DCF Guide: Peer Review
Aug 16th 2004, 12:35 am
#1
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 35,082
DCF Guide: Peer Review
hey all,
I've used some of the old source materials to rework the DCF Guide that used to live on The Site Whose Name We Dare Not Speak
I would appreciate input from the group so that we may include this with the FAQ to answer some of the questions about DCF that crop up from time to time.
Thanks for the look,
meauxna
What is DCF and Why Do I Care?
DCF or Direct Consular Filing is the colloquial term for filing the I-130 petition overseas, rather than through the US Service Center. This document is developed from the old DocSteen site with credit to Alvena F, my personal experience and research of previous experiences. It is intended as a supplement to the official K1 FAQ and is not intended as a definitive guide to any and all countries and their US Consular posts.
The goal of immigration for our purposes here is Permanent Resident status aka a Green Card. Residents holding this card have full work and travel permission. Many K Visa holders get this status after completing their AOS/Adjustment of Status.
Before the K1 Visa, before the K3 Visa, there was one main way to immigrate your foreign spouse to the US: The US Citizen spouse filed a petition I-130 and waited for (then) INS to approve it. When it was approved, the foreign spouse applied for an Immigrant Visa. When my mother did this 40 years ago, adjudication was nearly instantaneous. This is still the original, most complete way to immigrate your spouse today, but now it can take up to 3 years for an I-130 to be processed at a Service Center or District Office. Because of the delays and backlogs, the K3 non-immigrant option was created to allow the foreign spouse to come to the US and wait for the I-130. Once in the US, the K3 holder has the option of applying for a change in status in the US (AOS) or waiting until the I-130 has been approved, returning to the Consulate and applying for the Immigrant Visa. The Immigrant Visa classification for a spouse will be CR-1 or IR-1. When entering with an IV, the foreign spouse becomes a Permanent Resident immediately and the Green Card is mailed to them shortly thereafter.
"But my love and I want to be together now", you say. "We don’t want to wait 3 years for an I-130, we don’t even want to wait 9 months for a K3!" Well, if there were a faster way for your spouse to obtain an Immigrant Visa and arrive in the US as a permanent resident, well, you’d probably want to know about it, right?
When an I-130 is filed abroad, either through the Consular Officer or the overseas DHS office, it is typically adjudicated much faster than those filed in the US. There are recent (summer 2004) examples of quite rapid I-130 approvals, but this has not been the norm in the past. Approval is generally is so fast that there is no need to apply for a K3 visa; many DCF processes are completed in 1-3 months total. This process is also simpler and allows the spouse to enter with all the benefits of the Immigrant Visa, namely an immediate Green Card at entry.
How to do Direct Consular Filing for a Spouse
First, if the US citizen is resident abroad with their spouse, the US Consulate will ALWAYS do Direct Consular Filing; you do NOT need to ask them if they do this. Look up your Consulate’s website and see instructions for Immigrant Visa applications.
CANADA WILL NOT DO DIRECT CONSULAR FILING EVEN IF BOTH SPOUSES RESIDE IN CANADA.
If the webpage for your Consulate is not clear on the subject, or for more information, you should also investigate your country/city here: http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/fie...s/seaalpha.htm to find out if your area is covered by an overseas office of the DHS/Immigration. You should be able to find out local filing procedures there.
If the foreign spouse is a resident, but not citizen of the target filing country, be sure to ask the Immigrant Visa Unit if that will be an issue at all. In my case it was not, but note that the USC and the foreign spouse should be legally present/resident in the 3rd country.
For international couples where the USC lives in the US and the foreign spouse abroad, there are some countries whose Consulates allow local filing of the I-130 even when the USC is not resident in the foreign country. This is a courtesy to USCs and guidelines vary around the world. When DCF is discussed on the newsgroups and messages boards, this is most often the circumstance they refer to.
There are various lists around (one maintained by an attorney) that tell countries that will and will not do DCF for non-resident USCs. Please note that this list changes frequently and is not always correct even when up to date. It is, however, a starting point. Which leads to the most important step:
Confirm directly with the Consulate in question that they will offer this service to you. It is a courtesy, a favor, a little something extra from them to you, the USC. The Consulates are not required to do it and their policies and rules change from time to time, often when a new Consul General is appointed in a country.
To find out who you need confirmation from, first visit the website of your Consular post. Following the links to Immigrant Visas will usually give you an outline of how the process is performed in that office. Phone numbers are usually posted on their website, or they may require you to contact them by email or fax. If there is a DHS office in your country/city, you will be dealing with 2 different agencies: USCIS, which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security/DHS and the Consular visa unit which is part of the Department of State. DHS will process the petition I-130. The Consulate will process the visa application. The visa petition (I-130) determines whether you are eligible to file a visa application and is only concerned with establishing your identities , citizenship and the validity of the marriage. The visa application considers all the other issues, support, health etc.
If you are dealing with the Consulate only, the Immigrant Visa Unit will be your primary contact.
When you reach them, you want to ask something along these lines:
“Will you allow me, a US Citizen not resident in your country, to file a petition I-130 for my husband/wife who is a citizen/resident of your country?�
If you have previously been a resident of that country or have a birth-family connection to that country, it is worth including this information, as it may influence the outcome.
Do not use abbreviations or slang terminology when speaking with the Consular officials, be very plain and explanatory, yet to the point. Be sure that they understand what you are asking, and be sure that you understand their answer completely. “DCF/Direct Consular Filing� is a slang term. It is not recommended to use it, but to stick to an accurate description of what you want: to file the I-130 for your spouse at their office, even if you do not live in their country.
If you are not yet married you can contact the Consulate prior to marriage to see if they have instructions in writing they can mail to you or to get more information about this process before you marry. It may be that they have a packet of information that they can mail to you now, before the marriage. In Australia, for instance, the Australian fiancé can call the Consulate and request this packet prior to the marriage and go ahead and have the medical exam and get the police record, and complete all of the forms. The USC fiancé can arrive in Australia, marry and file the petition and the visa application at the Consulate at Sidney in one visit. Timelines around the world vary: my own family’s visa process was 33 days from I-130 to visa in hand, busier Consulates may take 3 or so months and some countries with higher fraud or security issues may take longer. No matter which way you slice it, it is still faster than filing the I-130 at a US Service Center.
Please note: DCF is faster than processing through a US Service Center, but it is not instantaneous. The immigrating spouse is still required to make a complete Immigrant Visa application, including the appropriate marriage/divorce documents, police certificates, military records and a medical. Instructions for these documents are disbursed to the foreign Visa applicant in the form of a checklist. The sooner you collect these documents, the faster you can submit your application.
It is well worth checking the experiences posted at kamya.com (Steve, please insert the correct link here) for tips related to your specific Consulate.
Here is how the procedure typically goes:
1- There is an initial “interview� where the USC and the foreign spouse appear to submit the I-130 and its attachments. Some Consulates accept these materials by mail, courier or in person with an appointment or only on specific days. Check the website of your Consulate for tips OR contact them directly to inquire.
2- The I-130 is adjudicated.
There has been some public confusion over the use of the term “DCF�. Some Consular posts have been granted permission from Dept. Homeland Security to adjudicate (decide) I-130 petitions. This is “true� DCF. Some Embassy complexes include a DHS office on the grounds, and DHS staff approve petitions submitted there. This process is transparent to the end user and the result is the same. Once the petition is approved, the foreign spouse may apply for an Immigrant Visa. If the petition is not approved at this level, it may indicate a red flag with your case and the petition will be forwarded to a more senior DHS staffer (perhaps in another country).
3- The foreign spouse’s visa application will include The Packet Formerly Known As “3�. This will include DS-230 Part 1 (the visa application) and a checklist of required documents. It may include information about the medical procedure for your area and certainly instruction for the Affidavit of Support I-864.
If you have all of the documents for the petition + visa application ready at your first visit to the Consulate (to file the I-130) you may persuade the Immigrant Visa workers to accept the visa application early and start a provisional file for you. It is certainly recommended that one be as over prepared as possible when pursuing DCF. (Steve: if you want to add a list of IV-15 documents here, feel free)
4- The foreign spouse has the final interview at which time the visa is issued, the US citizen spouse does NOT have to be present at the final interview.
5- The foreign spouse enters the US, and at the port of entry will receive in his/her passport an I-551 stamp which gives immediate permanent resident status. The status may or may not be “conditional� depending on the length of marriage at the time of entry. The actual green card will arrive in the mail a few weeks/months later. The foreign spouse receives immediate work and travel authorization from the “green card stamp�, and will only need to obtain a social security card before starting to work.
I've used some of the old source materials to rework the DCF Guide that used to live on The Site Whose Name We Dare Not Speak
I would appreciate input from the group so that we may include this with the FAQ to answer some of the questions about DCF that crop up from time to time.
Thanks for the look,
meauxna
What is DCF and Why Do I Care?
DCF or Direct Consular Filing is the colloquial term for filing the I-130 petition overseas, rather than through the US Service Center. This document is developed from the old DocSteen site with credit to Alvena F, my personal experience and research of previous experiences. It is intended as a supplement to the official K1 FAQ and is not intended as a definitive guide to any and all countries and their US Consular posts.
The goal of immigration for our purposes here is Permanent Resident status aka a Green Card. Residents holding this card have full work and travel permission. Many K Visa holders get this status after completing their AOS/Adjustment of Status.
Before the K1 Visa, before the K3 Visa, there was one main way to immigrate your foreign spouse to the US: The US Citizen spouse filed a petition I-130 and waited for (then) INS to approve it. When it was approved, the foreign spouse applied for an Immigrant Visa. When my mother did this 40 years ago, adjudication was nearly instantaneous. This is still the original, most complete way to immigrate your spouse today, but now it can take up to 3 years for an I-130 to be processed at a Service Center or District Office. Because of the delays and backlogs, the K3 non-immigrant option was created to allow the foreign spouse to come to the US and wait for the I-130. Once in the US, the K3 holder has the option of applying for a change in status in the US (AOS) or waiting until the I-130 has been approved, returning to the Consulate and applying for the Immigrant Visa. The Immigrant Visa classification for a spouse will be CR-1 or IR-1. When entering with an IV, the foreign spouse becomes a Permanent Resident immediately and the Green Card is mailed to them shortly thereafter.
"But my love and I want to be together now", you say. "We don’t want to wait 3 years for an I-130, we don’t even want to wait 9 months for a K3!" Well, if there were a faster way for your spouse to obtain an Immigrant Visa and arrive in the US as a permanent resident, well, you’d probably want to know about it, right?
When an I-130 is filed abroad, either through the Consular Officer or the overseas DHS office, it is typically adjudicated much faster than those filed in the US. There are recent (summer 2004) examples of quite rapid I-130 approvals, but this has not been the norm in the past. Approval is generally is so fast that there is no need to apply for a K3 visa; many DCF processes are completed in 1-3 months total. This process is also simpler and allows the spouse to enter with all the benefits of the Immigrant Visa, namely an immediate Green Card at entry.
How to do Direct Consular Filing for a Spouse
First, if the US citizen is resident abroad with their spouse, the US Consulate will ALWAYS do Direct Consular Filing; you do NOT need to ask them if they do this. Look up your Consulate’s website and see instructions for Immigrant Visa applications.
CANADA WILL NOT DO DIRECT CONSULAR FILING EVEN IF BOTH SPOUSES RESIDE IN CANADA.
If the webpage for your Consulate is not clear on the subject, or for more information, you should also investigate your country/city here: http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/fie...s/seaalpha.htm to find out if your area is covered by an overseas office of the DHS/Immigration. You should be able to find out local filing procedures there.
If the foreign spouse is a resident, but not citizen of the target filing country, be sure to ask the Immigrant Visa Unit if that will be an issue at all. In my case it was not, but note that the USC and the foreign spouse should be legally present/resident in the 3rd country.
For international couples where the USC lives in the US and the foreign spouse abroad, there are some countries whose Consulates allow local filing of the I-130 even when the USC is not resident in the foreign country. This is a courtesy to USCs and guidelines vary around the world. When DCF is discussed on the newsgroups and messages boards, this is most often the circumstance they refer to.
There are various lists around (one maintained by an attorney) that tell countries that will and will not do DCF for non-resident USCs. Please note that this list changes frequently and is not always correct even when up to date. It is, however, a starting point. Which leads to the most important step:
Confirm directly with the Consulate in question that they will offer this service to you. It is a courtesy, a favor, a little something extra from them to you, the USC. The Consulates are not required to do it and their policies and rules change from time to time, often when a new Consul General is appointed in a country.
To find out who you need confirmation from, first visit the website of your Consular post. Following the links to Immigrant Visas will usually give you an outline of how the process is performed in that office. Phone numbers are usually posted on their website, or they may require you to contact them by email or fax. If there is a DHS office in your country/city, you will be dealing with 2 different agencies: USCIS, which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security/DHS and the Consular visa unit which is part of the Department of State. DHS will process the petition I-130. The Consulate will process the visa application. The visa petition (I-130) determines whether you are eligible to file a visa application and is only concerned with establishing your identities , citizenship and the validity of the marriage. The visa application considers all the other issues, support, health etc.
If you are dealing with the Consulate only, the Immigrant Visa Unit will be your primary contact.
When you reach them, you want to ask something along these lines:
“Will you allow me, a US Citizen not resident in your country, to file a petition I-130 for my husband/wife who is a citizen/resident of your country?�
If you have previously been a resident of that country or have a birth-family connection to that country, it is worth including this information, as it may influence the outcome.
Do not use abbreviations or slang terminology when speaking with the Consular officials, be very plain and explanatory, yet to the point. Be sure that they understand what you are asking, and be sure that you understand their answer completely. “DCF/Direct Consular Filing� is a slang term. It is not recommended to use it, but to stick to an accurate description of what you want: to file the I-130 for your spouse at their office, even if you do not live in their country.
If you are not yet married you can contact the Consulate prior to marriage to see if they have instructions in writing they can mail to you or to get more information about this process before you marry. It may be that they have a packet of information that they can mail to you now, before the marriage. In Australia, for instance, the Australian fiancé can call the Consulate and request this packet prior to the marriage and go ahead and have the medical exam and get the police record, and complete all of the forms. The USC fiancé can arrive in Australia, marry and file the petition and the visa application at the Consulate at Sidney in one visit. Timelines around the world vary: my own family’s visa process was 33 days from I-130 to visa in hand, busier Consulates may take 3 or so months and some countries with higher fraud or security issues may take longer. No matter which way you slice it, it is still faster than filing the I-130 at a US Service Center.
Please note: DCF is faster than processing through a US Service Center, but it is not instantaneous. The immigrating spouse is still required to make a complete Immigrant Visa application, including the appropriate marriage/divorce documents, police certificates, military records and a medical. Instructions for these documents are disbursed to the foreign Visa applicant in the form of a checklist. The sooner you collect these documents, the faster you can submit your application.
It is well worth checking the experiences posted at kamya.com (Steve, please insert the correct link here) for tips related to your specific Consulate.
Here is how the procedure typically goes:
1- There is an initial “interview� where the USC and the foreign spouse appear to submit the I-130 and its attachments. Some Consulates accept these materials by mail, courier or in person with an appointment or only on specific days. Check the website of your Consulate for tips OR contact them directly to inquire.
2- The I-130 is adjudicated.
There has been some public confusion over the use of the term “DCF�. Some Consular posts have been granted permission from Dept. Homeland Security to adjudicate (decide) I-130 petitions. This is “true� DCF. Some Embassy complexes include a DHS office on the grounds, and DHS staff approve petitions submitted there. This process is transparent to the end user and the result is the same. Once the petition is approved, the foreign spouse may apply for an Immigrant Visa. If the petition is not approved at this level, it may indicate a red flag with your case and the petition will be forwarded to a more senior DHS staffer (perhaps in another country).
3- The foreign spouse’s visa application will include The Packet Formerly Known As “3�. This will include DS-230 Part 1 (the visa application) and a checklist of required documents. It may include information about the medical procedure for your area and certainly instruction for the Affidavit of Support I-864.
If you have all of the documents for the petition + visa application ready at your first visit to the Consulate (to file the I-130) you may persuade the Immigrant Visa workers to accept the visa application early and start a provisional file for you. It is certainly recommended that one be as over prepared as possible when pursuing DCF. (Steve: if you want to add a list of IV-15 documents here, feel free)
4- The foreign spouse has the final interview at which time the visa is issued, the US citizen spouse does NOT have to be present at the final interview.
5- The foreign spouse enters the US, and at the port of entry will receive in his/her passport an I-551 stamp which gives immediate permanent resident status. The status may or may not be “conditional� depending on the length of marriage at the time of entry. The actual green card will arrive in the mail a few weeks/months later. The foreign spouse receives immediate work and travel authorization from the “green card stamp�, and will only need to obtain a social security card before starting to work.
Jul 25th 2005, 10:28 pm
#2
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 2,033
Re: DCF Guide: Peer Review
Hi mo,
I meant to reply to this when you posted it, but that never happened and it just now popped up again.
What I think is that it's a very good documentation of the DCF procedure... however I do think it's a bit on the long side. I doubt though that's going to be a problem for peope who know nothing about DCF yet, but I still wanted to mention it.
Besides that, it's very complete and, well, good.
Elaine
I meant to reply to this when you posted it, but that never happened and it just now popped up again.
What I think is that it's a very good documentation of the DCF procedure... however I do think it's a bit on the long side. I doubt though that's going to be a problem for peope who know nothing about DCF yet, but I still wanted to mention it.
Besides that, it's very complete and, well, good.
Elaine
Jul 26th 2005, 3:24 am
#3
Payed up premium member
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: The desert
Posts: 2,327
Re: DCF Guide: Peer Review
Originally Posted by HunterGreen
Hi mo,
... however I do think it's a bit on the long side.
Elaine
... however I do think it's a bit on the long side.
Elaine
Jul 26th 2005, 7:53 am
#4
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 2,033
Re: DCF Guide: Peer Review
Originally Posted by evoal2003
Must have been it took you nearly 12 months to read and reply.
Elaine
Jul 26th 2005, 11:57 am
#5
~ Mr & Mrs ~
Joined: Jun 2004
Location: SW Atlanta
Posts: 125
Re: DCF Guide: Peer Review
Wow, I remember reading this last year, while we were DCF'ing...brings back a lot of memories! 
Jul 26th 2005, 3:44 pm
#6
Maño-Americano
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: In the heart of the Ozarks
Posts: 10,216
Re: DCF Guide: Peer Review
Originally Posted by mvjenno
Wow, I remember reading this last year, while we were DCF'ing...brings back a lot of memories!
Dec 30th 2005, 1:02 pm
#7
Just Joined
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1
Re: DCF Guide: Peer Review
I'm new to all this, my fiance and I are getting married in June 2006, and depending on his job situtation he may be wanting to immigrate from the UK to the US. Doing the DCF process, would I have to be a resident of the UK in order to file there or could I do so as a visitor?
Last edited by princessjuls02; Dec 30th 2005 at 1:19 pm.
Dec 30th 2005, 1:40 pm
#8
Concierge
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,383
Re: DCF Guide: Peer Review
Originally Posted by princessjuls02
I'm new to all this, my fiance and I are getting married in June 2006, and depending on his job situtation he may be wanting to immigrate from the UK to the US. Doing the DCF process, would I have to be a resident of the UK in order to file there or could I do so as a visitor?
Read the website for the US Consulate in London and you will see that you do NOT have the ability to use this method. You must have a certain legal visa to live and work in the United Kingdom before you are eligible.
