bobmitch

My American wife and I sent our I-130 petition to London Embassy - but they sent it back within a few days saying that her principal residence was not in fact the UK.

I think the problem is that the stamp on her UK visa is dated Jan 2008, and that this is not long enough.

In reality, she lived here in the UK for 6 months on the VWP, and then we were married in June 2007 in the USA, then we moved back here - permanently, with a UK visa, on the 1st July 2007 - but there was no stamp upon entering at Edinburgh. The Han 2008 stamp is when we returned from a 3 week vacation to visit her family over christmas.

So - she has been here for almost 18 months. Almost a year with the UK visa.

They said that we should apply for the I-130 via the USA USCIS - but this will not be possible as we both live in the UK.

I am planning on sending the I-130 back to London, along with more information: A cover letter explaining the information above, a dated lease in Sept2007 with both our signatures, a copy of my wifes National Insurance Card and dated application form, as well as utility bills in both our names.

Will this be successful do you think? I hope so, because if they still reject it - I don`t see how we can successfully file via the states either - effectively being in limbo.

Any feedback / advice is appreciated.
Rgds,
Bob / Marcy Mitchell.

BritishGuy36

There's a mistake somewhere.

It seems impossible that a USC with a US passport and visa for residence in the UK wouldn't have their passport stamped on entry to the UK (I'm talking about the June 2007 entry).

bobmitch

We both came back here to live permanently on 2nd July 2007 via Edinburgh. We actually have a photocopy of the visa page without any stamp dated as part of her National Insurance number application. We have a copy of this application form dated 25th Sep 2007 as well. Like I said - we have other documents dated prior to returning from our christmas vacation such as a lease agreement, utility bills, and national insurance application forms. Not only that - but she was working full time in Specsavers during November 2007. Clearly all this is not indicative of someone still living in the states.

We're pulling out all documents we can find and hope that along with a cover letter explaining all this - will be good enough. If not... well I don`t know.

ps. Ok - we actually have the boarding passes from Newark to Edinburgh dated July 2nd 2007. (And from Detroit to Newark as well). And we plan on getting a cover letter from Specsavers showing her employment details in late 2007.

Noorah101

Hi bobmitch,

Give it another try filing in London with all the additional evidence. If it gets returned again, however, you will have to file in the USA. This IS possible from the UK. All it means is that you mail the I-130 package to a service center in the USA instead of submitting it to London. You guys can continue living in the UK while the I-130 processes in the USA. Your wife can use a family or friend's address in the USA on her petition forms.

There will be a couple of small snags either way you go (DCF or filing in USA) where your USC wife will have to prove intended domicile in the USA, and also meet the requirements for the affidavit of support form I-864, so look into those problematic areas now, and figure it out ahead of time. Will save you stress in the long run.

Best Wishes,
Rene

meauxna

I don't know what is going on in London right now; this is the 2nd recent case where they've returned a petition to a USC who appears to clearly be living in the UK.

Did you use a US address anywhere on the I-130/G-325A?

Someone on another forum who has had a similar experience re-submitted after the USC had 6 months on the correct visa and it was rejected a 2nd time. Until someone speaks to the USCIS London office directly, it's all a mystery.

bobmitch

The only US address mentioned on the I-130 is in section 18: Address in the United States where your relative intends to live. (My mother-in-law's address)
The same address is on the G-325A on my wifes papers, in the list of residency's within the last 5 years. (Our UK address is given on her G325 from July 2007 till present - which is accurate.)

I plan to resubmit on Monday once I have made copies of all our other supporting evidence. I`m just wondering why her visa wasn`t stamped upon entering Edinburgh in July last year... still, we have boarding passes for her which show she at least checked in for the flight. (Not to mention records of employment, lease agreements etc...)

This is all very worrying - and we *really* don`t want to have to file in the states - as they will probably just say: Look, dont file here if you live in the UK.

*tears hair out*

Cheers,
Bob.

Noorah101

Don't worry, they won't say that. Filing in the USA is always an option, even if you live in the UK and are eligible for DCF, USCIS still allows filing in the USA. Filing in the USA is what's expected, actually, DCF is just a nice service they provide for USC's living in the UK.

The only thing that changes about filing in the USA is that it adds on a few months of processing time. It makes no difference in the long run.

Rene

BritishGuy36

The problem appears to be that the UK border control agent didn't see the visa in the passport and it wasn't stamped at that time, but rather, on the subsequent entry.

That's a bad miss by the agent at the POE if that's the case - but surely they will have asked what was the purpose of the visit?

Bob - did you point out the visa at the time of the June 2007 entry to the border control agent? Or did you just let him/her do their stuff and walk on in?

I reckon that if the visa itself is stamped Jan 2008 you are going to struggle to prove that your spouse began living here any earlier than that, despite all the other paperwork you can drum up. She will have been here 6 months from January anyway in just two months....I reckon it would still be quicker to wait and do DCF then - than to file via NVC in the US.

bobmitch

My wife says the agent asked the purpose of visit and she told him she was married now and had a visa - seems they just looked over it, and waved her through. The visa itself was issued in June 2007 and I can prove that she was in this country, working, issued with a national insurance card all before the visa stamp given in Jan 2008.

I think I will re-apply with all this other supporting documentation and see what happens. It seems they are pretty quick in sending back ineligable paperwork (got our documents back within a week), so I guess we`ll know soon if we have to either wait to apply via DCF in a couple of more months, or apply via the states.

bobmitch

If we file in the USA from here in the UK, where does the interview then take place? London as per a DCF, or would we have to travel to the states? Silly question, maybe.

Noorah101

Your visa applications and immigrant visa interview will still take place in London. The difference is that the I-130 and I-864 will be handled in the USA instead of in London, adding a few months to the overall process.

Rene