DCF in Paris

[bostonparis 0]

I am reading through so many interesting posts now about DCF in Paris, and I have some questions that I am hoping someone can help me with. I read the guides, and meauxna's fantastic guide about DCF.

We filed an I-129F, approved as noted in my signature. The file is now at the Embassy in Paris. My fiance is waiting for his police certificate from the UK because he lived there for a couple of years. So, in the meantime, I'm wandering around this board, and I see about the DCF in Paris, and if we got married in France (or here, I guess), we could complete the I-130, and I could travel to Paris to file this in person with my fiance (or, then husband, right). And then we would get an interview, and then he would have his green card? So no AOS or EAD applications? So he could work almost immediately upon entering the US?

Why on earth did I file the I-129F petition for fiance??

Can we still do the DCF??

I am so upset about this, thinking about all the time wasted, and thinking about the time that may still be wasted while waiting for EAD and AOS...

It seems that this DCF is too good to be true. Is it?

[misa 2]

Depends on the Consulate. DCF at the U.S. consulate here in Canada is only available for U.S. citizens that have permanent residence in Canada. So you may not have even been able to do DCF in France. Depends on their residency requirements for the USC.

[misa 2]

Don't stress, I just checked and that option was not available to you. Also, it would look a little ###### up if you got married and tried that while he's waiting for his K1 interview.

http://www.amb-usa.fr/consul/iv/categories/default.htm

STEP ONE: Filing the Immigrant Visa Petition:

If you are a U.S. citizen legally residing in France and want to file an immigrant visa petition for an immediate relative, you must file your petition at the U.S. Embassy in Paris.

If you are a US citizen or permanent resident not legally residing in France, you must file the petition with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office closest to your residence. When the petition is approved by USCIS in the US, the USCIS will send you a notice of approval, a Form I-797. At the same time they will also forward the approved petition to the National Visa Center (NVC), which will contact your relative who is the intending immigrant with further information. The National Visa Center will process and forward the approved petition to the Embassy in Paris for the visa interview and adjudication.

Edited January 14, 2007 by misa

[bostonparis 0]

Don't stress, I just checked and that option was not available to you. Also, it would look a little ###### up if you got married and tried that while he's waiting for his K1 interview.

http://www.amb-usa.fr/consul/iv/categories/default.htm

STEP ONE: Filing the Immigrant Visa Petition:

If you are a U.S. citizen legally residing in France and want to file an immigrant visa petition for an immediate relative, you must file your petition at the U.S. Embassy in Paris.

If you are a US citizen or permanent resident not legally residing in France, you must file the petition with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office closest to your residence. When the petition is approved by USCIS in the US, the USCIS will send you a notice of approval, a Form I-797. At the same time they will also forward the approved petition to the National Visa Center (NVC), which will contact your relative who is the intending immigrant with further information. The National Visa Center will process and forward the approved petition to the Embassy in Paris for the visa interview and adjudication.

Thank you SO much!! Christ, my head almost popped off when I started reading the DCF information. I thought I read somewhere that you could do DCF in Paris even if the USC didn't live in France.

[misa 2]

Unless they changed their residency requirements, but that's from their website just now.

I'm in the same boat as your fiance. I'll be interviewing for a K3 so I'll also have to do EAD/SSN/AOS. You're almost there though. Your fiance has packet 3 already.

[bostonparis 0]

But I just looked through, and found this here http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...amp;qpid=376898

Hi!

I have a question regarding the DCF in Paris US consulate.

Is it available for a couple when my husband lives in the US and I live in France and our marriage took place in the US?

Virginie

Yes, the couple who posted the first post in this thread fits that description, and there are several stories here the same.

DCF in Paris is possible when the US citizen does not normally live in France.

Edited January 14, 2007 by bostonparis

[misa 2]

Weird. Well, it's too late now since you have a K1 pending at the embassy.

[bostonparis 0]

Weird. Well, it's too late now since you have a K1 pending at the embassy.

That is just f*cked. I sent my lawyer an email, asking him why this wasn't presented to me as an option, and this is the response I got from him:

Because you would have had to file a visa petition and then applied for a K-3. In my experience over the last 6 years since they were made available they take a lot longer to process than the K-1. That is why the option was not given to you.

Is there anything I can say to him to make him understand how he screwed us when he didn't present this as an option?

[misa 2]

DCF is only for I-130 (CR/IR) I believe. Not for K3s... K3s are non-immigrant and based on their website, they don't do K3s in Paris.

K1s are faster than K3s though. But Paris doesn't do those, only CR/IR.

[bostonparis 0]

DCF is only for I-130 (CR/IR) I believe. Not for K3s... K3s are non-immigrant and based on their website, they don't do K3s in Paris.

K1s are faster than K3s though. But Paris doesn't do those, only CR/IR.

So he IS wrong, right? This would have been a hell of a lot faster than what I'm doing now.

[misa 2]

If you could have done CR in Paris through DCF, then yeah, he's wrong. But if he was going by the info on the Paris website, then technically, it says you couldn't have done DCF. Though he should have known that K3 is not available through DCF, so...

[bostonparis 0]

If you could have done CR in Paris through DCF, then yeah, he's wrong. But if he was going by the info on the Paris website, then technically, it says you couldn't have done DCF. Though he should have known that K3 is not available through DCF, so...

God, he really didn't help me much. Got an RFE, and now this. I wish I could get my money back! There's more knowledge on VJ than in his head, that's for sure.

[misa 2]

You're almost there though, hang tight and you'll both be reunited soon!

What was your RFE for? Something that he missed?

[bostonparis 0]

You're almost there though, hang tight and you'll both be reunited soon!

What was your RFE for? Something that he missed?

I know - I'm trying. Sometimes it gets so frustrating. I feel like I had to submit the I-129F so quickly because everything takes so long, so I feel like I didn't do enough research up front - like I could have done DCF instead. But, water under the bridge, right? Nothing I can do about it, so I shouldn't dwell... But of course I will! LOL

My RFE was that they wanted to see Certificates of Absolute Divorce. He should have known that they need the Absolute decrees, and not just the Judgement Nisi, which is what we sent with the packet. I am my own best advocate, and I'm realizing now that I could have done a better job, and probably gotten things done much faster without an attorney. But, I was so scared I was going to do something wrong, and I incorrectly assumed that because someone has a law degree and specializes in immigration, that they would work to my benefit. Oh well.

[misa 2]

We had considered a lawyer because we didn't know anything about immigration until I found this site.

I hope your fiance gets his interview soon.