As stated in my recent posts, in order to be a sponsor (whether a main sponsor or a joint sponsor) for an Affidavit of Support you need to establish domicile in the U.S.    Remember, an Affidavit of Support is needed whenever a person immigrates based on his relationship to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.  To be honest, domicile is a slippery concept.   It does not mean,”residence”, which is where your intent to live is.  Domicile is where you actually live (I guess that means you can intend to live in one place and actually live in another).   But it does not automatically mean where you are living — if you can follow that.   Let me give you an example.   Joe goes to Germany for two years.   He keeps his real residence in Pennsylvania with his parents and that is where he has all his financial ties and what he views as home.  Both his residence and his domicile are in Pennsylvania and his stay in Pennsylvania is decidedly temporary, even though it is two years.   Now, same situation, and he still views his parents’ home in Pennsylvania as his permanent home with relationship and financial ties there, but he starts to view Germany as his home away from home — you might say that while his residence is in Pennsylvania, his domicile is in Germany.

This is very important.   If the petitioner (and any joint sponsors) want to file an Affidavit of Support, they need to show that they are domiciled in the US.   If they are living in the US, that is easy to show.    If they are living abroad for more than a relatively short visit, it is a more difficult issue to prove.

One way to prove that your domicile is in the US is to show that you are just temporarily abroad, even if it is for an extended period.  You will want to show proof of a US address and ties to that US address — especially financial ties, but also other ties as well — I often include pictures of my client’s room in the US and pictures of their personal effects that are still at that address.

However, the longer you are out of the country, the harder it is to prove that you are out of the US temporarily.   One way around this situation is to show that you will be returning to the US by proof that there is a job waiting for you in the US.  I also usually include a letter from the people where you will be staying stating that you will be living with them.  It is even better if you can get a lease — but getting a lease and a job offer can be very difficult when you don’t know how long it will be until you come to the US.

A final option is for M-ssionaries only.   There is a sort of exception for M-ssionary workers abroad.  I say “sort of” because they still need to prove that they are abroad “temporarily” which is the same as what I discussed above.   However, the advantage is that historically, there is sort of an assumption that m-ssionaries maintain their residence (and domicile) in the US and are on the “field” only temporarily.   However, since the Consulates don’t always properly apply this rule, I always provide as much evidence of ties to the US as I can.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consult an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Gunnar Armstrong