm in getting a job at the end of November, working all of December and then sending the I-864 in Jan-Feb 2022 with a pay stub, employer letter and 2021 tax transcript? Is that likely to be denied by the CO as there is not enough history of current income?

Maybe this is a question which cannot just be easily answered as they look at the totality of circumstances and it's subjective, but also surely the CO will acknowledge that I've been residing overseas and studying, hence not a longer history of US-based income, in addition to the fact that we have decent earning potential between the two of us given our education, and the fact we're coming from a low-fraud country? Or am I being too hopeful? My current understanding is that I'd need to work for six months, so I could send I-864 in early June 2022 and my wife could join me in the US in August-September 2022 if all went well, but 10-12 months is definitely longer than we would want to be separated if at all possible.

As a side note, joint sponsor is practically out of the question. I had someone lined up but they changed their mind, and I'd rather not ask anyone else as I don't think it's likely that I could find someone who will do it.

Any advice is hugely appreciated.

Hi everyone - We are getting ready to submit all the forms and documents for my husband's green card to the CEAC site. I'm unable to get tax transcripts because I had to amend my 2020 return. The issue I'm having is the file is too large even after I compress the PDF. Does anyone have any tips? There are so many pages to my return but am I able to only upload the 1040 or do I need to submit the entire return? Any help is appreciated!

Hi VisaJourney friends,

Wondering if it's possible to transfer a case to DCF after having already submitted the 1-130 petition online?

Some background info:

My husband and I live in New Zealand together, I'm a USC (petitioner) and he's a kiwi (beneficiary). We got married in January of this year and filed our 1-130 online through USCIS website on Feb 9th 2021 and as far as I am aware it's being processed at Nebraska Service Center. As of April 9th 2021 the status online switched from 'received' to 'case is being actively reviewed by USCIS' but have heard no further info since.

After spending more time on this forum I've learned most couples who live overseas apply for their IR1 through direct consular filing... So I'm wondering if anyone has switched to this after already submitting their petition to a U.S. Service Center. I'm just thinking it would potentially be quicker if we could transfer to a local consulate as NZ hasn't had too many shut downs or delays from Covid so I imagine processing times are potentially quicker than going through the U.S. Service Centers.

If you have any experience with this, or how to do this, please let me know! Also if you know if this would speed things up or not and if it would require more fees.

Cheers

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!!

I sent in the I-129F with form to pay via credit card. Unbeknownst to us, our credit card company has reformatted their card system and sent out new cards; the old one which is attached to the application will instantly be declined.
My questions are...

I ve attempted to contact USCIS in order to ask what exactly happens to our application now, to no avail. I ve read they return the whole packet- anyone know?

If that s the case I should be able to supply a new form of payment- NOT the card used previously, which needless to say I d like to cancel- and simply resend the whole thing as is.
How long does it take a rejected application to be returned?

Or, am I better off reprinting and collating the whole package again, and send as new? I do have copies of almost everything that was sent. Keeping in mind I m currently overseas, not in the US, the mailing time is lengthy.
(My return mailing address is in the US, so I assume that is where they will send it, if they do so.)
Feeling pretty dejected, but gotta move forward.
Thanks