USC petitioner living abroad

[RoRo&Amar 0]

Hi Laure, thanks for bringing this up its very uplifting. Since I made a big mistake with our petition in the very beginning (I did not give a proper correspondence address) apart from that, both me and my husband live abroad and I would like to join in. So here are my answers:

1. Country USC resides in: Saudi Arabia/England

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: November 21

4. How long had you been living abroad: I've lived all my life in Saudi and so did my husband, but I've been living in the UK for just over 3 years now.

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes, I'm a dual citizen and I've got a visa to study in the UK.

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/other - I'm a dual citizen and as I answered above I'm studying in the UK.

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes.

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? No

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? No

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Don't know as I didn't get my NOA2 yet, 12 working days have past since I've been emailed the NOA1.

[OriZ 3,157]

Priority date Oct 2nd here, filed from abroad, hoping to get NOA2 sometime this month, but not gonna hold my breath.

Called...still in NBC, still in process, is all they said...

[Mntjc 14]

NOA2!

I know we're not done yet but words cannot describe how happy I am!

Good luck to all the other "living abroad" filers!

[OriZ 3,157]

Was approved a week ago...

1. Country USC resides in: Israel

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: October 4th.

4. How long had you been living abroad: 3 and a half years.

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/other - Temporary resident

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes.

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? No.

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes.

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? 68 days!

[kroangelard 1]

Hi everybody and thank you for this topic!

My case: my american boyfriend will come in switzerland next summer (and we will get married before in europe) to work one year. After 6 months (is it 6 months for every countries?) we will fill the I-130 form.

I am a bit confused by the actual role now of the US embassy overseas. If we have to send the I-130 form to chicago, then what is the purpose of the US embassy (in switzerland in my case)? It will be there that the interview will take place? Do we have to contact this embassy before filling and sending the form I-130?

Also, is there any other documents to fill than the I-130?

Apparently the timeline for getting IR1-CR1 is much faster when one applied overseas than when the american citizen is leaving in US, can someone explain me why? I understand why it was the case before august 2011, but I don't understand why it is still the case now...

Thanks to anyone who can help me, even a little bit! I can't wait to start all the processes (and can't wait for it to be over!). And sorry for my english

all the best

caro

[gamm3 13]

1. Country USC resides in: Colombia

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: October 26th

4. How long had you been living abroad: 4 and a half years.

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/other - Work Permit

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes.

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Not physically, but I wrote on the envelope and the letter that it was filed from abroad

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes.

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? 68 days!

[MeredythB 38]

1. Country USC resides in: Ireland

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: November 23, 2012

4. How long had you been living abroad: 16 months

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/other - Spouse of Irish Citizen (Stamp 4)

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes.

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes.

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? 48 days!

[lierre 224]

Has there been a consolidated analysis of these posts on here?

Receiving updates on here was pretty exciting for us filing from abroad

[lierre 224]

Hi everybody and thank you for this topic!

My case: my american boyfriend will come in switzerland next summer (and we will get married before in europe) to work one year. After 6 months (is it 6 months for every countries?) we will fill the I-130 form.

I am a bit confused by the actual role now of the US embassy overseas. If we have to send the I-130 form to chicago, then what is the purpose of the US embassy (in switzerland in my case)? It will be there that the interview will take place? Do we have to contact this embassy before filling and sending the form I-130?

Also, is there any other documents to fill than the I-130?

Apparently the timeline for getting IR1-CR1 is much faster when one applied overseas than when the american citizen is leaving in US, can someone explain me why? I understand why it was the case before august 2011, but I don't understand why it is still the case now...

Thanks to anyone who can help me, even a little bit! I can't wait to start all the processes (and can't wait for it to be over!). And sorry for my english

all the best

caro

You can look the Guides on here for more info with the process of immigration visas.

Embassies/consulates handle the interview stage. Department of Homeland Security/USCIS handles the very initial stage, the petitions. You can look up uscis.gov... They have info on the process, too

Good luck!

[daphoknee 4]

1. Country USC resides in: Canada

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: December 2012

4. How long had you been living abroad: 1 years

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes - Canadian PR

6. What is the reason for your residence: Moved to be with spouse

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? No.

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Yes, 40 days.

[Roosha 51]

1. Country USC resides in: Qatar

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: Dec 19 2012

4. How long had you been living abroad: 7 years

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes, residence permit

6. What is the reason for your residence: To be with husband

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Technically, no. I sent it first to my mom so she could add the check then she fwd'd it to Chicago lockbox visa USPS

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? No

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes, mentioned in cover letter

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Yes, 37 days

I didn't include any official evidence to prove my residence abroad, as in there was no lease with both our names or utility bills or anything like that, but all of our bonafide relationship proof took place in Qatar. My son's CRBA is from the embassy in Qatar, our marriage certificate is in Qatar, all our pictures were taken in Qatar, all the trips we took were to and from Qatar our joint savings account is in a bank in Qatar. So it was obvious that I live abroad. Also I do recommend writing FILED FROM ABROAD in big block letters on the outside of the folder and anywhere else where you think it will be visible.

Edited January 31, 2013 by Roosha

[lierre 224]

Thank you for posting!

This makes me hope for a similar path for our petition...

Ahhh... A girl can dream

[sophielas 2]

1. Country USC resides in: New Zealand

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: Jan 3, 2013

4. How long had you been living abroad: 4.5 months

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/other - Extended tourist visa (not even an actual resident visa, although since filing we changed NZ visa status)

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes.

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes, joint lease, utilities etc.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes, explained USC in NZ on extended visitors visa and would stay in NZ until we could both go back to USA together

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Yes, 28 days, insane!

Edited February 1, 2013 by sophielas

[MeredythB 38]

1. Country USC resides in: New Zealand

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: Jan 3, 2013

4. How long had you been living abroad: 4.5 months

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/other - Extended tourist visa (not even an actual resident visa, although since filing we changed NZ visa status)

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes.

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes, joint lease, utilities etc.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes, explained USC in NZ on extended visitors visa and would stay in NZ until we could both go back to USA together

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Yes, 28 days, insane!

Congrats on your approval! One of my besties is married to a Kiwi. They did all of this several years ago and are in the States now.

Edited February 1, 2013 by MeredythB

[Mntjc 14]

Looks like the auto-expedite trend is back! :-)

why did it stopped just when I went through USICS?

(not complaining though, NBC was nice to us (2 months).