DCF Sydney - our experience (long)
May 29th 2003, 11:35 am
#1
Life is good!
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: was Sydney AU, now NY, NY
Posts: 46
DCF Sydney - our experience (long)
Here is a brief recap of last week's episode, for those who missed it:
After finding this newsgroup and reading other people's experiences, my (now) wife and I decided to abandon our K1 plans and try DCF instead. So, in mid-February 2003, I rang the US Consulate in Sydney, explained what we wanted to do (avoiding the letters DCF) and asked them to send the famous Packet 3. It arrived about 4 days later, with clear instructions on how to proceed. BTW, save your money and don't call the 1900 number (unlike me!). Try (02) 9373-9200 instead.
First, I booked in for my medical exam at one of the two Consulate-certified doctors in Sydney (Dr Millar). He told me what injections I would need so I went to my local doctor and had him jab me instead. The exam itself was mostly harmless, apart from a little embarrassment at having to provide a sample and being poked and prodded. But at least the x-ray and blood test places are in the same building, so I got the whole thing done in one afternoon. He gave me a verbal OK and the exam results arrived in the mail 2 days later. Then I ordered the police certificate - call first, because not all police stations use ink for fingerprinting (apparently it's done optically now). They told me to come in at 8am on Sunday because their inkpad is set up down in the cells and I could only go in there when there was no-one locked up!! They also told me that it would be sent direct to the Consulate, but two weeks later it arrived in the mail!
With those in hand I sent the DS-230 Pt 1 and the checklist back to the Consulate with a short letter explaining what we were doing and requesting an interview on Monday May 26. Confidently, I went ahead and booked plane tickets, and a registry office wedding for Monday May 19. A word of warning: the registry office will enter you in the system, but won't confirm a wedding date until they see the USC's birth certificate. Less than two weeks later I got the Packet 4 in the mail and an interview date of Tuesday May 27. It turns out that the Consulate was closed on May 26 for Memorial Day!
Meanwhile, my wife was busy collecting everything for the I-864: three years of tax returns, letters from employers, bank statements, receipts for assets, etc. Use the amount at line 22 of the tax return for "Income" and don't forget to get that I-864 notarized!
As soon as I got my wife's birth certificate I went back to the registry and comfirmed the wedding date. No more problems there.
My sweetheart arrived here on Saturday May 17 and we had a beautiful wedding day. Lunch in the restaurant at the top of Sydney Tower (highest building in the city), perfect weather and a couple of friends and my family to witness our vows. We told the registry staff that we needed a copy of our marriage certificate urgently and they said that if we requested it immediately it would be ready for collection on Thursday. They were right! Then it was off to an old hotel in the mountains outside Sydney for three days of pure relaxation.
Interview day:
We were told to be there at 8am, so we arrived at 7.45 to find that there were already 5-6 applicants waiting. You have to pass security on the ground floor before being allowed into the elevator up to the Consulate on the 59th Floor. Up there is the real checkpoint: metal detectors, bag searches, etc. Don't bother bringing a mobile/cell phone because you have to turn it off, and have some ID handy. The guard told us to go straight to Counter 2 when we got inside.
We must have looked pretty nervous because the lady at the counter said "Relax, I'm just here to check your paperwork before your interview with the Consular Officer." She sorted through our piles of obsessively organized papers, keeping some and returning others (such as the G-325A). She was businesslike but nice.
She told us to go to Counter 6 to pay the fee and then come back to her. When we got there the cashier said "My machine isn't working. You can either wait here or go back to Counter 2." Aaarrgghhh!
We waited, and she finally got her machine to work. We paid the application and visa issuance fees together and yes, they do take $US, $AU and credit cards.
Despite our best efforts, we still didn't have our paperwork exactly the way she wanted but it didn't seem to matter. We used some of my assets for the I-864 and she had me complete and sign the I-864A. I said "But we've never lived together", to which she said not to worry and to fill it out anyway.
When she had everything the way she wanted it she said "Take a seat and the Consular Officer will call you when she gets here at 9am." So we sat and waited. Wow, the view out the windows really is spectacular. I'm gonna miss this place.
At 9am the Consular Officer called us up to Counter 3 and that's when the fun really started (not!). After we raised our right hands and swore to tell the truth she started firing questions at us, machine-gun like. Maybe she was trying to unnerve us to see if our story would fall apart, or maybe she was just in a bad mood, but she scared the heck out of both of us! You really have to check your self-respect at the door - you're standing at a counter in the middle of a crowded room, shouting your answers through bulletproof glass, as she holds your future in her hands and asks questions like:
"Why did your first marriage fail?" (to me)
"What makes you think this marriage will work?" (to my wife)
"Why don't you ask your wife move to Australia?" (to me)
"You don't earn much. Can you support a husband as well?" (to my wife)
"Do you think you're employable?" (to me)
"Did you marry just to get a visa?" (to me)
"Show me some pictures of the two of you together." (to my wife)
"Show me your bank statements." (to *both* of us)
I don't think she smiled once the entire time. As my beautiful wife put it later, we were 'emotionally raped'
. I almost gave up hope when she said "I'm worried about your income and assets" (OK, we're both musicians), but after a pause that seemed to last an hour she said "but I'll approve this application." Of course, she couldn't resist twisting the knife one last time when she said, loud enough for the entire room to hear, "You'd better start looking for a job as soon as you get there, you'll need it."
As we crawled off to a corner of the room to hide while they prepared the visa, a man waiting there said "I didn't want to hear what you were saying, but I couldn't help it!"
At 9.40am we were walking out the door with a shiny, new CR1 visa and the "mysterious brown envelope" in hand. The envelope appears to contain a copy of all the paperwork that we submitted with our application. Once we got outside we found the nearest bar and ordered two glasses of champagne to celebrate
. Finally, it's over!!
Thanks again to everyone in this newsgroup for all your advice and support - we couldn't have done it without you. To those of you still waiting for interviews and approvals, hang in there - the end *is* in sight. If anyone wants to ask any questions, feel free to email me.
Anthony
After finding this newsgroup and reading other people's experiences, my (now) wife and I decided to abandon our K1 plans and try DCF instead. So, in mid-February 2003, I rang the US Consulate in Sydney, explained what we wanted to do (avoiding the letters DCF) and asked them to send the famous Packet 3. It arrived about 4 days later, with clear instructions on how to proceed. BTW, save your money and don't call the 1900 number (unlike me!). Try (02) 9373-9200 instead.
First, I booked in for my medical exam at one of the two Consulate-certified doctors in Sydney (Dr Millar). He told me what injections I would need so I went to my local doctor and had him jab me instead. The exam itself was mostly harmless, apart from a little embarrassment at having to provide a sample and being poked and prodded. But at least the x-ray and blood test places are in the same building, so I got the whole thing done in one afternoon. He gave me a verbal OK and the exam results arrived in the mail 2 days later. Then I ordered the police certificate - call first, because not all police stations use ink for fingerprinting (apparently it's done optically now). They told me to come in at 8am on Sunday because their inkpad is set up down in the cells and I could only go in there when there was no-one locked up!! They also told me that it would be sent direct to the Consulate, but two weeks later it arrived in the mail!
With those in hand I sent the DS-230 Pt 1 and the checklist back to the Consulate with a short letter explaining what we were doing and requesting an interview on Monday May 26. Confidently, I went ahead and booked plane tickets, and a registry office wedding for Monday May 19. A word of warning: the registry office will enter you in the system, but won't confirm a wedding date until they see the USC's birth certificate. Less than two weeks later I got the Packet 4 in the mail and an interview date of Tuesday May 27. It turns out that the Consulate was closed on May 26 for Memorial Day!
Meanwhile, my wife was busy collecting everything for the I-864: three years of tax returns, letters from employers, bank statements, receipts for assets, etc. Use the amount at line 22 of the tax return for "Income" and don't forget to get that I-864 notarized!
As soon as I got my wife's birth certificate I went back to the registry and comfirmed the wedding date. No more problems there.
My sweetheart arrived here on Saturday May 17 and we had a beautiful wedding day. Lunch in the restaurant at the top of Sydney Tower (highest building in the city), perfect weather and a couple of friends and my family to witness our vows. We told the registry staff that we needed a copy of our marriage certificate urgently and they said that if we requested it immediately it would be ready for collection on Thursday. They were right! Then it was off to an old hotel in the mountains outside Sydney for three days of pure relaxation.
Interview day:
We were told to be there at 8am, so we arrived at 7.45 to find that there were already 5-6 applicants waiting. You have to pass security on the ground floor before being allowed into the elevator up to the Consulate on the 59th Floor. Up there is the real checkpoint: metal detectors, bag searches, etc. Don't bother bringing a mobile/cell phone because you have to turn it off, and have some ID handy. The guard told us to go straight to Counter 2 when we got inside.
We must have looked pretty nervous because the lady at the counter said "Relax, I'm just here to check your paperwork before your interview with the Consular Officer." She sorted through our piles of obsessively organized papers, keeping some and returning others (such as the G-325A). She was businesslike but nice.
She told us to go to Counter 6 to pay the fee and then come back to her. When we got there the cashier said "My machine isn't working. You can either wait here or go back to Counter 2." Aaarrgghhh!
We waited, and she finally got her machine to work. We paid the application and visa issuance fees together and yes, they do take $US, $AU and credit cards.Despite our best efforts, we still didn't have our paperwork exactly the way she wanted but it didn't seem to matter. We used some of my assets for the I-864 and she had me complete and sign the I-864A. I said "But we've never lived together", to which she said not to worry and to fill it out anyway.
When she had everything the way she wanted it she said "Take a seat and the Consular Officer will call you when she gets here at 9am." So we sat and waited. Wow, the view out the windows really is spectacular. I'm gonna miss this place.
At 9am the Consular Officer called us up to Counter 3 and that's when the fun really started (not!). After we raised our right hands and swore to tell the truth she started firing questions at us, machine-gun like. Maybe she was trying to unnerve us to see if our story would fall apart, or maybe she was just in a bad mood, but she scared the heck out of both of us! You really have to check your self-respect at the door - you're standing at a counter in the middle of a crowded room, shouting your answers through bulletproof glass, as she holds your future in her hands and asks questions like:
"Why did your first marriage fail?" (to me)
"What makes you think this marriage will work?" (to my wife)
"Why don't you ask your wife move to Australia?" (to me)
"You don't earn much. Can you support a husband as well?" (to my wife)
"Do you think you're employable?" (to me)
"Did you marry just to get a visa?" (to me)
"Show me some pictures of the two of you together." (to my wife)
"Show me your bank statements." (to *both* of us)
I don't think she smiled once the entire time. As my beautiful wife put it later, we were 'emotionally raped'
. I almost gave up hope when she said "I'm worried about your income and assets" (OK, we're both musicians), but after a pause that seemed to last an hour she said "but I'll approve this application." Of course, she couldn't resist twisting the knife one last time when she said, loud enough for the entire room to hear, "You'd better start looking for a job as soon as you get there, you'll need it."As we crawled off to a corner of the room to hide while they prepared the visa, a man waiting there said "I didn't want to hear what you were saying, but I couldn't help it!"
At 9.40am we were walking out the door with a shiny, new CR1 visa and the "mysterious brown envelope" in hand. The envelope appears to contain a copy of all the paperwork that we submitted with our application. Once we got outside we found the nearest bar and ordered two glasses of champagne to celebrate
. Finally, it's over!! Thanks again to everyone in this newsgroup for all your advice and support - we couldn't have done it without you. To those of you still waiting for interviews and approvals, hang in there - the end *is* in sight. If anyone wants to ask any questions, feel free to email me.
Anthony
May 29th 2003, 1:08 pm
#2
Concierge
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,391
OMG!
You are the first person to DCF in Sydney who has reported such a harrowing experience. I'm so sorry that you were subjected to such an inquisition but so glad to see that you passed the b****'s test. I wonder if there was something that prompted her to ask those questions. Such as how long was your relationship? How young are you both? What your education is? I know stupid questions to ask you but trying to understand why she thought you might be using your wife for a green card and why she was "sure" that you would become a non-productive member of US society.
At least it is over and done with. You entered the US as a CR-1 and won't have to deal with BCIS for another 21 months. Remember to start compiling the proof of your marriage validity during those 21 months. Just make up a file or put things in a box for future use.
May I ask you to please, pleasem please post this interview experience on the experience pages. Your experience is so very unique it deserves to be there as a warning, if nothing else, for others who will DCF through Sydney. Thanks.
AOS filing; AOS, I-130 and K-1 Interview Experiences:
http://www.kamya.com/interview/intro.html
Rete
At least it is over and done with. You entered the US as a CR-1 and won't have to deal with BCIS for another 21 months. Remember to start compiling the proof of your marriage validity during those 21 months. Just make up a file or put things in a box for future use.
May I ask you to please, pleasem please post this interview experience on the experience pages. Your experience is so very unique it deserves to be there as a warning, if nothing else, for others who will DCF through Sydney. Thanks.
AOS filing; AOS, I-130 and K-1 Interview Experiences:
http://www.kamya.com/interview/intro.html
Rete
May 29th 2003, 1:43 pm
#3
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2003
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 568
Congratulations and best wishes, Anthony! Sorry to hear you had such a horrid interview
May 29th 2003, 5:02 pm
#4
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,350
Ouch! So sorry you had to go through all that (I'm praying with all my heart that my Dekkie doesn't end up with this chick; he's been on the vapors of his patience for some time now over this entire process and dealing with an evil tempered ConOff would be probably the camel-breaking straw) but in the end you *made it and that's what matters!!!*
Congratulations to you both for surviving it all - and for getting to be together at last!
Congratulations to you both for surviving it all - and for getting to be together at last!
May 29th 2003, 5:04 pm
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
I'm so sorry you had such a rough time at the interview - sounded really harrowing...
But DELIGHTED it's all over now and you have what you need. Congratulations
Regards
-=-
Scarlett
But DELIGHTED it's all over now and you have what you need. Congratulations
Regards
-=-
Scarlett
May 29th 2003, 5:27 pm
#6
Forum Regular
Joined: Sep 2002
Location: An Australian living in Danbury, CT
Posts: 130
God Anthony, that interview sucked although you were out of there pretty quickly and with the visa in hand- the most important thing! I would agree that most of the consulate staff are far from friendly but that was harsh! She sounds like she was taking something else out on you guys! My husband agreed that you have to check your self-respect at the door. They really have you over a barrel.
I'm really happy to hear of your success story, what a relief you are over that hurdle. Thanks for posting your experience- it was interesting to read.
Congratulations to you and and your wife. When do you head to the US? Keep in touch.
Susan
I'm really happy to hear of your success story, what a relief you are over that hurdle. Thanks for posting your experience- it was interesting to read.
Congratulations to you and and your wife. When do you head to the US? Keep in touch.
Susan
May 30th 2003, 12:19 am
#7
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: from Melbourne AUS to Santa Monica CA
Posts: 115
Sounds like you both needed something a little stronger than the champagne after that experience Anthony!!
The main thing though is that you got the visa and can relax until you apply to remove the conditional status in a couple of years time.
Congratulations on your success!!
Kate
The main thing though is that you got the visa and can relax until you apply to remove the conditional status in a couple of years time.
Congratulations on your success!!
Kate
May 30th 2003, 1:22 am
#8
Life is good!
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: was Sydney AU, now NY, NY
Posts: 46
Re: OMG!
Originally posted by Rete
I wonder if there was something that prompted her to ask those questions. Such as how long was your relationship? How young are you both? What your education is? I know stupid questions to ask you but trying to understand why she thought you might be using your wife for a green card and why she was "sure" that you would become a non-productive member of US society.
I wonder if there was something that prompted her to ask those questions. Such as how long was your relationship? How young are you both? What your education is? I know stupid questions to ask you but trying to understand why she thought you might be using your wife for a green card and why she was "sure" that you would become a non-productive member of US society.
Anyway, that's all a memory now.Although it's probable that no-one else will have an experience like ours, I'll post it on kamya to add to the rich tapestry that is the BCIS.
Anthony
May 30th 2003, 1:36 am
#9
Life is good!
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: was Sydney AU, now NY, NY
Posts: 46
Originally posted by desusa
Congratulations to you and and your wife. When do you head to the US?
Congratulations to you and and your wife. When do you head to the US?
I'll be making the move to the US in about 5-6 weeks time. I've started looking for a cheap plane ticket but it's peak season so, naturally, they're all expensive. The cheapest I've found so far is on China Airlines :scared:. A friend told me that freight companies like Fedex often sell spare tickets on their planes at reduced rates. Have you heard anything about this?
We'll be staying in Phoenix, AZ for a few months until my brother-in-law and his wife have their baby and then we're moving to NYC, hopefully in November.
Where have you settled now? We'll definitely keep in touch.
Anthony
May 30th 2003, 3:04 am
#10
Concierge
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,391
Holler when you get the NYC area. Perhaps we can have a get together with others from the NG from the area. For a musician, NYC is a great place to be.
Rete
Rete
May 30th 2003, 3:41 am
#11
Forum Regular
Joined: Sep 2002
Location: An Australian living in Danbury, CT
Posts: 130
Nat and I are in Florida right now and have been visiting with his parents for a month or so before we head up to Danbury Connecticut early June. It's only a little over an hour drive from NYC so we plan to spend half of our time in the city! 
Rete's suggestion sounds great, it seems a shame to all be living amongst each other and not take advantage of the connection! There seems to be quite a few on the NG living in or around NYC now. We really should all meet up some time.
I'd love to keep swapping tales on the move from Down Under to the US. It would be great moral support!
I haven't heard about the flights on the freight planes but it sounds intriguing! I fly Japan Airlines. They are usually cheaper (probably similarly priced with China) and they provide a decent hotel room for a night's stopover in Japan. It's a longer but comfortable way to get there as you get a shower/good night's sleep mid way. It's about 9 hours each way (Sydney to Tokyo, overnight in Japan, then Tokyo to LAX) so it is longer than a direct flight but I've flown them every time so far. I'll probably try the long haul (LAX to Sydney) the next time.
Hope you find something!
Susan
Rete's suggestion sounds great, it seems a shame to all be living amongst each other and not take advantage of the connection! There seems to be quite a few on the NG living in or around NYC now. We really should all meet up some time.
I'd love to keep swapping tales on the move from Down Under to the US. It would be great moral support!
I haven't heard about the flights on the freight planes but it sounds intriguing! I fly Japan Airlines. They are usually cheaper (probably similarly priced with China) and they provide a decent hotel room for a night's stopover in Japan. It's a longer but comfortable way to get there as you get a shower/good night's sleep mid way. It's about 9 hours each way (Sydney to Tokyo, overnight in Japan, then Tokyo to LAX) so it is longer than a direct flight but I've flown them every time so far. I'll probably try the long haul (LAX to Sydney) the next time.
Hope you find something!
Susan
Last edited by desusa; May 30th 2003 at 3:45 am.
May 30th 2003, 4:06 am
#12
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: from Melbourne AUS to Santa Monica CA
Posts: 115
Cathay Pacific have a good deal at the moment, even cheaper than with JAL. You go via Hong Kong and get the flight out next day. Not sure if they provide the night's accomodation and that may be the difference in the fare. Doing it this way is around $AUD1700 including taxes for a roundtrip ticket. I found out about both these deals at www.travelshop.com.au
Good luck
Kate
Good luck
Kate
