Help with Info on IR-1 possible to switch to DCF

[christeen 966]

Ok, perhaps I am a bit late on this, but I saw in another post about the DCF filing and how much faster it is. Also, I would be thinking about it if I did not ask someone !

Situation: I have filed my I-130 here in the US and am waiting at the CSC. NOA1 of May 5.

However, I also have residency in Italy (home country of my husband) in the form of my Permisso Di Siorggornio (Italian Green Card) and an Identy Card. Is is possible to switch to a DCF filing at this point or am I too late? I only ask as it has been 3+ months waiting for NOA2 and not looking to be moving too fast.

I will be in Italy with my husband for the next 6 weeks and wondered if possible to switch or also file there or would that screw stuff up??? BTW, my husband and I have been married for 7 years but he worked on a ship so we could not apply earlier. I have had my residence there since 2004.

Any info would be helpful...

Thanks

Christeen

[Ben&Keren 0]

Yes, you can!

The people in the DFC forum can probably help you the most on this, but basically you'll just need to withdraw this I-130 petition when filing with the embassy. But DON'T withdraw it before the embassy gives you the ok.

Oh, and you'll actually need to be in Italy of course.

[txladykat 1]

How many places are you going to post this? I have replied to your other posts. TYou can only file DCF after you have resided in Italy continuously for 6 months. That is a requirement of all embassies. Being in Italy for 6 weeks does not give you the authority to file DCF, with or without a residence permit.

[What Happened? 4]

How many places are you going to post this? I have replied to your other posts. TYou can only file DCF after you have resided in Italy continuously for 6 months. That is a requirement of all embassies. Being in Italy for 6 weeks does not give you the authority to file DCF, with or without a residence permit.

If I were you I would contact the embassy in Naples. They are the only embassy in Italy that handles Immigrant visa types. I wouldn't just go by what someone says on here. The Naples embassy is not as stringent as other embassies around the world. You have a residency permit, I would suggest asking them. You can send them an email. I have emailed them several times and they have always replied within 24 hours and have been very helpful to me in my visa journey.

I know from experience that they don't always do things at the Naples embassy the way that people on this website would think things are SUPPOSED to be done.

Give them a call or email them letting them know the particulars about your residency permit and they will tell you if you can or not.

The email address is : IVNaples@state.gov

Best Wishes

[pushbrk 13,133]

How many places are you going to post this? I have replied to your other posts. TYou can only file DCF after you have resided in Italy continuously for 6 months. That is a requirement of all embassies. Being in Italy for 6 weeks does not give you the authority to file DCF, with or without a residence permit.

If I were you I would contact the embassy in Naples. They are the only embassy in Italy that handles Immigrant visa types. I wouldn't just go by what someone says on here. The Naples embassy is not as stringent as other embassies around the world. You have a residency permit, I would suggest asking them. You can send them an email. I have emailed them several times and they have always replied within 24 hours and have been very helpful to me in my visa journey.

I know from experience that they don't always do things at the Naples embassy the way that people on this website would think things are SUPPOSED to be done.

Give them a call or email them letting them know the particulars about your residency permit and they will tell you if you can or not.

The email address is : IVNaples@state.gov

Best Wishes

FYI, there is no US Embassy in Naples. It's a Consulate. In a given country, there is always only one embassy of any country and it's in the Capital city. The rest are Consulates.

To the OP. You're better off continuing as you are. You don't qualify to file DCF because you have not been residing in Italy continuously for the past six months. Your permission to do so is of no consequence.

[What Happened? 4]

How many places are you going to post this? I have replied to your other posts. TYou can only file DCF after you have resided in Italy continuously for 6 months. That is a requirement of all embassies. Being in Italy for 6 weeks does not give you the authority to file DCF, with or without a residence permit.

If I were you I would contact the embassy in Naples. They are the only embassy in Italy that handles Immigrant visa types. I wouldn't just go by what someone says on here. The Naples embassy is not as stringent as other embassies around the world. You have a residency permit, I would suggest asking them. You can send them an email. I have emailed them several times and they have always replied within 24 hours and have been very helpful to me in my visa journey.

I know from experience that they don't always do things at the Naples embassy the way that people on this website would think things are SUPPOSED to be done.

Give them a call or email them letting them know the particulars about your residency permit and they will tell you if you can or not.

The email address is : IVNaples@state.gov

Best Wishes

FYI, there is no US Embassy in Naples. It's a Consulate. In a given country, there is always only one embassy of any country and it's in the Capital city. The rest are Consulates.

To the OP. You're better off continuing as you are. You don't qualify to file DCF because you have not been residing in Italy continuously for the past six months. Your permission to do so is of no consequence.

[christeen 966]

Sorry for the multiple postings, I noticed the other forums after posting this one and thought that readers in the DCF forum might have someone who has experienced this. As far as residency, actually I do have residency in Italy, My identy card from Italy states that I have been a resident since 2004 when we lived over there after getting married. I never actually cancelled my residency (since we are back and forth over there and I need medical services) and my address legally in Italy is my in-laws.

I just travel a lot between USA and Florida and I will be leaving again on Tuesday to stay with him. I noticed that on the website for the State Department it says to contact the Rome Embassy, but I will also contact the Naples one too.

Thanks for the assistance,

Christeen

[What Happened? 4]

Sorry for the multiple postings, I noticed the other forums after posting this one and thought that readers in the DCF forum might have someone who has experienced this. As far as residency, actually I do have residency in Italy, My identy card from Italy states that I have been a resident since 2004 when we lived over there after getting married. I never actually cancelled my residency (since we are back and forth over there and I need medical services) and my address legally in Italy is my in-laws.

I just travel a lot between USA and Florida and I will be leaving again on Tuesday to stay with him. I noticed that on the website for the State Department it says to contact the Rome Embassy, but I will also contact the Naples one too.

Thanks for the assistance,

Christeen

I pray that you will contact them. It is Naples consulate that processes CR1/IR1 visas. The reason I said you should ask them is because I asked if my husband and I could file DCF in Rome in February when we married in Italy. Rome told me that they do not process immigrant visas, it is done in Naples. Also i asked about the time I had been in Italy. They told me that it was not the timeframe....(I know others are saying you must live there for six continuous months, but I am telling you what I was told from the consulate in ROME and Naples)....that I needed to have established legal residency. So since you have your residency permit and an established residence in Italy, I would speak with them about whether you can DCF.

I don't care anymore about what certain people on here want to say about something that is suppose to be the rule. It never hurts to call....even though you are SUPPOSED to wait 30 days, and it never hurts to ask the people who are the one to make the decision, whether you qualify for something.

Sorry, but what someone says on here as to what you qualify for may or may not be the way the consulate sees it. I say ask them and let them tell you NO. That is the best thing to do....not just take someone's word on here that you can't do something based on what they read the rule to be.

Yes rules are rules.....but let the consulate tell you that you can't do it before you throw in the towel.

[christeen 966]

Sorry for the multiple postings, I noticed the other forums after posting this one and thought that readers in the DCF forum might have someone who has experienced this. As far as residency, actually I do have residency in Italy, My identy card from Italy states that I have been a resident since 2004 when we lived over there after getting married. I never actually cancelled my residency (since we are back and forth over there and I need medical services) and my address legally in Italy is my in-laws.

I just travel a lot between USA and Florida and I will be leaving again on Tuesday to stay with him. I noticed that on the website for the State Department it says to contact the Rome Embassy, but I will also contact the Naples one too.

Thanks for the assistance,

Christeen

I pray that you will contact them. It is Naples consulate that processes CR1/IR1 visas. The reason I said you should ask them is because I asked if my husband and I could file DCF in Rome in February when we married in Italy. Rome told me that they do not process immigrant visas, it is done in Naples. Also i asked about the time I had been in Italy. They told me that it was not the timeframe....(I know others are saying you must live there for six continuous months, but I am telling you what I was told from the consulate in ROME and Naples)....that I needed to have established legal residency. So since you have your residency permit and an established residence in Italy, I would speak with them about whether you can DCF.

I don't care anymore about what certain people on here want to say about something that is suppose to be the rule. It never hurts to call....even though you are SUPPOSED to wait 30 days, and it never hurts to ask the people who are the one to make the decision, whether you qualify for something.

Sorry, but what someone says on here as to what you qualify for may or may not be the way the consulate sees it. I say ask them and let them tell you NO. That is the best thing to do....not just take someone's word on here that you can't do something based on what they read the rule to be.

Yes rules are rules.....but let the consulate tell you that you can't do it before you throw in the towel.

Thanks for the tips... I know that especially in Italy, rules are rules, but they are not always applied the same... Being from the US, that used to frustrate me so much when I first came over here, now I am hoping that it works in my favor. In the eyes of Italy, I have residency here in Savona Italy and since I enter with my Identity Card, my comings and goings are of no knowledge to them.

I took your advice and sent them and e-mail explaining my situation and I will see about calling them (Naples) next week to ask as well. Thanks for all the tips, I will give it a try. I am bouncing between Italy and taking care of my sick mother here in Florida until my husband can come be here with me full time... After 6 years of marriage I cannot wait to finally be able to live together in the US in a "normal" non sea-faring life!!

Thanks for the info, I will let you know

Christeen

[GabiandVi 34]

[sorry, but what someone says on here as to what you qualify for may or may not be the way the consulate sees it. I say ask them and let them tell you NO. That is the best thing to do....not just take someone's word on here that you can't do something based on what they read the rule to be.

Yes rules are rules.....but let the consulate tell you that you can't do it before you throw in the towel.

Too true. When we first started talking about moving to the US, I called the US Embassy in Benin to see if it would be possible to apply DCF from there while I was visiting the following summer. At that time, I didn't know enough to know this was not according to the rules. I only knew that where we were living in China took a long time and I figured it wouldn't take nearly so long from Benin where there are relatively few immigration applications and where the person making the decision would understand the culture of my husband.

The person I spoke to in charge of immigrant interviews, etc., hesitated for a few moments, but finally said that they could do it. I would need to bring ALL MY documentation for the entire process, i.e. the AOS and my tax returns, as well as the I130 and the 325s to Embassy that summer. She said we could just do my interview at the same time I filed and then could go through the rest of the process. My husband would probably get his visa by November of that year. Again, I didn't know much of what she was talking about, but she seemed to and she said it would be okay.

Unfortunately, that summer when I arrived, there had been a change at the Embassy. The person I had spoken to had moved on and as yet they had not replaced her. The person who spoke to me that summer was not very well informed and didn't think that the Embassy in Benin proccessed any DCFs any longer or any immigration applications. I took her for her word. All this time since then, I have been thinking that while my husband is living in Benin and is from Benin, he would be proccessed in Ghana, which is what I was told that summer. Only recently have I begun to think that is totally wrong and he will be processed at the Embassy in Benin after all.

So I agree, the way the consulates see things may not be the same as what the rules are or what people here tell you. If it is not going to slow your process down, it doesn't hurt to ask. Sometimes, you get a human on the phone.