bartlettchef

Hi all,

Does my joint sponsors i-864 need to be the original one ("wet ink")  they filled out, or can it be a photocopy of their form?  I filed DCF in Bangkok as i live here with my wife, if i can get away with not having my joint sponsor have to Fed Ex an original signed copy of the i-864 it would be nice. I've heard that the NVC recently announced that they do in fact accept photocopies of the joint sponsors i-864, however, my case will not be going through the NVC stage as we filed DCF. I was wondering if anyone has any insight as to whether the USCIS/Embassy here in Bangkok will accept photocopies of the joint sponsors i-864 or if i should just have the original signed copy Fed-Ex'd over here. Thanks in advance everyone.

19 minutes ago, BlueDevil1442 said:

If you have the Thai visa, you should be fine. Again wait until after six months to file. Gather any other evidence you have showing your stay was actually living there, not just being a tourist including apartment rental agreement, your visa, any ID for Thai visa, any driver's license ect... 

 

Also Here is some great information for you to read that I found.

 

Direct Consular Filing General Information

 

Direct Consular Filing USCIS Phase

 

Direct Consular Filing Embassy Phase

Thank you for the response.  One thing that I’m slightly worried about pertains to our current address in Thailand.  The apartment building my wife and I live at has refused multiple requests to add my name onto the rental agreement (lease) so therefore I’m unable to get a residence card, or a drivers license. Because of the refusal of the landlord to add my name to my wife’s lease, In order to get my Non Imm O visa I was forced to use my wife’s parents address in Saraburi as our place of residence (although we don’t actually reside there). I’m afraid that leaves me with only a Thai bank account and a work permit as proof of residence here in Thailand. Do you think that would suffice? Or, would the USCIS office insist on seeing some sort of rental agreement or lease with my name on it? If so, would it be possible to just have my wife’s parents prepare some sort of lease that ties me to an actual address (even though we don’t actually live there or pay rent)?

Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thank you.

I'm currently living in Bangkok with my wife, i'm on a Non-immigrant Thai visa. I want to DCF in 5 months here in Bangkok (at that point i'll have been in Thailand on the Non-Immigrant visa for 6 months). I was wondering how easy it is to get accepted to file your i-130 at the Bangkok USCIS field office if you have been on a Non-Imm visa for 6 months. I called the field office and asked and she said that after 6 months that i would be eligible to file at their office, however, she advised that i Bring as much proof of residency as possible.  If i have (in addition to having my non-imm visa for 6 months) a Thai bank account and a Thai work permit, would that be enough proof of residence to file at their office? I really don't want to wait 5 months to file DCF only to be rejected from being eligible.  I've read several places that it could be relatively difficult to be approved for DCF in Bangkok. Does anyone have any insight? Thanks in advance.

16 minutes ago, geowrian said:

If the answer to both of the above is yes, then DCF is likely much faster than filing in the US. I don't know the specifics for Bangkok, but DCF is usually in the land of weeks to a few months to process a visa.

Thanks for the quick response and informed opinion, Yea, i'm starting to think that DCF might be the way to go. I'll be here for the entirety of the six months and should not have a problem proving residency as i have a non-immigrant visa, bank account, etc.

16 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Note that you will need to show US domicile (or sufficient intent to establish US domicile) if doing DCF.

You will also need sufficient income (coming from the same source upon return to the US, which often doesn't apply to workers) or assets (at at least 3x the income level) for the I-864. If you don't meet the financial requirements for the I-864, then you will need a joint sponsor to also file an I-864.

 

I think that i have everything in order to prove intent to re-establish domicile, including; Bank account with permanent address attached to it, valid Minnesota drivers license, voting registration, drawn up lease with relative, and a letter from former employer stating that they will hire me back upon my return to the US (would this be enough to prove intent to reestablish domicile?).

As for the the I-864, i will be using a joint sponsor (mother), as my income has been variant over the last few years and i have few assets. My mother has stable employment with the same employer for the last 20 years, has made over $50,000 per year for the last 5 years and owns her own house and cars. I think that she would make a very suitable joint sponsor. Thoughts?

My wife and I are both residing in Bangkok Thailand together. We've been working on getting all of the i-130 and supporting documents ready for submission and nearly have everything completely in order. I had been planning to submit our i-130 through the mail to the Chicago Lockbox, however, i recently had someone suggest that perhaps DCF at the Bangkok USCIS field office may be the better option.  I currently don't meet he residency qualifications for DCF in Bangkok.  It's been about a month since i received my non-immigrant visa here in Thailand, to my understanding I will qualify for DCF upon holding non-immigrant status for 6 months. This means that i would be eligible for DCF filing here in Bangkok in about 5 months from now.  I was wondering what everyone thinks would be the quickest route? Apply now through Chicago Lockbox now, or, wait 5 months to apply DCF here in Bangkok.  I'm not sure how long of a timeline i would be facing filing the standard way ( I have been told currently 14 months). If the quote of 14 months is accurate i would think that waiting 5 months to file DCF might in fact be the quickest route as i've read that DCF filing here in Bangkok can be as fast as 6-12 weeks (is this true?).  What does everyone think the fastest way would be? Should i file asap through the standard procedure, or wait 5 months in order to be qualified to file directly with the USCIS office here in Bangkok.  I've seen online that some of the Visa Centers in the USA are currently quoting 7-12 months, however, it seems that most people here on VJ are saying it would currently take longer than that. Thanks in advance for the help again.

3 minutes ago, mrmvkjts said:

May I ask when u would be eligable for DCF?

It might be still faster with waiting for that rather than doing the Chicago Lockbox way as the current wait time is about 14 Months

I just got my non-immigrant visa here in Thailand 3 weeks ago.  If i'm not mistaken the requirements is to have had a non-immigrant visa for 6 months?  That would put me about 5 1/2 months out from being able to apply for DCF.  I guess that could still be faster.  Once i have had non-immigrant status here in Thailand for 6 months are the chances that i would be approved for DCF filing good?  I'd hate to wait 5 1/2 months to file only to find out that i still don't qualify for DCF.

I'm together with my wife in Thailand, we are preparing our documents for filing the i-130 from here in Thailand together. As i do not yet qualify for Direct Consular Filing here at the Bangkok USCIS field office we will have to mail our i-130 and supporting documents to the Chicago Lockbox from abroad.  Are there any issues that may arise from having to file together overseas? One issue that i'm concerned about is our current address here in Thailand, the address is very long and will therefore not fit in the box on the i-130 form. I've read several posts in the past about people who have received RFE's due to foreign addresses that didn't fit in the box and needed to placed in the amendment section at the end of the form, or on a separate piece of paper.  Does anyone have any insight regarding this issue? Should we try to handwrite the address into the box on the form? Add it to the end of the document with a notation in the address box? Type it on entirely separate piece of paper at the end? Or, add a post-it note next to the appropriate box with the address. I really don't want a simple issue such as this to result in a longer drawn out process from receiving a RFE.  Any advice regarding this or other issues that might arise from filing overseas would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance everyone.

59 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Six years of visits and travel together are a 10.  Affidavits of bona fide relationship are a 1.  Don't bother.  You got this.

Thanks! We've literally got thousand of photos together in different locations spanning all 6 years, i figured i would include a handful of photos from each year we've been together. Also i think the photo evidence of both our immediate family members together will be good evidence. .  Quick question, when preparing the photo evidence should i copy and paste the photo's into a word document to be printed out with text descriptions next to each photo, or, should I mail in the actual prints of each photo? I feel like copy and pasting them into a word document with descriptions next to the photos would be the most clean and organized idea, however, i'm not sure if they prefer actual prints of the photos?  

3 minutes ago, geowrian said:

There's no affidavit of support for the I-130. That terminology is used for the I-864 for the financial sponsorship later in the process.

 

I'm assuming you mean affidavits from friends/family that know your relationship and marriage. These are fine to include, but know that they typically have very little to no impact on the case (unless if maybe you had no other good forms of evidence). Other forms of marriage evidence go much further to show a bona fide marriage.

 

Either way, to answer the question asked you don't need to provide an address as you don't know what USCIS service center it will go to, if it will be transferred later, etc.

 

While I don't put much faith into affidavits, good ones should focus on specifics/details rather than general statements about the relationship/marriage. For example, "John Doe is a great guy and I attended their wedding and they are a happy couple" has virtually no meaning. Whereas something like "My friend John and I traveled to Palm Beach with his wife on xx/xx/xxxx. We enjoyed the food at XYZ's crab shack, tried surfing together for the first time, and [yada yada yada]". These detailed descriptions of time spent together with other individuals, especially if supported by other evidence like photos and receipts, show a better case IMO.

Yes, correct, i was referring to affidavit of bonafide marriage from family.  Thanks for the information. I also have read that these carry little influential weight, although, just trying to be thorough we are having several of our family members write one for us.  My wife and I were just married in April, although we don't have much shared financial proof, we do have a ton of evidence of relationship such as photos together, correspondence together and trip itineraries together spanning over 6 years. Photos from the wedding include all of our family members together (extended family included) we had over 400 guests in attendance at our wedding. We do have a joint checking account, however, we rarely use it. The majority of our proof of bonafide marriage will basically boil down to photo, correspondence and and shared trip itineraries together. Just hoping that it is enough. 

Hey, new here. I just had a quick question regarding the affidavit of support letter that a few of my family members will be writing on behalf of my wife and i that will accompany our i-130.  When my relatives are typing their affidavit of support letter, what USCIS office should they address the letter to? As we don't know yet what visa center our i-130 will be sent to after being sent to the Chicago lockbox, i'm just not sure what address they should write on their letter of support? Any help advice is appreciated.