I-864 And Domicile for a student

[Randy W]

Dan, I did put China as my domicile. I thought the issue was proving that you've reestablished (or are working to) US domicile

 

 

 

The I-864 expects a US domicile. If you don't have one, then you MUST have a co-sponsor who does. If he has a US domicile, it is to his advantage to show it, even if he DOES have a co-sponsor.

[dnoblett]

Dan, I did put China as my domicile. I thought the issue was proving that you've reestablished (or are working to) US domicile

 

 

 

The I-864 expects a US domicile. If you don't have one, then you MUST have a co-sponsor who does. If he has a US domicile, it is to his advantage to show it, even if he DOES have a co-sponsor.

 

I will add yes, Joint sponsor must have US domicile, and if using Joint, then must show evidence of re-establishing or having US Domicile, it is a requirement of sponsorship, and a requirement of affidavit of support. The petitioner (Person who filed I-130) must act as primary sponsor, so must provide an I-864 even with low or no income.

[James In Jinan]

Okay, I've been doing a lot of reading, and it seems like since there is a question of whether I have US Domicile, I need to take the re-establishing route.

 

When I got excited about being a student, I didn't realize that path was mostly for exchange students who were sent to China for a study abroad opportunity. I've been in China for over 2 years, and have been a student for two years, but the initial 3 months I was here I was not officially a student. I closed my bank account in the US, and I have all my mail sent to my friends home (the co-sponsor).

 

Now, I realize that establishing domicile is mostly by a "preponderance" of evidence*, which I interpret as just having more evidence for than evidence against. So, looking at all the evidence I can gather at my intent to re-establish evidence, I so far have:

*A valid US driver's license

*A letter from a friend saying we can stay with them.

*A letter from a company saying they will hire me.

 

I also can easily get:

*Mail sent to my friend's U.S. address (the co-sponsor)

*A receipt for paying off an old PG&E bill recently.

*A registration form for the Community College I want to take classes at while I establish residency.

*My student transcripts in China

*Proof my rental contract ends in a couple of months

 

Things I cannot get (But desperately wish I had been on the ball with):

*Bank account statements

*Voting record

[James In Jinan]

Now, I realize that establishing domicile is mostly by a "preponderance of evidence"*, which I interpret as just having more evidence for than evidence against.

 

 

The source for this quote is at this post at family based immigration in the sixth paragraph above the bottom of the page.

[jonp31]

My case was for a K-1 so obviously a bit different than yours but I'll go ahead and add my two cents anyway since the affidavit of support criteria for the I-134 (that's what K-1ers use) appears to be the same as that of the I-864.

 

I've been living in China for about 4 years now and my biggest worry in the process was also about DOMICILE - giving enough evidence to show I will be re-establishing domicile in the States this coming summer with my fiancee when we go back to get married. I'll show you what I used for evidence although I obviously don't know how much of it was necessary or at all important to the VO.

 

I attached a "supplement" sheet to the I-134 form (your I-864) that had the sole purpose of speaking to the domicile issue with regard to finances. This is how I prefaced that page:

 

"To satisfy the domicile requirement for sponsorship (9 FAM 40.41 N6.1-2 ¡°Establishing U.S. Domicile¡±) let these active accounts satisfy you from the financial aspect that I consider the United States as my principal home despite having lived in China several years and I will return there with my fianc¨¦e upon receipt of the K-1 visa to reestablish my physical residence there."

 

Fortunately I do have bank accounts and credit cards, all of which have some (though not much) activity. I did open up a new online savings account between getting the P3 and going to the interview and that's an option you could look into. That way you could get some money transferred into an account with your name on it in the States. I don't know if that will carry any weight or not since it's right before the interview but it may be worth a shot. For me, it was something I wanted to do regardless, so whether it meant anything to the VO or not was inconsequential.

 

I mentioned in that supplemental sheet that my cosponsor (brother) had written a letter with more information regarding my plans to reestablish domicile in the States (that I used his address as my permanent address while in China and had mail sent there and he and his wife offered to let me and my fiancee stay with them as long as necessary until we find our own place, etc.). That letter, signed by my brother and his wife and notarized, was attached to their I-134 and therefore the VO was certain to see it when we handed in documents. I also made mention of another letter written by my parents testifying to the same thing (plans for reestablishing domicile) which my fiancee would be carrying with her during the interview ... they did not care to see it.

 

Other things we brought to the interview were my driver's license and voter registration card but they didn't look at those and I don't think they even new we had them. They DID however seem to read the letter from my brother that was attached to the I-134 because some of the questions they asked my fiancee seemed to come from things they gleaned from it.

 

You'll probably be fine. You might look into opening a bank account though with an explanation of why it was opened so "late in the game" i.e. you did not need it while you were in China but now that you are going to return to live in the States it is one of the steps you're taking to reestablish US domicile. Also, a letter from your cosponsor should explain that you use his address as your permanent address while temporarily out of the country and his home is open to you and your wife should you need it while finding your own housing upon return. The other key is making sure they SEE the things that were written. That's why I paper-clipped my supplement/explanation and my brother's letter to the back of our affidavits of support. They couldn't see them right away when they collected documents and therefore couldn't REJECT them, but since they were there the VO couldn't have helped but see and read them.

 

Good luck!

 

(oh, and I think I remember you asking what the general timeline is from P3 to interview. When I was at that stage I looked at many others' timelines and it seemed like 7-8 weeks. My timeline appears to be longer than that but I had sent in an incomplete P3 and had to resend a document. So I think mine would have been in the same 7-8 week time frame if not for that mistake. And if it wasn't you who was asking this question a little while back then I apologize for so much unnecessary info!)

[James In Jinan]

Thank you Jonp, I didn't even know/think about Online Savings accounts. I was looking at Everbank and FNBO. I decided on Everbank because it allowed a wire setup service. Since my SO's interview is on the 19th (of April), I don't think there's enough time to actually set it up, since I would have to mail them my signature. I think I'm going to send it in anyways, and then save the receipt and a copy of the form. If I get the card and can wire them the money before my interview, awesome. If I can't, oh well, I at least started the process and it's another piece of paper for peace of mind. If you guys think it really won't make difference, please tell me, because it is a lot of work to send it in and wire the money in my backwater hell hole of a city in China.

 

Is it really important for the letter from my co-sponsor (saying they will let me stay until I find a place) to be notarized? We were just planning on handwritten and signed, then sent over to me. They were planning on sending it, oh, tomorrow to just be sure I can get it before I go to Guangzhou.

 

Does anyone have any examples of aforementioned letter? I would really like to know the length, amount of detail, and format, just to let my mind rest easy. This is my first time doing anything remotely like this, so I'm very... nervous.

 

Reply to Jonp's PS:

Yes, I think you are thinking of me, and we've already received the P4. I've got all my other ducks in line, just this last domicile issue is causing me stress.

Edited April 6, 2011 by James In Jinan (see edit history)

[jonp31]

If you guys think it really won't make difference, please tell me, because it is a lot of work to send it in and wire the money in my backwater hell hole of a city in China.

 

 

Here I¡¡really have no idea of whether or not it will "make a difference." It looks no one else had any thoughts on that either but if you're worried about domicile being an issue it may be worth doing just in case. By the way, your "backwater" city is only about 2 hours away from mine if your screen name isn't a misnomer (I take it that's Jinan as in the capital of Shandong).

 

Is it really important for the letter from my co-sponsor (saying they will let me stay until I find a place) to be notarized? We were just planning on handwritten and signed, then sent over to me. They were planning on sending it, oh, tomorrow to just be sure I can get it before I go to Guangzhou.

 

Does anyone have any examples of aforementioned letter? I would really like to know the length, amount of detail, and format, just to let my mind rest easy. This is my first time doing anything remotely like this, so I'm very... nervous.

 

 

It's probably a little too late to say anything about your question on the letter, about whether it's necessary to have it notarized. I wasn't on here the last two days otherwise I'd have replied sooner. This is another one of those issues where I don't know how much weight it really carries but I went ahead and had my brother and his wife get it notarized because it wasn't that much of a hassle for them and it at least made me feel better about it. It should carry some weight since anyone can write and sign anything they want and pass it off as someone else's words. I'll send you a copy of the letter on a PM so you can see what we took. Again I know it may be a little late at this point. One idea could be to have your sponsor get the letter notarized then scan it and email it to you to print out if there's no time to get it in the mail. If he already sent the first "non-notarized" then you could bring both to the interview and all bases should be covered.