Italian LPR filing DFC in London. Help me, please..

[danielenglish 3]

Hi everyone!

I'm going to file the form I-130 in London through the DFC.

I'll do that as soon as possible (very likely on monday) and I would love to receive some important clarification from you because I still have doubt regarding the document I need to send them.

Any help will be more than appreciated and I thank you (a lot!) in advance for that

The first thing not clear for me regards the certificate of marriage I have to provide.

As you know, they require a “marriage certificate issued by a public authority to show that a public record exists of the marriage”.

They also require a copy the "marriage license plus marriage certificate to show that it has been publicly registered in the state/country”.

When I asked the Registrar, she told me that they do not provide (actually, they don't have) this “licence” and the only certificate I have is the “Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage” (the handwritten one), plus 4 copies (with the same value of the handwritten) which they printed from the system for 4 pound each.

I'm gonna send a copy (made by the copy-machine) of the handwritten one and one of the 4 "original copy" I took at the Municipal Office.

Do you confirm that the Uscis office in London will accept these, without asking for that “license”?

The second one is about the letter B number 14 of the form I-130.

Here they ask for "Date and Place of admission for or adjustement to lawful permanent residence and class of admission".

I am currently outside the States and I've got the GC through the DV-Lottery.

Does this block in the form apply to me?

Someone told me that is for people INSIDE the Usa and I can put just N/A whereas someone else said I need to provide my POE date - that's when I activated my immigrant DV visa (becoming a legal permanent resident).

What should I do?

Apart from that, the Checklist also reccomends to "Complete all blokcs and if not applicable, enter NA".

However, I was wondering what to do with the blocks that are evidently not for me like, for instance, when they ask for the name (and the date!) of my "Prior Spouse".

Any idea about this?

The last question regards the letter B number 20 where they ask for the name of my wife in her native alphabet.

My wife was born in Iran (she has two citizenship), do you think she needs to write her name in Iranian (although she is also Italian) ?

If you could help me with this..I'd be extremely grateful!

Thanks, thanks, thanks

[aaron2020 11,651]

How can you file DFC with a green card?

DFC requires legally living in the UK for 6 months while the US green card requires you to live in the US.

Do you have a re-entry permit?

[danielenglish 3]

I opened a topic three times since when I've been here and the first answer I get is always the same question (that's why I'm gonna copy and paste the same reply)

I was randomly selected during the DV-Lottery 2011, had the interview in april 2013 (and the Visa printed on my passport), did the first entrance in US in july 2013, received the GC in august 2013.

According to this timeline, I have to be in the US by the end of july 2014.

[aaron2020 11,651]

I opened a topic three times since when I've been here and the first answer I get is always the same question (that's why I'm gonna copy and paste the same reply)

I was randomly selected during the DV-Lottery 2011, had the interview in april 2013 (and the Visa printed on my passport), did the first entrance in US in july 2013, received the GC in august 2013.

According to this timeline, I have to be in the US by the end of july 2014.

How are you getting that you have to be in the US by the end of July 2014?

Perhaps, you don't realize that you have to maintain ties to the US to maintain your LPR status. Having no ties to the US and visiting to activate your green card and then go live outside the US and a yearly visit puts you at risk for an abandonment if your LPR status.

You are not getting that the green card requires you to live in the US. You should be doing this since you got your green card.

Before you file anything, you should talk to a lawyer.

You cannot meet the legal residency requirement to file DCF and meet your green card obligation to maintain your LPR status in the US at the same time (unless you have a re-entry permit).

Edited February 20, 2014 by aaron2020

[belinda63 3,038]

As an LPR your spouse will have to wait for a visa number to become available. Expect more than one year before he receives an interview. Only the spouses of US citizens have a visa available immediately. I don't even know if an LPR can file for DCF.

As a side note, which you don't seem concerned about, an LPR is required to live in the US. That means you spend more time inside the US than outside. You are playing fast and loose with your green card and may lose it.

Edited February 20, 2014 by belinda63

[belinda63 3,038]

To direct my post to your questions.

I have no idea about the marriage certificate. Whatever is considered legal proof of marriage in your country is what I would provide.

Question 14. Either you are a US citizen or a US LPR. You have to be one or the other to petition a relative to the US. You are not a citizen so you are an LPR and need to provide the information.

If you leave a block blank USCIS will assume you forgot to answer the question. Better to write N/A in the block.

I assume since she was born in Iran her birth name is written in Farsi letters (or squiggles as I call them) this would be her name in her native alphabet.

[danielenglish 3]

aaron 2020, I'm getting that I have to be in the US by the end of July 2014 because I know that - from the date of the first entry in the US - I have one year maximum to settle down.

In particular, I'm also aware that if I had done so during the first 6 months, I wouldn't have been questioned at the POE whereas, in the second 6 months, the officers may give me an extra scrutiny.

In that case I will show any proof I've got in order to demonstrate my "bona fide" (among the others: SSN and American Bank Account) and, most of all, I will show the certificate of the master (which I'll have accomplished by that time) which prevents me from moving there right now....and I will keep my fingers crossed, of course

I meet the legal residency requirement to file DCF and meet my green card obligation to maintain my LPR status in the US at the same time simply because I've been living in London for more than six months (the amount of time required) and, as I said, I'm gonna move to the US before july 2014.

Really hope that is clearer now .. anyway, thank you very much for your suggestion.

belinda63, yes, a LPR can file for DFC and, yes, I'm more than concerned about the fact that an LPR is required to live in the US (as I tried to explain above ).

About question number 14: I want to provide any information they require.

That is very clear for me.

The reason for which I asked is just because - like I said - I got different answers from two - very well informed - people on this forum.

Thank you so much for having clarified the "native alphabet question"!

I'll tell her to write in Farsi, then (after I'll print the form..)

Edited February 20, 2014 by danielenglish

[Darnell 8,478]

I was unaware an LPR can do DCF in London, I learned that only USCitizens can file an I-130 via DCF, ages past.

Is this even possible? If'n London IV, a human there, said it's OK, then I'll keep mum.

[belinda63 3,038]

I don't see the point in DCF, even if it is possible for an LPR as there is still the wait for a visa number to become available.

[aaron2020 11,651]

aaron 2020, I'm getting that I have to be in the US by the end of July 2014 because I know that - from the date of the first entry in the US - I have one year maximum to settle down.

In particular, I'm also aware that if I had done so during the first 6 months, I wouldn't have been questioned at the POE whereas, in the second 6 months, the officers may give me an extra scrutiny.

In that case I will show any proof I've got in order to demonstrate my "bona fide" (among the others: SSN and American Bank Account) and, most of all, I will show the certificate of the master (which I'll have accomplished by that time) which prevents me from moving there right now....and I will keep my fingers crossed, of course

I meet the legal residency requirement to file DCF and meet my green card obligation to maintain my LPR status in the US at the same time simply because I've been living in London for more than six months (the amount of time required) and, as I said, I'm gonna move to the US before july 2014.

Really hope that is clearer now .. anyway, thank you very much for your suggestion.

belinda63, yes, a LPR can file for DFC and, yes, I'm more than concerned about the fact that an LPR is required to live in the US (as I tried to explain above ).

About question number 14: I want to provide any information they require.

That is very clear for me.

The reason for which I asked is just because - like I said - I got different answers from two - very well informed - people on this forum.

Thank you so much for having clarified the "native alphabet question"!

I'll tell her to write in Farsi, then (after I'll print the form..)

You are very wrong. You do not have 1 year to settle down after getting your green card. You are suppose to have been living here.

There is NO WAY for you to meet the requirement to have legal residency in the UK to file DCF and live in the US as requires by your green card.

You have totally failed to adhere to the LPR requirements and are putting yourself at risk.

Please do not file DCF and claim a UK resident because you will be admitting that you have not been a legal resident of the US as requires by your Legal Permanent Residency status. Pleas talk to a lawyer.

[aaron2020 11,651]

I don't see the point in DCF, even if it is possible for an LPR as there is still the wait for a visa number to become available.

There is no point in filing DCF.

However, OP has a bigger problem which is claiming a foreign resident as an LPR.

[lost_at_sea 995]

I was unaware an LPR can do DCF in London, I learned that only USCitizens can file an I-130 via DCF, ages past.

Is this even possible? If'n London IV, a human there, said it's OK, then I'll keep mum.

I only discovered this recently, but I still find conflicting info. I suggest anyone who is LPR in the UK and wants to DCF should email the London field office to confirm eligibility (they respond quickly).

For example, see:

http://london.usembassy.gov/dhs/uscis/i130filing.html

The United States citizen or Lawful Permanent Residents must show evidence (valid UK Entry Clearance) that he/she has permission from the UK Home Office to legally reside in the United Kingdom; and

but this conflicts with:

http://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/united-kingdom-london-field-office

Lawful permanent residents must file the I-130 petition in the United States.

I'm inclined to go with the London embassy website, because they frequently update that page (I have a change logger set up for it - they update copy on it regularly).

[lost_at_sea 995]

Hey, danielenglish, you left the USA last when exactly?

[Boiler 45,520]

Why have you had such a delay in moving tot the US?

[milimelo 4,481]

OP - file I-130 to the regular box in Chicago, you don't qualify for DCF as visa number is not immediately available in F2A category.