DCF with exceptional circumstances

[pyridine 12]

2 hours ago, familybasedvisa12 said:

Hi everyone - thank you so much for sharing your experiences. Super helpful for helping us navigate the process.

 

Regarding -  "December 11 - submitted request to file DCF with US embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark"

 

How do you go about submitting the request? Do I actually show up physically at my local embassy? Do I email them? Should I email the USCIS field office that would be handling the request? 

 

Would be great to get some clarity on this topic

 

Thank

I contacted them by email. It was not even possible to call.

 

As for the talk about DCF not being available anymore, I obviously haven't looked at this in a while but will say that DCF was technically already impossible WITHOUT exceptional circumstances in every country except those with a USCIS office, which was only UK and Germany in Europe. If they just eeliminated that and still allow the same exceptional circumstances at the consulate as before, then it may just mean it's now equal everywhere, they closed the USCIS offices and consulates may no longer need permission from them to proceed (Copenhagen had to get this from London), and everything could otherwise be unchanged if the definition of exceptional circumstances is the same 

[familybasedvisa12 23]

 

3 hours ago, SorrowL said:

DCF is no longer possible anywhere. It was ended as of January 31st, 2020, after a long period of winding down. Your US petitioner must file with their designated lockbox if in the US, or with the Chicago lockbox if located outside of the US. 
 

DCF can still be considered if you have a “clearly approvable” I-130, your US citizen Spouse lives in your country, and You meet the extraordinary circumstances requirements.

 

2 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

If you are military or have exceptional circumstances contact the consulate that has jurisdiction.  Otherwise you waited a bit too long. 

 

Two field offices are still accepting petitions.  Hopefully you live in London or Accra.

 

We have exceptional circumstances - job offer on short notice and wife is pregnant. I am under the jurisdiction of the London office, and based on their website we would be eligible. 

 

How do you go about submitting the request? Do I actually show up physically at my local embassy? Do I email them? Should I email the USCIS field office that would be handling the request? 

 

Thank you!

 

[familybasedvisa12 23]

1 hour ago, pyridine said:

I contacted them by email. It was not even possible to call.

 

As for the talk about DCF not being available anymore, I obviously haven't looked at this in a while but will say that DCF was technically already impossible WITHOUT exceptional circumstances in every country except those with a USCIS office, which was only UK and Germany in Europe. If they just eeliminated that and still allow the same exceptional circumstances at the consulate as before, then it may just mean it's now equal everywhere, they closed the USCIS offices and consulates may no longer need permission from them to proceed (Copenhagen had to get this from London), and everything could otherwise be unchanged if the definition of exceptional circumstances is the same 

 

Under London Jurisdiction with exceptional circumstances - job offer on short notice and pregnant wife. So you emailed the embassy or the USCIS field office? 

 

Thanks so much! 

 

 

[Just Paul 4,595]

22 minutes ago, familybasedvisa12 said:

 

 

 

We have exceptional circumstances - job offer on short notice and wife is pregnant. I am under the jurisdiction of the London office, and based on their website we would be eligible. 

 

How do you go about submitting the request? Do I actually show up physically at my local embassy? Do I email them? Should I email the USCIS field office that would be handling the request? 

 

Thank you!

 

I'd follow the instructions on the USCIS website.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-a-uscis-office/international-offices/united-kingdom-uscis-london-field-office

 

20 minutes ago, familybasedvisa12 said:

Under London Jurisdiction with exceptional circumstances - job offer on short notice and pregnant wife. So you emailed the embassy or the USCIS field office?

You do not need exceptional circumstances for London if you file now.   If you live in England.

Edited February 12, 2020 by Paul & Mary

[Bullitt 3]

4 minutes ago, familybasedvisa12 said:

 

Under London Jurisdiction with exceptional circumstances - job offer on short notice and pregnant wife. So you emailed the embassy or the USCIS field office? 

 

Thanks so much! 

 

 

The request you need to make is to your local Embassy/Consulate, not USCIS (at the time I did it, USCIS needed to give permission, but only the Embassy/Consulate can ask them, not the applicant).  In my case it was not possible to get a number to call the embassy directly, nor was it possible to get the right email for the correct section at the Embassy directly from the website. 

 

I had to call the third party service provider that the embassy directs all visa applicants to (I got this information from the embassy website).  These people are not consular officers, they are just administrators and they had no idea what I was talking about.  I was told several times that what I wanted was not possible.  After getting the runaround for a day or two, the message finally got to an officer in the right section and after that they emailed me directly and the process got started.    

[Just Paul 4,595]

20 minutes ago, familybasedvisa12 said:

We have exceptional circumstances - job offer on short notice and wife is pregnant. I am under the jurisdiction of the London office, and based on their website we would be eligible. 

Are in England?   Then you are eligible.

 

If you are in another country you may be eligible  under exceptional circumstances.   You would contact the consulate where you live.

[Bullitt 3]

22 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

I'd follow the instructions on the USCIS website.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-a-uscis-office/international-offices/united-kingdom-uscis-london-field-office

 

You do not need exceptional circumstances for London if you file now.   If you live in England.

I could not figure out how to edit my last post.  I think this is right; this was not an option for me as there was no USCIS presence in Japan.  If you can prove residency in England (maybe the UK?), then you might not need to bother with Exceptional Circumstances.  

[pyridine 12]

On 2/12/2020 at 8:32 AM, familybasedvisa12 said:

 

Under London Jurisdiction with exceptional circumstances - job offer on short notice and pregnant wife. So you emailed the embassy or the USCIS field office? 

 

Thanks so much! 

 

 

Ok wait so where do you live? If you live in the UK, you may need to go through the USCIS office. Denmark has no USCIS office and is under London's jurisdiction but you never deal with them directly. You only contact the US embassy in your country. I emailed the US embassy in Copenhagen, they have an email address for non-visitor visas which actually all get handled in the last stage at the US embassy in Stockholm. The embassy needed to get permission from the USCIS office to handle your case, but you never have to deal with that and it was pretty quick for us (few days before we got approval to file the case there - then they will immediately give you a date and time to show up to file your paperwork, ours was in about a week - so have the documents for filing the I-130 ready to go when you do this because it can be fast. The I-130 documentation is less involved than what you need for the interview anyway).

Edited February 13, 2020 by pyridine

[familybasedvisa12 23]

On 2/12/2020 at 4:52 PM, Paul & Mary said:

Are in England?   Then you are eligible.

 

If you are in another country you may be eligible  under exceptional circumstances.   You would contact the consulate where you live.

 

18 hours ago, Bullitt said:

I could not figure out how to edit my last post.  I think this is right; this was not an option for me as there was no USCIS presence in Japan.  If you can prove residency in England (maybe the UK?), then you might not need to bother with Exceptional Circumstances.  

 

17 hours ago, pyridine said:

Ok wait so where do you live? If you live in the UK, you may need to go through the USCIS office. Denmark has no USCIS office and is under London's jurisdiction but you never deal with them directly. You only contact the US embassy in your country. I emailed the US embassy in Copenhagen, they have an email address for non-visitor visas which actually all get handled in the last stage at the US embassy in Stockholm. The embassy needed to get permission from the USCIS office to handle your case, but you never have to deal with that and it was pretty quick for us (few days before we got approval to file the case there - then they will immediately give you a date and time to show up to file your paperwork, ours was in about a week - so have the documents for filing the I-130 ready to go when you do this because it can be fast. The I-130 documentation is less involved than what you need for the interview anyway).

 

Hey everyone,

 

Firstly, thank you for the prompt responses. What a great forum! 

 

I do not reside in London, but I do reside in one of the countries that they have jurisdiction over. Per their website (see screenshot) I should be able to file based on 'exception circumstances' at the discretion of the London office director - my understanding from the previous comment is that I can't contact the director directly, rather I need to inform my local embassy and they will make the contact. It is still unclear to me whether or not I can go to the embassy physically for this, wouldn't that be quicker than sending an email? Or are they quick to respond?

 

 

Also, given that I meet two exceptions, 1 - job relocation on short notice and 2 - medical emergency (expecting in August and can't travel after June), would they have a basis to deny the request?

 

 

 

Thanks again to everyone!

 

 

[Just Paul 4,595]

2 hours ago, familybasedvisa12 said:

my understanding from the previous comment is that I can't contact the director directly, rather I need to inform my local embassy and they will make the contact.

Correct.  Email the Immigrant Visa unit at this mystery consulate for the country you are in.

3 hours ago, familybasedvisa12 said:

Or are they quick to respond?

Include your circumstances in the email.   It may take a week or two.

[familybasedvisa12 23]

6 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

Correct.  Email the Immigrant Visa unit at this mystery consulate for the country you are in.

Include your circumstances in the email.   It may take a week or two.

Thanks, Paul.

 

Would anyone happen to know how detailed this email should be? Should I be keeping it succinct and on point, or should I be giving a lot of extra information? 

[Bullitt 3]

When I did it, it was brief.  It included the basis on which I was claiming Exceptional Circumstances (by the way, I don't think they consider pregnancy a medical emergency, but it won't matter as I was able to do it on the basis of my job offer alone), my dates of travel and proof that I was a resident of, in my case, Japan.

[familybasedvisa12 23]

15 minutes ago, Bullitt said:

When I did it, it was brief.  It included the basis on which I was claiming Exceptional Circumstances (by the way, I don't think they consider pregnancy a medical emergency, but it won't matter as I was able to do it on the basis of my job offer alone), my dates of travel and proof that I was a resident of, in my case, Japan.

Yes, I'm doing it on the basis of my job offer as well. When you say dates of travel and proof of residency - you did that in your first email to them? 

 

Also, I can't seem to find an email other than some form that can be submitted directly, see here. Was this similar to your case? 

[Bullitt 3]

There was no form, I just wrote them an email.  I didn't include a copy of my residence card in my first email, but that's the first thing they asked for.  I wouldn't sweat it too much, just explain the situation.  You can see the timeline for how long it took in my earlier post...that timeline doesn't start until to make contact with the embassy; I would not get too bogged down in form over substance.

[familybasedvisa12 23]

2 minutes ago, Bullitt said:

There was no form, I just wrote them an email.  I didn't include a copy of my residence card in my first email, but that's the first thing they asked for.  I wouldn't sweat it too much, just explain the situation.  You can see the timeline for how long it took in my earlier post...that timeline doesn't start until to make contact with the embassy; I would not get too bogged down in form over substance.

Thank you for the advice! Yea, I was a little unsure of whether or not I need to give them a full story or just a brief about me and what I'm requesting/on what grounds. 

 

I'm guessing this means it's not necessary to go into anything emotional about being separated for so long and that given the short notice of the job relocation processing in the USA would make it impossible.