Marky B

Thank god for this site. I didn't fancy the US Embassy's £1.30 a minute.

Some background:

My wife is a US (and UK) citizen but has never lived in the US. We got married in the UK. We are investigating a move to the States but I have a few initial concerns.

To sponsor me my wife needs to be domiciled there. This should not be a problem because we will sell our house here to prove the move is intended as long term. However, to sponsor me she needs to prove she can keep us at 125% above the poverty line. Would significant capital from our house sale be acceptable? If she needs to get a job straight away then so be it, but we wanted to settle for a couple of months first.

Secondly, I understand that I can apply for a temp. work visa while my application for a Green Card is processed. Will I have difficulty geting one? Do I need a job offer before I get one or can I get one so that I can then search for employment with confidence? We don't want to move out there and then find I have problems getting a job.

Any suggestions or comments on our situation other than specific answers to the above would be welcome. Has anyone else married a US citizen that's never lived there?

I can see myself using this site quite a bit...!

Thanks in anticipation

Marky B

I've just had an additional thought.

Would we be able to get the visa ball rolling in the UK, because until we're in the US my wife couldn't claim she was domiciled there. What would be the best visa to enter on? Should we claim change of status once we are there?

Help!

Andy Platt

"Marky B" wrote in message
news:446747.1034871050@britishexpats-
.com...
    > Thank god for this site. I didn't fancy the US Embassy's £1.30 a
    > minute.
    > Some background:
    > My wife is a US (and UK) citizen but has never lived in the US. We got
    > married in the UK. We are investigating a move to the States but I have
    > a few initial concerns.
    > To sponsor me my wife needs to be domiciled there. This should not
    > be a problem because we will sell our house here to prove the move is
    > intended as long term. However, to sponsor me she needs to prove she
    > can keep us at 125% above the poverty line. Would significant
    > capital from our house sale be acceptable? If she needs to get a job
    > straight away then so be it, but we wanted to settle for a couple of
    > months first.

She needs to show steps she will become domiciled there. In practice it
appears that the consulate in London knows that you aren't moving across
there until the visa comes through and doesn't want anything much more than
"where are you going to live", etc. You can use your assets (such as the
house) at the rate of $5 for every $1 "missing" income without selling it.
Additionally, your income can be counted but only if you can demonstrate it
will continue once in the US. See here for info:

http://travel.state.gov/i864gen.-
html

    > Secondly, I understand that I can apply for a temp. work visa while my
    > application for a Green Card is processed. Will I have difficulty
    > geting one? Do I need a job offer before I get one or can I get one so
    > that I can then search for employment with confidence? We don't want to
    > move out there and then find I have problems getting a job.

Your understanding is either incorrect or you are going about it the wrong
way. In your situation the easiest and quickest way to go is to file
everything through the consulate in London (I'm assuming your wife has leave
to remain in the UK which is one of the consulate's conditions on doing
this). This is named DCF (direct consular filing). You will, through this
process, get an immigrant visa and will become a permanent resident on
entering the US. Your passport will be stamped with a stamp that is
equivalent (it even has the same "form" number - I-551) to a greencard,
enabling you to work and travel abroad "immediately".

Here's a site directly related to your situation you may find useful:

http://www.ameriscot.com/i130/

Andy.
--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

Marky B

Thanks for that.

Like most people starting the process, a lot of the time it seems like I'm just going around in circles.

Could you highlight (based our situation) the steps I would need to take to get the ball rolling. Does my wife need to start by filing an I130?

Will we have to sell the house first to release the equity or will proof of intention to do this be sufficient?

How long would the process take from first form to entry?

And are you saying we shouldn't have any problems despite the fact that my wife has never lived in the US?

One final thing. Would i have read somewhere that I shouldn't be going into the US any longer on a visa waiver now that I am married to a US citizen? ie. when we go on holiday there together.

Well, the thread is called 'Lots of questions'

Many thanks

Mark

L D Jones

Marky B wrote:
    > Thanks for that.
    > Like most people starting the process, a lot of the time it seems like
    > I'm just going around in circles.
    > Could you highlight (based our situation) the steps I would need to take
    > to get the ball rolling. Does my wife need to start by filing an I130?

Yes. First read the INS pages at www.usembasy.org.uk that apply to you.

You wife should write to the US Embassy's INS section (address on the
website) and request the I-130, G-325a forms (each of you have to fill
this out) and the credit card payment form if you want to pay by card.

Enclose a covering letter with proof that your wife is legally resident
in the UK. In your original message you mentioned your wife is a British
citizen. In that case I think she can simply enclose a photocopy of the
relevant pages of her British (and perhaps US) passports. One to prove
residence and the other to prove US citizenship. Or, she can simply
enclose a copy of her UK ILR stamp from her US passport and simply state
she is a US citizen who wishes to file directly at the consulate.

The Embassy only allows filing by post.

    > Will we have to sell the house first to release the equity or will proof
    > of intention to do this be sufficient?

I don't believe the sale is required but I am not familiar with this
aspect of the process. I filed directly in London while I (a USC) lived
in the UK but I was in the UK on a work visa for a few years and so did
not have a problem with domicile since I never "gave up" my US domicile.
One or two other posters here had a situation similar to yours.

I believe the Embassy website also has a discussion of the domicile
issue.

    > How long would the process take from first form to entry?

The visa process itself will take 3-4 months. You can "save" time by
gathering your immunisation records and obtaining your "police report"
as soon as possible. I think the website I mentioned discusses the
police report (where/how to get it) and the jabs you require (there are
few).

Once the visa is granted you have 6 months to use it before it expires.
You can enter the US any time during that period. In our case, my wife
and I entered the US days before her visa expired and returned to the UK
just a few days later to arrange our move. Since she became a US
permanent resident on entry we had no trouble re-entering the US 2-3
months later.

I suggest that your future messages here should contain a subject line
such as "DCF in London questions" or similar so that others like myself
who have done DCF there can help. No offense intended but your original
subject line is very poor. DCF is not an official term. It is a sort of
"slang" in this group and refers to the filing of an immigrant visa
petition directly at a US consulate abroad which is what you will do.

As someone mentioned in another message you will not need a work visa of
any kind. Once you enter the US with an immigrant visa the stamp you
will receive in your passport plus a social security number is all that
you require to work legally in the US. Your physical greencard will
arrive within a few weeks to some number of months after you arrive.

Finally, to the question of travelling to the US while the visa is in
process the Embassy's website discusses this. It is a rather grey area
but I believe it is discouraged. I have no experience with this as my
wife and I stayed in the UK the entire time her visa was in process.

LD (DCF in London 2001)

Folinskyinla

OK, take a deep breath and relax --

Now, it pays to remember that you actually have a two step process.

Step one -- your wife has to do the I-130 -- In doing the I-130, your wife asks for a determination that she is a US citizen and you are lawful bona fide husband. That is ALL it is. Both of you can be paupers, and you have a criminal record two miles long -- the I-130 will be approved. As noted by others, you can do this as a "DCF" in London if your wife has leave to remain or is a dual national.

Step two -- you apply for the visa. It is at this SECOND step that all the things about finances, criminal records, etc etc have to be taken care of! BTW, if your liquid assets exceed 5 times the 125% poverty level, you can use those to meet the I-864 requirement, even if they are proceeds from your house.

BTW, if your house has appreciated in value, get some competent tax advice -- as a US citizen, your wife might be liable for tax on the capital gains. There may be ways to avoid this -- I don't know if the principal residene exclusion applies abroad or if you can transfer the appreciation from sale of a home abroad to purchase of home in the US. Just be aware of the possible US tax issues!

Good luck.