London I-130 DCF check payment

[pies90 1]

Hi,

 

My husband is now living back in America and I am about to post off our I-130 petition. He has mailed me a check to cover the filing fee of $535, however I have just noticed the instructions say only cashiers checks are accepted, not personal ones. I have however looked at previous forum posts from others who say they've successfully paid via personal check so I'm confused as to whether my petition would get rejected or not.

 

Has anyone paid with a personal check recently without any problems? The check is from Bank of America and made out to US Department of Homeland Security.

 

Thanks

[WandY 430]

Wrong. Instructions say money order or personal check made payable to U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security.

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-130instr.pdf

 

[pies90 1]

Thanks, @WandY, I was going off of the London Embassy instructions which state is must be a cashiers check:

 

https://uk.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/government-agencies/dhs/uscis/i130filing-html/

 

So, would a personal check be ok with them or not?

[Crazy Cat 41,985]

44 minutes ago, pies90 said:

Thanks, @WandY, I was going off of the London Embassy instructions which state is must be a cashiers check:

 

https://uk.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/government-agencies/dhs/uscis/i130filing-html/

 

So, would a personal check be ok with them or not?

I paid with a personal check...No problems.

[pies90 1]

So is it the same no matter which embassy / consulate you file with?

[Crazy Cat 41,985]

4 minutes ago, pies90 said:

So is it the same no matter which embassy / consulate you file with?

Yes. 

[pies90 1]

Strange, I wonder why it isn't listed on the website then.

 

There's also a conflict with the official instructions which state 2 photographs must be provided yet the London website only asks for one each.

[jan22 3,056]

If your husband is now living/working back in the US, how are you planning on filing via DCF, which requires the petitioner to be living in the country where the I-130 is being filed?

[pies90 1]

16 minutes ago, jan22 said:

If your husband is now living/working back in the US, how are you planning on filing via DCF, which requires the petitioner to be living in the country where the I-130 is being filed?

Hi Jan, this is the first I've ever heard that the petitioner must be living in the country where the petition is filed. Please could you point me in the direction of more information on this?

[Just Paul 4,595]

1 hour ago, pies90 said:

Hi Jan, this is the first I've ever heard that the petitioner must be living in the country where the petition is filed. Please could you point me in the direction of more information on this?

The petition has to be filed outside the US and the petitioner has to have residency.   That is not to say that the petitioner has to remain in that company during the length of adjudication .  But it is usually adjudicated very quickly on the USCIS side.  I filed ours in person on a Friday and it was approved by USCIS the next Monday.  I paid with Mexican Pesos but they would have taken US Dollars for credit cards.

 

If your husband had UK residency prior to leaving you most likely could include his UK residency documents with the I-130 application.

 

Check out http://www.visajourney.com/content/dcf/  here or your Embassy/ Consulate  on the US State Department site.

Edited June 26, 2018 by Paul & Mary
clarification

[jan22 3,056]

1 hour ago, pies90 said:

Hi Jan, this is the first I've ever heard that the petitioner must be living in the country where the petition is filed. Please could you point me in the direction of more information on this?

Most petitions are, by USCIS processing procedures, filed in the US.  There are exceptions for petitioners who are residing in countries where USCIS has a field office that offers window services to the public.  This is called Direct Consular Filing, or DCF.  If you don't live in one of those countries, the petition must be filed in the US, and do what is called Consular Processing.  There are a lot of official sites that explain this.  For example, go to https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/consular-processing and take a look at "Step 2: File the Immigrant Petition" and the description of the situations for filing the i-130 abroad. Or https://uscis.gov/i-130 and read " Where to File".

Edited June 26, 2018 by jan22

[jan22 3,056]

30 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

...

If your husband had UK residency prior to leaving you most likely could include his UK residency documents with the I-130 application.

 

Check out http://www.visajourney.com/content/dcf/  here or your Embassy/ Consulate  on the US State Department site.

The requirement states "...is residing", not "..was residing" in order to file the petition at an Embassy.  The petitioner doesn't have to continue to reside abroad after filing, but must be for the filing, i.e., he could have left the UK to return to reside in the US after filing the petition, but not before he filed it (assuming he was residing in the UK previously).  The Embassy website makes clear that current UK residency is part of the requirement.   See https://uk.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/government-agencies/dhs/uscis/i130filing-html/.

Edited June 26, 2018 by jan22

[Jorge V 195]

2 hours ago, pies90 said:

Hi Jan, this is the first I've ever heard that the petitioner must be living in the country where the petition is filed. Please could you point me in the direction of more information on this?

The petitioner legally residing in the country where the petition is filed is essentially the only requirement for DCF. If the petitioner was a resident of but recently left the country in question, you may be able to get away with filing anyway, but I seriously doubt it, and I definitely would not recommend it.

 

In general, to be eligible for DCF the petitioner must be a legal resident (not a tourist) of a country with a USCIS field office for at least 6 months. Some field offices are less strict than others, and may only require 3 months residency. Still the residency requirement is non negotiable barring exceptional circumstances.

 

You should read the filing requirements on the London USCIS site ( https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/united-kingdom-uscis-london-field-office ). Scroll down to and expand the section titled "Form I-130, Petition for an Alien Relative". There you'll see these statements:

Quote

Who May File or Receive Service:

U.S. citizens residing in the United Kingdom filing on behalf of their spouse, unmarried child under the age of 21 or parent (if the U.S. citizen is 21 years of age or older).

 

...

 

Filing and Other Special Instructions:

 

Evidence of residency must be submitted with the petition.  The evidence you submit must support a determination that you are a resident in the United Kingdom.

 

As you can see you'll be required to submit evidence that the petitioner is a resident of the UK along with the rest of your package. If you do not include this evidence your petition will be denied. If you attempt pull one over the USCIS and file using your husband's previous residency then you'll likely be discovered, will be accused of willful misrepresentation, and possibly face a ban from entering the US either as an immigrant or a tourist.

[pies90 1]

On 25/06/2018 at 12:57 PM, missileman said:

Yes. 

 

My petition was rejected due to the personal check so unfortunately what you said is incorrect.

 

For anyone else filing with London, they accept cashiers checks only.

[Crazy Cat 41,985]

5 minutes ago, pies90 said:

 

My petition was rejected due to the personal check so unfortunately what you said is incorrect.

 

For anyone else filing with London, they accept cashiers checks only.

So a US citizen can not pay a fee to a US government agency with a check from a US bank?  That is just unbelievable.