AUSTRALIA DCF

[kaffy 2]

I think they're pretty strict on the 6 month residency requirement.

I am assuming you live in the States and your spouse lives in Australia? In which case your best option would be to file a CR1/IR1 with the USCIS

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...page=i130guide1

[Jon Anderson 0]

I think they're pretty strict on the 6 month residency requirement.

I am assuming you live in the States and your spouse lives in Australia? In which case your best option would be to file a CR1/IR1

I was afraid of that. Sounded just too good to be true, but I was sure wanting to go this route if at all possible.

Yes, I live in the States, she lives in NSW. We're not married yet as we were looking to see what option best suited our situation.

It looks like the CR1/IR1 is probably our best bet at this point, so I'll likely be heading down under for a wedding in the not too distant future!

Thank you,

Jon

Edited August 9, 2008 by Jon Anderson

[kaffy 2]

Could someone please update the first post as a lot of the information is now outdated and incorrect

i.e. residency requirement is 6 months

no walk-in Thursdays

[Ancal 0]

Hi all - I have just started the DCF process (made an appointment to file I-130 at the Melbourne Consulate) and confirm that the original post is completely outdated. The updates in the thread still appear valid - i will continue posting as we progress through the system.

(Situation: I'm the American petitioner; my wife is Australian. We got married in 2007 and had a child in 2009. Our child was born in Australia but was also a US citizen at birth via transmission from me.)

[Ancal 0]

An update: just had the appointment at the Melbourne Consulate. Everyone was pleasant and great to deal with. They checked our paperwork and sent it to Sydney, indicating that I met the eligibility criteria to file the I-130 via the consulate. So now it's waiting until we hear from Sydney.

[jollyred 0]

Does anyone have the information about the Police Check requirements for NSW?

We have an appointment to submit our I-130 this coming Thursday and I would like to get started on any other documentation that will be required for the Packet 3.

Can we just walk into a local police station and ask for a police report?

Thanks,

jollyred

[jollyred 0]

Does anyone have the information about the Police Check requirements for NSW?

We have an appointment to submit our I-130 this coming Thursday and I would like to get started on any other documentation that will be required for the Packet 3.

Can we just walk into a local police station and ask for a police report?

Thanks,

jollyred

Never mind. I've just found it on the Canberra consulate site here:

http://canberra.usembassy.gov/obtain_police_cert.html#nsw

[Ancal 0]

Update - on May 5, we received an email from the Sydney consulate saying that my petition was being processed. They asked for several original documents, including my wife's birth certificate and our marriage certificate.

[flanags 0]

Ancal - We just received our Packet 3 yesterday. Along with the above items you mentioned they also ask for your children's birth certificate even if they are not immigrating on the petition. Are you going to submit their Australian birth certificate or the Consular Record of Birth ( assuming he/she was born in OZ). We have three children (4, 2 and 7 months) like you all US citizen's via me but I was sure which birth cert. to submit.

[Ancal 0]

Hey flanags - we received packet 3 yesterday as well. Exciting stuff!

They did not ask for the birth certificate. We did bring the birth certificate to the Melbourne initial interview and they took a copy of that, so maybe they're happy with it.

I will take the birth certificate and the kid's US passport to the interview anyway. You might want to consider sending the Oz birth certificate and a copy of the bio page of their US passports.

[Ancal 0]

Whoops - update; i hadn't read the documentation yet! Yes, we do need birth certificates. I'm going to send my son's Australian birth certificate. And i need to get MY birth certificate from the States. Argh!

[johnnyandi 0]

Ancal - We just received our Packet 3 yesterday. Along with the above items you mentioned they also ask for your children's birth certificate even if they are not immigrating on the petition. Are you going to submit their Australian birth certificate or the Consular Record of Birth ( assuming he/she was born in OZ). We have three children (4, 2 and 7 months) like you all US citizen's via me but I was sure which birth cert. to submit.

Hi Flanags & Ancal,

My partner and I are about to email and request an appointment to file the I-130 petition, can you give me an idea on how long the turn around between emailing and getting a date set?

We live in Brisbane and want to make sure we have time to book flight/accom and also make sure we have everything in order. It would suck to get to Sydney and realise we forgot some paperwork.

Cheers and good luck,

John

[flanags 0]

Ancal - CONGRATS !! You're on your way. Here's the link that our Packet 3 sent us too for instructions.

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/australia/39176/pdf/ds-2001_001.pdf

Were you given the same link ? Just checking because have a look at the BIRTH CCERTIFICATE section. It states that we need to provide Birt Certificates for the entire family even if they are not immigrating. I too submitted my birth and children's birth certificates at the I 130. Just making sure neither of us get RFE's that will delay our processing.

again like you said exciting stuff !!!

[Ancal 0]

johnnyandi - Congrats on starting the process! We filed via Melbourne, who sent our stuff to Sydney for processing. They gave us an initial appointment scheduled for three weeks after I emailed them (the 20th of the month, which is apparently when they do all their I-130s). I know Sydney works slightly differently and may be quicker for you.

flanags - yup, you're right. I posted above...i hadn't read everything carefully. I now have to get my Indian birth certificate shipped over from the USA. Argh!

[flanags 0]

John,

I emailed the consulate at 11am to request an appointment to file my I130 and received a reply 2 hrs later with an appointment date.

My appointment date was in 10 days later. I 'think' they only make appointments for Thursdays.

My appointment was a 10am on April 28th, and I was out of the Consulate by 10:30. The 30mins also including requesting a letter from consulate in order to get our Hong Kong police clearance started. They gave me a hard copy of my exact Packet 3 letter. The Consulate was overly nice and very accommodating.

After getting clearance from The Adam Walsh name check I received Packet 3 via Email on May 9th. (so basically 10 days after the Submission of the I 130)

We actually have everything to submit back to them and schedule an interview EXCEPT the Hong Kong police clearance. In the past weeks we went ahead and got the medical and Australian police check done. Both we have in hand already.

So if you get everything in order ahead of time you may get really lucky and have an interview scheduled within 6 weeks after the I130 submission.

I hope that helps a bit. Good luck !!!