usascotland12

Hi everyone.....i think this forum is very informative and have learned alot of stuff from really friendly people but im still needing help myself.


Here is my situation

Im a united states citizen and im married to a scottish guy since july 2004(married in scotland),were both living in Scotland and have been here since august 2003,we also have a 15 month old little boy who was born here.Were all wanting to move to the US for good.

I know alot of people have to but were not wanting to seperate for months while we file the I-130,especially with us having a young kid and the prospect of him being away from his dad for months is not good .Is it possible to file the I-130 from scotland using my parents US mailing address? Im not elegible for DCF so sending it to Nebraska is our only way.

Were also thinking about going down the K-3 route but can we do this from Scotland? Ive heard people having trouble proving a domicile in the US if abroad,what can i do to show i do have domicile?

We also have to register the kid at the US embassy,but i can transmit citizenship to him,my parents can be co-sponsers as they are well above the poverty level.

Could anyone please give me advice on how to go about this and what to do first,im just not sure on what direction to go in.

Thankyou

meauxna

How do you know? Just because of your visa classification?

If you have been truly resident in the UK since 2003, it might be worth your while to send your I-130 to London first, and see what they say about your specific case when it's in front of them.

usascotland12

Hi meauxna

I thought to apply for DCF you had to be resident here through (FLR) OR (ILR),I was under the impression from what ive read in some posts in this newsgroup that they would return the application if you were not in this right visa classification.

I guess its worth a try,i dont suppose it would do me any harm.

meauxna

What status have you been living there with?

Regardless (unless 'no status'), others have not have those classifications and have sent evidence of their genuine residence in the UK (work contract is one I remember) and had their case accepted. You can't win if you don't play

If London decides that you do not qualifiy to file with them, they will return your petition and fee with instructions on where in the US you should file. You will want to have a reliable US address for the petition.
If they return the petition to you, it's typically turned around within 3 weeks, so you are not really 'losing' anything. You can't start at all until you get the petition accepted somewhere. Even if you have a burning deadline, 3 weeks either direction should not make a difference to you---if it does, you are cutting the whole thing too close anyway.

usascotland12

Ive been here as a visitor all the time,ive been home a few times just for a couple of weeks at a time but ive lived here the whole time.

Ive never worked here,my husband is a hard worker and has supported us both the whole time,the only proof that ive been here all this time is my health records of having the kid here and the payments we have made since then to the NHS

I know i should have applied for residency here but its never been our intention to live here for good and with being pregnant and raising a kid its taken a while for us to get finacially ready to file for the I-130 to live in the US comfortably,my parents can be co-sponcers just fine though.

Im thinking maybe having a kid who was born here could help us to DCF,maybe not,just a thought.

meauxna

er, I guess it's a good thing I added my caveat.
I see why you think you are not eligible for DCF. You are not a legal resident of the UK at all.
You've got an interesting dilema in front of you now; you did bring up the issue of domicile.

Thought about meeting with a lawyer to dicuss your options? Your way hasn't been to sharp so far, sorry to say. You might want to plan this particular move out a bit more.

usascotland12

Your right,our way hasn't been too sharp so far,maybe a lawyer would be the best option or maybe we will have to seperate for months so i can file back home,i have a feeling an immigration officer may say the same that very thing.

Im not a legal resident but im not illegal here either,i have been home and come back again so not overstayed but i dont think DCF is an option in the situation were in,its all a bit of a mess i guess,its just not easy when there is a kid involved too.

Any idea's what options an immigration lawyer might come up with?

nettlebed

Why not ask one and find out?

usascotland12

Ok,so i think DCF is not an option but can i still file in Nebraska using my parents US mailing address?

And i guess we should register the kid at the embassy before we do any of this right?

meauxna

In reply to your previous post, I would not be too quick to put a label on your status in the UK. I am really surprised that you are allowed in continuously on a visitor's entry--UK Immigration officers are just as vigilant about foreign spouses of their citizens as the US officers.

That aside, your legal residence is in the US. If you "live" with your parents, that is fine; they probably provide a stable mailing address for you.
You can file to a US Service Center from overseas and stay there while the petition is processing, even while the visa application starts, but, you will at some point, need to show evidence that you live in/plan to live in the US to make you eligible to sponsor your spouse. I found it useful to research the terms 'temporarily resident abroad' and 'domicile' when I was filing from abroad; maybe that will be useful to you too.

As far as I know, you can register the kidlet at any US Consulate and while it should probably be done before you leave for the US (you'll be wanting a US passport for her before you leave), I can't think of what that has to do with a visa petition or application.

usascotland12

What exacly did you mean by Domicile?.....in the UK or US

usascotland12

Forget that last post,i understand what your trying to say now,if i file the I-130 from here do i state on the application that im here in the UK or with my parents in the US,my husband and i have been discussing this and i am going to go back home about a month or so before he goes for the interview if approved.......i guess what im saying is that are the USCIS ok with sending forms to my parents US address knowing that im the UK

Sorry for all the questions but i want to make sure we do things right filing the I-130

You have been a great help.

meauxna

When I filed my DCF case, I was living in Greece and had their version of permanent residency through my UKC spouse (the Greeks actually call it a 'Green Card'). I travelled back and forth to the US a couple of times during my time there, and like you, eventually married (that's when I could get my residency permit in Greece). During this time, I owned my home in the US, maintained my tax and voting obligations, banking, investments, auto registrations and insurance etc as I usually do when abroad.

I was not sure which address should be on my I-130. On the one hand, I wanted them to see me living in Greece so they would accept my I-130. On the other hand, the US address was my permanent one, and seemed to make more sense. I completed an I-130 with each address and asked at the USCIS Field Office when I submitted my peitition. I was instructed to use the US address version and that's where I learned about the concept of 'temporarily resident abroad'.

No forms were sent to my US address during my case, but I did file locally, and did not go through the NVC. Other US/UK couples in similar circumstances to yours have reported either having their mail forwarded, downloading forms from the internet, or even having a UK mailing address and having the mail sent to them in the UK. The main concern is the sequence of events through the NVC stage, but I understand that you can monitor most of it online anyway. I didn't use the NVC, and can't tell you much more about their process than this.