Direct Consular Filing
 

My fiance and I are considering spending a month together with his folks, to
make sure we are on the right track with each other after our internet-only
relationship. Then, if all is well, we'd go somewhere where we can get
married and do direct consular filing. It would have to be somewhere
without too long of a wait for the papers... and we'd have our honeymoon
while waiting before and after. Has anyone here done this?
Eli

Re: Direct Consular Filing
 

Hi Eli,

I don't fully understand what you are intending to do. Where does your fiance live? If you get married and want to DCF then you have to become a resident of the country you wish to DCF. You can't just turn up in some country that doesn't take too long to DCF and do it, you both have to be legally resident in that country.

DCF is the fastest way to go (usually) but you have to residents so you have the extra time of you getting residency in the other country. There are no short cuts to the immigration process

Good Luck

Patrick

Re: Direct Consular Filing
 

Hi Patrick,
My info about timing comes via Doc steen's site, which is outdated.
HOWEVER, I have been reading that there are some places that do not require
you to be a resident for DCF. I am assuming that the wait is longer between
1st and 2nd interview, because of post-911 security checks. However, if I
can swing it financially (I work online) I have a close friend who lives in
one of these countries. If I need to stay for a couple months between
interviews... well... that just might work! It all depends on how long it
is between interviews, and how much I can spend for airline tickets.
Eli

    > Hi Eli,
    > I don't fully understand what you are intending to do. Where does your
    > fiance live? If you get married and want to DCF then you have to become
    > a resident of the country you wish to DCF. You can't just turn up in
    > some country that doesn't take too long to DCF and do it, you both have
    > to be legally resident in that country.
    > DCF is the fastest way to go (usually) but you have to residents so you
    > have the extra time of you getting residency in the other country. There
    > are no short cuts to the immigration process
    > Good Luck
    > Patrick
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Re: Direct Consular Filing
 

My fiancée is from New Zealand. They do direct consular filing here and the
consulate has said that the whole process will take approximately 3-4
months. My US lawyer said that that we might be able to have the time
period expedited by intervention from a politician at the Wisconsin state
level (the state I'm from.) I have read from other posts and websites that
there are countries that do it much quicker than 3-4 months (and some
countries that don't do it at all).

However, my understanding is that at least one of you needs to be from the
country where you are doing direct consular filing. In our situation, I'm
not a resident in New Zealand. I'm here on a visitor's visa. I have been
here for 2 months and will go home after our marriage and interview. My
fiancée is a New Zealand citizen.

What country is your fiancée from?

Good Luck!
Amy

----- Original Message
"Eli" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > My fiance and I are considering spending a month together with his folks,
to
    > make sure we are on the right track with each other after our
internet-only
    > relationship. Then, if all is well, we'd go somewhere where we can get
    > married and do direct consular filing. It would have to be somewhere
    > without too long of a wait for the papers... and we'd have our honeymoon
    > while waiting before and after. Has anyone here done this?
    > Eli

Re: Direct Consular Filing
 

He's from Pakistan. They don't do DCF in PK. I'm checking on Malaysia or
Indonesia. Research, research, research. ;-)
Thanks!
--Eli
"Trev" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > My fiancée is from New Zealand. They do direct consular filing here and
the
    > consulate has said that the whole process will take approximately 3-4
    > months. My US lawyer said that that we might be able to have the time
    > period expedited by intervention from a politician at the Wisconsin state
    > level (the state I'm from.) I have read from other posts and websites
that
    > there are countries that do it much quicker than 3-4 months (and some
    > countries that don't do it at all).
    > However, my understanding is that at least one of you needs to be from the
    > country where you are doing direct consular filing. In our situation,
I'm
    > not a resident in New Zealand. I'm here on a visitor's visa. I have
been
    > here for 2 months and will go home after our marriage and interview. My
    > fiancée is a New Zealand citizen.
    > What country is your fiancée from?
    > Good Luck!
    > Amy
    > ----- Original Message
    > "Eli" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > My fiance and I are considering spending a month together with his
folks,
    > to
    > > make sure we are on the right track with each other after our
    > internet-only
    > > relationship. Then, if all is well, we'd go somewhere where we can get
    > > married and do direct consular filing. It would have to be somewhere
    > > without too long of a wait for the papers... and we'd have our honeymoon
    > > while waiting before and after. Has anyone here done this?
    > > Eli
    > >
    > >

OK, I did some research and you are right, you can DCF in some countries if that is the country your spouse is from and where you get married. So if you go to your fiances country and get married while you are there you can DCF. It isn't a carte blanche to go somewhere and DCF.

How I read it, if your fiance lived in Australia you could go over there, get married and DCF while you where there. You could then leave the country (there is no need for the USC to stay in any country after they have DCF'd).

What you can't do on this is get married in some other country, travel to Australia and then DCF.

If I have misunderstood this then someone will put me right

Patrick

Re: Direct Consular Filing
 

Trev wrote:
    >
    > My fiancée is from New Zealand. They do direct consular filing here and the
    > consulate has said that the whole process will take approximately 3-4
    > months. My US lawyer said that that we might be able to have the time
    > period expedited by intervention from a politician at the Wisconsin state
    > level (the state I'm from.)

I doubt a state level politician would have any effect on the consulate
in NZ.
A US senator might, but that begs the question, why should YOU have
priority over someone else in the process.

Re: Direct Consular Filing
 

Hi,

I have just been looking around and Amy and I are correct, your spouse has to be a resident of the country that allows DCF by US residents who are not resident of that country. Sorry Eli, as I said at the beginging there are no short cuts to this process, if there where everyone would do it, you have to grit your teeth and follow the process like everyone else, sorry to kill your hope

Patrick

Re: Direct Consular Filing
 

I doubt very much that what you are proposing is possible. At least one of the persons involved must be a resident of the country one is proposing to use for DCF. The residency rule of both people having legal residency pertains to say England where the USC must have legal status in England before they can do DCF. If what you are proposing is possible don't you think all of us here would be doing the same thing if finances allowed.

Rete

Re: Direct Consular Filing
 

Added note to Eli, with today's political climate I would not hold out hopes of a Senator coming to your aid to help circumvent the DCF rules. Forgive me if I am wrong here, but Eli is a male name and you are talking about a male fiancee you want to bring to the US. The INS will not recognize same sex marriages.

Rete

Re: Direct Consular Filing
 

Eli wrote:
    >
    > He's from Pakistan. They don't do DCF in PK. I'm checking on Malaysia or
    > Indonesia. Research, research, research. ;-)

Whether or not the consulate will allow DCF if the US citizen is not
resident in the country there is the possibility that the consulate will
not provide a visa to a "third country" national as I believe it is
termed.

In other words, the US consulate in Malaysia may only do DCF for a
Malaysian person who married a US citizen, not a Pakastani. I think you
have to contact the consulate directly.

Re: Direct Consular Filing
 

Patrick wrote:
    >
    > OK, I did some research and you are right, you can DCF in some countries
    > if that is the country your spouse is from and where you get married. So
    > if you go to your fiances country and get married while you are there
    > you can DCF. It isn't a carte blanche to go somewhere and DCF.
    >
    > How I read it, if your fiance lived in Australia you could go over
    > there, get married and DCF while you where there. You could then leave
    > the country (there is no need for the USC to stay in any country after
    > they have DCF'd).
    >
    > What you can't do on this is get married in some other country, travel
    > to Australia and then DCF.
    >
    > If I have misunderstood this then someone will put me right

I think you are correct. I don't see any reason for a consulate like the
one in Australia to provide visas via DCF for persons seeking to
immigrate to the US from, say, Hong Kong and other countries in that
part of the world. If they did they would soon be overrun with requests.

Re: Direct Consular Filing
 

I'm not interested incircumventing anything, or getting anyone's help in
circumventing anything. I'm just looking for a way that we can be together
after we are married. Since I work via the Internet I can be fairly
mobile-- might be possible to spend a few months together while waiting for
that visa.
I'd be nuts not to check it out, huh?

This is the info from http://k1.exit.com/spouse1.html:

hopes of a Senator coming to your aid to help circumvent the DCF rules.>>>

Hey Eli that's what is so great about the net. Lots of different places to look for opinions and facts. There is nothing stopping you from asking a Senator for help. My opinion is that it won't do any good but what the heck, it is worth a phone call to them if you can find a third country willing to accept two foreign nationals to apply directly for consular filing at their US Consulate. Or you could try the K-1 fiancee and/or I-130 and subsequent K-3 route and wait out the appointment time in whatever country you two can be together in.

Good luck.

Rete

Re: Direct Consular Filing
 

Eli wrote:
    >
    > I'm not interested incircumventing anything, or getting anyone's help in
    > circumventing anything. I'm just looking for a way that we can be together
    > after we are married. Since I work via the Internet I can be fairly
    > mobile-- might be possible to spend a few months together while waiting for
    > that visa.
    > I'd be nuts not to check it out, huh?
    >
    > This is the info from http://k1.exit.com/spouse1.html:
    >
    > in the foreign fiance's country, in the US, or in a third country...the
    > location does not matter as long as it is a legal marriage) and applies
    > DIRECTLY through the foreign U.S. consulate for the spousal visa.

Right, you can marry in a third country... However, it does matter where
the visa application is filed.
Simply getting married in a third country will not permit you to DCF
there.