crowding

TL;DR I am looking to move to the US with my American wife (together 10 years, married 5) in the next 1-3 years to start a family near my wife's mother. In the UK I work in tech and my wife is unemployed - Are there sponsorship/employment complications/requirements beyond the I-130 + G-325a > DS-260 + I-864 route?

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Long version:

• I am a 30 year old Product Manager working in Financial Technology in London
• My wife is 32 years old and unemployed
• We have been married for 5 years
• My wife is a US Citizen from birth
• My wife is in the UK on a marriage Visa, but has been resident for 10+ years (she studied here, then post-study work visa, then marriage)
• We currently own a London property
• The company I work for in London does not have a US office, so we intend to go to the US and settle, living off savings while I find somewhere to work
• I have approx $50,000 in savings as well as $150,000 paid off on a London property
• We have a dog we would like to take with us

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Random bonus questions:
1. Is it likely we would be able to plan, arrange, and action a move in 1 to 2 years?
2. For others in a similar situation, did you adopt an approach similar to what I'm thinking (focus on move-only first, and then find employment from the US) and did it go well? Similarly, anyone decide to go all-in and line up a job, a property purchase, immigration, and a UK property sale at the same time?
3. Is my assumed pathway mentioned in my TL;DR the fastest/easiest route​​​​​​ to moving to the US?

Noorah101

1. Yes.
2. Move first, then job and house. Difficult to find employment while in UK. Difficult to house hunt from the UK.
3. Yes. The I-130 can be filed directly to London.

You will need to meet the I-864 financial requirements. What are you planning to do with the UK property? If you are selling it, it can be used as an asset. Otherwise you'll need a joint sponsor.

Rene

Noorah101

What does TL;DR mean?

Rene

Noorah101

There's no longer a G-325a required. The >-130A took that over.

Rene

Noorah101

If you're going to rent out the property, the rental income plus savings *might* work for the I-864...but depends on the final numbers.

Rene

crowding

@Noorah:

Thank you so much for the response.
Responding with number prefix where appropriate:

1. Great
2. Thanks. I'll certainly start looking for properties and learning UK/US differences and quirks (e.g property tax can be significantly higher than council tax) when on holidays. I'm there for 3 weeks next summer.
3. Great

TL;DR is "Too long; didn't read" - A summary or quick point to get across for those that might be able to help but don't want to read my life story.

Re: renting out my UK property instead of selling it before the move - What are the requirements for not needing a Visa sponsor? I technically could probably free up another $35,000 in UK savings easier than I'd sell my property.

My ideal move logistically would be something like:
1. Line up a friend who wants to rent in London, or move to London and want to rent short-term while they buy
2. Clear my house out for rental to a friend
3. Move to US and find a job, and either find somewhere to rent, or move in with my wife's family short-term
4. Have my friend or a family member help sell the UK house
5. Use money from house sale in UK to buy US house

Noorah101

Go to www.uscis.gov and read the I-864 form and instructions. All the financial sponsorship information is there. The I-864P form is used to calculate the dollar amount needed, either in income or assets. Dollar amount of assets needs to be 3x the amount lacking in income. If you and your wife can't meet the financial requirement, a joint sponsor can be used.

As I said, if you'll be renting the property, that income plus your savings might be enough...it will depend on the dollar amounts.

Rene

Rene

crowding

If I understand correctly, my household of 2's income requirements are $20,575. I can certainly have 3x that available. My London property would rent for ~$1700 per month.

Noorah101

Sounds like you'll be ok on the financial side of things, then. Be sure to check the I-864P again prior to having your wife complete the I-864, as those figures tend to increase each April.

Rene

tom169

Your wife should get her British citizenship sorted before you move.

spouse of scouse

Very good advice. OP, when you say your wife is in the UK on a 'marriage visa', do you mean the 'family of a settled person' (spouse) visa? How far along the 5 years to ILR/citizenship is she? If you wait until your wife can obtain British citizenship then you'll always have the option to return to the UK to live. Starting the process again would be costly.

Re renting your UK property - if the property's mortgaged you'll need to have a chat with your provider.

civilservant

Not to mention consider the US tax implications. It is treated as income. If you intend to maintain a UK bank account then you're also looking at FBAR. Might be worth a chat with a CPA just to set things up appropriately before moving.

crowding

@spouse of scouse:

She has a Residence permit which expires in March this year. The "Type of Permit" is listed as "Spouse/Partner" and "Leave to Remain".

It is the second time we've had this type of Visa, which makes me think that she becomes eligible for ILR. I find Gov.UK great generally but in this regard I can't get an answer to that. Do you have any advice?

spouse of scouse

When your wife will become eligible to apply for ILR depends on how far along the spouse visa route to settlement she is. I'm assuming she's on the most common 5 year route - this comprises an initial visa (entry clearance) which is valid for 2.5 years, after which the Further Leave to Remain (FLR) visa is applied for and is also valid for 2.5 years, and then an application for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) is submitted. Following a grant of ILR, the spouse of a British citizen can apply for British citizenship immediately and if granted, they are no longer subject to immigration control.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'this is the second time she's had this type of visa' - if you mean that her current visa is FLR, then before that expires in March she'd need to apply for ILR or leave the UK. If she doesn't apply for ILR then she would have to start the spouse visa process from scratch if she wanted to live with you in the UK again in the future. Please also be aware that ILR on its own usually expires if the person moves overseas for a period exceeding two years. That's why it's so important for her to gain her British citizenship prior to leaving the UK if at all possible.

Note: to avoid clogging up the US forum with UK immigration/visa issues, I suggest you post any further questions on the UK forum here https://britishexpats.com/forum/citi...-visas-uk-196/ We're a nice bunch and would be pleased to assist you

Pulaski

And then there's capital gains tax if you later decide to sell the home while resident in/taxed by the US IRS. You're British exemption from CGT in your home will expire 18 months after you move out, and the (limited) exemption from US CGT on a home/former home will expire 36 months after you move out (US requirement is to have lived in a home for 2 of the past 5 years to get the $500,000 exemption assuming you lived there with your wife, otherwise it's $250,000).

Then there is the risk that you might have an additional taxable capital gain on the FX movement on your mortgage, though the risk of th​​​​​at is greater when GBP has been falling, so it depends what the GBP/USD rate was when you took out the mortgage.

All things considered you should seriously consider selling your home at the time you leave, or very soon thereafter - you can sell remotely while in the US, and I did so myself, shortly after leaving the UK.
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