I&G

Update in case anyone is interested:
Called NVC and they told me that the DS-260 we submitted months ago was never read. In the words of the rep, 'It was stuck due to severe problems they experienced with their system in May, June, July.'
On the bright side they told me that the AOS and IV documents sent in were accepted - although I am now totally skeptical of everything they say. You would think that after looking over the packages that they would check to see if a DS-260 was filled out. I asked them to just put a note on the case, but they gave me no other option but to put the case under supervisor review - which they say can take up to 42 days. Of course given the experience of others I guess this can possibly take much longer.
I would advise people to call up NVC after they get confirmation that the AOS and IV packages have been received to ask about whether they know you submitted your DS-260, and provide them with the confirmation number. This is the price many of us are paying for NVC incompetence. I did everything carefully, by the book. They messed up and now we have to wait who knows how long. Absolutely ridiculous.

Hi I&G,
I know it's been a while since you posted this but maybe it's still a current question.
I was in the same situation. All the items you listed I also had, plus some US Credit Card statements. I did not sign a lease or purchase a car until I came to the US.
Regarding employment, I was also self-employed in Poland. I did not close the company until before we left for the US and it was not an issue at the interview. But I think the most important thing is you need to do is to show that you will be able to work once you come to the US. A job offer letter from an employer is what many people do.
Me, I was going to continue to be self-employed in the US. So what I did is set up my US business, business bank accounts, etc while still in poland.
At the interview I was asked about what steps I took to reestablish domicile. The officer had all my domicile paperwork but did not look at it (maybe she look at it before talking to me).
So I said that I have living arrangements all set (had a letter from family member stating that I and my family can live there upon arrival), had a business set up where upon arriving I can go straight to work (she did ask what kind of work I will be doing), have bank accounts and credit cards. Was approved without any additional issues.

This is not true. No need to spread rumors based on misinformation.

Apologies,
I think there is some misunderstanding on your part as well, just putting a hypothetical situation out there to demonstrate how confusing this all is and how, as the original poster stated, is really really 'FRUSTRATING'
It is not very clear for some people what is legal or not and barring discussion of certain topics does not help the members of the forum best understand how they can legally go through the process. I understand you are doing your job as moderator though.
No one is looking for illegal ways to do things, they want to clearly understand what is legal. USCIS documentation, some lawyers, do not always do a good job unfortunately.
Many thanks

Below is from the VJ wiki page. "It says include as many as apply". I had a son through my Thai wife and received a consular
report of birth abroad birth certificate from the US Embassy that has my name and that of my wife listed as parents. My son now
has a US passport and SSN. Do I need anything other than his birth certificate as evidence?
http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/IR1_and_CR1_Immigrant_Visas
(include as many as apply to you)
Affidavit from petitioner and beneficiary verifying the marriage or relationship Affidavit from witnesses to the relationship/marriage (parents, siblings, other relatives, close friends) Wedding announcements, invitations Church certificate Wedding pictures Joint bank account letter (when opened and balance) and recent statements Joint credit card statement - including receipts from charges made by both of you Evidence of joint life and cohabitation: monthly bills, insurance, assets etc. A deed showing co-ownership of your property or a lease agreement with both of your names on the lease Receipts of money transfer (if applicable) Phone bills showing your conversations Receipts of gifts sent online or otherwise Transcripts of IM chats or Skype calls Copies of letters and/or e-mails Copies of holiday cards addressed to you both Birth certificate of any child that has been born to your marriage Airline ticket receipts showing trips taken together or to visit each other -- including boarding passes Copies of the passport stamps from any visits to your spouse's country Pictures of you together on vacation and/or with family and friends. It's best to include a range of times, not just a bunch of photos from a short period of time

This would be a good place to start,
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/164618-proving-domicile-when-not-living-in-the-us/
Its a lot of reading, but you might find the answer you need.
Good Luck.

Absolutely not, your lawyer is just wrong, she doesn't know what she is talking about.
Yes, the letters/application forms are all great evidence of domicile. It's kind of a moot point now since he will actually be physically living there, so I assume he will have his driver's license, car insurance, maybe a bill or two in his name with his U.S. address etc etc.
Proving domicile when he is actually living there should be a piece of cake really.
I wasn't going to bother posting the whole domicile information thing - since it won't really help you at this point, however, I can see that you are questioning the validity of what your lawyer told you and you will probably find this information useful - so here goes.
If you look at the instructions for the I-864, although they are not easy to interpret, they do outline the basics of proving domicile:
15. Country of Domicile. This question is asking you to indicate the country where you maintain your principal residence and where you plan to reside for the foreseeable future. If your mailing address and/or place of residence is not in the United States, but your country of domicile is the United States, you must attach a written explanation and documentary evidence indicating how you meet the domicile requirement. If you are not currently living in the United States, you may meet the domicile requirement if you can submit evidence to establish that any of the following conditions apply:
A. You are employed by a certain organization. (lists organizations on the I-864)
B. You are living abroad temporarily. If you are not currently living in the United States, you must show that your trip abroad is temporary and that you have maintained your domicile in the United States. You can show this by providing proof of your voting record in the United States, proof of paying U.S. State or local taxes, proof of having property in the United States, proof of maintaining bank or investment accounts in the United States, or proof of having a permanent mailing address in the United States. Other proof could be evidence that you are a student studying abroad or that a foreign government has authorized a temporary stay.
C. You intend in good faith to reestablish your domicile in the United States no later than the date of the intending immigrant's admission or adjustment of status. You must submit proof that you have taken concrete steps to establish you will be domiciled in the United States at a time no later than the date of the intending immigrant's admission or adjustment of status. Concrete steps might include accepting a job in the United States, signing a lease or purchasing a residence in the United States, or registering children in U.S. schools. Please attach proof of the steps you have taken to establish domicile as described above.
So what does all this mean?
When you look at the instructions above it makes it obvious that the sponsor can prove domicile even if they are not physically residing in the United States.
For most people who are temporarily abroad and fall under category B - it's pretty transparent - should not be too hard to prove domicile if you have only been out of the U.S. for a few months for example.
However, what if you and your spouse are living together in another country, like Canada - this is where Item C comes in.
All they are asking under this category is that you intend in good faith to reestablish your domicile in the U.S. - basically, at the same time as, or before the immigrant.
This applies equally to sponsors who have never lived in the U.S. - which is where it can be misleading - how can you 'reestablish' something that you never physically established in the first place?
The bottom line is domicile, for U.S. immigration purposes, does not mean that you have to physically be in the U.S.
So how do you go about proving C?
All I can tell you is what we did (and neither one of us had lived in the U.S. prior to immigrating). Really you just have to think through what would prove that you are intending to move to the U.S. with the new immigrant. This will mean different documentation for different situations, but basically this is what we sent in (in total - initially we did not send enough proof of reestablishing domicile and received an RFE from NVC for more):
- A letter from my Sister in Nebraska, stating that we would be living in the U.S. with them after my Husband received his visa and that we had come to an agreement regarding money for accommodation. She also stated that they should feel free to call her if they had any questions.
- I opened a U.S. bank account with my Sister in Nebraska and deposited a small sum of money there. I sent along a bank statement from them.
- We opened a U.S. dollar account with a Canadian bank and moved most of our funds there.
- We applied in March of 2007. We sold our rental property in January of 2007 - we sent letters from our lawyer stating we had sold that house.
- An online quote from Upack for shipping our goods from Calgary to Nebraska.
- A copy of the letter of acknowlegement from the SS office, stating I had applied for my SSN in March 2007 and the card should arrive in 2 weeks.
That's about all I can think of. There may have been a couple of other documents.
So you can see how this all goes back to putting yourself in the mindset to figure out what might prove domicle in your situation - a voting record, applications to schools etc. I believe it would be much easier to prove if the sponsor had actually lived there before and already had established bank accounts etc.
It's all about saying...hey, we are moving! - then documenting everything required for that move, as well as providing documentation of ties to the U.S.

Financial support documents are not submitted with the I-130 to USCIS. That comes at the NVC phase of the process.

Yes you can stay with your wife, however, do some searching about reestablishing domicile. Domicile may need stuff to the NVC but ultimately is looked at on interview day.

Most everyone on this site was self petition.
Hard part is gathering the information, all a lawyer or Visa prep company can do is fill in paperwork and mail in package.
Seems like a lot of money to spend for such a simple process....

Part of the decision is how you want to be called when wife gets US documents.
Most -if not all- Polish descendants in the US are 'ski' (and that is how one can tell if someone is real Polish or American-Polish).
The US documents are going to be written with the name you listed in the petition.
As far as I know, 'ska' is ok..It was with my wife. I'd write is the exact way as in the passport.
Now on the other side, I'm not 'ski' so maybe that helps, and there is a difference if marrying in the US, because you can effectively do a change of name when you do the license so you could make it 'ski' regardless of what the Polish passport says as it will then be how will she known in the US and US documents
The worst that can happen is that some people might think there was a typo in some forms if they see both your names, and might want to "help" you by correcting it, which in financial and other important documents would be annoying...You would need to be vigilant that it's always written correctly before signing anything
Isn't it common knowledge that woman in Poland use 'ska' anyway?

It does make it difference because whatever you fill, it needs to match her ID. USCIS officers may not necessarily understand that Kowalska and Kowalski are really same people, and therefore will issue RFE at best. Use -ska if that's what she has in her ID. Using -ski (my US wife ended up with last name ending with -ski) is purely English thing.

Hi, my surname ends with -ova, which is a slovak thing just like ska for Polish. I kept it also at the end of my new surname after marrying my husband and we filled all the forms using -ova and it was ok. everything was processed without problems