DCF in Norway

[Susannah 0]

I know - we're not that many from Norway in this forum! But as I got our interview date settled today , I thought I would share my experience so far with the DCF process at the US Embassy in Oslo with the few from Norway here... My timeline so far:

April 15th 2006: Joachim and Sunnanah got married in the US, Susannah returned to Norway

April 24th 2006: Filed DS-230 to the US Embassy for prescreening

May 2nd 2006: X-rays

May 3rd 2006: Contacted the US Embassy to get an interview appointement, we got the week we wanted!

May 18th 2006: Medical exams

June 7th 2006: Immigration interview at the US Embassy in Oslo

The experience with the US Embassy has been very good until now; the immigration officers are helpful and service minded. The physician is also very helpful. So far everything is working well, I will get back with more information later!

[mrswooten4ever 0]

good luck with the interview

Adele

[Susannah 0]

Thanks! And good luck to you next week.

[myfellah 0]

Good Luck with your interview.

Doreen

[meauxna 15]

I know - we're not that many from Norway in this forum! But as I got our interview date settled today , I thought I would share my experience so far with the DCF process at the US Embassy in Oslo with the few from Norway here... My timeline so far:

April 15th 2006: Joachim and Sunnanah got married in the US, Susannah returned to Norway

April 24th 2006: Filed DS-230 to the US Embassy for prescreening

May 2nd 2006: X-rays

May 3rd 2006: Contacted the US Embassy to get an interview appointement, we got the week we wanted!

May 18th 2006: Medical exams

June 7th 2006: Immigration interview at the US Embassy in Oslo

The experience with the US Embassy has been very good until now; the immigration officers are helpful and service minded. The physician is also very helpful. So far everything is working well, I will get back with more information later!

Thanks for the info, Susannah! I'm sure someone will find it useful in the future.

Does your timeline mean that the I-130 will be filed at your interview appointment?

And, that your DS-230 was accepted for prescreening without an I-130 on file?

Would you also detail the residency of the USC spouse? Are they resident in Norway, or in the US, and was there any specific guideline for them to be allowed to file I-130 in Norway?

thanks!

[Susannah 0]

Does your timeline mean that the I-130 will be filed at your interview appointment? Yes, that's the information the officer gave me on the phone. So we'll turn up at the interview with the I-130 with documentation, DS-230 part II, documentation for my DS-230 and the Affadavit of Support + documentation, and of course money for the fees... And I hope the physician has sent the results to the Embassy before the interview.

And, that your DS-230 was accepted for prescreening without an I-130 on file? Yes, the officer told me I could send DS-230 part I with copy of my passport for prescreening. We got very confused as this is nothing like any immigration process we ever have read about! But we're doing what they ask us to do, of course.

Would you also detail the residency of the USC spouse? USC spouse lives in San Francisco Bay Area, California

Are they resident in Norway, or in the US USC spouse is in the US, I'm Swedish, resident in Norway, and we're trying to get to live in the same country now! US is first choice right now, so that's what we're going for. If that doesn't work (we think and hope it will) we'll have to find another country, probably in Europe...

and was there any specific guideline for them to be allowed to file I-130 in Norway? The US Embassy web site www.usa.no says:

"U.S. citizens ONLY may file a petition for their Norwegian (or Norway-resident) spouse, unmarried children or step-children under 21, or parents directly with the U.S. Embassy in Oslo. In order to begin this process, please contact our office at oslovisa@state.gov or by phone at 21 30 85 35 or 21 30 86 25."

So, that's what we did - we've been in contact with the office by e-mail and phone and the officers are very helpful. They do immigrant interviews on Wednesdays only, 9 am to 12 am, so in order to travel from the US to Norway for the USC resident in the US s/he has to take at least 3 or 4 weekdays off to do the interview... But this is the fastest way to do the marriaged based immigration, if you're living in Norway. And so far - it seems like the smoothest and most flexible path as well. We've been very lucky that I'm living in a country where the US Embassy has the DCF option for non-resident US citizens, most countries don't.

[Susannah 0]

Some new information that might be useful:

Seems like the US Embassy in Oslo does not have a standard routine for the DCF process, so I think it's important to keep in touch with them. They said they would send me papers before my medical exam. No papers arrived, but they have forms on the web site that I printed out and the physican used those.

I sent an e-mail to them yesterday, to make sure that I was providing them with the right information before the interview and to ask about the missing papers.

They called me and asked me to send them my marriage certificate, birth certificate, police record and passport photos. They had earlier told me to bring them for my interview and not to send them.

They also told me to send a copy of my passport, which I already had done when I filed DS-230 for preescreening. The officer looked a little bit around on the desk, and found the copy...

The papers they were going to send me before the medical was sent yesterday. Hopefully the panel physicians and I didn't miss any forms!

So, to summarize my experience so far:

- The Embassy personell is really friendly and helpful, they respond quickly to my e-mails, often the same day, and if you add your phone number they'll often call you. So that's great service!

- It seems like it's a good idea to be in a dialogue and get instructions and information confirmed more than once.

- Since they have said twice on the phone that they haven't received anything from me and then after they've looked around they have found my documents: I'm sending certified copies of my documents and will present the originals at the interview.

The good news yesterday was that our interview date was in their records - I'm sure we'll get it all in order with forms and documentation when we meet them there!

April 15th 2006: Joachim and Sunnanah got married in the US, Susannah returned to Norway

April 24th 2006: Filed DS-230 to the US Embassy in Oslo for prescreening

May 2nd 2006: X-rays

May 3rd 2006: Contacted the US Embassy to get an interview appointement, we got the week we wanted!

May 18th 2006: Medical exams

May 25th 2006: Documentation for DS-230 sent to the US Embassy

May 26th 2006: Panel physician sent results from medical exams to the US Embassy

June 7th 2006: Immigration interview at the US Embassy in Oslo

[meauxna 15]

Thanks for all the details!