bharat91

Hi All,

I'm sure there must have been lots of couple in this situation, and some of them must have attempted the following. I'm looking to hear of cases where you/they have failed or succeeded.

My wife is a dual citizen, UK & USA, and I am a UK citizen.
I live and work in the UK, she lives and works in the USA (and has done so for the past decade).

I was looking at the potential to file the I-130 via DCF in London (yup, I know I have just a couple of weeks left for that path).
A cursory glance at our application makes it obvious that she does not reside in the UK, and has not for a decade.
She has a UK bank account, is registered to vote, and has an address here.
However, the checklist for items to include mentions we can just include a copy of her UK passport. This suggests that the physical residency might be waived...
I have no intention of lying on anything about anything.

I'm wondering if there are any cases of applications of this nature being successful (or failing).

I believe our application would be straightforward - no criminal records, no immigration violations, strong proof of relationship.

Thanks for any case studies!

os306

Hi there,

I can't specifically speak regarding your situation, however, after double-checking the London DCF checklist it looks like all they are looking for is evidence that your wife has the right to reside in the UK (i.e. you should be fine with a scan of her UK passport photo page). In the past it looks like they would require the petitioner to fulfil a 6 month residency requirement in the UK; however, it sounds like this is no longer enforced (see this thread: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/t...y-requirement/)

Bottom line is that although technically your wife must actually live in the UK; practically speaking they only check if you have the right to live there and provide them with a UK address on the application. To be on the safe side, you could e-mail USCIS London to see what they say.

The other issue you'll have to think about is how you are going to prove that you have a bona fide marriage. It seems that most people submit a copy of their lease/tenancy agreement/joint ownership of a home with both party's names along with utility bills. If your wife's name is on these documents then you should be okay.

If you do plan to go via the DCF London route (I'm sure you already know this) but you should submit ASAP. Given how unpredictable things are in the world right now, who knows if they'll decide to pack up shop earlier than the end of the month. Good luck to you!

SanDiegogirl

As per the statement below taken from the UK/US embassy site I don't think you can file DCF as you wife is not living in the UK

Who May File (Through March 31, 2020 ONLY)

U.S. citizens meeting the UK Residency Requirement (valid UK Residency Card; EU passport; U.S. military PCS orders) AND residing in the United Kingdom filing on behalf of their spouse, unmarried child under the age of 21 or parent who will be processed for their immigrant visa from the U.S. Consulate in London.

bharat91

os306, I agree with the way you interpreted it. However, I also agree with SanDiegogirl about the fact that they do mention, and emphasise, the bit about residing in the UK. A conundrum...! I have emailed them, but I assume that most likely they will give the official reply of physically residing in the UK as well.

I hadn't even contemplated that they might stop the processing of the DCF applications at the embassy due to the pandemic. Makes sense and is a wise choice given the current climate. Yikes!

Thanks for your answers. If you do find any cases of anyone going down this route, please do let me know. I've been searching but haven't come across any in the last couple of years. But my searching on these forums is not very good yet.

SanDiegogirl

A US citizen living in the UK can sponsor their spouse via the US Embassy in the UK

I don't understand why the application would ask for her UK passport, The process is for a US citizen sponsoring their foreign spouse.

Your wife should be filing in the US.

Pulaski

Well it's connected in the above quoted description to the alternative of an EU residency card, so it is being treated as "evidence" that the US spouse "lives" in the UK, though it has clearly opened up a contradiction if not a grey area, as for Bharat in this case.

Given that a US citizen living in the UK can mail a visa application for their spouse on the way to the airport to fly to the US to take up residence there, I suspect that Bharat's wife has enough "evidence" to spoof UK residence and get a DCF application approved, but I haven't heard of anyone succeeding in doing so, nor would I bet my life on such an application succeeding.

Noorah101

So what current address (physical and/or mailing) would your wife put on the I-130 application? That answer will probably help decide if she qualifies for DCF or not.

My gut feeling, by the way, is "not", from the way you describe it.

Rene

SanDiegogirl

Don't you just love these strange conundrums we get?

I'm going to throw something else into this mix.

The OP's wife is eligible to live in the UK as a UK citizen.. Not as a US citizen with a visa or ILR.

However, UK citizens cannot sponsor their spouses for immigration to the US - this is where I think the OP is going wrong.

Pulaski

I don't understand your point - a British citizen can sponsor their spouse for a US visa/ permanent residence if they are also a US citizen. In other words, being a dual-British citizen does not void or limit the rights of a US citizen to apply for US permanent residence for their spouse.

SanDiegogirl

I suppose I'm looking at it this way.

A US citizen living in the UK can sponsor their spouse by DCF in London
A US citizen living in the US sponsors their spouse by filing in the US.

Nowhere does it say that a US/UK citizen living in the US can sponsor a spouse by DCF in London Sure the OP's wife can legally reside in the UK, but she doesn't and has not done so for 10 years

Anywho.... would be interested to see how this application pans out.

Pulaski

And that, in a nutshell, is Bharat's question - would the US Embassy in London and/or the US State Department notice if a DCF was file in London by a USC who could legally live in the UK, and has actually done so, but isn't actually doing so at the time the application is filed? Of course the question will be moot in 15 days.

bharat91

As Pulaski mentioned, I'm naming her UK passport specifically as reference to the EU residency line in the evidence checklist. I would not list any UK address under the places she has resided in the past 5 years though (as she hasn't lived in the UK in the past 5 years - visited sure, but hasn't lived here).

Rene, the physical address would be in the USA. whilst her mailing address would be her families house from when she lived in the UK. The fact her physical address is the USA I think is what obliterates my hope of having a successful DCF. (Besides the obvious of she hasn't lived here for so long...) Although she does have bank statements with her UK address on.

SanDiegogirl, I think I see where you are coming from, but as Pulaski mentioned, since she is also a US citizen, she can sponsor me. The UK passport would solely be there to act as right of residency, and hence a right to use DCF.

I'm almost hoping they are too exhausted to care about the nuances in the current climate (I can dream!) and would let it slide. According to the guidelines, they do have discretion as to accept it I think. And historically, it is my understanding that it was allowed (but that was from 2014 to around 2017 I think).

I'm in two minds about it; if I do file it tomorrow for DCF, if the embassy staff are sent home before they receive and verify it, I might be waiting a couple of months before I am told to file online. Conversely, they may accept it and I would have saved myself over another year of being apart. It's been almost 9 years now. I should have filed it back in November, but proving the bona fide relationship was very daunting so I kept pushing it back. Gotten over myself, and trying to compile lots of our holiday pictures, paintings, letters, Skype call logs, WhatsApp calls, emails together in the hope it is enough. The worst that can happen is an RFE...

And yup, Pulaski has summarised it perfectly! When we get to the embassy stage and proving domicile in the US; it will be glaringly obvious by then. But would they then get us to start from scratch, or ban us, or something else entirely..

SanDiegogirl

I know she is a US citizen - I just don't think that in your circumstances she can sponsor you via DCF - but, as said, look forward to seeing how your application goes.

Pulaski

Given the two sections I have marked in bold text, you fall outside the explicit requirement that the USC sponsoring their spouse through a DCF is a resident of the UK, at least at the moment the application is filed.

bharat91

Ah yes, unfortunately I do agree with you on that. If I was in their shoes and this was a hard and fast rule I would go nope, no residency.
On the other hand, if it was a rule that is a bit more flexible in that so long as they were able to reside, it counted, then I'd wave it on wards and upwards.

Hmm.. still deciding if it is worth the risk, and what the potential repercussions are...
Would it be 3 months down the line when they turn around and say no, go to the back of the line, or if it made it that far they would wave it through...

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You reply much faster than I can keep up!
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Yup, unfortunately I agree with both of you. It's a little devil on my shoulder telling me to try and weasel my way through the quicker way.
Hmm. Quit her job. Move back to the UK this Friday, file on Monday, and second week of April return to the USA and get her job back. Resident for two days before she filed, and a week and bit before she remembered she hates the weather here and left again...
Ah the dreams of madness...
Anyway, thank you for your commentary. It has been useful. I've been a stalker on these forums for years now so I must say, it is a pleasure to have replies from all of you and recognise your names!

I think, barring any other advice or experience, I will probably file online, not DCF. I don't want to run the risk of being months into the process to only be chucked to the wolves.