Dropped off the I-130

[cup1981 5]

So my wife and I made the long journey to Jakarta and dropped off her I-130. First notable mistake I made is that at the Jakarta Embassy USCs getting service do not sit on the outside benches. You walk straight into the consular office. We sat there for about 30 minutes until a lady came over and let us know lol. We were wondering why everyone on the benches were foreign, not a single American. They were all getting NIVs lol.

It was a pretty easy process. When we first got to the IV window at the Embassy, a woman took our paperwork and separated and organized it all. I tried organizing it, but I didn't know exactly how they would want it. She was very nice and took her time with making sure everything was there and accounted for.

My only complaint with her -- it's not a big one -- is that she was a little scatterbrained and she would say "where is XXX form?" I would then tell her to look again and she would find it. That happened a few times .

We went to pay, only to find out that their credit card machine was offline after they tried to swipe my card -- this has caused a bit of a hassle now, as it charged me the $420 and I now have to await a credit to my account. Fortunately, I had about 5,000,000 Indonesian Rupiah (Rp.) on me, so I paid the fee in cash (Rp. 3,780,000). I then took the receipt to the consular window for proof of payment.

Then we waited for them to look over our paperwork -- we did my son's registration while waiting, but I will get to that later.

After about 1 hour, or so, I was called up to the consular window by a gentleman. He was very kind and asked me basic questions about my paper work and verified that my copies were indeed of the originals. As he checked, he would stamp and sign off on the copies, then hand me the original. He then informed me of my wife's 212(e), which I told him we knew about and were not leaving until July or August of 2012.

He advised us about the 2 year HRR waiver and I told him that she was Fulbright; he simply chuckled and said "Ah, never mind then."

He wrote down on our docket that we are aware of the 212(e) and we understand that I must remain in Indonesia for the duration of the 2 years with my wife. He then told me something that I didn't expect. He said that they will start processing the I-130 a few months before my wife's 2 year HRR runs out and we should see a visa within a few weeks of the expiration of her section 212(e). Also he let me know that they would initiate the processing themselves and I don't need to do anything else.

In speaking to the embassy via email, they respondent said that they wouldn't start any processing until post-212(e) expiry and I had to call to initiate it all.

All-in-all the I-130 experience was great at Jakarta!

As for my sons registration, SS Card application and Passport application, we hit a few additional snags....

First, the lady I dealt with initially spoke broken English and had a heavy Indonesian accent -- more than I am used to. After getting through everything with her and explaining several times that the Consular window has a few of the original documents, I head to the cashier window.

I find out that the credit card network is still down and I must go to an ATM. Fortunately, there was one that was only about a 15 minute walk. So, me and two other USCs head out through security and let them know what we were doing. We get to the ATM, where I find they had charged me the $420 for the I-130, despite my paying cash. Fortunately, I had enough savings where I could still pull out the $205 (Rp. 1,743,000) that I needed and still have money to get home. The other USC wasn't so lucky .

I head back -- security was very quick in our readmitting process -- and pay the fee in cash and wait about 20 minutes and the same guy I dealt with on the I-130 calls my family up, thank god!!

He just asked us to hold our son up so he could verify the passport pic was of him and that was it.

Unfortunately, I forgot the proof of 5 years in the US and 2 years after age 14. So, I need to get my transcripts emailed to me, as they can be copies. The only thing is that the mail and courier system here SUCKS lol. So, we might have to make another trip up to Jakarta to pick up his papers, I am willing to risk mailing the transcripts though. I need to debate if I want to let them FED EX and Courier the documents and passport to me.

Overall a great experience though.

Sorry it's so long, but I thought this may be helpful for anyone doing DCF in Jakarta before August 15, 2011.

Edited June 21, 2011 by cup1981

[Darnell 8,479]

*** moving to DCF forum ***

[himher 634]

Jakarta's pretty great. Our first run through immigration there went through like clockwork

[bayu 0]

Sorry it's so long, but I thought this may be helpful for anyone doing DCF in Jakarta before August 15, 2011.

dear cup1981,

What was happened after 15 August 2011?

Last week I'd like to drop I-130 form for my son in Jakarta US Embassy, but they said I should send and pay it directly to USCIS via Chicago Lockbox.

The Embassy doesn't do it anymore.

Well, sending it will be no problem using courier, but I don't know which bank in Indonesia that its check can be cashed in the US by the USCIS?

How do I pay the I-130 fee from Indonesia?

it is said the fee has to be sent together with the I-130 form in one envelope.

please anybody help me.

thank you in advance.

kind regards,

bayu

Edited June 19, 2012 by bayu