Am I eligible to file with USCIS office in Frankfurt?

[jobsande 1]

Hi there! A couple days ago my original post here got *tons* of responses, while interesting and IMHO well intentioned by all, mainly went off on a tangent...

In a nutshell, from the replies, whether or not we refer to it as a "DCF" or simply filing with the USCIS international Office (in my case, Frankfurt) - the most important point is that in any case it seems this will be my best/fastest option. Much better than the lockbox thing, (if I understand correctly).

 

Ok, now that we have the background, here's my next question -- as I mentioned on my last post, we are now leaning towards the CR-1 instead of K1. In order to be able to file the I-130 for this, I must be able to prove at least 6 months permanent residency in Germany (per https://www.visajourney.com/content/dcf). I am not sure if I can claim this, can someone chime in if it sounds like I'll be able to?

 

I'll briefly explain - I have an apartment in Berlin and have filed at the local registration office and received an official "anmeldung" for the apartment (registration paper). As a US citizen, I currently also have a 6 month "job seeking" visa for Germany, but this will expire a month or two before we get married. Then I will officially become a "tourist" for a couple months, until I get married to my lovely Croatian fiancee, and then we believe we should be able to file for EU residency based on the fact that she is Croatian. The entire time throughout this, although our wedding will be in Croatia and I'll be spending perhaps at least a month there to prepare, do family stuff, etc, we can officially keep the apartment in Berlin.

 

Even though I can maintain this apartment residency in Berlin for over 6 months, I still will be keeping my "permanent" residence in the US, (in other words I'll still pay taxes as a resident of Illinois as well as Federal US taxes) based on that Illinois home address.

 

Based on the above, will I still be able to file the I-130 and begin the CR1 process at the USCIS in Frankfurt for the German residence? Really am not sure. If anyone can shed any light on what defines a 6 month residency in a country that would be great! Thanks again!!

 

 

[accumbyte 149]

See "Form I-130, Petition for an Alien Relative" section on the USCIS Frankfurt page: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/germany-frankfurt-field-office

9 hours ago, jobsande said:

will I still be able to file the I-130 and begin the CR1 process at the USCIS in Frankfurt for the German residence?

You can try asking the Frankfurt office directly as they are the ones that make that decision: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/contact-us-uscis-frankfurt-field-office

[millefleur 5,047]

6 hours ago, accumbyte said:

You can try asking the Frankfurt office directly as they are the ones that make that decision: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/contact-us-uscis-frankfurt-field-office

I second this. Call the USCIS office in Frankfurt up directly, explain the situation and ask if it will be accepted as proof of residency.

 

When I did DCF, I called the local office and they were glad to answer any questions I had. You could also try emailing but it might be slower.

 

I wanted to add, if you decide to call and do get answer, please update us on what they say! Best of luck.

Edited February 1, 2019 by millefleur

[jobsande 1]

Thanks guys, we've got it sorted out all good

[Talking_Potato 1]

I just got news from Frankfurt about our petition, that we as Dutch residents are not eligible to file there as we are not German residents. 

Which is odd as previous posters and Dutch residents on this forum had no issues to go DCF there. Dont know if anything has changed since last year, but it is no longer available. So Chicago Lockbox it is..

[Jorge V 195]

1 hour ago, Talking_Potato said:

I just got news from Frankfurt about our petition, that we as Dutch residents are not eligible to file there as we are not German residents. 

Which is odd as previous posters and Dutch residents on this forum had no issues to go DCF there. Dont know if anything has changed since last year, but it is no longer available. So Chicago Lockbox it is..

The way DCF works is that only residents of the country where the USCIS field office is located, Germany in this case, are eligible.

 

That said, residents of countries without a USCIS field office who live in Frankfurt's jurisdiction (listed at top of this page, the Netherlands included), are eligible to file in Frankfurt but only if they meet the exceptional circumstances requirement. Examples include, but are not limited to, a short notice US job offer for the petitioner and medical emergencies.

 

I'm not sure that your comment regarding Dutch residents had previously had no issues is 100% accurate. I imagine those posters went the exceptional circumstances route. Without exceptional circumstances then any Dutch applicant will be rejected 100% of the time.

 

I don't have a link for someone from the Netherlands going the exceptional circumstances route, though I have seen previous posts, but I did find someone from Sweden doing it here

Edited February 14, 2019 by Jorge V

[millefleur 5,047]

9 hours ago, Talking_Potato said:

I just got news from Frankfurt about our petition, that we as Dutch residents are not eligible to file there as we are not German residents. 

Which is odd as previous posters and Dutch residents on this forum had no issues to go DCF there. Dont know if anything has changed since last year, but it is no longer available. So Chicago Lockbox it is..

Was it because you did not qualify under the "exceptional circumstances" rule? There was a recent thread about a Dutch citizen discussing DCF in Amsterdam: