Kerry McDonald

My Belgian fiancé and I are thinking of going to Belgium to get married instead of
going the K1 route. He is going to live in the US with me and we have done plenty of
research on the K1 and frankly, it looks like it could take over 6 months for the
paperwork to go through Nebraska.

So, we're thinking of getting married in Belgium and then going to the US Embassy in
Brussels to do the DCF.

Can anyone tell me if they went down the same path? Preferably in Europe??

Thanks!

kerry

Mrtravel

http://www.usembassy.be/co-
nsul/immi/howfilepet.htm is the Embassy link for Brussels that describes the
procedure. We filed DCF in Moscow and it took 40 days total from I-130 filing until
the visa was granted. That was in 2000. I firmly believe is DCF is the best way to
get through the process of becoming a PR.

Kerry McDonald wrote:
    > My Belgian fiancé and I are thinking of going to Belgium to get married instead of
    > going the K1 route. He is going to live in the US with me and we have done plenty
    > of research on the K1 and frankly, it looks like it could take over 6 months for
    > the paperwork to go through Nebraska.
    > So, we're thinking of getting married in Belgium and then going to the US Embassy
    > in Brussels to do the DCF.
    > Can anyone tell me if they went down the same path? Preferably in Europe??
    > Thanks!
    > kerry

meauxna

kerry, my husband (UKC) & I are doing DCF in Athens, Greece. We are about half way through the 30 day process.

Getting married in Europe requires a lot more legwork (and time) than in the States. Have you thought about marrying in the States since he's already there and then going to Belgium to file your paperwork? The USC only needs to be there for the first interview (submitting the I-130) and if you need to get back to the States, your (then) husband can complete the waiting time and join you after his final interview.
The link MrT provided says:
"The processing time of an immigrant visa for an immediate relative normally takes about four to six weeks."

Sounds good! Let us know what happens.

Sthrnshrte

    >My Belgian fiancé and I are thinking of going to Belgium to get married instead of
    >going the K1 route. He is going to live in the US with me and we have done plenty
    >of research on the K1 and frankly, it looks like it could take over 6 months for the
    >paperwork to go through Nebraska.
    >So, we're thinking of getting married in Belgium and then going to the US Embassy in
    >Brussels to do the DCF.
    >Can anyone tell me if they went down the same path? Preferably in Europe??
    >Thanks!
    >kerry


I'm not sure I understand the rules, but when my husband and I married in England I
was told I had to file for him in the states since my residency was still the US and
I was only in England as a visitor at that time. I don't know if I was told bad
advice, or if this is just the UK.. but make sure you're eligible to file DCF first.

Ash

Rete

You were told what is relevant and pertained to your situation. As a US Citizen without legal residency in the UK you are not eligible to do direct consular filing for your British spouse. So, yes, you were forced to go the long route by filing in the US first.

There are different requirements/criteria for each of the US Consulates in different countries. For example, there is no direct consular filing in Canada regardless of whether the USC is a resident of Canada or not. While the US Consulate in London will do DCF for a USC if the USC has legal residency in the UK. Holland will do it as will OZ if the US Citizen makes the trip there to final the initial paperwork.

Rete

Mrtravel

SthrnShrtE wrote:
    > >
    > I'm not sure I understand the rules, but when my husband and I married in England
    > I was told I had to file for him in the states since my residency was still the
    > US and I was only in England as a visitor at that time. I don't know if I was
    > told bad advice, or if this is just the UK.. but make sure you're eligible to
    > file DCF first.
    > Ash

It depends on the consulate. Until last fall a USC didn't have to live in Russia to
DCF in Moscow, now they do.