DCF In Australia- New Changes

[CarolineM 0]

QUESTION ......

are they giving out the isas that same day or do they mail it ?????

after we whent down to sydney we came back up to cairns and had to wait for it in the mail but it only took 3 days to get up there , so that was very very good

When we applied in MArch, there were no same day visas. You either came back in person the next business day, or had it mailed. I doubt they've gone back to same day...just mho.

[vylex 0]

Hello Everyone!

First of all, THANK YOU FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL (and sometimes confusing) INFO!!!!!

I have been researching the K1 and K3 routes for the last month and the limitations within each seemed very difficult for my Australian Fiancee and I to comply with.

Fortunately this DCF route seems to be the option we needed!

I'd like to give a little background of our situation.

I am a USC living in the US and I have an Aussie fiancee. We plan on having the wedding in Sydney. The problem we had was what to do after the wedding reception. She will move to the US with me but we know about the K1 Visa limitation with the Advance Parole processing and the K3 I-130 delay via USCIS. The DCF appears to fulfill our need since we can get the immigration process completed before the reception and that will allow us the flexibility of having her move over in a shorter time period as well as fly back to Sydney to finish wedding reception details.

After going through all the info I still have a few questions that you experienced folks may be able to help with.

If I read correctly, the Sydney Consulate now requires that we get married first as well as file for the I-130 before asking for this Packet 3.

My question lies on the marriage part. I have read that I can marry her anywhere. Can I marry her on US soil when she visits me later this year while on a Visa Waiver Program? She will definitely go back home before the 90 days. I just don't want to create any suspicion. Do I need to have her petitioned with a K-1 and then abandon that step? The reason that we don't want to do a K-1 is because we want the reception in Sydney. Otherwise she would just stay here in the US after the civil marriage part. She wants to finish off the wedding plans as well say her farewells in Australia before moving over to the US with me. If we did a K-1 she would need to wait for an Advance Parole and that takes a few months from what I have researched. If she leaves before that, she would not be allowed re-entry.

What about me flying over to Sydney to marry her? Can I do it while being a tourist? Do I need to apply for some Australian Fiancee visa?

Thanks to all for any information on this situation! Good luck and congrats to everyone else in the process. I am SO glad there are others out there like my fiancee and me.

-Alex

[Lunamel 0]

Welcome vylex -- glad you've found the information helpful!

I think it would be ok for your fiancee to enter the US on a visa waiver to marry you -- though someone who has experience with this might be able to give you a more definite answer. The question is whether she has immigration intent. If the officer at the border determines she does, which is possible if she is asked questions about where you and she plan to live etc., then there is a possibility that she could be denied entry. However, she is not entering to remain at that point, only to marry, so I expect it should be ok.

As for you coming to Australia to get married, you'll be fine. Again, it comes down to immigration intent -- as you have no intent to remain in Australia, you're free to get married here. In fact, my fiancee is arriving in two weeks to do the same thing.

Good luck with everything, and let us know how you go!

[AussieDude 0]

Hi Vylex,

Here are a few pointers. As Mel has pointed out, as long as there is no immigration intent, you can get married at either location, in fact you can marry anywhere in the world, that makes no difference to the process, as long as you can show some official paperwork about the validity of your marriage (license, certificate etc).

If you decide to marry in the US, I advise your fiancee be cautious. If they do suspect immigration intent, they may deny her. A good idea might be for her to bring some evidence of ties to Australia that will indeed make her go back, for example a letter from her Australian employer, proof of significant assets in Australia such as a house etc.

Doing your marriage in Australia might be easier if that is an option, immigration wise there is no special visa needed to get married even if you are marrying an Australian, as long as you don't plan on staying here.

A few words of caution, and I advise you look through some of these posts as I'm sure you have. The petitioning process is slightly different now than before June. As you have pointed out, you now have to be married before you can file the petition and subsequently you will receive packet 3. So the steps are:

1. Marriage

2. Petition

3. Receive Packet 3

Whereas previously you could receive packet 3 before the marriage and complete everything in it before the marriage, it is now slightly different. My caution is that to complete all the things in packet 3 may take a few weeks. Doing the police report and getting the medical, getting the birth certificate and so forth. If your fiancee is from Sydney, she may be able to get it all done in the space of 3-4 weeks. If you want to be able to head back together, just be aware of this time period. If you don't mind her coming to the US a little bit after you, then you personally can go back after you file the petition.

I myself prefer that we were both present at both my partner's petition interview and my partner at my visa interview. Its not required, but I felt it made things easier.

Good luck, see how you do, and ask us questions and we'll help if we can!

AussieDude

[CarolineM 0]

Stewart was so glad I was at his interview - just made things easier

good luck..and I agree with AussieDUde...be VERY careful about having her come over here to get married...I'd do it in Oz personally...but that's just me.

[vylex 0]

Stewart was so glad I was at his interview - just made things easier

good luck..and I agree with AussieDUde...be VERY careful about having her come over here to get married...I'd do it in Oz personally...but that's just me.

Thanks AD and Karo for wonderful tips! I will marry her in Sydney then. That is where we fell in love anyway! I will stay there for a month and she does live just west of the city.

Yes, I will have her bring details about the house she owes as well as the hospital she works for. I will wait until I go there early next year to marry her and file at the consulate then. I've been gathering the information for a K1 Visa over the last few months and I see that it is pretty much the same needed for the DCF anyway so I am already half way there. Also, with her being near Sydney it makes things a lot easier.

We don't plan on her going back with me right away. We want the reception in Sydney but would like to have the visa ready so that after the honeymoon, she will come over. The K-1 did not offer that option for us because she could not come to the US, marry, and then go back to finish up wedding reception details before obtaining the Advance Parole. That was the kicker. She would have to stay with me for about 3 months or more to get the AP. She could not just leave her house and her job like that while planning our Sydney reception. When she does visit, she has family and she has been here a few times before that so there should be no suspicion of her trying to stay illegally. As for me going there, I have been there 3 times in the last year visiting family (that's how I met her) so I think everything should be ok.

So to recap my plan

1) Marry her (yay!).

2) Petition (in person and same trip when I marry).

3) Get Packet 3 (and already have some info ready).

4) Go with her to the interview if scheduled within 4 weeks (and all Packet 3 items are ready).

5) Pray for the things to go smoothly and get the Visa.

6) I go home happy and wait for our Sydney wedding reception.

7) Fly back for the big party.

8) Honeymoon.

9) Bring her back with me to the US.

I do understand that there is a 6 month period for her to come out after getting the Visa issued so we are timing things.

Thanks again for the tips! I am still reading things about details like the Tax forms and other things for the 864.

[CarolineM 0]

best of luck. when are you flying to sydney?

we are going back to Oz in December

[vylex 0]

best of luck. when are you flying to sydney?

we are going back to Oz in December

Thanks! Good luck to you too! My sweetheart will be visiting me for 7 weeks starting late November. I'll then go back and visit her in Feb or March. That's when I plan to petition her. I pray that I can still do a DCF.

[Lunamel 0]

Thought I'd bump up this thread, and give you an update on our visa journey at the same time.

Had my interview on Tuesday, and I was approved! And picked up my passport and visa yesterday afternoon -- hooray! In fact, it was so easy that I was out of there just after 9am! I'm so glad we decided to do DCF through Sydney, as it has been so quick and painless compared to many of the stories I've read on this site. While things were quicker for us given we were somewhere between the old and the new systems, I reckon two months is about all the time you need if you're organized before filing the I-130. (And do make sure you're organized -- it makes the process with the Consulate so much easier if you know what you're doing).

I'll post more info about my experiences at the Sydney Consulate under the embassy reviews when I get a chance. In the meantime, I'm off to celebrate!

[vylex 0]

Thought I'd bump up this thread, and give you an update on our visa journey at the same time.

Had my interview on Tuesday, and I was approved! And picked up my passport and visa yesterday afternoon -- hooray! In fact, it was so easy that I was out of there just after 9am! I'm so glad we decided to do DCF through Sydney, as it has been so quick and painless compared to many of the stories I've read on this site. While things were quicker for us given we were somewhere between the old and the new systems, I reckon two months is about all the time you need if you're organized before filing the I-130. (And do make sure you're organized -- it makes the process with the Consulate so much easier if you know what you're doing).

I'll post more info about my experiences at the Sydney Consulate under the embassy reviews when I get a chance. In the meantime, I'm off to celebrate!

CONGRATS LUNAMEL!!! I'm planning to go back to Sydney next March to file. I hope the system and people stay the same for me. I'm looking forward to your post on the experience.

[Lunamel 0]

Thanks vylex. Hope it all goes well for you, and let us know if you have any questions!

Chris

[claireybearyloo 0]

Update on progress:

We were married on Saturday, 7 October. Our minister registered the marriage on-line and we picked up the marriage certificate from Birth Deaths and Marriages in Sydney on Thursday, 12 October.

Next came a trip to the consulate the same day for my USC husband to file the 1-130 on a Thursday walk-in – approved! I was not encouraged to go into the Consulate with him and had to wait outside.

We received the packet in April so my medical and police check had already been done. However, we weren’t savvy enough to take the DS-230 Parts I&II and DS-2001 with us and posted them back the next week. The interview is 14 November. My husband flies back to the US on 23 November so hope it’s all organised by then.

Congratulations Lunamel! What time were you able to pick up the visa? (Just trying to calculate how long we need to stay in Sydney).

[aussiewench 9]

Had my interview on Tuesday, and I was approved!

WOOHOOOOOOO CONGRATULATIONS

All the best to all those with upcoming interviews in Sydney.

[Lunamel 0]

Hi claireybearyloo

I'm glad it's been easy for you getting through so far! It's a bit odd that they didn't let you up when your husband filed the I-130 -- my husband filed it on the same day as you, and they didn't bat an eyelid about me going up with him -- very odd!

If you're approved on the day of your visa interview (which I'm sure you will be), you can pick up your visa the next business day between 3.30 and 4pm. So you should only need to stay in Sydney one extra day.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

[Emerald 0]

Just a quick question as we are about to start DCF in Sydney. Can someone help me out here?

I reckon two months is about all the time you need if you're organized before filing the I-130. (And do make sure you're organized -- it makes the process with the Consulate so much easier if you know what you're doing).

What can we be doing and getting organised b4 filing the I-130? Is there something i can be working on now?

Thanks

EM

Hi claireybearyloo

I'm glad it's been easy for you getting through so far! It's a bit odd that they didn't let you up when your husband filed the I-130 -- my husband filed it on the same day as you, and they didn't bat an eyelid about me going up with him -- very odd!

If you're approved on the day of your visa interview (which I'm sure you will be), you can pick up your visa the next business day between 3.30 and 4pm. So you should only need to stay in Sydney one extra day.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!