Update to Direct consular filing while AOS already pending
Mar 17th 2003, 3:15 pm
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Joined: Sep 2002
Location: An Australian living in Danbury, CT
Posts: 130
Update to Direct consular filing while AOS already pending
This is an update from my post a couple of weeks ago as to whether anyone knew if DCF in Australia was still an available option for my husband and I. (Last year I entered the US on a K1 visa, married, applied for AOS and are now waiting for our first interview). Anyway FYI I faxed the Sydney consulate a list of questions and this is how they replied.
1. Will the application pending for AOS in the US become automatically voided upon applying for DCF in Australia?
The woman said she was pretty sure that DCF would negate any current application for AOS in the US.
2. Does the pending application to adjust my status make me ineligible to DCF in Sydney?
She said we are very welcome to file for DCF in Sydney, it does take between 2 to 4 months and it is entirely up to us.
4. All in all is this a viable option for us to pursue while we are here in Australia?
The woman asked had I left the US with parole letter, I had. She suggested that we are already 3/4 of the way there so why do we want to DCF?. I told her that we had come here for a marriage celebration with family and thought that if we could DCF and consequently receive a greencard upon re-entry to the US we could avoid a lot of paperwork (renewels of EAD and AP and applying to transfer my file when we move etc.) and the need to wait for the initial AOS interview would be eliminated.
She asked what office we are going through and felt that when we transferred our AOS file from NYC to Hartford, CT in June we would not be put on the bottom of the pile again and that we would placed in the line on the basis of how long we had been waiting already. I wish I knew if this was right because we would surely be put on top as we have already been waiting nearly a year and Hartford's timeline if usually only 6-9 months.
Still, she said we are able to file in Sydney and it is our choice which option we want to take.
Now we have decided to go ahead with it as I feel it may save me some hassle in trying to get my file transferred from the NYC office, writing to NYC and visiting the Hartford office to do this, waiting for it to be done, paying for my EAD and AP renewel in July, waiting and preparing for the AOS interview, and then waiting for my greencard. I feel that if I can avoid this I will try.
I have had my medical today and applied for another police certificate (my old ones were over a year old unfortunately) and we are now full steam ahead with the DCF process. I did not expect to go through the whole process again a year later! Once seemed enough, but I am hoping that this will be a better option for us in the end.
I have to find out more about my spouse filing the I-130 petition on the same day as my interview. I have read that the Sydney consulate allows the US spouse to do that on occassion if I have prepared all of my requirements beforehand. I need to look into this further. We also have to prepare our I-864 as my husband is not starting a new residency until July 2003 so we will probably need a co-sponsor as I understand his letter stating the job offer is not enough for the I-864.
Now, fingers crossed that this experience is just as smooth as my K1 was, I hope that this doesn't confuse the BCIS when I get back to the US on a different visa and abandon that previous application!
1. Will the application pending for AOS in the US become automatically voided upon applying for DCF in Australia?
The woman said she was pretty sure that DCF would negate any current application for AOS in the US.
2. Does the pending application to adjust my status make me ineligible to DCF in Sydney?
She said we are very welcome to file for DCF in Sydney, it does take between 2 to 4 months and it is entirely up to us.
4. All in all is this a viable option for us to pursue while we are here in Australia?
The woman asked had I left the US with parole letter, I had. She suggested that we are already 3/4 of the way there so why do we want to DCF?. I told her that we had come here for a marriage celebration with family and thought that if we could DCF and consequently receive a greencard upon re-entry to the US we could avoid a lot of paperwork (renewels of EAD and AP and applying to transfer my file when we move etc.) and the need to wait for the initial AOS interview would be eliminated.
She asked what office we are going through and felt that when we transferred our AOS file from NYC to Hartford, CT in June we would not be put on the bottom of the pile again and that we would placed in the line on the basis of how long we had been waiting already. I wish I knew if this was right because we would surely be put on top as we have already been waiting nearly a year and Hartford's timeline if usually only 6-9 months.
Still, she said we are able to file in Sydney and it is our choice which option we want to take.
Now we have decided to go ahead with it as I feel it may save me some hassle in trying to get my file transferred from the NYC office, writing to NYC and visiting the Hartford office to do this, waiting for it to be done, paying for my EAD and AP renewel in July, waiting and preparing for the AOS interview, and then waiting for my greencard. I feel that if I can avoid this I will try.
I have had my medical today and applied for another police certificate (my old ones were over a year old unfortunately) and we are now full steam ahead with the DCF process. I did not expect to go through the whole process again a year later! Once seemed enough, but I am hoping that this will be a better option for us in the end.
I have to find out more about my spouse filing the I-130 petition on the same day as my interview. I have read that the Sydney consulate allows the US spouse to do that on occassion if I have prepared all of my requirements beforehand. I need to look into this further. We also have to prepare our I-864 as my husband is not starting a new residency until July 2003 so we will probably need a co-sponsor as I understand his letter stating the job offer is not enough for the I-864.
Now, fingers crossed that this experience is just as smooth as my K1 was, I hope that this doesn't confuse the BCIS when I get back to the US on a different visa and abandon that previous application!
