DCF in South Korea

[jolsen87 0]

Hi!

So my husband and I, recently married, are starting the DCF process in South Korea! We have been teaching English here for 14 months, and as such are foreign residents. We were married in New York this past September [where my family is from] and hope to relocate to the US next summer.

We are about to e-mail the embassy to set up an appointment to hand in our I-130 Petition! I will update this post from time to time on the process and goings-on, for anyone else who may be doing the same!

Think happy thoughts for us!

[GlobeHopperMama 95]

Congratulations on getting started. We're currently DCF-ing through Seoul and having been in the immigration game for awhile (ha!) I can say that Seoul is a honestly a great embassy to work with. The embassy is really quick and efficient at replying to stuff. They got a little confused about our case and we had a small hold-up on the I-130 but even with that, our petition was approved so fast. You will likely be set to schedule a visa appointment by the end of this month, most Seoul applicants have approved petitions within 2-3 weeks!

Good luck!!

[jolsen87 0]

Thanks so much! I'm glad to hear that! I hope things keep moving quick quick quick We're only in Korea until April!

[Nieuwoudt 0]

My husband and I just had our appointment last week and filed our I-130 (we're teachers as well). It was really easy. I'm working on a longer post about our experience and will add it here. Hopefully it will help you and others! Good luck!

[jolsen87 0]

Can't wait to hear about it! We've only just e-mailed the consulate and are waiting for our appointment time to hand in the I-130!

[richardkorea2010 15]

My wife and I did DCF through the US embassy in Korea. From filing in April to my interview in June, it took less than 7 weeks. I could have done it in 4 weeks if I didn't have to wait for my police clearance from South Africa.

In short. Great embassy, and helpful staff. We entered the US through Honolulu, Hawaii, and I received my green card within two weeks of arriving, and my SSN card was there after 4 days.

Just one bit of advice: Do make sure you follow everything on the checklist. The two couples ahead of me at my interview were given a blue sheet indicating missing documents.

Good luck to y'all! and ask questions if you need any help, :-)

[jolsen87 0]

Congratulations! That sounds great and thanks for the tip- I'm making sure I have way more than I think I need just to be sure.

I have a question for either of you who have done it through Seoul- you may not remember- how long did it take them to get back to you with an appointment to hand in your I-130? I thought it would be quick-within two business days, but I e-mailed them on wednesday of last week, so it's been a solid week. I know that isn't long but I guess I was expecting a quick e-mail back! Any insight?

[richardkorea2010 15]

About making the appointment. It was very quick. I emailed them on March 4th, and they emailed me back the next day for my appointment to file our I-130, that was on April 4th. Very quick, and our I-130 was approved within 2 weeks after filing it.

Also: Which email address did you contact them on for your appointment?

[Nieuwoudt 0]

Congratulations! That sounds great and thanks for the tip- I'm making sure I have way more than I think I need just to be sure.

I have a question for either of you who have done it through Seoul- you may not remember- how long did it take them to get back to you with an appointment to hand in your I-130? I thought it would be quick-within two business days, but I e-mailed them on wednesday of last week, so it's been a solid week. I know that isn't long but I guess I was expecting a quick e-mail back! Any insight?

It's a little confusing, I had the same problem. I emailed the consulate and they got back to me semi-quickly (a few days?) but they said they don't do appointments through emails anymore. You book through a website. I'm putting the link in my post below. Give me just a second!

[Nieuwoudt 0]

Hi, so I love this forum and have gotten so much good advice from it. As of right now, there's not that much information about DCF filing through the Seoul Consulate in Korea. Since we're going through the process now, I figured I'd describe everything as it happens to us and the links that we used. Hopefully it will be helpful to others down the line.

I am a US Citizen and my husband is a South African citizen. We met here in Korea teaching English and are preparing to move back to the states in March (it's now November).

Making an appointment to file the I-130 petition:

- Schedule your appointment through this website: http://infopass.uscis.gov

- Both petitioner and beneficiary must be present at the appointment when filing

Documents:

- Here's the I-130 download and instructions: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=c67c7f9ded54d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

- There's a section saying the I-130 form you use must be up to date (date is in the upper corner of the form), however when we filed, there was not "current" version of the form, and they still seemed to be accepting versions from at least the last 4 years, so don't worry about that too much.

- It says in the instructions to bring your proof of marriage and ongoing relationship. We brought bank statements, photos, affidavits, insurance, in addition to the licence. But in the end, the man gave us back everything except the marriage licence saying the other documents wouldn't be needed until the actual visa interview.

At the consulate:

- When you're facing the consulate, the Gyeongbukgung palace is on your left. Don't go in the door directly in front of you. Walk around the right side of the building to the side door, go in there.

- We showed them our confirmation page from making the appointment and passports, then went in through security.

- We brought our phones, they just keep in in the little security room as we entered and gave us a number to get it later.

- Go up to the third floor. Once you walk through the door, go to the counters on your left-hand side.

- The man at the counter took all our papers, took out the I-130 made a few marks, then gave us that and another paper. He sent us to the cashier on the 2nd floor to pay. While we were gone, he kept our other paperwork to look through.

- We went to the 2nd floor to pay. They say dollars or won are accepted. I had checked the exchange rate beforehand when we withdrew cash, but the rate the consulate used was ridiculously high (something like 1,200 vs 1,089 or something). So we didn't have enough cash and had to run outside to an ATM.

- We got the money, and they waved us in, skipping the "line" (only one person), went through security, then back upstairs.

- Finished paying, then the man gave us a green form with the I-130 and a receipt. My husband put down his email address, name, and signature on the green form. We took that all back up to the 3rd floor.

- The man there gave us back the papers that he didn't need yet (mostly the proof of ongoing relationship) and just said he wouldn't need that until the interview. Then he said we were done, my husband would get more instructions via email. He said processing time is generally about 1 month.

- We had all our originals with us, but they never asked to look at them.

Our appointment was for 9:40 AM. We got there just a little early (maybe 9:30) and were out of there by 9:50. The whole process (including getting cash) took a max of 20 minutes. Really fast and we were impressed. There were no lines or waiting at any of the areas we used that day, though we saw some lines for other counters. All in all, not very busy, especially for a Friday.

Main points:

1) You both must be present

2) Really over-estimate the cash required for the fee

3) Bring at least two copies of everything, and originals (the man thought he was missing one copy, and I was able to just pull another out and give it to him right there)

Here's the UCIS site specific to Seoul: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextchannel=1ac900c262197210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextoid=54180a9de954d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD

That's it for us so far. Now we just have to wait for our email. I'll post again once we go through the next step. Looking forward to hearing about others!

[richardkorea2010 15]

Wow...I didn't have to schedule my appointment for the I-130 online. I just emailed them, and had it done 1-2-3.

For my actual interview I went online and scheduled it. I think November is the busy time for the embassy. My wife(US citizen) and I filed in April, and we were done and dusted by June. Super quick, and just a bit of advice. Its much better to just pay in dollar, because the Won/dollar exchange rate is very bad at the embassy if you pay in Won. We paid the $420 in dollar, and for the interview I just swiped my american bank card.

Good luck!

[jolsen87 0]

Thanks for the info! Do you know, when I go to infopass, what kind of appointment am I scheduling? There's only two options and neither say to submit the i-130... Any ideas??

[Nieuwoudt 0]

Yes, we were a bit shocked by the exchange rate thing. We'll probably try to use dollars next time. So glad to hear that your whole process went quickly!

When I scheduled my appointment, I choose the option that was something like "need other information and services" NOT the one about picking up forms. We had no trouble when we arrived so I guess it was fine!

[jolsen87 0]

Awesome!! We just booked our appointment for this Friday. Thanks for the speedy reply!!

[GlobeHopperMama 95]

Interesting! We filed ours in July and also didn't have to do an InfoPass appointment to file I-130, but that makes sense that they do it that way now, most Embassies/consulates around the world do.

Yes, that exchange rate is absolutely brutal. I'm glad for the immigrant visa fee we can use a credit card so I can pay it from our US account in dollars. o_O