i'm filing tomorrow! Final checklist,

[Leo212 0]

Hello everyone. Tomorrow I will be travelling with my wife to the USCIS office in Bangkok to file my i-130 petition for her to come back to the US with me.

It is not technically a DCF, since I am not going to a consulate office, but rather I am going to the actual USCIS office. They consider this to be like a normal I-130 submission, except that everything will be processed a lot faster, since it will stay in-country, and that I will submit it in-person and not through the mail.

I am really excited and I would like any advice from anyone who may have done this exact process or similar, and maybe let me know if I've missed anything.

Tomorrow, November 18th, I will arrive in BKK, and I will go to the office on Wednesday morning, November 19th. I've already emailed them to make sure they will be open as usual. They will.

Here is what I have assembled, translated, and copied three times:

FIRST: Proof of Residence in Thailand and Domicile in The United States of America with Intent to Return

- Copy of certificate of current residence and translation

- Copy of Rental Agreement for current residence

- Copy of savings deposit account information from Bangkok Bank

- Copy of savings deposit account information from Krungsri Bank

- Copy of work permit from (previous) employment in Thailand (I am not employed here anymore, but I am instead a student now, but I hope this will show that I live here, and have done so for quite a long time).

- Copy of current education visa

- Copy of entire passport

- Copy of acceptance letter from Florida Atlantic University for the Fall term of 2015

- Bank account statements from Bank of America for the past 12 months

- Copy of Notarized Letter of invitation from my mother

SECOND: I-130 Documents

- Payment in the amount of $420

- I-130

- I-130 Supplement: Explanation for the birth date of the Beneficiary

- Copy of all pages of US Passport (Petitioner)

- Copy of Marriage Certificate and Registration and English Translations

- Copy of house rental agreement showing joint tenancy

- Copy of joint bank account statement and translation

- Copy of letter from my mother, in which she says that she has knowlege of my marriage being bonafide, and that she will accept us to live in her house, as well as be a joint-sponsor for sponsor my wife (since I am not making enough money because I am a student). (this letter has been notarized)
- Countless pictures of myself and my wife together, and some pcitures of us with her parents, my cousins, and my mother.
- Chat logs between my wife and I from online conversations since February of 2012, when I met her.

- G-325A and passport style photo (Petitioner)

- Copy of all pages of US Passport (Petitioner)

- G-325A and passport style photo (Beneficiary)

- Copy Birth Certificate and English Translation (Beneficiary)

- G-325A Supplement: Explanation for the birth date of the Beneficiary

- Copy of Certificate of First Name Change and Translation (Beneficiary)

- Copy of Certificate of Joint Use of Surname and Translation (Beneficiary)

- Copy of Certificate of Surname Change Registration and Translation (Beneficiary)

Thanks to everyone for looking this over, and for all the help I received from everyone here throughout my ordeal, especially when I was asking dumb questions.

Please let me know if it looks like I will need any additional information, or any suggestions at all. And last of all, wish me luck!

Edited November 17, 2014 by Leo212

[Stressed Out 81]

It is DCF when you're submitting it to a USCIS field office overseas. The consulate doesn't accept I-130's, only the USCIS office that might be in or around the consulate, so this is indeed DCF you're doing.

First part looks all good, but I'll mention that the domicile part won't be necessary until it comes time for your I-864's to be submitted when you'll have to attach an explanation/packet of documentation to prove that you've taken steps to reestablish domicile. For the I-130 USCIS just wants to see that you're living overseas and have the "right" to petition via DCF...they leave the domicile part to the consulate at the next stage.

Second part looks good as well. From what I see it looks like an RFE from USCIS would be unlikely. You seem to have submitted similar documentation regarding the bona fide marriage evidence. Good luck!

[awaywego 28]

It looks like Bangkok does not post their DCF instructions on their site, so this isn't checked against their requirements. If there are any inconsistencies with their instructions, sorry about that, and follow what they told you.

FIRST: Proof of Residence in Thailand and Domicile in The United States of America with Intent to Return

- Copy of certificate of current residence and translation

- Copy of Rental Agreement for current residence

- Copy of savings deposit account information from Bangkok Bank

- Copy of savings deposit account information from Krungsri Bank

- Copy of work permit from (previous) employment in Thailand (I am not employed here anymore, but I am instead a student now, but I hope this will show that I live here, and have done so for quite a long time).

- Copy of current education visa

- Copy of entire passport

- Copy of acceptance letter from Florida Atlantic University for the Fall term of 2015

- Bank account statements from Bank of America for the past 12 months

- Copy of Notarized Letter of invitation from my mother

This will be a Bangkok-specific requirement, so send what they request for evidence of residence to cover whatever minimum time they require. Generally speaking, they will ask for your work permit/visa.

Domicile will be addressed later, so hold on to the crossed-out documents.

The other documents are good evidence of bona fide marriage, whether or not Bangkok wants them for evidence of residence.

SECOND: I-130 Documents

- Payment in the amount of $420

- I-130

- I-130 Supplement: Explanation for the birth date of the Beneficiary

- Copy of all pages of US Passport (Petitioner)

- Copy of Marriage Certificate and Registration and English Translations

- Copy of house rental agreement showing joint tenancy

- Copy of joint bank account statement and translation

- Copy of letter from my mother, in which she says that she has knowlege of my marriage being bonafide, and that she will accept us to live in her house, as well as be a joint-sponsor for sponsor my wife (since I am not making enough money because I am a student). (this letter has been notarized) [Also keep a copy of the letter for domicile later. When the time comes, your mother will fill out the I-864 to act as joint sponsor]
- Countless pictures of myself and my wife together, and some pcitures of us with her parents, my cousins, and my mother.
- Chat logs between my wife and I from online conversations since February of 2012, when I met her.

- G-325A and passport style photo (Petitioner)

- Copy of all pages of US Passport (Petitioner)

- G-325A and passport style photo (Beneficiary)

- Copy Birth Certificate and English Translation (Beneficiary) [This will be needed later]

- G-325A Supplement: Explanation for the birth date of the Beneficiary

- Copy of Certificate of First Name Change and Translation (Beneficiary)

- Copy of Certificate of Joint Use of Surname and Translation (Beneficiary) [I don't know if you need this one provided you have documentation of the legal name changes with the other two certificates. Others can give better feedback]

- Copy of Certificate of Surname Change Registration and Translation (Beneficiary)

You likely can also include the optional Form G-1145 e-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance to receive email updates on your case.

Good luck!

Edited November 18, 2014 by awaywego

[Stressed Out 81]

For DCF you aren't able to file the e-notification form. I thought it was a bummer at first, but the consulate has done a good enough job communicating in a timely manner.

• "This service is only available for forms filed at our three Lockbox facilities located in Lewisville, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; and Phoenix, Arizona."

Edited November 18, 2014 by Stressed Out

[awaywego 28]

For DCF you aren't able to file the e-notification form. I thought it was a bummer at first, but the consulate has done a good enough job communicating in a timely manner.

• "This service is only available for forms filed at our three Lockbox facilities located in Lewisville, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; and Phoenix, Arizona."

Oh? I have it in our list of forms to send. I wonder where I got the idea that we were able to send it. Boo on that false info. Oh well. Mail in DE takes only one day.

Thanks for the info.

[Stressed Out 81]

You can include your email addy and other contact info on a separate Contact Information form like we did. They asked for it in the I-130 instructions anyway, so obviously they would contact you that way if necessary. Most correspondence came through the postal system for us, though. I only got a few emails after I had made an inquiry online and they just decided to include the latest update on my case at the same time as their response.