Kevin

Hello everybody,

Appreciated for your input. I am a US citizen but not lived in the State for last 6
years. I married a month ago to an African citizen. Can I apply for a green card for
her? If yes, where? and how? I heard I have to have certain amount of money and proof
of residency in the state to be qualified to apply for my wife's green card. Is this
true? Thank you,

Kevin

James Donovan

"Kevin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]> ...
    > Hello everybody,
    >
    > Appreciated for your input. I am a US citizen but not lived in the State for last 6
    > years. I married a month ago to an African citizen. Can I apply for a green card
    > for her? If yes, where? and how? I heard I have to have certain amount of money and
    > proof of residency in the state to be qualified to apply for my wife's green card.
    > Is this true? Thank you,
    >
    > Kevin

I believe you must be domiciled in the USA. You need to show definitive intention to
return to the USA on a permanent basis. If you get a job offer or something like that
that would help. Also if you can make firm arrangements to get a US address (like
getting an apartment or arranging to stay with relatives) that would help. You would
need to file an i-130 for your wife with the US consulate in the country which you
reside. When that is approved your wife can apply for an immigrant visa then you both
can move back to the USA.

The affidavit of support may be a small problem, but if you can find a co-sponsor for
your wife you are ok. Or, if you have sufficient assets to fill the requirement, that
would work as well.

Pulaski

You can apply for a visa for her, the greencard comes later, after arrival in the US.

You do not need to be domiciled in the US to apply for a visa, nor do you need a US address. You, as a couple, do however need to be able to demonstrate that you can support yourselves. This means either that you have US employment (or an offer of employment), or you have 5 times the annual poverty-level income (which for a couple works out as $75 approx) in assets.

The visa must be used within six months of issue, and costs approximately $300 (application and issuance fees).

I am a UK citizen and my wife "sponsored" my application for a US visa while she was resident in the UK.

James Donovan

Pulaski <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > Kevin wrote:
    > > Hello everybody, Appreciated for your input. I am a US citizen but not lived in
    > > the State for last 6 years. I married a month ago to an African citizen. Can I
    > > apply for a green card for her? If yes, where? and how? I heard I have to have
    > > certain amount of money and proof of residency in the state to be qualified to
    > > apply for my wife's green card. Is this true? Thank you, Kevin
    >
    >
    >
    > You can apply for a visa for her, the greencard comes later, after arrival
    > in the US.
    >
    > You do not need to be domiciled in the US to apply for a visa, nor do you need a US
    > address.

This isn't entirely correct. While you do not need to be domiciled, you do need to
show intention to re-establish residence in the USA.

http://www.americanlaw.com/q&a78.html

Question: I, a citizen of Bermuda, have been married to a U.S. citizen (by birth) for
almost 2 years. We both live and work in Bermuda. She still files her U.S. Federal
Income Tax Returns, although she pays no taxes. We were thinking of moving back to
the US. If her affidavit of support must be from a U.S. citizen who is domiciled in
the US, what do we do about that, since we live in Bermuda?

Answer: Nothing prevents your U.S. citizen spouse from filing the family-based
petition on you behalf right now, since the domicile requirement relates to the
affidavit of support rather than the eligibility to file the petition. However, she
will be required to establish domicile in the U.S. before the affidavit is submitted.

The Department of State has indicated that, 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. 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.

In summary, while your spouse must take steps to show she has re-established her
domicile in the U.S. in advance of your immigration interview, she does not have to
be physically present in the U.S. until you enter the U.S.

Pulaski

True, but as the visa is only valid for an arrival in the US within six months of the date of issue, you'd have to be a masochist to want to deal with the INS bureaucracy unless you are intending to return to the US.