Should cancel my I-130 and try DCF?

[No name 88 48]

I married my wife in Vietnam back in August and filed the I-130 for CR-1 to USCIS in the US. At the time I never heard of DCF. I've been living with my wife in Ho Chi Minh City since August with exception of a death in the family back in the US and my traveling to and from work in India. I've leased a house in Siagon, registered in the landlords temp resident book with the police, have local joint bank accounts with the wife, have a visa exemption and we had a baby here not long ago.

In March I'll have been a resident in Vietnam for 6 months. I was wondering if it would be worth cancelling my current I-130 petition in the US and re-appling in Siagon at that time for a faster approval. Also I figured anything USCIS in Siagon needed would be easy to give them as our house is only a 15 minute walk from the USCIS office.

If I known about DCF I would have just waited as we weren't going to travel with a newborn anyway. Does anyone have experiance with this sort of situation or should I just leave my petition alone and wait? From what I've seen there is not much benefit in the waiting times at this point (my application will be in for 6 months by March) but it would be easier for me just to do all the back and forth with the paperwork in Vietnam for the visa.

Any advice would be great.

[Anonymous885 44]

DCF is faster way than filling at USCIS in US. However, DCF is not offered in VietNam.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=1ac900c262197210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=1ac900c262197210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

[No name 88 48]

I just found the answer to my own question. I was looking at an old posting; the USCIS office in Siagon closed 2 years ago. The consult here does consider requests for DCF but it is at the discretion of the consular officer to submit the request to the nearest USCIS field office and it is only excepted in the following cases. I'll wait for my current application. But I do now see that anyone with an I-130 from the Philippines just got bumped to the front of the line due to item f.

(1) Military emergencies: A U.S. service member overseas becomes aware of a new deployment or transfer with very little notice. This should be an exception to the regular relocation process for most service members.

(2) Medical emergencies: A petitioner or beneficiary is facing an urgent medical emergency that requires immediate travel. This includes the situation where a petitioner or beneficiary is pregnant and delaying travel may create a medical risk or extreme hardship for the mother or child.

(3) Threats to personal safety: A petitioner or beneficiary is facing an imminent threat to personal safety.

(4) Cases close to aging out: A beneficiary is within a few months of aging out of eligibility.

(5) Cases where the petitioner has recently naturalized: The petitioner and family have traveled for the immigrant visa interview, but the petitioner has naturalized and the family member(s) require a new, stand-alone petition.

(6) Cases involving the adoption of a child: A petitioner who has adopted a child locally and has an imminent need to depart the country. This exception should only be considered if the child has been in the petitioner's legal and physical custody for at least two years and the petitioner has a full and final adoption decree on behalf of the child.

(d) Discretion.

The list of examples provided in Chapter 22.12(b) is not exhaustive. FODs have the discretion to authorize a DOS adjudication of an I-130 when there are compelling humanitarian reasons to do so. FODs should consult with their District Director or Deputy District Director when they have questions about whether to authorize a DOS adjudication of the case.

(e) Appeal Rights.

The petitioner does not have the right to appeal or request reconsideration of a USCIS decision to deny a DOS request for authority to process an I-130 because of exceptional circumstances.

In the Event of a Large Scale Crisis.

USCIS may authorize the blanket processing of I-130s by DOS at an overseas location in response to a large scale crisis. A large scale crisis includes a natural disaster or widespread civil unrest that creates a humanitarian emergency for U.S. citizens or residents living abroad. In these circumstances, the Chief or Deputy Chief of USCIS International Operations may choose to give blanket authorization to DOS to accept and adjudicate I-130s for a specified period of time.

(g) When DOS Requests Exceptional Authorization.