Beckyboos1

Hi..my husband was born in usa to his American father and Australian mother. When they died when he was 7 he was moved to england. He is now 29 and we have been married for 6 years. We have 4 children between us but our eldest is not his biologically. We would like to move back to his homeland where he has family. Just dont know where to start. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

I've moved your thread to the US marriage based visas forum, where the good folks there will be able to give you good advice on how your husband can sponsor you and your children to move to the US.

Best of luck with it.

Beckyboos1

Thankyou so much

christmasoompa

No probs. There are some good Wiki articles (top of the page), which would be worth reading, but you'll get great advice too when the US wakes up.

ian-mstm

Your husband is a US citizen. If he doesn't have one already, he should get a US passport. To start the process, he needs to file form I-130 for you, and one for each of the children. The forms are available at www.uscis.gov/forms. Once the I-130 petitions are approved (about 2-3 months), you will each apply for an immigrant visa. That'll take another 2-3 months. Once you all have an immigrant visa in your passport, you can move to the US to live. Upon entry, you will immediately become a US permanent resident (PR = green card), and the children will immediately become US citizens (assuming they're all under age 18).

You will likely need written permission from the eldest child's biological father (or a court order to that effect) to remove him/her from UK jurisdiction.

Your husband will also need to file the most recent 3 years' worth of US tax returns. All US citizens are obligated, under US law, to file an annual tax return regardless of where they live, and regardless of whether money has been earned in the US. There is a US/UK tax treaty, so it's doubtful that he'll have to actually pay any US taxes, but he must file the returns.

I'll warn you now - you're about to learn a new language: immigration-speak. It looks a lot like English, but it isn't. You've got lots of time to learn it, so please don't try to understand everything immediately - because you'll likely wind up overwhelmed and confused. It's a fairly straight forward process, but there's a lot of little bits that need to be addressed. We will help you!

Ian

Beckyboos1

Wow thanks for that info. So we are looking at a 6 month wait. I am due to inherent a large some of money from my fathers estate and we will sell our house..does this need to be declared in anyway? My husband has worked in the construction industry for 10 years. He is what is called a groundworker(gangerman) meaning he has his own crew of men who carry out work under his instruction for the company he works for. Hes quite keen to have a job lined up but dont know where to start with the lingo for his job title, i know it will be massively different.

Beckyboos1

Also how do.we do tax return for us when he has only paid tax in uk?? Thanks so much for your replies so so helpful

Beckyboos1

Sorry me again the form.i must complete is 420 dollars is that for each child aswell?

Pulaski

US citizens have to US tax returns no matter where in the world they live. Any tax paid overseas is accepted as a credit against US tax due, and generally no tax is assessed against anyone who earns less than $90,000. In practice very few US citizens living overseas have to actually pay any tax unless they live in a low tax jurisdiction, such as in the Middle East.

ian-mstm

Not specifically, no. Since you're married, US immigration will treat your assets as your husband's assets - which will be useful when it comes time for him to complete form I-864 (Affidavit of Support). As I said... all in good time! You'll have many months to sort this out.


That information is available at www.irs.gov.


I'm afraid so, yes.

I'd also like to clarify something for you... there will be many forms to complete. Some are your husband's responsibility, some are yours and the children's (although you'll be completing them on their behalf). The I-130 petition, for example, is his form - you don't complete it. As I alluded to earlier, immigration is a 2-step process with each step taking 2-3 months to complete. During the 1st step, almost all the forms are his; during the 2nd step, almost all the forms are yours! I know this will sound a lot like semantics and pedantry, but it's important that you not become confused about stuff like that! Indeed, keep a notebook handy and make note of such things as you move through the process - it will help you keep organized. Also, keep copies of everything you submit... everything!

Ian

Beckyboos1

ok so will his p60 from here be sufficient do you know?

ian-mstm

Yes - but only as a means of verifying his UK income. It's not a substitute for the US tax forms.

Ian

Pulaski

Wot Ian said. US tax forms are a PITA, but they must be completed, there is no alternative.

Beckyboos1

Hi so just to clarify. Ive made an appointment for him to go and get his adult passport. I need to.get the above forms one for me and all children for him.to fill.out. we are planning a trip to look at houses school.etc in October..we this be a problem if we are in process of emigration. Do we have to do.it all while still.in uk? Or could we complete process over there? Thankyou

Noorah101

You can visit the USA while the visa process is going on, yes. But you can't complete the process from inside the USA. You must have medicals done in the UK, and an interview at the US Embassy in London. You can't obtain a visa to the USA from inside the USA.

Rene