DCF is gone. Now what?

[milopnkr 0]

I am the USC. I've been living in Australia with my Aussie husband for over a year & half. I always knew that DCF in Australia would be option if we would ever move back (heck, I've already done the waiting game for nearly 1 year in America while *patiently* waiting for my Aussie visa).

My husband and I are visiting the US this October during which I will interview for a job that I will likely land. I will be required to start my new position in January 2012. This change in events (ie deciding to move to America has happened within the past 2 weeks). I wasn't worried about the immigration process for my husband as I knew DCF in Australia would be available--shaving our wait from months to a matter of weeks. But lo and behold, DCF has now changed.

How is this fair? I have lived in Australia for almost 2 years and have residency. Why is DCF no longer available me as a valid resident of Australia?! Why do i have to endure this wait AGAIN? I understand that they are trying to "streamline" the process and make it fair for everyone, but I already served my time waiting for a snail-like government to process a freakin visa. It seriously pisses me off. DCF was a necessity for those of us living in another country--so we have a resource to contact within the country. Now our wait increases from several weeks to several months. And on top of that, I live on the other side of the world--in AUSTRALIA. Mail takes at least 2 weeks to get to me from the US....

So I really don't have a question about DCF. Just more of a moment of whinging.

One question just came to mind. We were planning to submit the I-130 petition after we return back to Australia in November as I was under the assumption that the foreign spouse couldn't be in the US while the I-130 was pending. But now that DCF is gone, we want to get this started ASAP to reduce the time we will be apart, again. Can foreign spouses enter the US if an I-130 is pending?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You can visit while I-130 is pending.

I think this sucks too; I was holding on to the idea that DCF would be an option in the future, if we decided to move away for a few years. If the country has a local USCIS office, then people can file with that office, but Australia doesn't have one. You can ask for an exception, but the criteria seem to be medical emergencies, etc. See here http://canberra.usembassy.gov/immigrant-visas.html You can file the I-130 in Chicago now and hopefully you'll be only a few months apart, if any.

I wonder if they plan to increase the number of foreign USCIS posts.

Good luck to you.

[toto09 0]

I am the USC. I've been living in Australia with my Aussie husband for over a year & half. I always knew that DCF in Australia would be option if we would ever move back (heck, I've already done the waiting game for nearly 1 year in America while *patiently* waiting for my Aussie visa).

My husband and I are visiting the US this October during which I will interview for a job that I will likely land. I will be required to start my new position in January 2012. This change in events (ie deciding to move to America has happened within the past 2 weeks). I wasn't worried about the immigration process for my husband as I knew DCF in Australia would be available--shaving our wait from months to a matter of weeks. But lo and behold, DCF has now changed.

How is this fair? I have lived in Australia for almost 2 years and have residency. Why is DCF no longer available me as a valid resident of Australia?! Why do i have to endure this wait AGAIN? I understand that they are trying to "streamline" the process and make it fair for everyone, but I already served my time waiting for a snail-like government to process a freakin visa. It seriously pisses me off. DCF was a necessity for those of us living in another country--so we have a resource to contact within the country. Now our wait increases from several weeks to several months. And on top of that, I live on the other side of the world--in AUSTRALIA. Mail takes at least 2 weeks to get to me from the US....

So I really don't have a question about DCF. Just more of a moment of whinging.

One question just came to mind. We were planning to submit the I-130 petition after we return back to Australia in November as I was under the assumption that the foreign spouse couldn't be in the US while the I-130 was pending. But now that DCF is gone, we want to get this started ASAP to reduce the time we will be apart, again. Can foreign spouses enter the US if an I-130 is pending?

Just left the US last week. I visited my USC wife twice while we have our I-130 on process. If your spouse will just be visiting the US, it shouldn't be a problem.

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

One option, if you have the money to possibly throw away: start the process now. By January 2012 you'd be more than half way done. Of course, if you end up not getting the job and staying in Australia, you'd have to withdraw and loose the fee money you paid.

[baylily 0]

Misery loves company? I applied DCF in London because I thought the process would be much faster, it took us nearly 10 months to get the visa approved via DCF. No complications, no hold ups, no children, just two adults married for over 2 years. Sorry but if the Australia wait time is only a couple months, I don't see the problem. Just file now.

[rachel&andy 0]

You should start the process now if you believe that you will get the job and have to start in a few months. Even with DCF, it can be months. It was 5 months to process my DCF from the UK, and apparently that was one of the faster ones-- the embassy here says to expect 8-10 months. So get started now, and you will at lease lessen the chance that you might be apart for any significant amount of time.