Cross Chargeability based on spouse's place of birth

[kartheeque]

Hi,

I am a born citizen of India and currently on H1B in the US. I am going to talk to my company to start my GC processing. I would fall in the EB2 category if and when they file it.

My wife, though she has held only Indian citizenship all her life, was not born in India. She was born in Nigeria where her parents (born Indian citizens both) were lecturers in a Nigerian college. Her parents had been in Nigeria for about six years in total and my wife was born and spent her first couple of years in Nigeria, before her family moved to India for good.

Now my question is, since chargeability is usually by place of birth, would my wife be chargeable to Nigeria or India? Would the stay in Nigeria of her parents count as residence (and not a temporary or transit stay) for determining her chargeability? And consequently, in my GC application, where she will be my dependent spouse, can cross-chargeability be applied to put our applications through under Nigeria quota instead of India, given Nigeria EB2 is current, while there is backlog in the India queue?

Thanks in advance for the help!

[pontevecchio]

Assuming she has a birth certificate showing she was born in Nigeria, you can use cross chargeability.

[kartheeque]

8 hours ago, pontevecchio said:

Assuming she has a birth certificate showing she was born in Nigeria, you can use cross chargeability.

Thank you for the response. We have the birth certificate and her Indian passport also has her birthplace listed as Nigeria. Typically, are there any additional documents that are expected?

[pontevecchio]

That should do it .

[VikPan]

Hi there,

I've a similar case where my wife was born in Nepal but is an Indian Citizen. She has her birth Certificate from Nepal but her passport was created wrongly specifying India as place of Birth. Does she need to change her place of birth in her passport also before we proceed for cross chargeability or her birth certificate is good enough to apply for cross-chargeability. If so, wouldn't they refer to the passport? Please advise.

[pontevecchio]

@VikPan,

Since the stakes are enormous, discuss the matter with a lawyer. Country of birth matters.