Applying green card for spouse while out of USA

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cardnotgreen

Registered Users (C)
I recently got naturalized and am planning on relocating to India for a short time, through my current Employer, who has an international transfer opportunity for me. I will be getting married in Aug/Sep in India.
Can I apply for I-130 and subsequently 485 for my wife while in India or do I have to be in the US for it. I have searched for this information but most of the information is for applying while the US-citizen spouse is in the US. Please advise. Excuse me if this post does not belong here.
 
You will need to Show U.S Domicile to sponsor a beneficiary. Search for "Domicile" on the U.S Department of State website.
 
Apparently, I can do this at one of the US Consulates in India. I believe there is a residency requirement of 6 months though.
 
cardnotgreen said:
I recently got naturalized and am planning on relocating to India for a short time, through my current Employer, who has an international transfer opportunity for me. I will be getting married in Aug/Sep in India.
Can I apply for I-130 and subsequently 485 for my wife while in India or do I have to be in the US for it. I have searched for this information but most of the information is for applying while the US-citizen spouse is in the US. Please advise. Excuse me if this post does not belong here.
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You cannot file I-485 outside the USA. Its adjustment of status when the person is in USA legally and wishes to change his/her immigration status to some other.

You will have to do the CP route for your spouse. There are plenty of posts on that in the family based forums. Just search for the consular processing. You will need to file I-130 in usa but the spouse will get interview in your choice of consulate abroad and will be able to enter USA as LPR when she gets the immigrant visa from the consulate.
 
To clarify about the 6 month requirement, I meant for the US citizen (myself) in India and yes I was alluding to Direct Consular processing which seems to be an option, provided I can prove residency in India. I guess I also need to clarify about the 'transfer' option that I have at work, given tax implications and everything, my HR says that I basically will have to resign here and join at our India office.

http://newdelhi.usembassy.gov/uscisi130pet.html
 
cardnotgreen said:
To clarify about the 6 month requirement, I meant for the US citizen (myself) in India and yes I was alluding to Direct Consular processing which seems to be an option, provided I can prove residency in India. I guess I also need to clarify about the 'transfer' option that I have at work, given tax implications and everything, my HR says that I basically will have to resign here and join at our India office.

http://newdelhi.usembassy.gov/uscisi130pet.html
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thanks for sharing the link.. so you need to be residing in india to be able to file I-130 at consulate in India. thats not too bad... and sounds right
 
cardnotgreen,
thanks for the link. Can you please update if you did go this route, what what it entails?
 
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