londonmale2008

hi all
I have a question i'd really appreciate if you could solve.

My wife is a usc and i am ukc. we have dcf'd in london as we both currently live in london (she is a student with nil income). her father has agreed to be our joint sponsor and lives in the states. However he works in canada and splits his time equally between the u.s. (where his house is) and canada (where he lives in a hotel paid for by the company). to clarify his company is a canadian company based in canada.

He has the income level to be the joint sponsor and files taxes in the u.s. but does he qualify domicile wise? he has bank accounts, a house, his wife etc. etc. in america but his pay check and a portion of his time from canada. can he be my joint sponsor?

thanks

Noorah101

If he lives in the USA and is just in Canada working temporarily, then I think his domicile is OK. However, I am under the impression that the income must be US-based (that's why your own income won't count). If he is being paid in Canada, in Canadian money, then his income is not US-based. It would be safer to find a joint sponsor whose income is earned in the USA.

Rene

londonmale2008

yeah i think the income is canadian based, in can dollars. i guess i will have to find someone else!!! thanks for your help. better to find out that he doesn't qual now rather than at interview.

meauxna

There has been only one person over all the years who gave an example using those words.

The foreign income thing is for the immigrating couple. The income has to *continue* once in the US for it to count. So, a job in the UK that a person was leaving, would not count as ongoing or 'current' income after the move.

DH used foreign income on the I-864. The issue wasn't that it was foreign income, it was 'will it continue when you live in the US?'. His income continues to come from the UK and so, was acceptable.

londonmale2008, no offense to Rene for her helpfulness, but I encourage you to always dig a little bit deeper and/or use the instructions to confirm your decisions.

londonmale2008

thanks for your help, i am doing more digging.

apologies for my ignorance but what does DH stand for?

i think i need to establish how long he spends in the u.s. versus canada too. he mostly works from home in the u.s.

meauxna

DH = Darling Husband (mine); he's the UKC.

I can't see anything wrong with your situation. Your FIL lives in the US.
Domicile is defined in several links inside the DCF wiki, but it sure reads to me like his is in the US.

londonmale2008

he does live in the u.s. just works in canada!
think i'm going to get the following to help prove it


proof of his voting record in the UnitedStates,
proof of paying U.S. State or local taxes,
proof ofhaving property in the United States,
proof of maintaining bank or investment accounts in the United States,
proof ofhaving a permanent mailing address in the United States.



this above is taken on the basis of them assuming in the worst case that he has two abodes, one foreign one u.s. based.:


9 FAM 40.41 N6.1-1 Maintaining U.S. Domicile
(CT:VISA-1317; 09-24-2009)

a. Unless the petitioner meets the conditions outlined in 9 FAM 40.41 N6.1-2 below, a petitioner who is maintaining a principalresidence outside the United States could not normally claim a U.S. domicile and would be ineligible to submit Form I-864, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the Act. In order to provide an AOS for his or her relative, such a petitioner would have to reestablish a domicile in the United States. (See 9 FAM 40.41 N6.1-3, below.)

b. However, in a situation in which the petitioner has maintained both a U.S. residence and a residence abroad, you must determine which is the principal abode. Some petitioners have remained abroad for extended periods but still maintain a principal residence in the United States (i.e., students, contract workers, and non-governmental organization (NGO) volunteers). To establish that one is also maintaining a domicile in the United States, the petitioner must satisfy you that he or she:
(1) Departed the United States for a limited, and not indefinite, period of time; he goes back and forth all the time!
(2) Intended to maintain a U.S. domicile at the time of departure;bought a house and,
(3) Can present convincing evidence of continued ties to the United States bascially outside the suitcase he takes to work in canada, his whole life and family

Noorah101

Thanks to meauxna for clearing up the foreign income thing. Sorry for leading you down the wrong path on that one.

As for his domicile, I don't think you need to go that deeply into it. He has a US address and does not live in Canada...he only works there, and as you've said even works from home in the USA most of the time anyway.

Rene

md95065

From what you have said I think that one could make a strong argument that he only has a US "residence" and that he has not "maintained a residence abroad" - which makes the issue of determining "which is the principal abode" moot.

Making frequent short trips to Canada and staying in a hotel while he is there does not, in my opinion, constitute "maintaning a residence".

Noorah101

I agree. As a similar example, my husband lives here with me in Phoenix. But his work takes him to Los Angeles because that's where his clients are. He rents a 1-bedroom apartment in LA which he has converted to a workshop. So when he's in LA, he works and sleeps in the same place. But he is not living in LA. All his expenses in LA, including rent and utilities, are tax deductable because he is working there at his clients' request, and those are all business expenses. He owns a home in Phoenix which is where he lives permanently. This scenario is similar to the OP's, just not international.

Rene