nialljc32

FYI, the income requirement for a family of two is $18,212.

According to the form instructions there is no requirement that the funds be in a US bank. I am not sure how funds in another currency are evaluated with regard to exchange rate variations. I'm sure another VJ'er can share some experience.

thanks for the info;) we have a 2 year old daughter aswell, how much more does that put the requirement up do you know?

thanks again.

niall

It is probably consulate specific - in Canada they generally don't have a problem with it being in a Canadian bank.

ok, cheers for that. will speak with the embassy over here:)

thanks

niall

i have liquid assets that do exceed the required 3 x the $15,000 a year needed. does it need to be in a us bank account? or does it matter where it is. at present my account is in ireland but if necessary i can move it. any advice will be gratefully apreciated. thank you.

niall

I doubt that exceptions would be made, as it would be more difficult for the US government to go after someone's money if they do not live here in the US, and the instructions are quite clear. That being said, I never read of anyone asking for an exception.

thanks for the reply penguin, we may have hit a speed bump here. asking my friend that we will stay with to sign the i-864a might strain the friendship.....grrrr delays, delays!

I-864A sponsor must share the same household as the petitioner/sponsor. They could use form I-864 but their residence abroad must be temporary. See page 6 of the I-864 instructions.

thanks anh,

might have a new problem to deal with:)

when filing the i-864a affidavit, can i use my us citizen relatives income who lives abroad (ireland) ?

i know it states that the relative must reside in the us, but are there ever exemptions made?

he files his us tax returns every year and would certainly be able to support us financially if needed.

thanks for any responses:)

niall

Hey Niall,

Sure thing you can marry in Belfast, would be no prob. Actually, we got married in Hungary. Do it wherever is faster!

Once you guys got married either wait 2 years (NOT) or do a status adjustment in the States once you are in. But I'd definitely suggest to do your DCF from Dublin Embassy, cuz it is truly an easy, kick-back embassy and QUICK. It took us 2 1/2 months for the whole nine-yard.

Keep me posted and cheers m8t!

Tibor

Tibor!!!

cant thank you enough:) going to get the wedding plans together in the morning and get this thing moving. we wanted to get there for january ((me first to get the house in order, car and what not) and now looks very likely. was on the verge of going the k1 way until hearing from you. again, big thanks to you and that cocktail has now turned to a night on the piss!

will let u know whats happening for sure.

be good, will write soon.

Niall

You need to check the limitations on DCF in Ireland. Are you a legal resident of Ireland? If not, it may be a no go. Plus, you frequently have to be petitioning on behalf of an individual who is a citizen or at least resident of the country in which you are doing the DCF.

1st figure this out, then you will be able to evaluate your options.

hi brukath thanks for the reponse,

i am a legal resident of ireland ( dual citizenship ) and my fiance is polish, a member of the eu so she is legally allowed to work and live here, ie she pays taxes, has pps (social security) number. im speaking with the consulate tomorow to see where we stand. what do u mean by frequently petitioning?

is there yet another form i am not familiar with? please advize:~)

thanks

niall

No you don;t need to be married for 6 months, you only need to have lived in the country you file from (Ireland in your case) for 6 months, which you have. You can file the day of your wedding if you like.

Your child doesn't matter in this (other than helping a bit with the bonafide of marriage), what matters is that you as the USC have lived legally in the foregin country you want to file in for a minimum of 6 months.

thanks penguin, is the dcf a quicker process then the k1? and do you know if we get married in belfast (as can be done in a couple of weeks) can we still file through the embassy in dublin? appologies, my questions might keep coming.

niall

hello,

thanks to all who have answered my questions so far, your advice has truly helped.

after reading through and posting on various forums im thinking that we should use the i-130 petition.

myself and my fiance live in dublin, ireland. i am a us citizen but not lived there for 5 years, my fiance is polish (not eligible for visa waiver)

and our 2 year old daughter is also a us citizen. must we be married 6 months to go the dcf route? there is a 4 month waiting period here before we can marry and regardless we would like to get over there sooner then 1 year which it seems the k1 would do, although i do realise the k1 is a long and pricey process but we are prepared to go that way if it is our only option. i have arranged a conference call with the consular department at the us embassy in dublin for tomorow but am hoping i can get some info on which is our best way to approach this before hand.

we have all the requirements lined up like a joint sponsor and us address aswell as all our documents in order, bar a few we are waiting on.

does the fact we have a child together mean we can apply directly through the us embassy in dublin via the dcf?

and if not, if we marry here (ireland) must we wait 6 months to apply?

those are my main 2 questions( for now ).

thank u for any responses.

Niall

hi tibbort,

congrats on the visa:) and thanks for posting your question concerning co-sponsors. i am in the same boat as my irish income doesnt count either.

i have a question for you concerning the embassy in dublin. should i leave all my documents and the i-129f petition with them? or post it to the us?

on the fone they said to me to leave it with them. but as you pointed out, sometimes their advice can be confusing;)

thanks for any answers you can give me.

here's to sunny days and california living:)

niall.

Hey Niall,

I feel you, it is sure confusing. You are considered as DCF, so your paperwork must remain at Dublin Embassy, just like my wife's. You are considered as an expat, so by posting it to the US would be a no-go.

You need to dig up a co sponsor (preferably a SINGLE person), copy his/her '08 1040, attach a W-2 to it and a copy of the picture page of the person's US passport and you're done (provided the the co-sponsor's income is ABOVE poverty guide lines).

Let me know whazzup.

Tibor

hey Tibor,

wow! i really was looking in the wrong place. im seeing now that doing the 1-130 is probably our best option. but we are not yet married and there is a 4 month waiting period after we issue our intent to marry (dublin). thats a problem isnt it? altho if we marry in belfast (2-3 week wait) can we still go through us embassy in dublin? im going to scour the forums and look for some advice. cheers for the info.

will certainly keep u posted

we will get there and buy u a cocktail on the west coast;)

niall

She won't be traveling with you on the K1 fiance visa if you are planning on going any time soon. And she won't have the ability to work once she arrives. There is the adjustment of status step that you would go through, more time and fees ($1010).

All in all, if the move is a few months out the CR1/DCF is cleaner and she would have a green card after arrival.

Do some reading in the VJ guides (top of every page) to get the pros/cons and time frames for each visa track.

Best of luck. Welcome to VJ

thanks very much anh map:)

and thanks for the welcome, this really is a great and much needed site. il have a look now at those other visas . was always the plan for me to go ahead of my fiance and our daughter so i can get the apartment sorted, car, furniture etc. but if getting married in ireland looks likke a better option i know my parents and hers would be delighted:)

thanks again

im currently living in ireland and am filing a petition for my fiance who is in ireland with me. i havent lived in the us for 5 years, we are moving to california and i am wondering if i should file out in california or in the vermont office as the last place i lived was NY.

any responses will be greatly appreciated:)

niall

When are you planning to file, before you move back to California or when you move?

planning to file now, before we move back

Why don't you get married and file DCF?.

whats DCF?

i thought the k1 was the faster visa to get.

my fiance is polish and not eligible for the visa waiver scheme. although we have a 2 year old daughter who is a us citizen.

If you are filing abroad:

File Form I-129F with the service center based on the last place you lived in the United States.

That would be Vermont for you

thanks very much, just getting a little confused here going through everything:)

im currently living in ireland and am filing a petition for my fiance who is in ireland with me. i havent lived in the us for 5 years, we are moving to california and i am wondering if i should file out in california or in the vermont office as the last place i lived was NY.

any responses will be greatly appreciated:)

niall

When are you planning to file, before you move back to California or when you move?

planning to file now, before we move back

Why don't you get married and file DCF?.

whats DCF?

i thought the k1 was the faster visa to get.

my fiance is polish and not eligible for the visa waiver scheme. although we have a 2 year old daughter who is a us citizen.

If you are married and have resided outside the USA for 6 mos. or more then you may be eligible to file for a spousal visa directly with the consulate (this is called DCF or Direct Consulate Filed). The biggest delay in the visa process is the USCIS servicve centers... a consulate filed I-130 for a spouse avoids the stateside USCIS process thus making the DCF proces the quickest by up to several months.

we are not married yet and unfortunately to marry in ireland u have to give a notice of intent which means u have to file this notice and wait 4 months or more for its approval. so all things considered i think the k1 is our best option

im currently living in ireland and am filing a petition for my fiance who is in ireland with me. i havent lived in the us for 5 years, we are moving to california and i am wondering if i should file out in california or in the vermont office as the last place i lived was NY.

any responses will be greatly appreciated:)

niall

When are you planning to file, before you move back to California or when you move?

planning to file now, before we move back

Why don't you get married and file DCF?.

whats DCF?

i thought the k1 was the faster visa to get.

my fiance is polish and not eligible for the visa waiver scheme. although we have a 2 year old daughter who is a us citizen.

im currently living in ireland and am filing a petition for my fiance who is in ireland with me. i havent lived in the us for 5 years, we are moving to california and i am wondering if i should file out in california or in the vermont office as the last place i lived was NY.

any responses will be greatly appreciated:)

niall

I would just file directly to be honest. And the affidavit of support isn't needed until the actual interview itself so that gives you time to get your taxes filed

thats great:) listen, thanks again VERY much:) will post up our progress when we get word, fews months i take it:)

take care

niall

fiance(e) visa petitions MUST be filed stateside... spousal visas can be submitted to the consulate, if you qualify.

thanks for the reply payxibka:)

we dont qualify so will file direct to the us, thanks for the advice:)

niall

Hi

I didn't realise the Embassy here processes K1 visas too, but if they said drop in your documents then they must do!

1. You'll need a US address for filing, when we went through the K1 (both living here in Ireland) we used my husband's (my then fiance) mother's address as that's where he filed taxes and retained a US domicile etc.

2. As a US citizen you are legally required to file US taxes, even if you live and work outside the country. You'll need to look into filing a foreign income earned exclusion too, to avoid double taxation. You won't have a penalty for late filing if you don't earn above the amount specified in the EZ-2555 (foreign income earned exclusion). It used to be approx $60,000 but is now around $85,000. Rent and some utilities can be taken on board too, but a mortgage cannot.

3. I actually cannot remember how the Affidavit of Support for the K1 works, so not sure of assets v income. Rental income wise, they might want to see what the monthly rent intake v monthly mortgage payment is. And remember that rental income is dropping here. If you have a co-sponsor (must be a US citizen), you don't need to worry about your income or assets.

4. I would go with what the Embassy tells you!

Good Luck

hi mand:)

thanks for the response. i dont think that they process it here, just that they will send it on if i leave it with them. this might possibly slow things down so probably in my interest to file direct to the us as it needs to be approved there.

i thought so about the adress and figured i would complicate things if i gave 2 addresses:)

just off the phone with an accountant and going to file my taxes through a us based one. seems il not have to pay any extra taxes, or a very minimal amount if i have to.

the co-sponsor is a citizen and earns more then enough to support us if needed, so hopefully that hurdle is cleared.

thank you very much for your answers. i feel more comfortable with going ahead and starting the process then i did earlier.

i just rememberd one more question......

the affidavit of support is not needed with the petition right? i can file that then have the affidavit filled out and signed for my fiance's interview while we wait approval on the petition. or do i need it in advance?

thanks again,

niall

hi tibbort,

congrats on the visa:) and thanks for posting your question concerning co-sponsors. i am in the same boat as my irish income doesnt count either.

i have a question for you concerning the embassy in dublin. should i leave all my documents and the i-129f petition with them? or post it to the us?

on the fone they said to me to leave it with them. but as you pointed out, sometimes their advice can be confusing;)

thanks for any answers you can give me.

here's to sunny days and california living:)

niall.

hi there,

first of all thank you to everyone who put this site up, i have spoken to lawyers and a visa service but i have found answers to almost all my questions here. i am a us citizen living in ireland and am engaged to a polish girl ( not entitled to the visa waiver program ) whom i have lived with for the past 3 years. we have a daughter who is 2 years old and is also a us citizen. my questions are;

1. at first we will be living with friends of ours as i have no fixed address in the us. should i put their address on the i-129f petition instead of our home address in ireland?

2. i have not lived in the us for 5 years but we are sincerely emigrating to california. i have not paid us taxes in this time, will it be nessecary to file tax returns? or will my irish tax returns suffice.

3. regarding the affidavit of support, i will be working shortly after arriving in the us but have no income to show from there at present. i cannot get an employer to write a letter as it is not in my interest to commit to a position until i have arrived. i have assets in ireland, primarily a house which will bring in a substantial amount of money each month as a rental property. aswell as this my friend is willing to co-sign with me. will this be sufficient evidence?

4. the us embassy in dublin, ireland, advised me to drop all my documents along with my petition to them (they have copies of all my documents required to acquire my daughters citizenship) but should i post everything to the service centre in vermont? as the last placed i was living was NY.

thank you in advance for any advice that can be given.

good luck to all in this beaurocratic boat:)

Niall.