DCF Lima Peru

[MjC772 94]

New here and just beginning planning process to obtain an IR1 by DCF in Lima. I am a US citizen by birth, my wife is Peruvian and we married in January 2010. Since September 2010 I have been living in Peru and, in January 2012, we had our first, and only, child who received her Consular Report of Birth Abroad and a US passport and is a US citizen. My wife has a US tourist visa, we have gone several times together as a family to visit, but are beginning to think about the LEGAL immigration process. Any advice anyone can give initially would be great. I'm sure I will have more questions to post in the near future. ...Thanks. 

Edited May 2, 2018 by ColeMJ

[Mark88 184]

Main advice, read the guides:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/guides/

[Coco8 1,042]

You'll have to establish residence in the US or at least show that you attempt to do that. You'll need this at the time of the visa interview which will come fast if you are doing DCF.

 

Usually people make sure to have a valid US driver's license with a US address (e.g. a family member's house) and register to vote. You'll need a US Bank account. If you do not have a job in line, then you can show that you have been applying for jobs. There is different evidence you can present. The ones I mentioned are examples. But since the DCF is going to be faster than the regular process, you might want to do some of that before you start, particularly if you have to travel to the US to get evidence.

 

 

Edited May 2, 2018 by Coco8

[MjC772 94]

4 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

You'll have to establish residence in the US or at least show that you attempt to do that. You'll need this at the time of the visa interview which will come fast if you are doing DCF.

 

Usually people make sure to have a valid US driver's license with a US address (e.g. a family member's house) and register to vote. You'll need a US Bank account. If you do not have a job in line, then you can show that you have been applying for jobs. There is different evidence you can present. The ones I mentioned are examples. But since the DCF is going to be faster than the regular process, you might want to do some of that before you start, particularly if you have to travel to the US to get evidence.

 

 

Have all that. Updated Florida DL; I've had my same US bank account since 2002. I've continued to vote  in US elections.  

[MjC772 94]

8 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

You'll have to establish residence in the US or at least show that you attempt to do that. You'll need this at the time of the visa interview which will come fast if you are doing DCF.

 

Usually people make sure to have a valid US driver's license with a US address (e.g. a family member's house) and register to vote. You'll need a US Bank account. If you do not have a job in line, then you can show that you have been applying for jobs. There is different evidence you can present. The ones I mentioned are examples. But since the DCF is going to be faster than the regular process, you might want to do some of that before you start, particularly if you have to travel to the US to get evidence.

 

 

Before we have interview, I would compile info to make it especially clear we were going for sure and had proper residence, child enrolled in school, etc... 

[MjC772 94]

At this point (one step at a time), I am more interested in finding out about submitting DCF; are translations necessary (if everything is in either Spanish or English)? and other assorted facts of the DCF Lima process. Thanks!

[Patoga 10]

5 minutes ago, ColeMJ said:

At this point (one step at a time), I am more interested in finding out about submitting DCF; are translations necessary (if everything is in either Spanish or English)? and other assorted facts of the DCF Lima process. Thanks!

Hi, my stepdaugther made her consular process from Lima, so you have to fill i130 first with all documentation that states in uscis.gov,  and once is approved they will make you fill ds260 , she needs to do her police  and penal certificate, medicals, and everything. 

For my husband took like 2 years, but he was a LPR, maybe for a US citizen is faster.

[Jorge V 195]

15 minutes ago, ColeMJ said:

At this point (one step at a time), I am more interested in finding out about submitting DCF; are translations necessary (if everything is in either Spanish or English)? and other assorted facts of the DCF Lima process. Thanks!

Each USCIS field office is slightly different and I recommend that you contact them. The UK field office, for example, requests that you do not send any evidence of bona fide marriage with your I130. The Mexico field office requests that you send the beneficiary's IFE (national voter ID card). If you contact the Lima field office they'll likely send you a PDF with their specific requirements. According to their website ( https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/peru-uscis-lima-field-office ) you can contact them via email or phone.

 

As far as the rest of the process, it's actually not all that different from the normal IR1/CR1 process, at least not at first. You should read up on the guides here and read the official I130 instructions ( https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-130instr.pdf ). There you'll find answers to many questions, including the one about translations (spoiler: you must submit translations of any document not in English when submitting your I130, but anyone can translate them as long as they include a statement certifying that they are fluent in both languages)/

 

The field office's website (linked above) also has some information under the "Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative" section. They even address the translations question specifically.

 

So in short, your goal is to familiarize yourself with the I130 and I130A instructions as that's what you'll submit first. Use the official instructions as well as the guides on here to learn how to do that. It doesn't matter if the guides aren't DCF specific, the I130/I130A are essentially the same for everyone. That said, there may be some quirks at the Lima field office (such as payment, whether to file in person or by mail, etc). Contact them by email or phone to get these quirks sorted out. 

Edited May 3, 2018 by Jorge V

[MjC772 94]

6 minutes ago, Jorge V said:

Each USCIS field office is slightly different and I recommend that you contact them. The UK field office, for example, requests that you do not send any evidence of bona fide marriage with your I130. The Mexico field office requests that you send the beneficiary's IFE (national voter ID card). If you contact the Lima field office they'll likely send you a PDF with their specific requirements. According to their website ( https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/peru-uscis-lima-field-office ) you can contact them via email or phone.

 

As far as the rest of the process, it's actually not all that different from the normal IR1/CR1 process, at least not at first. You should read up on the guides here and read the official I130 instructions ( https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-130instr.pdf ). There you'll find answers to many questions, including the one about translations (spoiler: you must submit translations of any document not in English when submitting your I130, but anyone can translate them as long as they include a statement certifying that they are fluent in both languages)/

 

The field office's website (linked above) also has some information under the "Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative" section. They even address the translations question specifically.

 

So in short, your goal is to familiarize yourself with the I130 and I130A instructions as that's what you'll submit first. Use the official instructions as well as the guides on here to learn how to do that. It doesn't matter if the guides aren't DCF specific, the I130/I130A are essentially the same for everyone. That said, there may be some quirks at the Lima field office (such as payment, whether to file in person or by mail, etc). Contact them by email or phone to get these quirks sorted out. 

Thanks for the info. I have contacted USCIS Lima and they have yet to contact me back . The language question I had from something I read on Peru's website that said "any document not in English or Spanish must be translated to English" but as I read further, it seems like they need to be translated for the I-130 ....not for the interview.

My I-130 and I-130a are filled out already.  

[Jorge V 195]

5 minutes ago, ColeMJ said:

Thanks for the info. I have contacted USCIS Lima and they have yet to contact me back . The language question I had from something I read on Peru's website that said "any document not in English or Spanish must be translated to English" but as I read further, it seems like they need to be translated for the I-130 ....not for the interview.

My I-130 and I-130a are filled out already.  

That is correct, translations are only required for the I130. In general, embassies will always accept documents in either English or the official local language. Once you're at the interview stage you won't have to worry about translations as long as the documents are in Spanish.

 

Unfortunately USCIS can be slow to respond. When I contacted the Mexico field office for details it took them 4 business days to reply. They sent over a lot of good info once they did reply, but it was annoying having to wait almost a week.