dgandhi

Hi!

I am a USC, and my husband is a GC holder who has remained out of the USA for more than a year. We are now wanting to move to the USA (more details of our situation are here http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=688274 a thread in the US immigration section).

We think that we will be proceeding with a spousal petition from here in London, and we will likely be consulting with an immigration attorney (who we are waiting to hear from), but to give us peace of mind we thought we would ask some questions on here.

Does anybody know what my husband and I will need to get a hold of and collect for the entire process (e.g. criminal records check, immunisation records, photos, marriage cert, bank statements). The more detail the better; like do we need bank statements of every account we have had, or just our joint account, and the account we hold our USD savings in.

What makes this such a hard process?

Beyond the scope of USCIS fees, medical exam, what costs are involved with this process.

Anyone care to share their experiences in terms of turnaround.

Assuming no issues with crime, health or finances, are there any other reason our spousal petition could be denied? I feel like apart from my husband having been out for over one year we are more or less like most couples in this situation.

Since 2005 my husband has been in the UK where he met and married me. He was brought back by some family issues, but between 2005 and 2009 He pretty much returned to the US annually for a short amount of time, wrongly thinking this would be okay whilst he looked for work in the US (he hasn't got records of email apps or anything). This goes against the GC requirements, would this be frowned upon.

I am including this on here in case people have knowledge to share, but of course this is why we need an attorney!

Thanks for anyone who can answer any of the above, and thanks to all the people that already answered some of our questions on our other thread.

We just want to be as familiar with this as possible, so We'd be grateful to benefit from your experiences.

Noorah101

Did you read the Wiki Guide to DCF already? http://britishexpats.com/wiki/DCF_I-130_Filed_In_London

Rene

ian-mstm

It's all in the Wiki: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/DCF_I-130_Filed_In_London.


Time consuming, yes... hard? No... it's a fairly straightforward process.

Ian

dgandhi

hi Rene, on your advice I did, but I posted this (perhaps gratuitously) to fish for other key things (like the prior 3-years tax returns, that I could not see on those pages - I may have just missed this - this is apparently very big at the London embassy). Thanks for re-directing me to that wiki, each time I read it I understand a bit more!

meauxna

There is no '3 year tax return requirement' though, that's why it's not in the wiki.
That wiki document has been in development/use for many years, so people keep it pretty up to date & I think it's comprehensive.


I don't understand part of your post tho.. what is apparently very big at London?

dgandhi

Sorry for being vague, but an attorney that we were about to retain explained that the tax return is no firm requirement, but it is something that officers are guided to ask for, and that particularly in London, they ask to see this at the interview (and the attorney's clients who only had copies, and not verification that the TR's had been received by the IRS, were asked to reschedule their interview. Clients of his who had their copies stamped as received (by physically going to the IRS at the embassy) found their experience to be better.....

so I was told.

And I was told that the three years things was as far back as the UCICS wanted to see, but that the IRS could potentially want more...

meauxna

Ah, I see.

The most recent year's return is required with the I-864. Until recently, the past 3 years were required. Yes, you need proof they were filed.
As far as the IRS, yes, potentially they can go back, er 7? don't quote me on that one.

You might enjoy the tax filing wiki entry here too. There is a special one for your situation.

Bomjeito

Just like therapists and real estate agents, you may need to try a few lawyers to get one that is really in tune.

The process is, as Ian said, straightforward. Lawyers hold no special voodoo magical powers.

Every case is different in London DCF. Here folks have kindly posted their experiences but each Con Off is different, and they rotate, as well, so to say today "must have 3 years tax returns" may be okay about one ConOff but within the course of a year or even an administration, it is not always a golden rule.

No one cared at all about my (USC) tax returns in London. They did care about my UKC's job agreement in the US. Everything else was simply not relevant in their eyes. See how individual this is? Other cases concentrated on domicile, others on if the marriage is legitimate, others about police certificates.

Unless your spouse falls under the catagories of felon, criminal, health-related reasons for rejection, or simply that you have difficulty to manage these admin processes...then interview a few lawyers to be sure of what you wish to happen.

Never be afraid of the process...unless you have a reason to be afraid!

Its very straightforward.

ETA: London ConOff adjudicating our visa did take the past year tax return only, gave back the other few years that we had in our packet. That was for the support requirement.

ian-mstm

WTF? How in god's name does the IRS even figure into the immigration equation? This is totally out of their jurisdiction... so there's no way they "could potentially want more".

Ian

meauxna

So they did care about your tax returns afterall?

dgandhi

I was told that the ucics might ask to confirm the last three were filed or I would need a good reason for not doing so. I was further told that on filing the IRS could get interested in going further ba k, but this was nor likely as there was not much to report and no income for them as I don't earn that much.

Bomjeito

ConOff said for our case, my past tax returns were not critical. Husband's job situation/salary was.

Should we have shown up without them? Heck no. Overprepare and give only what is asked! We had a case full of papers. Handed over only a few when asked. Walked out with case 95% full of papers. But that was OUR situation.

Should a immigration lawyer only state that those are what is necessary? Not in my opinion, no. I feel it really depends on the case itself; more concerned the lawyer/attorney of the OP's choosing is too broad a brush of information that is free anywhere else.

ian-mstm

Ah, now I understand your confusion.

#1 - with respect to immigration, they only need 3 years' worth of tax return.

#2 - with respect to IRS, they can check back into your tax history until the statute of limitations kicks in.

Finally - #1 and #2 are NOT related! Your prior comments made it sound as though they were related... they're not.

Ian

meauxna

Thanks, and I agree in the main. Your "past tax returns" (plural) don't speak to your current/future income and don't affect the I-864 for income levels--that's why your husband's job situation mattered, because he met the income requirement.

Just to be clear for everyone, the last year (single) tax return is a required attachment for the I-864.

The I-864 also has a question asking if the sponsor filed their last three years' returns. This is a separate request, not to do with meeting the income requirements.

Yes, USCIS asks, on form I-864, if you have filed your last 3 years tax returns and if not, why.
Probably downloading and reading the form + instructions would be helpful.