DCF faster?

[louati13 5]

I am just wondering why it is that DCF seems to be processed faster than CR1 visas processed within the US?

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Because everything is handled by the embassy, and even busy embassies have far less of a workload than USCIS. So, rather than your petition waiting in a box for its turn, it gets seen pretty much immediately. In quiet countries, such as Ireland where I did my DCF, everything can be done in a month.

[Mithmeoi 29]

^ What she said!

Ours was fast. I got a call back to set up the interview three days after we were approved to apply for the visa and we hadn't had a chance to gather any of the papers we needed. So I had them schedule our interview for the end of the month rather than the beginning just so we had more time.

[GlobeHopperMama 95]

As stated above, DCF is faster just because you deal directly with a USCIS field office abroad due to residing in their consular district, and the field offices have way fewer petitions and applications than the USCIS service centers in the US. This also means DCF filers skip the middle-man of the NVC, and instead just prepare and submit their I-864 and IV applications straight to the embassy/consulate in the country where they live, which also cuts down a lot of the time. As someone who previously filed an I-130 petition in the US and waited all 6+ months for the CSC to approve it, I'm fascinated to be going through the DCF process now and finding it so simple and streamlined. It's too bad it can't be this simple for everyone.

[louati13 5]

Ok, that makes sense. I guess my question isn't really regarding DCF then but moreso, those who file from abroad but send to a lockbox, why they are approved faster? I am talking about people on VJ forum filing from France, but that currently live there, as compared to those who file in the US and get approved later. guess it depends on a case to case basis, but it seems to me (by looking at their timelines) that even living abroad you get approved faster, even if it isn't DCF.

[Darnell 8,478]

it's a new thing, observed by me last year, then written up by Laure over at http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/357465-usc-petitioner-living-abroad/ afterwards.

You probably should read that, nowish.

[louati13 5]

Thank you so much- that is exactly my question regarding the "fast track" for USC filing abroad when DCF is not available. That is really disheartening because I specifically moved back to the US so I could file on behalf of my husband with a permanent address here, and also to take a job so I would be able to be his sponsor as well. I wish I would have put my French address on all my documents and sent the I 130 package before I moved back- that would have made a huge difference! So frustrating!