yourdreamjenn

Hi everyone my name is Jenna. I am a US citizen and I have been living in Honduras since August 2006. My husband and i married here in honduras in December 2006 and our first child was born in August 2007 here in Honduras but he has dual citizenship. I am wondering how exactly it is that I should get myself and my family to the US. I was thinking of going through the whole process in the US and my husband going on a regular B2 visa but then realized that it was faster to do it here in Honduras, as each step here i was told takes around 30-60 days to be approved. Anyway, I do not know if i should take him on the IR visa or the K2 visa. the thing that worries me the most is the form I-864, but is that form required for the K2? I do not work and have not worked in a long time. I am a stay at home mom. My husband and i do plan on finding jobs once arriving in the US. Until we find a job we were going to live with my father. (He owns his house....if that makes any difference whatsoever!) The problem is that he is retired and draws social security and disability benefits making his income around $4000 monthly. My mother is deceased and I have no brothers or sisters so he is pretty much the only one that can help me. But is his income enough? I am thinking it is not. And if it is not, is there anything that I can do? I am just so confused and it is so difficult here in Honduras finding anyone that can answer my questions. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
THANKS SO MUCH,
Jenna

yourdreamjenn

Ok, sorry guys, I meant K-3 not K-2.

ian-mstm

Pursue an IR-1 visa for your husband. Forget the K-3... it's a waste of time/money/energy. It will take about 6-8 months from the time you submit an I-130 to start the process until he gets the visa in his passport. Others will be along shortly to fill in the details.

Ian

Noorah101

Hi Jenna,

It sounds like Honduras will accept an I-130 there at the US Embassy, because you've lived there more than 6 months. This is called Direct Consular Filing (DCF) on this forum. If that's the case, that is the best way to go. The K-3 is no longer the best path for immigrating, plus an affidavit of support is still necessary (twice for the K-3, even).

We have a Wiki guide which describes the DCF process through London. Honduras might be very similar, so the guide will help you understand the process in general. You can get the specifics from the US Embassy in Honduras. Here is the Wiki guide for DCF in London: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/DCF_I-130_Filed_In_London

Yes, you will need to provide an I-864. Since you have no income, you can use a joint sponsor (such as your dad). If your dad doesn't earn enough, any other USC or US PR, age 18 and over, living in the USA, can be a joint sponsor...it does not have to be a family member.

For I-864 requirements, go to www.uscis.gov, Forms, and read up on the I-864 and I-864P. The I-864P is the chart you will use to see if your dad earns enough income. On the chart, look at the 125% column for your dad's household size plus the immigrant. I have the feeling he will earn enough.

You will also have to prove intent to domicile in the USA, which is also covered in the Wiki guide. Read through the guide I linked and come back with any questions.

DCF through London takes about 5 months. I don't know how long it takes in Honduras.

Even if you don't qualify for DCF in Honduras (or they don't do DCF there), you can send the I-130 to the USA from Honduras. In that case, the process takes about 8 - 10 months.

Rene

yourdreamjenn

Wow you guys!!! Thanks so much for the helpful information! But, one thing that concerns me now is that I myself have NOT been filing tax returns since the time i moved to Honduras back in 2006. In fact, i believe the last year that i filed a tax return was back in the yer 2004, which is the last year that worked. Will this be a problem for me? (Before the year 2004/2005 i was on my father's tax returns.)

THANKS AGAIN!
Jenna

P.S. I NEVER knew that this process would be so complicated. I just recently received my son's US passport and report of birth abroad here in Honduas and it was a relatively simple task. I thought the one for my husband would be something similar...I could not have been more mistaken!

meauxna

Hola Jen, are you loving Honduras? lol, you must be, to still be there and all settled in.

I was living overseas when we decided to move to the US, so went through this in another country too. Filing for the immigrant visa via "DCF" is indeed the fastest and easiest way. My advise to you would be to read and study about the process before you file anything.. it does go very fast in Honduras.

You and your father will want to read the I-864, and probably those links from the DCF wiki article about it. The process isn't complicated so much, just detailed. And, you'll want to get it right the first time.

If your husband has an ineligibilities or.. difficulties in his history, you may want to consult with a lawyer before starting too. Any past drug use, police encounters or previous US immigration moves will mean your case might need special attention.

Again, the best advise is to get used to the lingo, read about other people's experiences (not so much the details as the overview), read the resources and ask questions.

S Folinsky

Comment: I, for one, do not consider Tegucigalpa to be the similar to London. But, I guess that is just me. I have noted that posters on this form have this habit of rarely posting local information when a case is not in London -- such as this link. That said, the wiki does have information on how to do the I-864 and on the "domicile" issues.

yourdreamjenn

Thank you for the link Mr. Folinsky. I just wanted to state that there is something that I forgot to mention, aside from the tax return issue, my husband has lived in the US for 3 years on a L-2 Visa and he was issued an employment authorization card, although he NEVER used it. He was going to but didn't. What does every one think of this? Is this something that is important? Is it worth contacting a lawyer about? And my goodness, I do have another question as well. (SORRY!) Ok, my husband has a son from a previous marriage but the boy, as sad as it is, is not in the picture at all. He lives with his Honduran mother in the US. My husband has not seen him since 2003. I have yet to even meet the little boy. With that in mind, should I list his son on the I-130 where it says list ALL children?

yourdreamjenn

Hahahaha Yes I do love living in Honduras for the most part! I LOVE the food and the maid service here. Seriously, a girl lives with me for only around $200 montly and she practically does everything except for dress me. And to top it off, she is perfectly content with this salary! That i for sure will miss if i EVER get back to the states! Ok, well have a nice day everyone!

ian-mstm

At this point in time, it will not be an issue... and will not have any negative impact on your current visa quest. One is not required to work even though one has permission!


Absolutely, yes. That the child is not currently in his life is irrelevant - well, for immigration form purposes. List the child.

Ian

meauxna

And there is no need to be snarky about it; if you want to look up the local Embassy info and share the link, that is a really nice thing to do. MANY of us here have done so over the years.
I never scolded you for not providing the links to back up various things when you were busy.

Thank you for getting the OP to her Consular page; the wiki is of course UK specific on the... wait for it... British Expats site.

This is why you should take it all slowly and make sure you have all the information before beginning. Well, most of the information.
I did mention that a past immigration history is good to know about. Sounds like your husband's was of the 'legal' flavor, which is good.
Why do you think it's a concern if he did not work in the US when he was eligible to?

We generally recommend that you take the forms at face value. All=All.

yourdreamjenn

Oh, well i just thought that it might look strange that he would get a work permit and never use it. The whole story is that he went through all of the basic requirements to join the US marines and passed everything and was basically ready to be enlisted. The USMC are the ones that helped him get the employment authorization card and kept him in a special program called the "dep" i believe. In the end, the employment authorazation card was not enough, they wanted him to find some way to get a "green card" and we were definetely not ready to get married at that point so he ended up going back to Honduas. (He was not deported or anything like that, he left on his own account.) We were apart for one year then I decided to move to Honduras myself. He was never once paid with the Marines, so that is why I stated that he never worked. He did go through the training, but due to citizenship issues he was never paid. That's all!

meauxna

Yes, you need to run through this with an immigration lawyer. Mainly because now I have no idea what you're talking about.

An L-2 is a dependent of an L-1 Intra Company Tranferee.


It would be a good idea to have the immigration history reviewed to make sure there are no issues lurking in the background. This does not have to be a multi-thousands of dollars consultation.. but a couple of hundred dollars well-spent (you can let the maid go early ).

Rete

I second Meauxna's suggestion. He needs to consult with an immigration attorney familiar with US immigration. There has to be a basis for your husband to have been given an employment authorization card. It just doesn't get applied for without having a petition pending that allows you to file for it. So there are parts to your husband's stay in the US that are missing.

yourdreamjenn

Well he went to the US on an L2 Visa while his wife, also Honduran and now ex wife, was the L1. They went together back in 2002. SHE was offered a job in the US. And he just went along with her. She is still in the US and remarried but he left in 2005. We met in 2004 about 6 months after they seperated. But to my understanding while on an L1 visa you are able to apply for the employment authorization card....the Marine Corps wanted him to stay in the US but just could not get it to work out because he needed to be a permenant resident. They apologized to him and told him that the work authorization card was just not going to be good enough. They told him to be patient and hang in there but because he was not getting paid and his parents no longer wanted to send him money from Honduras he decided to leave. But I guess maybe you guys are right. It is confusing.