Petitioner Senior Citizen for F-3 Visa Case

[manoj19882]

Hi,

My mother is the beneficiary applicant for an F-3 Visa and her father filed the petition in the year 2002. Her case was approved by the USCIS and is now with the NVC. We paid the Affidavit of support review fee (88$) and have sent the DS-3032(Choice of Agent and Address form) to the NVC last week. Need help with the domicile requirements for the I-864 affidavit of support.

The petitioner is a U.S citizen and 77 years by age. He worked for about 10-12 years in the United States. He returned from the U.S in the year 2005-06 and has lived in India since then. He still maintains a U.S checking account and receives Social Security in the same account monthly.

Will the checking account suffice as a proof of Domicile in the United States or would more documents be needed for this purpose to file the I-864 affidavit of support ?

Further, since the social security amount is pretty low, he has not filed any tax returns for the social security earnings over the past few years (He did file tax returns when he was employed in the U.S). Does he need to file overdue tax returns before he can file an I-864 affidavit of support even if his earnings are pretty low from social security and hence non-taxable ?

Please guide us regarding this issue.

Thanks and Regards,

Manoj

[mtouch]

What is your priority date ?

Based on an immigration lawyer's website:

"How is domicile determined? Domicile is determined on a case-by-case basis. The petitioner must have "a principal residence in the U.S. with the intent to maintain that residence for the foreseeable future". (If the petitioner is living outside the U.S., he cannot comply with the "domicile" requirement for the affidavit of support laws.)

How can the petitioner establish domicile? According to the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. (which oversees Embassies):

"The sponsors must have taken a credible combination of steps to make the U.S. his immediate principal place of abode. Such steps might include finding U.S. employment, locating a place to live, registering children in U.S. schools and other indices of residence. The sponsor should also have made other arrangements to relinquish residence in the third country. It is not necessary for the sponsor to precede the sponsored family members to the U.S. to re-establish residence and domicile provided that the sponsor has taken the type of concrete steps outlined above."

The bottom line is that, under the law, the petitioner will have to move back to the U.S., to re-establish his domicile in the U.S., in order for you to complete your immigrant visa. If he is unwilling to move back to the U.S., you will have problems getting your visa issued. "