trailmix

To K-3 or not to K-3. To answer this, you need to have a look at the benefits to using a non-immigrant vs immigrant entry to the US.

The NIV (k-3) is probably faster to get, can be interviewed for in Vancouver and allows immediate travel in/out of the US.

It does not offer immediate employment authorization, which dominoes onto Social Security number, which cascades onto many things (credit, driver's license etc)

To DCF or stay the course?

Calculate however long Vermont is taking with I-130s and then put yourself in line for a MTL interview.

If you DCF, put yourself effectively into the line for MTL tomorrow. Now add the $$ cost of your previous petition.

I *suspect* you will have a longer wait for an immigrant visa no matter which way you petition vs filing for a non-immigrant visa. However, you'll have the downsides of the NIV to factor in.

We opted to stay overseas until we had an Immigrant Visa & were happy with our choice. Note that our wait time was non-existant.

The assets formula is clearly laid out in the instructions for I-864. Please don't call me pompous, but I do suggest you read the source material for a better understanding.

Hi Meauxna,

Haha, I see you read my other post today, that made me laugh. I don't think you are pompous at all and you offer a valid suggestion. To be honest with you I had never actually read down that far on the form!

Well I have now and have calculated we will need $85560 (basically 5 x the 125% above the poverty line) - which is very helpful information.

Thanks

We are a welcoming people and country but our immigration laws are set up to ensure immigrants don't rely on the public for their support.

Ahh Pushbrk,

I hate to say this, but your answer sounds so pompous! It really doesn't have anything to do with Andy's post and it wasn't helpful, high-handed more like.

We are in a similar situation (as mentioned above) and while we are living in Canada it is poses the question as to how to prove income/domicile to the USCIS. I am just going to assume that Andy and Co have no intention of of relying 'on the public for support' and in fact they wouldn't qualify anyway due to the sponsorship!

On the other side of the coin - good answer Homesick.

I must admit I am now getting a bit confused.

I have been reading this forum over the last few weeks and there is a lot of very helpful information here. Here is where I am confused.

We live in Calgary, Canada, I am a dual citizen and my Husband is an Australian (perm resident in Canada).

We had a few questions about filing our 1-130, wanted to make sure we were on the right track, so we popped in to the U.S. Consulate here in Calgary in March and had a chat with them. This, of course, happened to be during the whole kafuffle about only being able to file directly with Vermont.

We asked the person at the Consulate about the K-3, she said most applications take from 6 months to a year and that the K-3 processing times were pretty much about the same as the immediate relative, so there wasn't much point in filing one.

We then decided to send our application off to Vermont and not bother with the K-3 at all.

Timelines in here are so varied and circumstances are so varied I'm having trouble deciding whether or not we should actually be filing a K-3. Secondary is that my Husband might only have to interview in Vancouver rather than Montreal. Also, would Direct Consular Filing have been faster, may still be faster?

We aren't 'desperate' to travel to the U.S., we are together, we have jobs, a house, family here, on the other hand, we want to move and open our new business etc etc and it's - well this whole process is pretty annoying!

Anyone currently in a similar situation, living in Canada and doing direct consular filing - I'd be interested to see your timeline and hear your experiences!

One other question - for the affadavit of support, when using assets vs income (since neither of us have U.S. income) do we need to show assets equal to 10 years of support at the poverty line or? I guess I'm looking for a number here, in terms of support how much is enough when looking at cash in the bank?

Thanks for your suggestions in advance!

So I emailed the Consulate in Montreal asking whether fingerprinting is required for the Australian and/or Canadian Security checks - no they are not, according to them:

"Good morning,

The “Name check” version is acceptable. Fingerprints aren’t required.

Thank you"

Which is good!

http://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?letter=C

Thanks for that, I don't know why I didn't think to check there!

Hello All

Actually my fiancee is in the exact same position. We only documented her US citizenship a few months ago by applying for a passport based ont he fact that her mother was a US citizen....

Muraari

Hi Muraari

Thanks for the info, you are indeed in the same situation we are. After posting this I called the IRS to see what I needed to file (I was on the phone for 74 minutes!) he basically read me all of the documentation....about 5 minutes of the information was required.

Anyway, I have already completed my 2006 return, just waiting for my SSN to show up (should be this week) and I will then send it in.

He basically alluded to the fact that I would probably only need to file 3 years worth of returns as that is the "assessment period". I'll file the 2006 right away then get to the others, taxes are boring. I've read quite a few USCIS documents stating they will probably only require a transcript from the last tax year, although I do know that they might ask for 3.

What might be of interest, for those of you with basic returns - he told me I need to file a 1040, F2555-EZ and an F8891-for RRSP funds (I took some money out of my RRSP last year and apparently you have to have one of these for each year you contribute or take out money). There are of course variations, all I have is employment income basically and the RRSP and I fit their criteria to use the F2555-EZ as opposed to the full form. The info on their website is pretty straight forward.

As for the 'domicile/residency' issue - we are just going to give them the address we are going to be living at, with my Sister.

Thanks again for the info!

Thanks Kath for sending me a note!

Well there is a choice really - police information check and/or fingerprinting. He doesn't have a criminal record, in either place, so I don't know that it is a huge issue.

I would love to email Montreal and find out - what is the contact email address?

Thanks for your help.

Hi,

Good question! I basically posted the same question on the Consulate forum (my Husband and I both live in Canada). I didn't get a response.

It's an interesting scenario and I am wondering what others have used to prove income since we will, obviously, be looking for new jobs when we move to the U.S..

As far as having a domocile in the U.S., I did read that having a house or renting a residence in the U.S. can prove 'intent' as far as residence is concerned. I also found this at the Qatar U.S. embassy website (basically asking how can I have a 'domicile' for affadavit of support purposes, when I don't live there):

Q: How can the petitioner establish a domicile?

A: In cases where the sponsor has clearly not maintained a domicile in the U.S., the question becomes when the sponsor can be deemed to have re-established U.S. residence. To do this, the sponsor must have taken a credible combination of steps to make the U.S. his immediate principal place of abode. Such steps might include finding U.S. employment, locating a place to live, registering children in U.S. schools and other indices of residence. The sponsor should also have made other arrangements to relinquish residence in the third country.

It is not necessary for the sponsor to precede the sponsored family members to the U.S. to re-establish residence and domicile provided that the sponsor has taken the type of concrete steps outlined above. It is important to note that in such cases, a sponsored immigrant may not enter the United States prior to the sponsor’s return to take up residence. He or she must either travel to the United States with the sponsor or at some date after the sponsor’s entry into the U.S.

I apologize in advance as I am SURE this is a duplicate question that has been asked over and over, but I can't find the answer!

I am the U.S./Canadian Citizen, sponsoring my Husband (who is Australian - we live in Canada).

From what I have been reading, he will need 2 police checks (Australia and Canada). Here are my questions:

1. For the Canadian police check, can we just do this locally, in Calgary, and do we require the fingerprint version or just the name check version (or is this something they tell you when they send you one of the packages?).

2. For the Australian police check - fingerprints or not?

Both of these take a while so I'm just thinking we could get these now perhaps.

Thanks!

Hi,

I hope someone can answer this, I'm sure there are some of you out there in the same situation.

I am a Canadian, living in Canada (have never lived or worked in the U.S.). I am also a U.S. Citizen. My Husband and I live in Canada and we were married here.

We have filed the I-130 and received our first NOA. I can file a couple of U.S. tax returns, that isn't a problem, however I don't have any U.S. income and of course when we move to the States we will be looking for new jobs.

My first question is: Can I file my affadavit of support using my Canadian income (I'm assuming yes).

My second question: I don't have to work and I'm thinking of quitting my job - will that affect our application?

(If this should really be on a different forum, please let me know)

Any help is appreciated!

If I have it right you always have been a US Citizen, obtaining a passport is a separate issue.

In which case you would have had the tax obligation, with or without a passport.

Yes Boiler, you are absolutely correct.

As for the other comments, I really do appreciate your help and thanks for answering my question. As to whether the USCIS will accept the fact that I don't have any U.S. returns or that I don't actually have a U.S. residence, that remains to be seen, we can only do what we can do to prove our intention I suppose.

The whole citizenship/necessity of filing returns should probably be on some other forum, it's complicated and I won't bore you all with the details.

Thanks to everyone for their replies. You all make valid points and ask valid questions.

To Boiler: I acquired citizenship through both my parents, I only received my U.S. passport in February 2007 - it took me almost a year to get together the documentation they required - which was a lot! (But that's another forum).

To Pushbrk: Good question, depends what they require for domicile? In reading I think they require that you either own a home or rent a home? If that's what we have to do, then we shall. It makes it hard when you are an American Citizen, however since you were born in another country and married in that country - well you know. Both my Sisters (and their families) already live in the U.S. - we plan on living with my one Sister when we move - unless we have to pre-rent/buy.

To Yodrak: Yes, that is what I understand, however since I only documented my citizenship a month ago, I doubt the IRS will be knocking on my door anytime soon.

I live in Calgary and as we have just started this process I was completely surprised to find out my Husband will have to travel to Montreal.

It seems to me the only 'logic' applied is some kind of political favor! How else can you explain only having 1 place to interview for the I-130 in this huge country?

We have filed an I-130 for my Husband (Australian now in Canada). We have received the NOA. Now it's time to look ahead to the next level of paperwork!

I have seen mention elsewhere that I (a dual Canadian/American Citizen) am going to have to provide 3 years worth of U.S. tax returns? I hope there is some way around this....

I also read on the USCIS website that I might only be asked for the most recent year.

I only had my U.S. Citizenship documented this year (that is a whole other paperwork story), I have never lived in the U.S. and never worked in the U.S..

They don't seriously want me to file a U.S. tax return? If so, should I go ahead and file for 3 years, or just for last year.

Any suggestions?

Thanks