Packet 3 letter received - how to proceed?

[Kuegs 5]

Hi everyone.

Sorry if this has been asked.

Would anyone be willing to share their experience with the Packet 3 letter? Bonus points if it's through DCF, and especially if it's through Frankfurt consulate, Germany.

They ask to let them know the intended travel date. Any advice on what to write if we want to just do it as soon as possible?

Do we sent it back to them on that exact letter? As there is a line left empty for it?

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My husband still needs to file taxes (we also didn't realize he has to file even though his income stayed under the amount that gets taxed) - therefore the affidavit of support (I 864) has to wait I'm guessing... So we cannot send the packet 3 back till that is done, right?

Any advice on how fast that can be done? (The filing?)

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What about the medical? The letter didn't say anything yet, but the website link hey provided stated it needs to be done. I have almost all the vaccines now, but need varicella, and the rest of hep A and B (third shot; they said I need to wait half a year for that?)

Will that be a problem? Should I already get an appointment? (I'm near Hamburg so I'll be using the panel physician out there.)

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Can I already fill out he DS 260 regardless of the fact that we have to wait to send everything in till the tax stuff is done?

I figure we can since its online and we have to print the last page with the barcode, but no idea...

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I got my police records, my birth certificate, I need passport pics (we used German standard ones for the I 130, but I guess now we need the US standard ones... (Also for the medical.)

Any advice? Sorry this is is all over the place. Teething baby plus paperwork is not a good combination...

Thanks to whoever even reads this!

[texcal 9]

So nice to see there is someone at the same stage as we are right now doing DCF through Frankfurt too! We have gathered pretty much everything for packet 3 now and I am filling out the DS 260 at the moment. I ll try to answer as much as I can.

Hi everyone.

Sorry if this has been asked.

Would anyone be willing to share their experience with the Packet 3 letter? Bonus points if it's through DCF, and especially if it's through Frankfurt consulate, Germany.

They ask to let them know the intended travel date. Any advice on what to write if we want to just do it as soon as possible? I'd say just the closest 'realistic date, maybe in 6 weeks? Its not the date you HAVE to travel, but I'd put in a date that's relatively soon to show you'd like to leave asap.

Do we sent it back to them on that exact letter? As there is a line left empty for it? Not sure about that one, but email them and I'm sure they can help. We sent an email yesterday and they responded within 1,5h (!!)

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My husband still needs to file taxes (we also didn't realize he has to file even though his income stayed under the amount that gets taxed) - therefore the affidavit of support (I 864) has to wait I'm guessing... So we cannot send the packet 3 back till that is done, right?

Any advice on how fast that can be done? (The filing?) How has he filed before this? I think the fastest is an online service, like turbotax (I think that's what we used?). If he's filing with you and you don't have an ITIN he has to file in paper though and that takes a while :/ we had to do it last year (I am a German citizen and didn't have an ITIN yet) and it took months, was a real pain!
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What about the medical? The letter didn't say anything yet, but the website link hey provided stated it needs to be done. I have almost all the vaccines now, but need varicella, and the rest of hep A and B (third shot; they said I need to wait half a year for that?)

You can schedule the medical whenever, you just need your case number for it (so they can send it to the embassy) and you got to keep in mind, it's only valid for 6 months, so within the next 6 months after the medical you have to enter the US, otherwise the visa isn't valid anymore either and you'd have to get a medical renewal.

Regarding your vaccines, don't worry about it, the doctor at the medical will let you know if you need more and will also give the shots you are still missing to you right there (bring your Krankenversicherungskarte - it's covered). The Hep A&B may be OK without the third shot, but the doc will know those things.

Will that be a problem? Should I already get an appointment? (I'm near Hamburg so I'll be using the panel physician out there.)

I think I'd call the doctor in Hamburg and ask whats the wait time, also keep in mind it can take a week for the results to get to the embassy so you'd want those to be there when you have your interview or they ll have to wait to approve you until the results are in.

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Can I already fill out he DS 260 regardless of the fact that we have to wait to send everything in till the tax stuff is done?

I figure we can since its online and we have to print the last page with the barcode, but no idea...

Yes you can fill it out and if you are sure nothing is gonna change anymore until the interview you can of course also submit it. I didn't see anything about taxes in those forms so it's not affecting it.
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I got my police records, my birth certificate, I need passport pics (we used German standard ones for the I 130, but I guess now we need the US standard ones... (Also for the medical.)

Any advice? Sorry this is is all over the place. Teething baby plus paperwork is not a good combination...

Haha...we have a baby that's teething too ...not fun. Paperwork during nap times!

About the pictures...there is two ways, either go to a photographer, but make sure they are familiar with the US standards (print the requirements out (!!!) and have them read it, we had a "know-it-all-lady" and in the end the pictures were rejected!) OR ...and this is what we do, we just took them at home and printed them out at DM/Rossmann. We did this for my sons passport and also for my previous visa and it worked great and with no issues. There is plenty of tips online if you google it and you can even crop it the way it has to go online.

Thanks to whoever even reads this!

I hope I was able to help you, PM me if you need an opinion on anything else since we really seem to have synced processes right now!

[Kuegs 5]

So nice to see there is someone at the same stage as we are right now doing DCF through Frankfurt too! We have gathered pretty much everything for packet 3 now and I am filling out the DS 260 at the moment. I ll try to answer as much as I can.

I hope I was able to help you, PM me if you need an opinion on anything else since we really seem to have synced processes right now!

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Thank you sooooo much! This is already very helpful.

I'd love to keep in touch and hear about how it's going for you.

I think my father in law has the turbotax software, too. We are waiting for an ITIN for me, but if it takes that long, we might have to do it on paper.

Will have to look into that. Thank you!

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Good idea about calling the doc about the medical.

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I'm glad the consulate replies so quickly. I feel like we will probably go through stuff on the weekend and get an email out to them with all our remaining questions.

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Once I figured out how to PM here, I'll definitely do so. I'm sure I'll have questions about the DS 260 etc. *eekh*

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Now if you tell me your baby is also about half a year old and you have a two year old toddler, then something is in the air. lol

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Where will you be going in the US?