Considering a Direct Consular Filing

[rahill 28]

My fiancé and I filed a K-1 fiance visa that was sent to the embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (fiancé's home country) and he had all the required documentation (medical exam etc) and an interview where the officer denied him after 2 minutes of generic questioning. We got the generic response "not a bonafide relationship." I am now back in Ethiopia and planning to stay for at least six months. After careful consideration and research and reaching out to folks on this forum we've decided the best option is to get married and apply for a spouse visa. My fiancé and I plan to live together during this time and I do not want to wait until I am back in the US to apply for a CR-1 so we are considering a direct consular filing while we are both here. I plan to apply for my residence card immediately which I was going to do anyway. I read that direct consular filings are only available under certain circumstances. For example, only if "(USCIS) has a public counter presence within the Embassy or Consulate." However, I am having difficulty finding out if they do or not. I am on the embassy website and I only find reiterations of these conditions not any concrete information as to whether or not the embassy takes an direct consular findings. Any guidance as to whether or not a residency that has been established for less than six months is sufficient, whether or not the medical exams and police certificates that my fiancé obtained last month are still valid or if we have to re-do all of those is greatly appreciated.

[Kastrs 723]

There is no DCF in Ethiopia. You will need to mail your petition into the lockbox.

[rahill 28]

There is no DCF in Ethiopia. You will need to mail your petition into the lockbox.

Thank you.

[awaywego 28]

As the previous poster mentioned, Ethiopia does not offer DCF except under extenuating circumstances. You can marry your fiance and live with with him abroad during the CR-1 process; the I-130 packet would be sent to the lockbox. If you go that route, there is no six-month residency requirement before filing, but the process can take as long as if you'd filed from the US (edit: which is not too different in time as establishing residency for six months then doing the DCF process). If you stay in Ethiopia the entire time, you'll add some papers to address the "domicile" section of the I-864.

I don't know much about switching from K-1 to CR-1 after denial for lack of bona fide relationship evidence, but I imagine that you would want to pay special attention to strengthening that evidence for the next go-round. (E.g., evidence that you live together.) Other posters and threads will have much more information.

(If anyone is wondering, this is the list of countries with a USCIS presence: http://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-immigration-offices )

Edited July 1, 2016 by awaywego

[rahill 28]

There is no DCF in Ethiopia. You will need to mail your petition into the lockbox.

Do you happen to know where I can find information on the expiration date on police records, medical exams etc that my fiancé had to get for our K-1 visa petition that was denied? In other words, I'm wondering if we have to pay for him re-do all of these things or if the medical exam and police certificate he obtained in April is still valid and for how long they are valid. Thanks again.

[rahill 28]

As the previous poster mentioned, Ethiopia does not offer DCF except under extenuating circumstances. You can marry your fiance and live with with him abroad during the CR-1 process; the I-130 packet would be sent to the lockbox. If you go that route, there is no six-month residency requirement before filing, but the process can take as long as if you'd filed from the US. If you stay in Ethiopia the entire time, you'll add some papers to address the "domicile" section of the I-864.

I don't know much about switching from K-1 to CR-1 after denial for lack of bona fide relationship evidence, but I imagine that you would want to pay special attention to strengthening that evidence for the next go-round. (E.g., evidence that you live together.) Other posters and threads will have much more information.

(If anyone is wondering, this is the list of countries with a USCIS presence: http://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-immigration-offices )

Thank you!! Yes, the decision that this was not a "bonafide" relationship is of course very confusing since we did submit what I understood to be substantial evidence: photos of our time together, hotel receipts and boarding passes of traveling in his home country that we did together, private text messages to demonstrate an ongoing relationship. I am wondering what else they need to see in order to be convinced? Certainly, we plan to document our residing together and that can easily be done with a lease agreement or statement from our landlord that we are both residents of the house we rent.

[Kastrs 723]

Do you happen to know where I can find information on the expiration date on police records, medical exams etc that my fiancé had to get for our K-1 visa petition that was denied? In other words, I'm wondering if we have to pay for him re-do all of these things or if the medical exam and police certificate he obtained in April is still valid and for how long they are valid. Thanks again.

You will need to redo the medical and get a new police record, you do not provide the medical until the interview and police clearance at the NVC which will both be a while from now. Generally both are valid for 6 months, although sometimes the PCC is good for a year-although it is unlikely that his interview would be before next April.

[awaywego 28]

Thank you!! Yes, the decision that this was not a "bonafide" relationship is of course very confusing since we did submit what I understood to be substantial evidence: photos of our time together, hotel receipts and boarding passes of traveling in his home country that we did together, private text messages to demonstrate an ongoing relationship. I am wondering what else they need to see in order to be convinced? Certainly, we plan to document our residing together and that can easily be done with a lease agreement or statement from our landlord that we are both residents of the house we rent.

I unfortunately won't be any help with your circumstances, but I can address the IR-1/CR-1 generally. I'm not sure what of this might differ for you (e.g., if others have told you to focus on some sort of evidence or to include something specific).

The wisdom here is that evidence of time spent together is good: living together, visiting, communicating, etc. (Sounds like you have this going.) Evidence of intertwining your lives also seems to be on the stronger side: meeting/acknowledgement by families and friends, merging financials (accounts, bills, property, investments), merging futures (beneficiaries, wills, etc). You might find the list of examples in the EZGuideSpouse wiki useful. You might also find it useful to look at reviews for your embassy (review link is at top of page on full site) or to search (also top) for posts from those who went through your embassy to get an idea of others' experiences, as each embassy is a bit different.