AshleyLCBaker

Thanks for the responses, everyone! I really appreciate it. We'll have to have a chat with a couple tax people in a couple different countries, but y'all have definitely made me feel less confused about the situation!

Ok, thanks so much! I don't really get taxes, tbh. I'm now both a US and Australian citizen and didn't even know I needed to file in the US until we started this process! I haven't made enough money for it to matter, though.

I think it's looking like he won't be considered an Australian tax resident after we leave, so maybe that'll make things simpler? Ugh, I don't know. Taxes are annoying. Anyway, thanks again for your very helpful answer and good luck with your wait! Hopefully it'll go quickly!

Hi everyone! I apologize if I've put this in the wrong forum. so please feel free to move it if need be.

My husband recently received his CR-1 visa and we'll be moving to the States after Christmas. He's a software developer and his company here in Australia would like him to do some work remotely for a few months after we move, so he can assist in finishing a particular project.

We were just wondering how tax would be handled in this situation. Would the US want to tax him because he'll be a permanent resident and he's living there? Or will he just be taxed through Australia, since it's an Australian company? Or, God forbid, will both want to tax him? I know a lot of people here know a lot more about international tax law than I do and I thought maybe even someone has been through a similar experience. If anyone has any advice on this, I'd really appreciate it!

I just wrote a review of the Sydney consulate, but I thought I'd share a bit of our experience here:

Basically, when the interview was nearly over, the officer said everything looked good, save for one thing: proof of my the joint sponsor's (i.e. my dad's) US citizenship. Well, I sent a copy of my dad's passport to the NVC, but it was no where to be found. She kind of acted like she didn't believe I sent it in the first place. So, she gave me a 221g form and asked me to email a copy of the passport ASAP and that the visa would be granted once that was processed. She kept my husband's passport and we've just emailed off the electronic copy we kept on file of my dad's passport, so hopefully all will be fine.

Moral of the story: don't put it past the NVC or the consulates to not lose some of the things you send. We have electronic copies of every piece of our application, so it really wasn't that big of a deal to just send it when we got home. It is, however, really frustrating when you work so hard to dot your i's and cross your t's and provide everything you can and the response you get is 'Oh, yeah, we just lost it. Whatevs.' It adds time to an already lengthy process and makes you scramble to do something you've already done once. I know it's been said on here a million times before, but always make copies and always just kind of assume that some of the things you send might just disappear into the ether.

I'm probably being a bit complain-y, which is silly, considering we basically as good as have the visa. I'm also fortunate that I live with my husband, so the extra time this hiccup may have added isn't that big of a deal. I just wanted to mention my experience, because I really thought I had organized and taken care of everything they would possibly need. And I had, actually, but it didn't matter in the end, because they still lost something. I just wanted to remind everyone to be prepared for anything!

Ok, great to hear. What proof did yu give if you don't mind me asking? I'm thinking 4 years of high school and college transcripts, 4-5 years of Income Tax Transcripts and bank account and medical records. Hoping that's enough.

What evidence did you give and were you required to get a DNA test? Was the process difficult at all? Thanks for the reply.

Hi, in terms of the CBRA evidence, what you have should be fine. I've lived in Australia with my husband since right after I graduated college, so I was a bit worried about that requirement when we got my son's CBRA, because I had never paid bills or taxes or anything on my own. I just provided my high school and college transcripts and that was enough.

We weren't required to give a DNA test to the Sydney consulate, because we're married and have been for a while, but I'm not sure what the requirements for Poland are.

No, his certificate is from April, so it shouldn't be out of date yet.

Well, I called the NVC today and spoke to a lady and she said to just ignore what they've said about the police certificate. I don't know what that means, but she just said I could ignore it. I'll probably send my husband to the interview with a copy of the certificate just to be on the safe side. Ah, the ways of the NVC are a mystery!

Did you make a copy of it before you sent it in? We sent our original in with everything else and we made a couple of copies to keep. We didn't get a notice saying we needed to bring in a copy of it to the interview. (We got the AFP so it came directly to us.) I don't know when your interview is, but if you didn't save a copy for yourself, then you may want to contact them to see if they made an error and it's in there. There may be a fee involved with getting another copy of the police check, although I know it would be worth it over having to wait because the paperwork disappeared. Maybe you can contact the agency that did your report and get another copy of the police report just in case? Even if you contact the Embassy, they only take calls on Friday mornings (at least that's what it says on the page, I could be wrong) and e-mails take several days I've found. I haven't seen anyone else with this issue, but that's a tough situation, I'm sorry!

Thanks for answering me back! We did definitely make a digital copy, so I know I'm not crazy and that it was sent in. I thought maybe the reminder to provide a police check that was in our email was sort of standard since people don't normally send it to the NVC. But I guess if you didn't receive one, it's not?

I don't know how they could have lost it. It was in the package with his UK police check and I know they got that. I'll try the NVC again tomorrow and see what they say. I don't know if they can tell me if they actually have it or not, but I guess I can kick up a fuss if they say they don't. Thanks again for the help!

Ok, I sort of asked this a few weeks back and no one answered, so I'm not sure if anyone will answer now. I know everyone's super sick of police report questions, but this question is a bit different.

We got my husband's NSW police check several months ago. They posted it back to us instead of the consulate and I sent it along with everything else in the DS230 (because that's what I thought I was supposed to do, for some reason). They sent me a checklist for it and I called them saying that it's definitely in the application and they said okay, there must have been confusion because it normally doesn't come to them.

Now, I've just gotten my husband's interview date, and the letter is asking me to bring along a copy of the NSW police report. So, I'm pretty confused. I know for certain that it was included with everything else. Could they have just lost it? Do I need to try to get another one before the interview? Should I just ignore it and assume they're mistaken? Has anyone else come up against this?

I would really appreciate any thoughts on this, if anyone has any!

Mine took quite a while. My dad is a co-sponsor and they needed an extra tax thing that I didn't send initially and it was the last thing I needed to send. It arrived at the NVC on July 1st and I didn't get a case closed until July 23rd. They always just tell you it can take up to 20 business days. Yours may not take as long, but it's probably good to be prepared just in case!

Ok, well, I figured it out myself, for anyone who happens upon this at any point in the future. I think the NVC was just confused because the Australian police reports normally get sent straight to the consulate. My husband said the policeman who did his prints apparently didn't know this and I hadn't read it before the fact either, so we just had it sent to our house and sent it in with everything else. So I think it's all fine.

Ok, so I don't know if this has happened to any of our fellow Aussies before, but we got an RFE about my husband's NSW police certificate today. Which is weird, because we totally sent his NSW police certificate. So I call the NVC and the guy basically says that they don't normally receive the NSW police reports, that they're usually sent directly to the consulate. He said it's all fine though and once they process my other RFE that only just arrived there Monday, I'll probably have a case complete.

So... what? Why did I get an RFE in the first place? Why do they ask you to send police reports if they don't expect them? Did I miss something and I'm the stupid one? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks, friends!

Thanks, Darnell. The people at Auspost actually told me that and I've been checking. I know the DS-230 was delivered on June 13, so I'm not quite sure why it's taking so long for them to process. And God knows where my RFE is. They said they can see it's left Australia but it hasn't been scanned in at LAX, so I don't know. All it included was one extra bit of tax info about our co-sponsor, so I may just have to send it again.

Our process has been really easy so far, so I guess some setbacks were inevitable.

if auspost issued tracking #'s, you can see them (usually) over at www.usps.com

Ok. Thanks for that. I'm just getting a bit worried because the I-864 really didn't take long to finish and now the DS-230 is taking forever. I just wanted to see if anyone else from Australia's had problems with the mail, since my RFE still apparently hasn't even entered the US.

Ok, this is sort of long and convoluted, but I'll press forward:

I've been having a minor freakout this week. I sent the I-864 a few weeks ago and the NVC received and processed it within a couple weeks. They sent me an RFE asking for an extra thing from my co-sponsor, which I acquired and sent straightaway. Between sending the I-864 and receiving the RFE, I sent the DS-230 by registered mail.

Now, the last two things I sent (DS-230 and the RFE info) seem to be in limbo. The tracking is showing that the NVC has received the DS-230, but it's been there since June 13 and they still hasn't been processed. They can't even say if they have it or not. I know they say it can take 20 days, but that seems longer than the norm right now doesn't it?

The people at AusPost say they can see that the RFE stuff has left Oz, but nothing about it being accepted in the US. Then she said that they're having a lot of trouble with stuff getting accepted in the US and have done so for the past few months, which definitely isn't something I've experienced with the other stuff I've posted.

Anyway, this is all a really long way to say: has anyone else had problems mailing stuff to the States? I'm just a bit concerned that a) the NVC has lost our DS-230 and b) Auspost has lost my other thing. Neither place will do any kind of inquiry for me because they say it hasn't been long enough, but both situations are taking a lot longer than they have in the past.

Hopefully this makes sense!

Hi Ange,

I'm the USC and I've lived in Sydney with my husband since 2008, and we're almost (hopefully!) at the tail end of the NVC process. Like someone else said, if you used your Oz address on the forms, your I-130 will probably be approved somewhat quickly (I think we were like, 40ish days). A couple of weeks after that, I received the bill for the I-864 and the DS-3032 choice of agent form by email. I filled out and scanned that form and sent it back, and paid the I-864 fee. A week or so after that, I got the bill for the DS-230 and paid that. After you pay both of those, you have to print out a cover sheet with your case number and a barcode for your case, which you get from the same site you pay the fees. Once those are paid, you can send everything in, but you do unfortunately have to send them to the NVC in New Hampshire, not to the Sydney consulate, so that adds at least a week or two to the process.

We used my dad as a co-sponsor because we don't own a house and don't have $70,000+ in savings. As far as I know, that's worked out fine. The domicile thing was the trickiest part for us, because we have a 14 month old son and we really didn't want him to be separated from his dad if I had to take him to the US to get set up. For my domicile, I included evidence of my US bank account and credit card, which I've used while living abroad; evidence of shares I own in SunTrust bank; an official lease that I drafted up between us and my dad, since we'll be staying with him when we first get there; a letter from a headhunter saying that we've been in contact about finding my husband a job and quotes from shipping companies. Again, I'm not 100% sure if we have a case closed at the NVC, but I haven't yet received an RFE about any of this, so hopefully it's ok.

Anyway, that was a super long answer, but hopefully I answered your questions a little!

In order to improve the chances of getting expedited, do y'all recommend that I mention that I live abroad with my wife in the cover letter, in an attached letter explaining the evolution of our relationship, or both?

Auto-expedite aside, Is a letter about the evolution of our relationship advisable?

Thanks!

I was expedited fairly quickly and I actually didn't mention anything in my cover letter, mainly because I didn't know that it was a thing that people do before I sent in the petition. I thought it was fairly self-explanatory, though, because the package was mailed from Australia, I put my mailing address as Australia, etc. I did get a couple of sworn affidavits from people for proof of our relationship and I think they mentioned that my husband and I live together overseas in those.

I didn't write out a letter about our relationship either, as the affidavits sort of did that work for me. My husband and I have been married for more than four years and we have a one year old, so that might have helped with the bonafide thing. As for the expedite stuff, I'd think you'd be ok just mentioning it in your cover letter and making sure it's clear from the actual I-130 that you live abroad.

Ok, thanks guys. I appreciate your advice! I might just wait a little longer, since it sounds like the interviews aren't taking incredibly long.

Hi all,

I'm all ready to send in my i-864 and my DS-230, but I had a quick question: about how long is it taking between the case closing at the NVC and the interview time for Sydney? I just ask because we really don't want to move until January (because of our lease, my husband finishing a uni course, etc) and the whole process went a lot faster than I expected. I know we don't want to be approved before July, lest the visa expire. But, I also don't want to get an RFE or wait a long time for an interview appointment and cut it close with our expected departure.

Anyway, should I just wait a couple weeks before sending everything in? Or can I sent it in and if it gets approved and we get a too-early interview time, reschedule? I just want to get all this paperwork out of my house and out of my mind, but if I need to wait, I guess I can hold out! Hopefully this all makes sense. Thanks, y'all!

I was approved on the 18th and I just received an email from the USCIS, my case was transferred to the NVC on the 25th

I got an email today saying it had been sent to NVC! When will you start calling them to see if they've received it? In like a week or so-ish?

Just checked the website and found out we're approved! So I thought I'd fill out the survey:

1. Country USC resides in: Australia

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: February 2013

4. How long had you been living abroad: 5 years

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: Living with my husband

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes (a copy of our lease with both our names, my son's birth certificate from an Australian hospital)

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? No, I didn't mention that I was living abroad in the cover letter, but the people who wrote our affidavits did and I think it was pretty obvious from the rest of the application

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? 42 days between NOA1 and NOA2, so I assume so!

Hooray, y'all, I just checked the website and we're approved! I've been checking it daily for weeks and our case never even showed up until today. So I guess the auto-expedite is happening for overseas folks and happening fairly quickly. Good luck to everyone else!

No, you cannot do anything if it goes past that time.

1. VJ started to notice this quickness over a year ago for foreign filers. There were a lot of threads where people said "help! I got my NOA2 too soon!" Laure started this thread to try to figure out what was going on.

2. USCIS never owned up to this practice, so if you don't get in "the queue", you can't complain. This is a policy we had been noticing, but it's not an official thing you can complain about.

3. Since... some months ago? Because of the backlog, some cases are getting transferred to local offices. Because this is a change in protocol we don't know what's going on. This thread lived on, but what's happening seems to be a crapshoot based on the local office's workload, and I am not sure too much relevant data is coming from it lately, but maybe I am wrong.

4. The people you call are called the "misinformation line." The first people who answer the phone are not even USCIS employees, but call center employees who read from a screen. Don't trust a thing they say.

Yeah, this is what I thought! Oh well, I'll just assume random-ness and expect my NOA2 to come in around two weeks or like, August. Thanks for the info!

Hi foreign filer buddies,

I sort of talked about this in the Feb filer forum (alliteration!) but I thought I would expand on that and ask a more specific question here...

Basically, I'm a foreign filer and my NOA1 date is Feb 11. I put my Australian address as my address on the form and I used our lease as part of our bona fides, so they well and truly should know I live in Australia. However, today I called USCIS because my case wasn't showing up online and I just wanted to be annoying and check-in, and after saying that he did find my case and it was ready for processing, the guy gave me the who 'Oh, the time frame is five months and it'll be sent from NBC to a field office and so on.'

Now, one my of lovely February friends already told me that it shouldn't be sent to a field office, so I'll keep an ear out for that. And all the stuff this guy was saying could just be the standard stuff they're supposed to say and not even be applicable to my case. But, basically, I'm about to hit the 40 day mark, which is about when it seems foreign filers have been getting approved. I just wanted to ask if, say in a week or two or three, I still haven't been approved, can I do anything? I'm not sure this foreign auto-expedite is really an official thing or maybe it's just not something USCIS admits to. I'm just not sure if I can call up and say 'Yeah, a bunch of people on this website I look at have already been approved and I haven't, so what gives?'

I think I'm worried that if I don't get approved in the next few weeks, it means there's some kind of issue or error on their part, because my case is similar to a lot of the people who have just gotten approved. If I'm just being crazy and should just shut up and be patient, then please tell me. But, if what this guy said to me today/not getting an NOA2 is a sign of anything unusual, then I'd love any thoughts on that too. I just don't want our case to fall into some weird black hole.

To those who have received their approvals already -- a massive congratulations to you

Even though this is going to sound like a rants(because it is) please do not take any offence those of you who have received or will probably get an auto expedite because of living abroad with your spouse. I know it's not your choice and really, getting your NOA2 quickly is a joy anyone should be happy about but I'm starting to get really pissed off at this system. Why on earth should those people abroad applying for an I-130 get processed quicker than the rest of us because their spouse is living with them outside the US? It is so totally unfair!! All the rest of us are separated from the ones we love for months and months waiting for the NOA2 to arrive and those people lucky enough to still be living with their loved ones get their approved quicker?! It is just so unfair! Ours should be processed quicker, not theirs, they are not the ones desperate to see their brand new husband after months of separation because they cannot afford the airfare for a quick trip, they get to see each other every day! Why do they get auto expedited?!

Sorry, I know it's not you all personally so please do not take this as a personal attack and attack me for it, I'm just so fed up with reading comments here and on the January and December filers boards (who I stalk) of all these bloody auto-expedite cases when the USC and the beneficiary are still living with one another!!!! It's so unfair!! :'(

Good luck to you all to get speedy NOA2's sorry for the rant!!!!

So, this is an argument that gets started on here quite often and it never turns out very well. I'm one of those people who will probably be auto-expedited, and while I'm not really offended or anything by what you've said, I thought I would explain a couple things that might help:

1) From what I've read, cases where both spouses live overseas make up a very small proportion of spousal immigration cases. Like, very small. So it's not like the fact that these cases are getting processed faster is really stopping your or any other cases from being processed, because there just really aren't that many to stand in the way.

2) I think the fact that the couple lives together probably cuts down on the investigation for the 'bona fide' aspect of the relationship. If two people are married and share a home abroad, it's probably less likely it's a green card marriage. Also, my husband and I have been married for more than four years and we have a little boy. You've been married for less time than that. Not that you should be punished or that your marriage is any less real, because of course it's not, but it's just probably easier to process cases like mine just on the basis of time married/sharing a home, etc.

3) Just because I've been fortunate enough to live with my husband in Australia the past five years doesn't mean my life has been all flowers and sunshine and doesn't make my desire to live in my home country any less important. I've been separated from my friends and family, I've missed weddings and funerals and births. My mother died very suddenly a couple of years ago and I hadn't seen her for the better part of a year before she passed away, which is something I'll have to carry around for the rest of my life. I'm sure there are numerous stories like this on here from people who have moved overseas to be with their significant others.

Basically what I'm saying is, as frustrating and heartbreaking as I'm sure it is to be away from your husband, everyone has a heartbreak. Everyone has a story. That's the risk you take when you decide to pursue a relationship with someone from another country. It just doesn't really help to create an 'us vs. them' mentality. Everyone has a goal they want to reach and I think it's best if we support each other in their process, no matter how long our individual process takes.

If the case is normal and there are no mistakes made, it seems to be a pretty consistent thing. Our case has taken longer despite filing from abroad, but we had complications at the beginning with our address, so I wouldn't count ours as normal. One thing to take into account, though - if you listed your foreign address on the I-130, NBC should NOT be transferring it to a local field office. This happened to another member who filed from Denmark, and that started a huge spiraling problem that ended with her having to refile at the London embassy. Field offices don't process foreign petitions, so if you filed from abroad your case should stay at NBC for processing. Just keep an ear out to make sure it's not mistakenly shipped off to a local office, because that could be the beginning of a series of complications.

Ok, cool, thanks for telling me to watch out for that! Hopefully it was just the boilerplate stuff he was spouting off to me and not specific to my case. I sort of worry I didn't send enough evidence and that might cause an RFE, but we've been married a while and we have a baby and I'm pretty sure Oz is a low fraud country, so hopefully it will all be ok. It's good to know the auto-expedite is the general trend, though, so I can start pestering USCIS if I don't get an NOA2 in the next few weeks. Thanks again for your help!