NY1982

Hi there,

My wife (the Petitioner) has a UK Entry clearance visa/stamp so we applied via DCF to the USCIS in London. In all documentation we put down our UK address as her UK residency in the hope it would be approved. Apparently its much quicker getting a VISA for me this way then applying in the states.

I-130 sent off to USCIS 20th June 2010, it was past to and approved to the Immigrant Visa Branch on November 24th.

My next step is to fill out DS-230-I along with the Notification of Applicant(s) Readiness, Form 2001.

My question is, given that we need to fill out The Affidavit of Support, Form I-864 later down the line, which requires my wife (the USC petitioner) to be domiciled in the US, should we send the Immigrant Visa Branch notice that she has essentially now changed her address? And if so, do this before or after filling out DS-230-I, as it asks what her current address is.

Noorah101

Interesting that yours took 5 months to approve. Typical DCF cases take about 2 or 3 weeks for I-130 approval. How long had she been living in the UK when the I-130 was filed back in June? Perhaps London was waiting for her to be in the UK 6 months before approving the I-130.

Has she indeed changed her address?

Fill out all information on all the forms as they apply on the day you sign the form.

Rene

meauxna

Where DID she live when she filed I-130? Where does she live now?

NY1982

She's never really lived her in the UK. We are constantly back and forth. We claimed she lived in the UK under the I-130 filing, she now lives in NY.

Noorah101

Apparantly not in your case. A typical DCF I-130 approval takes only a few weeks, yours took 5 months. A typical I-130 filed in the USA takes 5 months for approval, so it seems you didn't gain anything by the "white lie" that you told.

I'm not familiar with what a UK Entry clearance visa/stamp is, so what was the lie you told? Did she actually just come as a visitor, but you made it seem as though she's living in the UK?

I believe a USC is allowed to stay in the UK for 6 months as a visitor. If she arrived in the UK in June, shouldn't it be about time for her to be going back to the USA anyway?

Rene

NY1982

I think mine took longer because we had to send back a 'proper' Affidavits, they were missing a sentence to make them compliant. And I also had to submit a 'Declaration of Name Change' as they didnt recognise my deed poll.

We filed the I-130 as if she lived in the UK, but in reality we travel back and forth and her main home is in New York.

Noorah101

Regardless of how the I-130 got approved, if she now lives in NY, why are you questioning what to put on the forms now? She now lives in NY. Should be pretty clear.

Rene

NY1982

Sorry, looking back at the dates, it was more like 4 months, and I was delayed getting back the paperwork they required which a proper name change as my Birth Certificate shows a different name.

She entered back in February under her UK Entrance Stamp/Visa, which gives her ILR for 2 years. Since then she has travelled back and forth on that and UK Border staff have never stamped her passport on the way in again.

NY1982

Thanks for the advice as i'm doing all this on my own its great to find support here.

Noorah101

OK, but doesn't ILR mean she is legally allowed to live in the UK? So she wasn't really a visitor. She had a stamp that showed she could live in the UK for 2 years.

So when you filed the I-130 in June (or was it July, since now you think it took only 4 months for approval), she'd already been living in the UK on her ILR status for 4 or 5 months. Maybe that was close enough to the 6 month requirement for London to approve DCF for you guys.

Since she was in the UK with ILR status, I don't see where you did any white lies. So she was physically traveling back and forth...that's fine...but I believe her ILR status lets her live in the UK, unless I'm totally off base.

Rene

NY1982

That sounds like a convincing argument

Yes - filed at the very end of June. On any of the documentation I was supplied from their site, nowhere did it state the 6 month rule. Just that she had to have a 'UK Entry Clearance' stamp. Though I had read the 6 month rule on the US Visa website and here.

With the I-130, we did send a utility bill in her name (which they kept) and a copy of her UK National Insurance Card & Letter (which they returned).

avanutria

How did she get her ILR? If I recall correctly, I entered the UK on a spousal visa which was good for two years and only after living there for two years was I eligible for ILR, which is NOT limited to two years, hence the "indefinite" part of "Indefinite Leave to Remain".

Do you mean she holds a two year spousal visa?

meauxna

It's not a 'winky face' game... honestly, I don't know what is up with people lately. Please don't ever think Rene is telling you it is OK to 'get away' with something, she doesn't roll that way.
If it's more fun for you to think you're gaming the system, fine. It doesn't seem to have earned you any advantage now.

Back to your original question, you will be notifying them of her 'new' address when you submit the DSD-230.

meauxna

It's LLR, right? Limited Leave, not Indefinite.

NY1982

Sorry, yes, she has the 'two year spousal visa' It's a UK Entry Clearance certificate which expires 26 months after she got it. We got that by applying though the New York UK embassy.