Tom R

Thank you, Randy! I'll pop in from time to time. Super busy finalizing this move right now. So much to do! Hey, I tried changing the name of this thread a while back but couldn't. The name isn't really accurate now considering I didn't know what the hell I was doing or talking about when I started it. But feel free to change it if you want. Maybe to something like "DCF process questions" ...? It's really amazing how much I've learned about the immigration process in the last year and a half.

Visa approved! Two days later, USTravelDocs already says : "Passport has been received from the consular section, and is currently being processed for delivery". We chose EMS delivery so hoping to get it today or tomorrow. Or Monday would be next business day I guess. Her experience at the Consulate was similar to what everyone else has already posted with a few things that may be of interest to someone: At Document intake part, ` - Along with the I-864 and earning potential info, they only wanted 1 year of taxes even though we had 3. Didn't ask for domicile proof. - They didn't ask about a joint sponsor but took those I-864s and, again, 1 year of taxes only after my wife mentioned she had one. (Glad she mentioned it!) She said that she feels like they had already approved her before her interview. The questions were pretty much just going through the motions. I'm thinking it's because of my "excellent" cover letter and organization of the packet. ; ) She also said that they would've kept her bag and phone for her but she had already used that little stand near the entrance. Thank you Randy and Dan for all of your help! We couldn't have done it without you guys! And sorry for all of the questions...I know I overthink stuff sometimes and ask some stupid questions. Thank you for your patience with me. And thank you to all of the previous posters sharing their experience. I've read so many helpful posts and learned so many things on this site to help in our journey. I hope a couple of my questions help someone on theirs. Is there anything I can do to help with the site? Can I make a donation to the upkeep of it? Please let me know if there's anything I can do. Tom

Here's our I-864 Cover letter/sheet. Any input would be appreciated. Think I should change the title? I thought about starting a new thread, but figured why start now. ; ) I-864 Cover Letter/Sheet Thomas XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX Shanghai, China 200336 XXXXXXXX, 2019 U.S. Consulate General 43 Hua Jiu Road, Zhujiang New Town Tianhe District Guangzhou, China 510623 Nature of the submission: I-864 Original Submission To Whom It May Concern: I, Thomas XXXXXXX, do hereby state that I am willing and have the capability to support the applicant and principal immigrant XXXXXX. I would like to clarify our situation regarding our plans, earnings potential, and future employment upon returning to the US. Please take the following information into consideration: Firstly, regarding my past, present, and future employment, I’ve entered that I have no current income on my I-864 because while living in Shanghai I’m a stay-at-home father and am not currently employed. However, I will be able to resume my career as a journeyman IBEW commercial-electrician almost immediately upon returning to the U.S. I will have an hourly wage of about $XX per hour plus pension and health insurance for myself and my family bringing the total package to around $XX per hour. I’ve provided a letter from my home branch of the IBEW (local union #XXX) stating my position, my hourly wage, the current and future local work outlook, and my yearly income from 2006 to 2011 while working there. I moved to Texas in 2012 to pursue a music career and eventually worked for part of 2014 in XXXXX as an IBEW electrician. Therefore, I have also provided copies of my 2014 tax return and documents showing what I made during that partial year of work to help prove my earnings potential. My wife and applicant, XXXXXXXX, studied law in China for 7 years and later earned her Master of Laws degree at the University of XXXXXX. She has passed the XXXXXXX State Bar and is certified to practice law in the U.S. She plans to eventually find legal work or start a business after we get settled in the U.S. As for our plans: we plan on living in my small hometown of XXXXXXXX for a while after moving back to the U.S. to be near my large family. I’ll do electrical work while my wife plans on being a stay-at-home mother at first and possibly finding some part-time work. We may relocate to a larger city somewhere in the States eventually for better schools and/or for better job opportunities for my wife. My wife and I have the ability to earn more than enough to support our family, and will never be a burden to the U.S. government. I did not provide any assets or bank account information on the I-864 because it wasn’t enough to clear the 125% of poverty requirement. I did include some bank statements in the package. Please see the next page for a list of items included… Enclosed please find my Form I-864, Affidavit of Support for my spouse, XXXXXX, and other supporting documents: - Evidence of Support and Domicile (copies) Form I-864 of Petitioner (Applicant’s U.S. Citizen Spouse)Petitioner’s Tax returns and supporting tax documents (previous 3 years)Evidence of petitioner’s earnings potentialLetter from IBEW (previous and future employer) stating immediate earnings potential in U.S.IBEW diploma of 5 year apprenticeship and trainingCurrently paid IBEW union dues card Certificate of completion in Commercial Electrical Maintenance 2014 Tax returns and supporting documentsPetitioner’s U.S. Passport biodata page, China Residence Permit page, and Birth CertificateAdditional documents establishing petitioner’s domicile in the U.S.XXXXX driver’s license and voter registration cardRecent U.S. bank and credit card statementsRecent U.S. car payment and car insurance statementsCurrently paid IBEW union dues card Forms I-864 of Joint Sponsor and I-864a of Household Member (Petitioner’s U.S. Citizen Parents)Joint Sponsor’s and Household Member’s joint tax returns and supporting tax documents (prev. 3 years)Joint Sponsor’s Birth Certificate Household Member’s U.S. Passport Biodata Page Documents establishing U.S. Domicile of Joint Sponsor and Household Member including:XXXXXX driver’s licensesRecent TV and phone statementRecent home and car insurance statementRecent electric and gas utilities statement - Applicant’s Documents, Translated Notarial Certificates, and Evidence of Earnings Potential (copies) Passport Photos (x2)China Passport Biodata Page and current US Visa pageNational ID Card Birth Certificate (translated notarial)Police Certificate (translated notarial)Marriage Certificate (translated notarial) Marriage Certificate (original red book)Master of Laws Diploma from University of XXXXXXXState of XXXXXXX Bar CertificateEmployment/Education Resume - Additional proof bona-fide marriage (copies) Our daughter’s Passport biodata page, CRBA, and Birth CertificateJoint bank statements and blank check Photos of last 7 years together and with family , plane tickets of trips taken together - Emails, instructions, and correspondence with Beijing and Guangzhou (copies) Interview appointment confirmation email (5-29-19)Time frame question email (1-17-19)Instructions to schedule interview email (1-16-19)DS-260 application confirmation page email (1-5-19)Instructions to fill out DS-260 email (4-23-18)I-130 approval notice email (4-3-18)I-130 appointment confirmation page (3-6-18) Copies of documents submitted are exact photocopies of unaltered documents and I understand that my wife and I may be required to present original documents to an Immigration or Consular officer at the interview or at a later date. I certify under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the statements in this letter and all accompanying evidence are true and correct. Signed, __________________________ Date:_______________ Thomas XXXXXXXX

Thanks a lot Randy. I'll go ahead and include her I-864a then. I put out current Shanghai mailing address on the I-864s, and entered my parents' address for our future address on the DS-260.

Last couple of questions...hopefully. So I’m questioning at the last minute whether to use my mom’s I-864a or not because she’s self-employed and I don’t want them to do a RFE for extra proof of her income such as: business licenses and registrations, signed and dated statement about the nature of the business and the sponsors involvement, bank statements for the previous 6 months showing deposits from business, etc. Especially considering she doesn’t make much at all compared to my Dad. It’s like 76k for my dad to 7k for her. On the other hand, I don't want them to RFE for her I-864a if we don't include it. I’ve definitely heard of them doing this. Although I keep reading that it isn't needed unless using it to get above the poverty threshold. What do you think about just having my wife bring my mom’s I-864a and documents to the interview and submit them if they ask about her? Or would they only need/look for it after the interview when they’re reviewing everything, and then do the RFE for it a couple days after the interview? I’m really torn on which option to go with here. Both strategies could end in a RFE. One way, they might RFE for her additional income info. The other, they might RFE for her I-864a. Also, My Dad’s retired. Do you think we need to submit some additional proof of his income as in recent pension statements or something? He’s already submitting 3 years of taxes that show the income is from a pension or annuity.

Ok thanks, I’ll go with the Total Income then from line 22 on the older 1040s and line 6 from the new one since they didn’t file the 1040EZ. For some reason I had it stuck in my head that they wanted the AGI.

I have a couple final questions about the I-864 and I-864A. My parents are joint sponsors and they file joint taxes. 1) I just wanted to clarify that their answers about the previous three years of total income should be exactly the same or not on their respective forms? I’m referring to the I-864 - part 6 - questions 24 a-c , and the I-864a - part 4 - questions 2 a-c. I’m pretty sure that those numbers need to be exactly the same on both of their forms since they file jointly, right? 2) And what should those numbers be? The total income? Or the adjusted gross income? It seems that they used to go with line 22 of the 1040s, which would be the total income (it would be line 6 on the new 1040s). But on the most recent I-864 it mentions using the adjusted gross income , which would be line 37 on the old 1040s (line 7 on the new ones). Seems a little tricky, hopefully it’s not a huge deal on using the right one. Also, her interview is on Wednesday! Any certain “must read” threads we should look at beforehand that I might've missed?

Just found this again on VisaJourney: I guess I won't worry about it. Although I'm not seeing her UID# on the appointment confirmation letter.

Anyone know how to find the "Online Registration Confirmation Page" that they say to bring in the 5th box of the below "IV Instructions checklist"? Or if it's really needed? It says you can print it after you register online with USTravelDocs, but my wife registered with them years ago for her first US Visa and never printed or downloaded that page, and I can't seem to access it now. I did read in another forum that having the "Appointment Confirmation Letter" will be enough since it includes the UID#, and that's all they really need the "Online Registration Confirmation Page" for. But I don't see the UID# anywhere on her "Appointment Confirmation Letter". http://www.ustraveldocs.com/cn/IV%20Instructions-English%20DEC2018.pdf

Update on renouncing daughter's citizenship: We went to the PSB in Shanghai to talk to them and they said it's easiest to just move to the US and live there for 2 years, then come back to Shanghai and renounce. Otherwise, they'd have to send a bunch of documents to Beijing and wait for them to process and make a decision, which could potentially take a long time. I guess it makes their decision much easier if the person has already been living in the US. So we'll worry about this in a couple years.

Regarding the time frame we have to interview. I emailed GUZ and asked if she has one year from her I-130 approval date last March to interview, or one year from the interview notification letter we got yesterday. They said: So the one year window does restart after submitting the DS-260

Yeah, it seems like most of what I've been reading on other sites has been about either British or Canadian citizens. I sure hope you're right as far as it being easy to renounce as an American citizen. When my wife called the PSB last week about it, they told her that she needs to go there to talk to someone about it - wouldn't answer any questions over the phone. I guess we'll all go and hope for the best. Will let you know what we find out

Good question. Last week my wife was excited about getting on with everything and moving this summer. Tonight she says December or early next year would be best for her. And actually, this timeline may work better for us since we're thinking of applying for our daughter's renunciation of China soon (a whole other can of worms, I know). Speaking of that....any tips or links off the top of your head on renouncing from Shanghai? Or has anyone ever done this from the US? I've been researching this on other sites but haven't looked around on here yet. Seems it's a big pain in the you know what. I'll probably start a thread on this soon Anyway, I know she will probably have 6 months from the medical exam date. Just trying to figure out if she needs to interview before the year anniversary of the I-130 approval at the end of March, or if she has a year from today. I think I'll email GZ and ask just to be sure. BTW, I just got this message in a separate window when trying to post this comment a minute ago: I was using Astrill VPN - Server: Fremont 2. I changed servers and restarted chrome to post this time.

I'm reading this as "proceed with JUST the next step within a year." But I could also see it meaning "you must finish everything within one year." Idk, maybe GZ will send me another email after I submit the DS-260 mentioning my time frame.... If not, I'll email them to ask about this. So after submitting the DS-260 and sending in the documents, we received our instructions for doing the medical and scheduling an interview appointment. It seems from this letter that we now have another year from now to proceed with the interview. The letter states: But then again in the IV Instructions Packet on ustraveldocs.com it states: Guess we'd better go ahead and schedule the interview for sometime before the one year anniversary of the I-130 approval date just to be safe. But it would sure be nice to know which one of these rules they're following. As I said before, we'd like to stall a bit more now if we can...

Never mind. Just found this: