DCF Mexico

[LaGringa 0]

I think that's all of us!

Well, you convinced me! I guess I'll send it from here next week. I'm getting so nervous!

[arianak 0]

Hi Marisol,

We are just waiting for an interview date. If it takes as long as Lia and others, I imagine we might be scheduled sometime around the end of September. Praying things are calmer in Juarez for all of us....

-ariana

[Marisol73 0]

Hi Marisol,

We are just waiting for an interview date. If it takes as long as Lia and others, I imagine we might be scheduled sometime around the end of September. Praying things are calmer in Juarez for all of us....

-ariana

Hi Ariana!...

When did you send your packet 3?.. have you call to find if you already have an appoinment? or will just wait to se eif you receive the letter?

I sent packet 3 on August 3.. so I will wait another week to call again.. I want to know as soon as possible so I can start looking for flights and made hotel resevations.

And yes.. we should pray that things are better in Juarez.. it is too scary to go there !.. I dont understand why should be all interviews in Juarez ! the dangerous City !...they should interview in Monterrey & Mexico City at least!

[Lia792 5]

Jaremedios, I totally support you in your decision. We decided to come to the US for many reasons, among them that my husband needs to finish his education and that will be easier for him in the US, and that he wasn't able to meet my family until now, but I envy you being able to stay in Mexico.

[jaremedios 1]

Thanks Lia792. We are feeling good about our decision. It's the breaking it to my family that we're dreading. Good luck to your husband! I see he got his green card already. That was quick (a bit over a month). What happens to the temporary green card they put in his passport when he gets the real deal one in the mail?

[arianak 0]

Hi Marisol,

We sent packet 3 july 28. i emailed to see if they send me the appointment date. if they dont i will call. i would also like to make reservations sooner than later!

Jaremedios- I also totally understand your decision and think that once you guys are really ready this process will be so much easier know that you already did all the hard work of figuring it out! It's a hard time to go back to the States anyway...

Hi Ariana!...

When did you send your packet 3?.. have you call to find if you already have an appoinment? or will just wait to se eif you receive the letter?

I sent packet 3 on August 3.. so I will wait another week to call again.. I want to know as soon as possible so I can start looking for flights and made hotel resevations.

And yes.. we should pray that things are better in Juarez.. it is too scary to go there !.. I dont understand why should be all interviews in Juarez ! the dangerous City !...they should interview in Monterrey & Mexico City at least!

[jaremedios 1]

Thank you arianak also for your support. It's nice to know that I have support here on VJ. I was thinking the other day how nice it would have been if we all had a DCF Mexico reunion in US. I know it would probably be unlikely, but it's nice to think of you gals as "amiguitas" (friends).

[Marisol73 0]

I was thinking the same !.. It would be nice if we meet sometime. Im glad I found this site.. the moral support in these cases are very important.

Its nice to see that I am not alone in this process. And all of you have been very helpful and nice.

So.. of course we all are "amiguitas"

[Jilly and Danny 0]

Wow so much has happened since I last logged on!! My husband and I went to visit my family in Iowa for a couple weeks and now we are winding down our week honeymoon in the Riviera Maya.

Jaremedios - This type of decision is always stressful and life changing, but we all must do what we believe is best for the ones around us. I am 5 months pregnant and we thought we would have to have the baby here in Yucatan, but when we finally got news in June we decided if we could make it back to Iowa before the baby came it would be an easier transition than with a newborn. However, we also found it difficult to break the news to his family here, considering they were anticipating the arrival of the first grandbaby. We were very relieved to find out they supported us knowing it would be best for us and the baby. So I wish you all the best luck in telling your family. But I bet they'll understand.

We are just two weeks away from flying to Ciudad Juarez. We got reservations at La Quinta, and we'll be staying Sunday to Thursday with the appointment on Tuesday. We hope we get the package from DHL by then. If anyone who has already had their interview can give any tips of things to remember to take/to do while we are there to ensure things go smoothly we'd be happy to hear them!!

Hope everyone is well!!

[jaremedios 1]

Well, then I think a HUGE congratulations is due to you, Jilly and Danny, not only for the baby, but for being able to make a decision that is best for YOU and YOUR loved ones. Best of luck and again, congratulations for the little one!

[pnewton 0]

Hello everyone,

I'm a newcomer here, and it's been so helpful to read your posts about the DCF process!

Let me explain a little bit about our situation--We're living and working in Monterrey, where my fiance is from and have been together for almost 5 years. We met in our early college years, did long distance on and off through school and since we've graduated, I've been living here for the past year and a half. This past summer, we decided that we were ready to move back to the States and researched the different visa paths out there. I initially assumed that we would take the K-1 Fiance visa route, because we aren't married yet and are planning to have our big wedding celebration down the road anyway, once we're settled in the U.S.

However, upon talking with other couples we know through friends and reading more about the DCF process, we decided that it seemed to be the best route. So, in the past month, we started getting things ready to have our civil union here in Monterrey. We are currently waiting on the permission to be married from Mexican Migration to be ready. The tentative plan has been for us to have the civil union here as soon as we get everything squared away and then file for the DCF. I was thinking that come Christmas, I would finish up at my job and head back to the States with the process mostly underway and then my fiance would join me as soon as he is granted the visa (fingers crossed, maybe no later than spring?). As I'm planning on starting a master's program by fall 2011, some time back in the States to work, save up and settle in beforehand seems like it would work out well.

What I'm curious about is whether I can move back to the States during the DCF procss or whether I need to be here in Mexico throughout the course of it? Or if it might be better for us to go the fiance visa route? As we're still waiting on just the permission slip from Migration (it's been about 2 weeks since we turned in the application), so there's some wiggle room yet to decide. Meanwhile, the situation gets more complicated because my family back home is getting increasingly anxious with the security situation escalating here in Monterrey and would prefer if I head home even sooner. We're starting to look at me heading back by possibly October. At this point, we're not sure whether we should attempt to go ahead with the DCF process or shift gears towards the K-1 visa.

I'm also wondering if you might have an idea about the processing times of the two different routes, as of course, we'd rather not be separated for longer than necessary! I saw that here in Mty, they say the DCF takes between 6-8 months, but from some of the timelines of fellow DCF-ers, it seems people are experiencing shorter times rather than longer times...? One thing we liked about the DCF process was that it seemed more streamlined and that we wouldn't have to go through status change once he gets the States. Any ideas on the K-1 visa processing times, from start to finish?

Any advice or info you might have would be greatly appreciated!! I'm so glad to have found this little community here and thanks your help!

[jaremedios 1]

Welcome, pnewton!

Just from personal experience, I would suggest the civil marriage and then apply for CR-1 visa. You will still have to change status when you are in the States to IR-1 after you've been married for 2 years. Lia792 can tell you more about that. I have been married for more than 2years now so mine would have been (no longer applying for visa) IR-1.

My brother-in-law just did the K-1 and although it seemed to be the same timeline as my IR-1 with the petition and almost the same price for visa (now that they raised the price), the only benefit was he had an open interview (meaning he could go to CDJ whenever he wanted). He will have to pay more and do more paperwork once he's in US (as you said to do adjustment of status).

I believe for DCF (and someone else can correct me) you, the USC, only have to be here to file the I-130 petition. After, all paperwork is sent on behalf of your husband, except I-864 forms (financial forms) which you can send from US directly to CDJ or send them to your fiance and have him add them into his packet when he's ready to send it.

If you get all your immigration worked out, get married, and then prepare your I-130 petition, you could realistically be in US by Oct. It's a very quick process (or at least I think so).

Good luck! And you're right...this is a GREAT community!

[Jilly and Danny 0]

Thank you, Jaremedios!! Correction from my earlier post: we are just one week away from Ciudad Juarez. My husband and I are looking forward to 2 weeks from now as everything should be settled by then.

pnewton - Welcome! I have heard that the process is taking much less time simply because less people want to immigrate to the USA based on the bad economy. It seems that 3-4 months is how long it takes, once you send in the initial I-130 form. Unfortunately I really don't know the pros and cons of the K visa as we were already married when we started looking into things, it was never an option for us and therefore I didn't learn anythng about that process. Whatever you do, good luck!!

[Marisol73 0]

Welcome Pnewton !..

I agree with Jaremedios and Jill&Danny.. I think is better if you apply for CR1 instead of K-1. And yes.. in Monterrey they told me that the process would be from 6 to 8 months.. but it has been much quicker. Me and LaGringa had filed I130 in Monterrey and both of us were approved next day.

We'll help you with anything that we could. Good luck !

And yes.. once you have your I-130 approved , you can go to USA, so you can work in the proof of "reestablish domicile in USA", that you have to prove in Cd Juarez's interview.

Marisol

Jilly and Danny...good luck with your interview !.. please let us know how it goes.

[pnewton 0]

Hello again everyone,

Thank you so much for your quick responses! They were definitely helpful and it looks like we're going to still try and go through with the CR-1 visa! You were right, Jaremedios, about only having to be here in person to turn in the I-130! Today, I called the US consulate here in Monterrey and they confirmed that I could go after turning that in.

The other great thing that they told me is that the visa process is moving faster than the usual 6-8 months (as you mentioned, Marisol and Jilly and Danny). The guy I talked with was very nice and told me that they are trying to process the immigrant visas as quickly as they could, due to the heightened security situation. He said to expect about 4 months (yay!).

The funny thing was that when I called, I kept referring to the visa as the "DCF process" and no one knew what I was talking about! I got transferred around to a few different departments, and the man that helped me in the end said that they just call it the "immigrant visa" or the "marriage visa" around there! Luckily, I finally got through and ended up having a nice conversation with the agent. It was a relief to feel like the people there were really working to be of service to the American citizens here Hopefully our experience continues to go well!

Also, I did some email lobbying this morning with Migration to find out when our marriage permission is ready and lo and behold, it worked! I emailed the Regional Delegate (who was listed on INM's page of contacts) and she got back to me immediately and informed me that our permission was ready to be picked up! Incredible, I know! I'm sure if I hadn't called, the status of the permission would have gone on unresolved for some time yet. So, tomorrow we'll pick it up and hopefully get this process moving.

At this point, we're going to see how quickly everything moves, but it looks like I'll be getting ready to go sooner rather than later! My fiance and I are excited to start this new phase of our lives, but it's also sad to leave the city earlier than we had expected. However, with everything that is going on here, we know it's for the best now. I'll certainly keep you all updated as we move through the process..and also, I completely agree with your past comments about Ciudad Juarez--why oh why are they continuing to have the mandatory interviews there?! I might inquire about it when we turn in our papers...

Oh--and a quick question regarding a post you put up earlier, Marisol! According to the list of things that they need when you turn in the papers, I saw that you need to translate any documents that are in Spanish to English...This is usually just the marriage certificate, as it looks like we can just turn in my fiance's passport for his identication? I'm just imagining a situation where we head to the office and then realize that something else needs to be translated!

Phew, I wrote a lot...! Thanks again for all of your help, everyone!