Update: timeline for DCF from a non-DCF country with exceptional circumstances

[pyridine 12]

2 hours ago, Hamada91 said:

what exceptional circumstances do we need to have to proceed for DCF ? me and my American wife are living in Saudi Arabia and she's a college student here as well.

 

please advise

The list of ones ordinarily approved is in this document:  https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2012/May/DOS-I130May1412.pdf

 

They say it's not exhaustive list of circumstances though and each case is subject to review. The more non-serious ones that most people fall under are the short notice job relocation/offer or the wife being pregnant. Good luck.

Edited January 10, 2018 by pyridine

[Hamada91 9]

10 minutes ago, pyridine said:

The list of ones ordinarily approved is in this document:  https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2012/May/DOS-I130May1412.pdf

 

They say it's not exhaustive list of circumstances though and each case is subject to review. The more non-serious ones that most people fall under are the short notice job relocation/offer or the wife being pregnant. Good luck.

thanks buddy.

 

we already filed i130 through uscis office. if my wife is pregnant or have a job offer or any other circumstances ,  can we change the procedure to be DCF ?

[pyridine 12]

2 hours ago, Hamada91 said:

thanks buddy.

 

we already filed i130 through uscis office. if my wife is pregnant or have a job offer or any other circumstances ,  can we change the procedure to be DCF ?

You mean you filed I-130 with Chicago Lockbox, or a USCIS office outside the US? If the former, well I guess you can ask the embassy if there's a way to change it (what skyzee is trying to do if you read his posts) but I think it's a bit unlikely you can easily change it to DCF. Let us know what happens.

[festin 2]

pyridine, Ankara set interview appointment to January 23. So Medical Exam is booked for January 18. 

Edited January 10, 2018 by festin

[pyridine 12]

2 hours ago, festin said:

pyridine, Ankara set interview appointment to January 23. So Medical Exam is booked for January 18. 

Thanks, that's pretty fast. I'm hoping we'll get a similarly fast date from Stockholm. They ask to check off that he has the medical exam before they will schedule the interview though, but we've been able to make an appointment to get it next week after explaining that. What are you guys doing with varicella vaccination and all that? That's the new chicken pox vaccine and even I don't have it - both of us have already had chicken pox as kids, yet I found info that people of ALL ages need to have it, what a waste. They also say they want flu shot which is dead stupid because it's not like flu isn't gonna come to the US anyway regardless of whether the few people going over on immigrant visas are vaccinated or not. I've never had it and I will travel with him, unvaccinated. I just don't understand the logic sometimes. We'll have to pay for that too since it's not given to just anyone who wants it here. Costs add up more and more...

Edited January 10, 2018 by pyridine

[festin 2]

12 minutes ago, pyridine said:

Thanks, that's pretty fast. I'm hoping we'll get a similarly fast date from Stockholm. They ask to check off that he has the medical exam before they will schedule the interview though, but we've been able to make an appointment to get it next week after explaining that. What are you guys doing with varicella vaccination and all that? That's the new chicken pox vaccine and even I don't have it - both of us have already had chicken pox as kids, yet I found info that people of ALL ages need to have it, what a waste. They also say they want flu shot which is dead stupid because it's not like flu isn't gonna come to the US anyway regardless of whether the few people going over on immigrant visas are vaccinated or not. I've never had it and I will travel with him, unvaccinated. I just don't understand the logic sometimes. We'll have to pay for that too since it's not given to just anyone who wants it here. Costs add up more and more...

The law states that the Immigrant visa valid as long as the Medical Exam result is valid and the validity of Medical Exam result is six months which means you must have the visa and enter US within six months from the day the Medical Exam result is issued. So be careful with getting the medical exam done when all required documents for the immigrant visa are not ready. If after getting the medical exam result there is delay with scheduling a visa interview appointment or at the end of the visa interview there's a document missing and it results to AP(Administrative Processing) and along the line the medical exam results expired that mean one has to do(pay) it all over again.

 

There's only one Physician approved by Ankara to conduct the medical exam and vaccinations. The Physician will decides how many shots one has to take and it varies from minimum of $20 to maximum of $200, additional $270(fixed) for the medical exam. I take it as one off sacrifice of never ending Non-immigrant visa fees one would be paying multiple times of applying to go to the USA.

[Hamada91 9]

6 hours ago, pyridine said:

You mean you filed I-130 with Chicago Lockbox, or a USCIS office outside the US? If the former, well I guess you can ask the embassy if there's a way to change it (what skyzee is trying to do if you read his posts) but I think it's a bit unlikely you can easily change it to DCF. Let us know what happens.

Yes with chicago lockbox

[pyridine 12]

3 hours ago, festin said:

The law states that the Immigrant visa valid as long as the Medical Exam result is valid and the validity of Medical Exam result is six months which means you must have the visa and enter US within six months from the day the Medical Exam result is issued. So be careful with getting the medical exam done when all required documents for the immigrant visa are not ready. If after getting the medical exam result there is delay with scheduling a visa interview appointment or at the end of the visa interview there's a document missing and it results to AP(Administrative Processing) and along the line the medical exam results expired that mean one has to do(pay) it all over again.

 

There's only one Physician approved by Ankara to conduct the medical exam and vaccinations. The Physician will decides how many shots one has to take and it varies from minimum of $20 to maximum of $200, additional $270(fixed) for the medical exam. I take it as one off sacrifice of never ending Non-immigrant visa fees one would be paying multiple times of applying to go to the USA.

It's strange that it's different but Stockholm instructions explicitly say to first get the medical exam, then send the pre-interview checklist, and then you are scheduled for the interview. I know it's only valid 6 months and is risky considering we don't have all documents yet, but they better not take more than 2-3 months or we'd have other serious problems. His police reports, one of which he already has, are only valid for 3 months. I guess the interview must be scheduled fairly rapidly for them to request it like this. 

 

There's also only one doctor we can use in Denmark as well and they charge $289 for the exam, $100 for a syphilis blood test, they don't even list what it is for the vaccinations but I'm fearful, plus there's a charge at a separate office for the x-ray. Yeah I hear you about the "one off sacrifice". It's just something we gotta do to get him there. We won't consider leaving again until he has citizenship!

[festin 2]

16 minutes ago, pyridine said:

It's strange that it's different but Stockholm instructions explicitly say to first get the medical exam, then send the pre-interview checklist, and then you are scheduled for the interview. I know it's only valid 6 months and is risky considering we don't have all documents yet, but they better not take more than 2-3 months or we'd have other serious problems. His police reports, one of which he already has, are only valid for 3 months. I guess the interview must be scheduled fairly rapidly for them to request it like this. 

 

There's also only one doctor we can use in Denmark as well and they charge $289 for the exam, $100 for a syphilis blood test, they don't even list what it is for the vaccinations but I'm fearful, plus there's a charge at a separate office for the x-ray. Yeah I hear you about the "one off sacrifice". It's just something we gotta do to get him there. We won't consider leaving again until he has citizenship!

Ah! Over here they're charging $270 for the medical exam which includes all the blood tests and x-ray, just the vaccinations cost between min. $20- max. $200 depending on how many one has to take and only the Doctor has the final say to how many one must take. Have you find out how much the vaccination cost min. to max. over there in Denmark?

 

You don't need to worry about the Police Report as I read somewhere that even though it lasts for 3 months it is valid for the visa for a year. I know this because ours also issued to be valid for just 3 months.

Edited January 10, 2018 by festin

[atn2018 1]

Hi this gives me so much hope!. My partner and I plan on marrying on Feb 22  

We were hoping to move to the US soon but didnt know how to proceed or wait times as we have already began preparing ourselves with such unsure timelines. In the process however I did receive an amazing job offer thatll really help and allow me to relocate near my family in US. ( at this rate if we stay in australia for another year or so I dont know what will happen to us financially as the economy is so bad all jobs are totally unreliable with one week getting 40 hours and the next 5 hours.  we have more than enough saved to move and visa process etc + assets to sell but would like to use this for move and not on living because itll leave us stranded in this financial hole with no help from anyone as his family isnt able to help us.... in the US i would make enough to sustain us and be near family that can help .. im scared if we stay another year in QLD we will end up using all we have worked for to just get by or even worse end up without a home :/ ) I emailed today asking if I would be eligible and stated by case as above however unsure if I needed to send anything. I just emailed explaining the situation and how this is better for us and we would be married by the time I file for petition. my commencement date for job is May . Hoping they say yes. am I overthinking this all? Think my chances are slim? I started my own question in this forum and was shut down automatically by people doubting and saying I cant or to just wait two years for CR1 or do K1 visa without marriage til entering US. But i would lose this job opporunity and unsure if ill find another. It falls under the exceptions and thouh im not married i will be by peition time. help?

[pyridine 12]

36 minutes ago, Tai98 said:

Hi this gives me so much hope!. My partner and I plan on marrying on Feb 22  

We were hoping to move to the US soon but didnt know how to proceed or wait times as we have already began preparing ourselves with such unsure timelines. In the process however I did receive an amazing job offer thatll really help and allow me to relocate near my family in US. ( at this rate if we stay in australia for another year or so I dont know what will happen to us financially as the economy is so bad all jobs are totally unreliable with one week getting 40 hours and the next 5 hours.  we have more than enough saved to move and visa process etc + assets to sell but would like to use this for move and not on living because itll leave us stranded in this financial hole with no help from anyone as his family isnt able to help us.... in the US i would make enough to sustain us and be near family that can help .. im scared if we stay another year in QLD we will end up using all we have worked for to just get by or even worse end up without a home :/ ) I emailed today asking if I would be eligible and stated by case as above however unsure if I needed to send anything. I just emailed explaining the situation and how this is better for us and we would be married by the time I file for petition. my commencement date for job is May . Hoping they say yes. am I overthinking this all? Think my chances are slim? I started my own question in this forum and was shut down automatically by people doubting and saying I cant or to just wait two years for CR1 or do K1 visa without marriage til entering US. But i would lose this job opporunity and unsure if ill find another. It falls under the exceptions and thouh im not married i will be by peition time. help?

If you have a "short notice" job offer (definition of that is vague, but at least 3 months in the future is most definitely short notice), it would fulfill being an exceptional circumstance for filing DCF. 

https://au.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/family-based-immigration/filing-petition-australia-exceptional-circumstances/

 

You will certainly need to be married before you can even submit the I-130, which is how you start the process, and it might raise some suspicion if you marry immediately before submitting it. You should load up on loads of evidence proving it's a bona fide marriage for when you have the interview. When does your job offer start? You might still have to go over and start it before you can finish the DCF process, but it should be much faster for your partner to join you than if you filed without using DCF. You need to file the I-130 before you personally leave though, but I think the rest can be done after you've left. We're personally now held up on the document collection part. We've waited more than a month to receive a document from my husband's home country with no sign of it coming...it's holding up being able to schedule an interview. If you will do this, check all the documentation requirements in advance and try to get those in order. Hopefully if your partner is Australian, it will be easier than what my husband has to deal with (he also lived in another country before we lived here from which we need more documents, one of those also has no sign of coming).

Edited January 18, 2018 by pyridine

[atn2018 1]

23 minutes ago, pyridine said:

If you have a "short notice" job offer (definition of that is vague, but at least 3 months in the future is most definitely short notice), it would fulfill being an exceptional circumstance for filing DCF. 

https://au.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/family-based-immigration/filing-petition-australia-exceptional-circumstances/

 

You will certainly need to be married before you can even submit the I-130, which is how you start the process, and it might raise some suspicion if you marry immediately before submitting it. You should load up on loads of evidence proving it's a bona fide marriage for when you have the interview. When does your job offer start? You might still have to go over and start it before you can finish the DCF process, but it should be much faster for your partner to join you than if you filed without using DCF. You need to file the I-130 before you personally leave though, but I think the rest can be done after you've left. We're personally now held up on the document collection part. We've waited more than a month to receive a document from my husband's home country with no sign of it coming...it's holding up being able to schedule an interview. If you will do this, check all the documentation requirements in advance and try to get those in order. Hopefully if your partner is Australian, it will be easier than what my husband has to deal with (he also lived in another country before we lived here from which we need more documents, one of those also has no sign of coming).

Thank you. My partner and I have been engaged for over a year and planned on doing this private ceremony so I hope just because of the timing they don't let me do dcf etc we have more than enough proof from Facebook timeline to call longs on Skype  leases together in Australia .  My flight here etc . I'm hoping they approve for me to file via consulate as I'll be married by filing time   I understand if partner has to follow a month or two later it's a matter of the fact that atm  this offer is great and current circumstances would lead to very difficult times if we stayed here for another year trying to make it by 

[festin 2]

On 1/18/2018 at 5:32 AM, Tai98 said:

Thank you. My partner and I have been engaged for over a year and planned on doing this private ceremony so I hope just because of the timing they don't let me do dcf etc we have more than enough proof from Facebook timeline to call longs on Skype  leases together in Australia .  My flight here etc . I'm hoping they approve for me to file via consulate as I'll be married by filing time   I understand if partner has to follow a month or two later it's a matter of the fact that atm  this offer is great and current circumstances would lead to very difficult times if we stayed here for another year trying to make it by 

Surprisingly, Ankara asked us for our facebook ID when we filed I-130. So I guess they accept it as a proof of bonafide relationship.

[atn2018 1]

3 hours ago, festin said:

Surprisingly, Ankara asked us for our facebook ID when we filed I-130. So I guess they accept it as a proof of bonafide relationship.

Oh ok thats awesome!!!I hope I can submit that as proof. I have tried retreiving old call logs from skype but it seems impossible. Working on getting snippets of our messages from 2015 etc. Thank you for your input from your experience

[atn2018 1]

On 03/01/2018 at 1:21 AM, pyridine said:

Just wanted to share the extremely fast experience I have had with doing DCF for the CR-1 visa as a US citizen living abroad from a non-DCF country (Denmark) with an exceptional circumstance, which was a short notice (~3 months) new job offer in the US for me. I was given quite a lot of misinformation here by some commentors (including that the request to file DCF would undoubtedly be refused) and hope this will be useful if anyone else is searching for the process for this in the future.

 

1. The exceptional circumstance was practically automatically approved because it's one of the official ones allowed. I sent the letter and information the embassy requested on December 11 and received an email from the embassy on December 14 inviting me to file the I-130 at the embassy on December 18. In this time, they had gotten permission from USCIS London office to allow filing of the I-130 at Copenhagen.

 

2. I-130 was approved today on January 2nd, and we have received the checklist of documents from the consulate in Stockholm that we will need for the interview (where immigrant visas from Scandinavian countries all get sent; Copenhagen only does non-immigrant). They ask us to send them a completed checklist first - when they are satisfied, I assume we will be able to select an interview date.

 

So including that this took place over the holidays, it took a grand total of 22 days to go from requesting DCF to having the I-130 approved. We could not even get all our documents together in time for the interview yet (it's proving somewhat challenging to obtain my husband's military record), but it's looking very likely that my husband will be able to accompany me back to the US in mid-March. I was afraid we would have several months of separation and could find virtually no information for this situation on this forum. Of course individual outcomes may vary but the embassy here was very efficient and I am very happy. It has been even faster than doing DCF from a country with a USCIS office.

Were you allowed to file through mail? Just wondering as we will more than likely be appointed to bangkok as we are located in australia at the moment however im not certain we would be able to  fly there to file. Also, Do they have you do your interview at nearest embassy for immigrants (ours would be sydney ) or do they make you go to the consular at which you filed Sorry I have so many questions noone seems to be able to answer