Jorge V

43 minutes ago, CEE53147 said:

This person is NOT from the US and - based on handle and comments - most likely a Third World country.

 

Most employers would not put up with an employee that disappears for months at a time.

 

The entire situation looks suspicious.

As I mentioned in my previous post, even people from third world countries can and often do travel for months at a time. While the income disparity between an average US worker and a farmer from a third world country is massive, the same cannot always be said for workers in other industries. Take my Mexican tech worker example where the disparity is not that large.

I'll give another example that may be similar to OP's situation: my sister in law is an engineering manager for a large tech company in Mexico. Her post tax salary is around USD$3k/month. Her husband works at the same company and has a similar salary. They've taken several long vacations both while working and also between jobs. Mexico also has a generous maternity and paternity leave, as do other third world countries such as India. Mothers get 3 months off and fathers get 1 month. Some companies (including my SIL's) give more time on top of that. My wife has a coworker based in India who took over a year off after giving birth. While traveling with a new born is unlikely, it's certainly not out of the question.

I'm not saying that CBP shouldn't be suspicious of working age tourists visiting for several months, but VJ comments such as "How can a person of working age take more than even a couple of weeks off?" are overly generalized, especially when we do not know anything about the tourist in question.

12 hours ago, CEE53147 said:

How can a person of working age take more than even a couple of weeks off?  She needs to leave within the granted period. Filing for an extension will be seen as validating the IO's assessment of the situation.

7 hours ago, Chris Duffy said:

Some people have money and don't live paycheck to paycheck

 

 

Off topic but I always hate these types of comments. Plenty of working age people can travel for extended periods. While many workers are unable to take even a few days off, professionals in many industries, both in the US and in other countries, are realistically able to take off much more.

Both my wife and I are in the tech industry and we see this often. 4+ weeks off is standard even for first year employees, and some companies offer lots more. I know of a company that forces employees to take a 1 month paid sabbatical every 7 years which can be combined with other PTO. It's also not uncommon to save up and take long trips (several months) between jobs.

Time off in other countries can be even better than in the US. The average French employee gets 30 days of PTO, for example. While salaries in other countries are not always as good as in the US, taking several weeks/a few months off for workers from "poorer" countries is still a possibility. Tech workers in Mexico can earn up to USD $3k-$4k/month post tax if they live in CDMX or Guadalajara, which is easily enough to save up for a multi month long trip, and Mexico is by no means a rich country.

There's a thread just a few spots down from yours called "Appoint wait time in CDJ Mexico" where users have discussed wait times. Users who had their case complete in mid march were notified in late June and were given appointments for late August. Here's one post in particular where the user had a CC date of March 15, was notified June 27, and received and appointment for August 28th.

Going by these number's I suspect that you won't get notified until late August/early September for an interview date in late October/early November.

26 minutes ago, moeandlu said:

ah ok so 1 i-864 for me (no USA income at the moment as living in the UK), 1 for dad, and i-864a for mom (they do file taxes together).

 

thanks so much!

 

do i need to bring cohabitation evidence (financial documents, any proof of income while here in england?)

It's recommended that you bring extra evidence of your relationship if you can. In practice I don't think they ask for it much, but better to have it and not need it. You'll definitely want to bring evidence to support the stated income of anything named on the I864s. Tax transcripts/W2s for the past year are required, but bring pay stubs, bank account statements (if using assets), etc just to be safe.

1 minute ago, moeandlu said:

i'm glad i asked! i was under the impression it was only for co-sponsors. i will need 1 i-864, and 2 i-864a's (if i need both parents to sponsor)?

Glad to help. You're still a little off. You'll have 2 I864s and 1 I864A. The I864A is meant for members of the same household as a sponsor whose income will be used as well. In your case, assuming your parents file their taxes jointly, your dad can be your primary sponsor and will fill our his own I864. Your mom's income can be included but since she is a member of your dad's household, she'll only have to fill out the I864A.

1 hour ago, moeandlu said:

perfect - thank you! and from question 1 it's the info of the respective parent, not any of my info, right? i'm probably overthinking this just wanted to make sure.

 

for interview, do i need to bring any financial/lease information to show shared finances and cohabitation?

Well as the US citizen spouse you'll be required to be the primary sponsor, so you'll have to fill out an I864 as well. That one should have your info even if your US income is zero. Your parents will fill out the I864 and I864A using their own info.

3 hours ago, Dongbei said:

I believe it is about $60k for a spouse. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

This is correct. You can find the poverty guidelines here: https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p . For spouses, the asset requirement is only 3x the annual income requirement. For a household size of 2 the annual requirement is $20,575 and the asset requirement is $61,725.

As far as establishing domicile, as others have mentioned you simply have to prove that you intend to reestablish. I used things like moving quotes, apartment leasing quotes, bank accounts, and drivers license.

Be sure to read the I864 instructions (https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-864instr.pdf). On page 5 you'll find all you need to know about establishing domicile. On page 10 you'll find the explanation for the 3x asset rule for spouses.

8 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

You are not dealing with USCIS and you will not get an NOA1 or NOA2.  Your next notification will be a packet preparation list from the embassy.  Ours was by email. 

 

Our DCF, filed by requirement in person, was reviewed on the spot and we were notified to start gathering documents for interview (by the embassy) two weeks later.

Your ovearseas address and country-specific residency permit is part of the evidence required that you legally reside in the country where you are filing DCF.  As noted earlier, the only thing we received by mail was the returned passport with visa and sealed envelope that is turned in to immigration when your beneficary enters the US.

Some of this is country specific. For example, for DCF in Mexico you can mail your packet in and it usually takes around 5 days to get reviewed. You'll also get an NOA1 and NOA2 via both email (if you include G1145) and mail. RFEs are also received by mail.

As far as overseas address for proving residency, that applies to your physical address. Your mailing address does not have to be in the country where you're filing. When I filed for DCF in Mexico, I listed my physical address as Mexico, but my mailing address as my mom's house in the US. This is because the postal system in Mexico is terrible, and I wanted to be sure to receive everything from USCIS in a timely manner. Sure enough, my mom received NOA1 and NOA2 via mail without any problems. 

Finally, you are still dealing with USCIS for the I130. This is why only countries with USCIS field offices qualify for DCF (full list here: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-immigration-offices). The USCIS field office is typically located inside the same building as the embassy, but they are still entirely different departments. This is also why you can't file DCF in most countries even though nearly all of them have an embassy. Once the local USCIS office approves your petition, they'll forward it to your embassy (usually down the hall).

It seems like DCF in Saudi Arabia is different as your case is reviewed on the spot. This explains why you don't get NOA1 or NOA2 via mail, as it'd be redundant. And even though you technically turned in your petition at the US embassy, you were still dealing with USCIS.

As you're seeing, you're getting different answers for different countries. This is because each USCIS office has slightly different instructions. Some field offices accept petitions by mail, others only in person, and most others accept both. Your best bet is to check Frankfurt's USCIS field office's (not the embassy) website, found here: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/germany-frankfurt-field-office . Their instructions for the I130 section (which you have to expand), say this:

Quote

Residents of Germany filing with USCIS Frankfurt must submit the petition and supporting evidence by mail.  Petitions are adjudicated in the order in which they are received.  You may use our Form I-130 Petition Checklist (PDF, 386 KB) or Form I-130 Petition Checklist for Members of the Armed Forces (PDF, 380 KB) to help ensure you submit a complete application package.

Evidence of residency must be submitted with the petition.  The evidence you submit must support a determination that you are a resident in Germany.  Please note that certain pieces of evidence may more strongly support a finding of residency than others.  For petitions filed at this field office, you must submit one or more of the following:

As far as having to "apply" for DCF, no you don't have to do anything special. By submitting your I130 and supporting documents in accordance with the instructions above, you are implicitly applying for DCF. You may see things such as having to get approval from the local USCIS director, but again, this all happens implicitly after submitting your petition.

On 7/21/2018 at 4:02 PM, Dongbei said:

What do they actually mail to that address?

The address on the I130 is used for things like NOA1/NOA2 and other notifications. You should put an address that you can check at least reasonably frequently in case they send something important.

The visa will not be delivered to that address. Instead, you'll select a location to have it shipped to before the interview. They typically use Fedex/UPS/DHL.

Don't even bother with the invitation letter, it will not be a factor in their application. Here's a quote directly from the Department of State's website ( https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visitor.html )

Quote

Note: Visa applicants must qualify on the basis of the applicant's residence and ties abroad, rather than assurances from U.S. family and friends. A letter of invitation or Affidavit of Support is not needed to apply for a visitor visa. If you choose to bring a letter of invitation or Affidavit of Support to your interview, please remember it is not one of the factors used in determining whether to issue or deny the visa

55 minutes ago, shumway1756 said:

Thanks @Jorge V! Do you per chance know where the IRS says that? I would love to be able to look at that in more detail.

Unfortunately, I don't know where in the IRS handbook that is, my information comes from accountants, doing research, and even asking the IRS directly several years ago.

I do have a few examples though that might help. Working remotely for a company in one state while living in another means that you only have to report your income to the state where you live. I'm in this situation currently as my company is headquartered in Alabama but I live and work remotely in Texas. I don't have to report my income to Alabama even though they have a state income tax.

Another example is the "jock tax" where professional athletes have to pay taxes to the various cities/states where they play. Tom Brady and the Patriots may be based in Massachusetts, but he has to pay taxes to each of the states where he plays away games. If he plays a game in Buffalo, he has to pay taxes to the state of New York for the income he earned during that one game, as the work was performed in NY state.

6 hours ago, cedrichadjian said:

I see. But why would they be against it? I would be helping my husband-to-be with expenses AND the income wouldn't be from the US. It's sorta a good thing for the US too, foreign money entering the US would help its economy.

5 hours ago, shumway1756 said:

I'm totally with you, seems to me like the location of the employer and payroll (where the money transits), and the fact that you're not taking an American job in this situation (their chief concern supposedly) should be more important than the location of your butt.

A reason they might be against it is that the IRS considers income to be earned based on the location where the work is performed. If you perform the work in the US while working for a foreign company, the IRS still considers that income to be earned in the US.

This can be seen in the opposite situation as well: if you live abroad but work remotely for a US company that pays you in USD into a US bank account, the IRS considers that income to be foreign earned, and can be excluded (up to $100k) from your income for tax purposes.

I used to be in this exact situation for several years. I work remotely for a US based company but was living as an expat in Mexico. The IRS considered my income to be foreign earned and the first $100k went untaxed. I was also required to list my visits to the US and the income earned during my visit. Each time I visited my parents in the US I would continue to work remotely, so I had to report that income as US earned and pay taxes on it. So in my situation, if I spent 50 weeks in Mexico and 2 weeks in the US the income earned during the 50 weeks was untaxed, while the income earned during the two weeks in the US was taxed.

My wife also got global entry and TSA precheck shortly after getting her conditional green card. There was no issue with the application or the interview, but the interviewing officer did mention that GE wouldn't work during ROC.

She received her GC September 2017 and GE in December 2017.

12 hours ago, pies90 said:

 

My petition was rejected due to the personal check so unfortunately what you said is incorrect.

 

For anyone else filing with London, they accept cashiers checks only.

For what it's worth, London's USCIS webpage specifically tells you to not send personal checks:

Quote

you must pay the fees to the U.S. Embassy cashier using a cashier's check, U.S. dollar money order, or an international bank draft made payable to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Please do not mail cash, personal checks, or traveler’s checks.

4 minutes ago, wtrav said:

Thanks a lot! I will def do a research.

 

As he will be intending to reestablish domicile at the time of i864 submittion, he won't be employed in the US at that time.

With that being said will he be still required to earn above the threshold or prove somehow that once he comes back he can find a well paid job? Will he be required to provide certain amount of savings considering he won't have a US job? 

 

Your husband will be required to be the primary sponsor on the I864 and will be required to either earn above the minimum threshold ($25,975/year) or 3 times that amount in assets. The promise of a future job is not sufficient, only his income at the time of filing the I864 is considered and that income must come from a US based source.

That said, if your husband doesn't meet the requirements then you'll have to get a cosponsor. A cosponsor can be any US citizen or resident domiciled in the US.

To confirm and expand a little more, yes your husband can file the CR1 while residing outside of the US. The process takes around 12-14 months (though this may change by 2021) and about 2/3 of the way through the process he'll have to submit an I864 (affidavit of support). The I864 requires that the petitioner (your husband) either be domiciled in the US or intend to reestablish domicile in the US before or at the same time as the intending immigrants.

Here is the relevant excerpt from the I864 instructions page 5:

Quote

2. You are living abroad temporarily.

 

If you are not currently living in the United States, you must provide proof that your trip abroad is temporary and that you have maintained your domicile in the United States. Examples of proof include:

  A. Your voting record in the United States;

  B. Records of paying U.S. state or local taxes; Form I-864 Instructions 03/06/18 Page 6 of 17

  C. Having property in the United States;

  D. Maintaining bank or investment accounts in the United States;

  E. Having a permanent mailing address in the United States; or

  F. Other proof such as evidence that you are a student studying abroad or that a foreign government has authorized a temporary stay.

 

3. 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.

Your husband would fall into one of these two categories, and from the sounds of it, falls into the 3rd. What this means is that, while he isn't required to move to the US before you and your kid, he does have to convince them that he fully intends to do so no later than you. He can do this by including evidence such as 1) a rental agreement or home purchase, 2) enrolling your kid into a school, 3) getting a job. These are just examples and you can include anything else that makes sense.

I suggest you do a search on here for "reestablish domicile" to read through previous conversation.

1 hour ago, RamirezUSA said:

Thank you for your response, @ItsSunny2Day and reference to previous post. Right, obviously I need the joint sponsor to quickly fill out the new form. The problem is it is impossible to see her before the visa appointment on Monday, July 2 (in 2 days). I am having her send me a scanned, signed copy - but I have a feeling this is not acceptable. 

 

Would they accept a scanned copy of I-864?

 

What does "suspend the approval pending" mean exactly and what happens in these cases?

I think you're right about a scanned copy not being acceptable. The I864 instructions do mention submitting photocopies of the form, but only when sponsoring multiple immigrants. I'm assuming you would still need to present the original for the primary immigrant, and then a photocopy for every other immigrant, so this doesn't apply to you. Here's the relevant section:

Quote

You may submit photocopies if you are sponsoring more than one intending immigrant listed on the same affidavit of support.

...

If you are sponsoring such dependents, you only need to provide a photocopy of the original Form I-864, as long as these dependents are immigrating at the same time as the principal immigrant or within six months of the time he or she immigrates to the United States.

As far as suspending the approval, this means that if the interview goes well then you'll be approved pending the submission of the missing documents. This happens somewhat frequently as people regularly omit or incorrectly fill out documents. They basically say "your visa is approved as long as you send us the I864 within X amount of days. If it checks out then we'll officially approve you at that time"

2 hours ago, ohman said:

Well, for anyone browsing this in the future, the problem with checking the home country is it says you cant have dual citizenship, as other have noted. In actuality is seems you can, or at least you can carry two passports as a thai national. 

Hmm, are you sure? I'm no expert in Thai citizenship law but everything I find on the internet says that Thailand does not allow dual citizenship for adults. Obviously your wife can hide her US citizenship from the Thai authorities and thus carry two passports, but that'll likely land her in a world of trouble eventually.

As far as the US not warning you, they don't because they're not the ones who created or enforce this rule. While the US does not recognize a second nationality, they also won't make you give it up. Thailand, on the other hand, will take away your citizenship if they find out that you've taken on another.

Other countries, such as Mexico, operate similarly to the US. You can take up another nationality without giving up your Mexican citizenship, but to Mexico you'll always be a Mexican citizen only and they'll completely ignore your US citizenship. If you're a dual US/Mexican national, then the US considers you a US citizen only, Mexico considers you a Mexican citizen only, and every other country considers you both.

2 hours ago, Teemo said:

@Sunnylandis pointing out that the correct spelling is Colombia. You're spelling your future wife's native country wrong. 

Maybe she lives along the Columbia River, or is enrolled in Columbia University. It would make this whole immigration thing much easier for him.

2 hours ago, pies90 said:

Hi Jan, this is the first I've ever heard that the petitioner must be living in the country where the petition is filed. Please could you point me in the direction of more information on this?

The petitioner legally residing in the country where the petition is filed is essentially the only requirement for DCF. If the petitioner was a resident of but recently left the country in question, you may be able to get away with filing anyway, but I seriously doubt it, and I definitely would not recommend it.

In general, to be eligible for DCF the petitioner must be a legal resident (not a tourist) of a country with a USCIS field office for at least 6 months. Some field offices are less strict than others, and may only require 3 months residency. Still the residency requirement is non negotiable barring exceptional circumstances.

You should read the filing requirements on the London USCIS site ( https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/united-kingdom-uscis-london-field-office ). Scroll down to and expand the section titled "Form I-130, Petition for an Alien Relative". There you'll see these statements:

Quote

Who May File or Receive Service:

U.S. citizens residing in the United Kingdom filing on behalf of their spouse, unmarried child under the age of 21 or parent (if the U.S. citizen is 21 years of age or older).

 

...

 

Filing and Other Special Instructions:

 

Evidence of residency must be submitted with the petition.  The evidence you submit must support a determination that you are a resident in the United Kingdom.

As you can see you'll be required to submit evidence that the petitioner is a resident of the UK along with the rest of your package. If you do not include this evidence your petition will be denied. If you attempt pull one over the USCIS and file using your husband's previous residency then you'll likely be discovered, will be accused of willful misrepresentation, and possibly face a ban from entering the US either as an immigrant or a tourist.

2 hours ago, Kuneesa said:

Thanks. I looked up on DCF and it looks very promising. Are you sure anyone who meets the residency requirements can file it and it is not only for exceptional circumstances/emergencies? 

Anyone who meets the residency requirements can file, as long as you live in one of these countries, https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-immigration-offices . The exceptional circumstances requirement comes into play when someone lives abroad but does not live in one of these. You can read more if you click through to India's field office site ( https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/india-uscis-new-delhi-field-office ). There's a section titled "Form I-130, Petition for an Alien Relative" that you have to expand, there you'll find this:

Quote

Who May File or Receive Service:

U.S. citizens residing in India filing on behalf of their spouse, unmarried child under the age of 21 or parent (if the U.S. citizen is 21 years of age or older).

 

U.S. citizens residing in this field office’s jurisdiction but outside of India may file with the Department of State only if the USCIS New Delhi field office director determines that there are exceptional circumstances.

 As you can see, if you reside in India then you qualify just by residing there. If you live outside of India but wish to file at that office you need to show exceptional circumstances.

FYI I did DCF in Mexico last year and the total process only took 49 days vs the 12-14 months the standard process takes.

5 minutes ago, jcon91 said:

Do you have a contact info for calling Cuidad de Juarez. Thank you.

Hello again @jcon91, since you're in Cancun (if I remember correctly) you fall under the jurisdiction of the Mexico City field office. They prefer to be contacted by email, you can find that here: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/contact-us-uscis-mexico-city-field-office

You can find the information for each foreign USCIS field office (including each of the 3 based in Mexico), here https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-immigration-offices

You can look at the timeline in my signature to get a detailed look and a link to a DCF Mexico guide I wrote based on my experience.

But in short, getting married in Mexico will take a few days - a couple weeks at least. You need to do blood tests and attend a 4-6 hour group course with a lawyer and marriage counselor (this may vary by state, we got married in Jalisco). Depending on where you live all openings for this course may be booked up. We had to drive a bit out of the way to find a place that wasn't booked up. This is for a civil wedding, if you want to do a religious ceremony then you'll have to allow for more time.

Once you get married you may have to wait for an official copy of your marriage certificate to become available. This only took a few days for us but I've read about couples living in other states and/or small towns where this has taken longer.

After this your wife can apply for residency. As mentioned, this took 8 weeks for us but it can take as little as 5 weeks. Our lawyer quoted us 6-10 weeks. I'm not sure if she'll be placed in an some form of temporary status, but I would assume so. Many countries do this but I would suggest asking a lawyer. I paid around USD$600 for the total process, about half of that was government fees and the other half lawyer fees. The lawyer did everything, including sending someone to wait in line for our marriage certificate and translations.

Once your wife's residency is approved then you can apply for the CR1 via DCF. The process in Mexico is pretty fast, with the wait time for the interview being the most time consuming. The initial I-130 is typically approved within a week, and some times even the same day. Our process took 7 weeks, but we were able to save around 5 weeks because we got lucky and found a cancelled appointment that was 5 weeks earlier than our original appointment. I always recommend that people check for cancelled appointments as often as possible.

Once your wife attends her interview in Ciudad Juarez (you won't be allowed to attend) and is approved, they'll keep her passport so that they can attach the visa. They'll mail it back to you within 1-2 weeks but some people get placed in AP (administrative processing) which can add several weeks to the wait. Your wife being from Venezuela could lead to delays in AP.

So overall you're looking at

• About 1 week preparing for your wedding (blood tests, government mandated courses)
• About 1 week (though could be more) for your marriage certificate to become available.
• About 6 weeks for her Mexican residency (though it could be 5-8 weeks)
• About 3 months total for the DCF process. Fastest Mexico DCF reported on VisaJourney was 33 days, but that was in 2006 when things went much faster. Ours is the third fastest at 49 days. Average seems to be 90 days.

Grand total: about 5 months.

35 minutes ago, jcon91 said:

Thank for the comment. My understanding is that you applied for her green card while she was a Mexican citizen and you were in Mexico as a tourist. 

 

Im wondering if since she is only here on a tourist visa if that will not count as being here for 6 months. Do they even requiere that from the beneficiary? Any clues? Who can I call to clear this up. Thanks once again

Yes, we applied for her green card. She's a Mexican citizen and I am a US citizen. I was in Mexico as a tourist, but was actually living there. I had an apartment, electricity, cable, etc in my name. I'm not sure about the DCF requirements for the beneficiary. I'm pretty sure they only care about the petitioner. That said, I'm rather certain that the beneficiary can only interview in her country of origin or residence. If she is in Mexico as a tourist when her interview comes up, they may not let her attend. This goes for any visa, not just those obtained via DCF. I'm not sure if there are waivers available to circumvent this requirement.