DCF in Frankfurt--should I be worried?

[Walter G. 0]

Hi y'all,

I mailed in my I-130 for my wife on March 5th. We've been married seven years and have two kids, so I don't see a problem getting the visa for her. It's been over a month, though, and I still haven't gotten an official response from the embassy.

I wrote the USCIS three weeks ago, and the response was that my petition had arrived on March 15th and was being worked on. Shouldn't I get a NOA1 at some point? Or is that not necessarily the case?

We had planned on moving to the US in September at the latest, but now it looks like I might get a job earlier. Does anyone have an idea how long IR1 visas are taking these days? I'm somewhat concerned that I'll have to travel to the US without the visa process being finished.

Is there *any way* to speed up the process? Maybe by e-mailing and telling them my concerns? Or would this have the opposite effect?

Anyway, thanks in advance for any information you might have!

Walter in Freiburg

[MaydayDas 1]

Hi Walter,

I understand your worries, I know how you fell I am going through the same process. But you have to understand that processing the I-130 to the USCIS in Frankfurt it takes up to 90 days, or more, I am over 90 days and my petition was not approved yet.

You will not get an NOA1, the DCF process is a little different, in the moment your petition is approved you will receive package 3 from the Embassy to start the visa process.

Any time you can call the USCIS Frankfurt I gave you the phone number on another topic if I remember well. But to speed up the process is no way. I tried this myself due to the fact we have PCS orders (my husband works for DOD). They do a background check of the petitioner and they are waiting for the files from the States, this takes time. Be prepared with proves that your marriage is bonafide: kids birth certificates, story from you of how you two met, everything you have with both of your names on it: joint accounts, car registration license, joint tax returns, rent receipts etc etc. After 77 days I got a letter from USCIS asking us to send proves our marriage is bona fide in order for them to approve our petition. So be ready to send fast the documents if they request it.

Also start now to get some of the things you will need for the visa process: medical for your wife, police record for your wife from each country she resided since age sixteen for 12 months or more, court records of all convictions..... Everything must be translated in English.

You have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

All the best,

Adriana

[Dr. Obvious 49]

No way to speed it up. Time to hurry up and wait. I certainally don't think filing for another process would be quicker at all. We honestly aren't anticipating for our approval until late May or June based on others' timelines.

[Mary G. 0]

Hi Walter,

It took 78 days for approval for the I-130 for my husband. After that, things went pretty quickly. You might want to check out our timeline, as it will give you an idea of how quickly things went after 130 approval. Good luck!

Best wishes,

Mary

No way to speed it up. Time to hurry up and wait. I certainally don't think filing for another process would be quicker at all. We honestly aren't anticipating for our approval until late May or June based on others' timelines.

[meauxna 15]

Hi Walter! Long time no see!

Make sure you have everything ready for the visa application so when you do get 'the word' you can get in line for an interview immediately.

[breezy 0]

I-130 seemed to take forever, I called and called and it seemed to just be sitting around, the approval letter never even came, it took weeks just to get to the right desk! I got the approval letter(a fax in the end) a month after the approval!

But,

I thought we got our interview date pretty fast....

Rome Embassy started officialy looking at our case on Jan 25.

We were assigned (March 27) an interview date for the 7th and 8th of May.

That's 3 months and 13 days!

After the I-130 was approved, I did call the Consulate BEFORE we got Packet 3 and asked some Q's, and just happened to mentioned that we had prepared everything ahead of time and were MORE than ready for the interview, just wanted to double check some things, blah blah blah....

And what'll ya know...

We got an interview date before we even sent the fax "we're ready for an interview date!" back.

Maybe it was just luck, a coincidence, a mess up, WHATEVER it was, I couldn't be happier!

I'm not saying you should do the same, I wouldn't have told the Consulate I was ready if I wasn't 150 % sure I was ready,

and a couple of surprises did come up along the wait, and I thought "what if we don't make it for our interview date?!"

So, just get ahead of them, download and fill out the DS-230 Part 1 now, get your I-864 filled out, and have all copies of your Evidence of Relationship made!

AND GO TO IT!

oh, and Good Luck!

[Walter G. 0]

Thanks for the encouragement, y'all! I kinda figgered that there's no way to speed it up, but thought I'd ask anyway. It's also good to know that I shouldn't loose sleep over not getting a NOA1.

I've already started cobbling the Package 3 together--I've gotten a I-864 from a co-sponsor, and am gathering my own paperwork now. With luck I'll need it all in the next month or so!

Thanks again to all who answered, and I'll keep you informed as to how it's going.

Walter