DCF New Delhi / Mumbai, India

[Kuneesa 92]

6 minutes ago, AnonIndia said:

Yes we got the marriage registered under the special marriage act and we have two original copies of the marriage certificate. Right now our only issue is filing taxes while she is in India for the 2018 year. We tired to use turbo tax to file online but the website said that it can't be done online because the taxable income was zero. I guess we just have to do it by mail from India and then request the tax transcript for the past three years by mail. There is a contact page on the USCIS India website. Do they respond to questions if you call them or email them? Please let us know how your Interview in mumbai goes.

You're good on the marriage proof then. For tax stuff, I'd suggest you try for an accountant based in the US who specializes in taxes for people living abroad. The USCIS Delhi does reply very diligently (at least in our case) if you mail them on the address I gave above. I'll keep this thread updated with our interview experience!

[AnonIndia 58]

2 minutes ago, Kuneesa said:

You have to provide the proof of US domicile and the affidavit of support I-864 (to be filled by petitioner & joint sponsor) at the interview stage for DCF after the I-130 petition is approved and the interview has been scheduled. You will physically have to take all those documents to the interview and the officer will decide if the US petitioner has enough evidence for domicile requirement. Having a joint sponsor WILL NOT cancel the need to prove domicile for the petitioner. Ideally, the US petitioner should at least have their most recent 3-year tax transcripts, W-2 forms (both required regardless for filling I-864), A voting record in the United States, records of paying U.S. taxes, having property in the United States, maintaining bank or investment accounts in the United States, having a permanent mailing address in the United States, other proof such as evidence that the sponsor is a student studying abroad or that a foreign government has authorized a temporary stay, having maintained a vehicle/insurance in the United States while residing outside etc. You can check the requirements on the I-864 filing instructions page 5&6 (https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-864instr.pdf)

My wife has never voted in her life. She does have a New York State ID and she filed her 2017 taxes in that state under that address. 2016 taxes were filed in the state of New Jersey when she was living with her mother.   The address on her  New York ID is the joint sponsor's house who is a godmother to my wife's sister and a long time family friend. she completed an online dog grooming course while in NY and became a licensed dog groomer during the first half of 2018. She has been living with the joint sponsor up until her travel to India on August 2018.  She also has a working US bank account. We hope the consular officer will find this as sufficient proof of domicile and ties to the US. 

[Kuneesa 92]

1 hour ago, AnonIndia said:

My wife has never voted in her life. She does have a New York State ID and she filed her 2017 taxes in that state under that address. 2016 taxes were filed in the state of New Jersey when she was living with her mother.   The address on her  New York ID is the joint sponsor's house who is a godmother to my wife's sister and a long time family friend. she completed an online dog grooming course while in NY and became a licensed dog groomer during the first half of 2018. She has been living with the joint sponsor up until her travel to India on August 2018.  She also has a working US bank account. We hope the consular officer will find this as sufficient proof of domicile and ties to the US. 

Yes, it should. She can also mail potential employers/schools and inquire about jobs or study to make a case for going back. Same with enquiring & trying to get a lease in the US. Having a current drivers license and active credit card etc will also help. Basically, include as much evidence as you can. Good luck! 

[VNK 1]

Hello Kuneesa,

       I hope you could help to clarify few doubts. I am US Citizen by birth and moved to Hyderabad, India 6 years back for studies . I started working in Bangalore, India from May 2018 and got married in Feb 2019. I don't have work permit and didn't register with FRRO since I am having the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI - Life long visa) card. Now I want to file CR-1 through DCF in New Delhi for my husband (Indian Citizen) who is working in London.  We have taken Marriage Certificate from Sub Registrar's Office. I have lease agreement for the apartment, Aadhar card, PAN Card and Indian Driving license, but don't have earlier tax filings. My father is US Citizen  and working in US, will be Joint Sponsor for Affidavit Support. I am working in Bangalore and my  husband is working in London. We have joint bank account which opened in last month. No joint lease agreement in India. Do I have to stay in India till the whole process completed or not? What is your suggestions and tips for the smooth approval, please. I highly appreciate you great help.

 

Best Regards.

[Kuneesa 92]

2 hours ago, VNK said:

Hello Kuneesa,

       I hope you could help to clarify few doubts. I am US Citizen by birth and moved to Hyderabad, India 6 years back for studies . I started working in Bangalore, India from May 2018 and got married in Feb 2019. I don't have work permit and didn't register with FRRO since I am having the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI - Life long visa) card. Now I want to file CR-1 through DCF in New Delhi for my husband (Indian Citizen) who is working in London.  We have taken Marriage Certificate from Sub Registrar's Office. I have lease agreement for the apartment, Aadhar card, PAN Card and Indian Driving license, but don't have earlier tax filings. My father is US Citizen  and working in US, will be Joint Sponsor for Affidavit Support. I am working in Bangalore and my  husband is working in London. We have joint bank account which opened in last month. No joint lease agreement in India. Do I have to stay in India till the whole process completed or not? What is your suggestions and tips for the smooth approval, please. I highly appreciate you great help.

 

Best Regards.

Hey! 

1.) The marriage certificate should be OK. Also, you have an OCI card so you won't need the FRRO registration. 
2.) Given your residency proof here (Tax returns, pay stubs, work letter etc.), you should be able to file DCF I-130 petition at USCIS Delhi office. 

You have to provide the proof of US domicile and the affidavit of support I-864 (to be filled by petitioner & joint sponsor) at the interview stage for DCF after the I-130 petition is approved and the interview has been scheduled. You will physically have to take all those documents to the interview and the officer will decide if the US petitioner has enough evidence for domicile requirement. Having a joint sponsor WILL NOT cancel the need to prove domicile for the petitioner. Ideally, the US petitioner should at least have their most recent 3-year tax transcripts, W-2 forms (both required regardless for filling I-864), A voting record in the United States, records of paying U.S. taxes, having property in the United States, maintaining bank or investment accounts in the United States, having a permanent mailing address in the United States, other proof such as evidence that the sponsor is a student studying abroad or that a foreign government has authorized a temporary stay, having maintained a vehicle/insurance in the United States while residing outside etc. You can check the requirements on the I-864 filing instructions page 5&6 (https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-864instr.pdf)

What you CAN do if you don't have enough proof for domicile is move back to the US AFTER you file your I-130 here. You DON'T need to be in India for the whole process. Just for the petition filing.

3.) It is a good practice to file US taxes no matter what if you are a citizen/LPR and residing outside the US. Even if you are claiming the foreign earned income exclusion  ($103,900 for the tax year 2018) and your income for tax purposes is ZERO, you still have to file the return. More info here (https://www.irs.gov/publications/p54#en_US_2018_publink100047594). You can late file now and submit those transcripts when you fill the I-864 form. Or you will have to give a written statement about why you did not file your US taxes. I strongly suggest you file the previous taxes because that will help you in domicile proof requirement too. 

4.) The only thing extra your husband would need apart from the documents I have mentioned in the previous posts on this thread is a PCC (Police Clearance Certificate) from London as he is working there. PCC is good for 1 year and takes time to procure so I suggest your husband should apply for it as soon as you file your I-130. 

5.) My suggestion is to front-load the I-130 application with as much evidence you can. (Check other threads on this forum where people have put in lists of documents they submitted with their petition.) Only other advice I'd give is to file your I-130 as soon as you can. There are talks of USCIS closing all their international offices in upcoming months. And if that happens, DCF process will not be available anymore. 

Hope this helps! Let me know if you need any more answers

 

 

Edited March 22, 2019 by Kuneesa

[VNK 1]

Hello Kuneesa,

     Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation.  You have mentioned that you have filed  CR-1 visa via DCF (Form I-130) in New Delhi, India on 8th Jan 2019.

     https://in.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/ Says that effective April 1, 2018, the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi will no longer process IR5, IR1, IR2, CR1, or CR2 visas, but you have filed it on 8th Jan 2019 and it is confusing and please clarify. We sent e-mail to cis.ndi@uscis.dhs.gov on closing of  International Immigration Office (New Delhi Field Office), but they replied that if you have an InfoPass appointment then requested service will be provided. Do we have to book any InfoPass appointment for filing I-130 or just walk-in, please? Is it possible to request while filing form I-130 to have an interview in London instead of Mumbai since my husband is working in London.

Will you get an approval for Green card after your interview on 8th April 2019 in Mumbai, plrase?

Thanks again for help.

 

Best Regards.

 

[Kuneesa 92]

34 minutes ago, VNK said:

Hello Kuneesa,

     Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation.  You have mentioned that you have filed  CR-1 visa via DCF (Form I-130) in New Delhi, India on 8th Jan 2019.

     https://in.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/ Says that effective April 1, 2018, the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi will no longer process IR5, IR1, IR2, CR1, or CR2 visas, but you have filed it on 8th Jan 2019 and it is confusing and please clarify. We sent e-mail to cis.ndi@uscis.dhs.gov on closing of  International Immigration Office (New Delhi Field Office), but they replied that if you have an InfoPass appointment then requested service will be provided. Do we have to book any InfoPass appointment for filing I-130 or just walk-in, please? Is it possible to request while filing form I-130 to have an interview in London instead of Mumbai since my husband is working in London.

Will you get an approval for Green card after your interview on 8th April 2019 in Mumbai, plrase?

Thanks again for help.

 

Best Regards.

 

Hey,

That notification is regarding the processing of Immigrant Visas in Delhi Embassy. The Immigrant Visas are still processing, just in Mumbai embassy. That means the actual visa interview will be in Mumbai. Before that, one could've done the interview in Delhi too. 

To file I-130 which is the first part of the process, you have to file it at USCIS Delhi field office which is a separate office, although it is inside the Delhi Embassy. Yes, you have to make an Infopass appointment from here (https://my.uscis.gov/en/appointment/intl) and select "I-130 Petition". They are still giving out appointments for that so it means the DCF process is still running.

For the interview in London, honestly, only USCIS can clarify on that. 

Yes if the interview is approved, the beneficiary gets a CR-1/IR-1 visa and as soon as the beneficiary enters the US, the green card is mailed to their US address and it usually takes a couple of weeks to get the green card. 

Hope this helps! 

[Kuneesa 92]

***UPDATE***

We were able to snag an earlier appointment for 25th March rather than my original date of 8th April. 

We had our interview today and we are APPROVED😊

I'll update the thread with a detailed review of how did the interview go and everything, but for now, packing takes priority. Wish us luck! 😁

Edited March 25, 2019 by Kuneesa

[AnonIndia 58]

6 hours ago, Kuneesa said:

***UPDATE***

We were able to snag an earlier appointment for 25th March rather than my original date of 8th April. 

We had our interview today and we are APPROVED😊

I'll update the thread with a detailed review of how did the interview go and everything, but for now, packing takes priority. Wish us luck! 😁

Congratulations! Have a blessed life together! Update us on the process once you guys are done with the celebrations!

[VNK 1]

Hello Kuneesa, 

    Congratulations !!! Do I have to file I-130A ( Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary) also along with I-130 or not, please? Thanks.

[Kuneesa 92]

13 hours ago, AnonIndia said:

Congratulations! Have a blessed life together! Update us on the process once you guys are done with the celebrations!

Thank you! Will update this thread for sure

 

5 hours ago, VNK said:

Hello Kuneesa, 

    Congratulations !!! Do I have to file I-130A ( Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary) also along with I-130 or not, please? Thanks.

Thank you! Yes we did file I-130A. Please check the first post in this thread. I've posted a list of all the documents that we took with us while filing the I-130 petition. 

[Kuneesa 92]

The CR-1 interview experience thread is shared here

[kkodi721 1]

Are there any specification for the passport size photos (US template) or just normal passport size photos are required?

Also-  what if my husband and I never lived together since marriage (married in Feb ending and had to leave the country for work immediately)?

[Kuneesa 92]

14 minutes ago, kkodi721 said:

Are there any specification for the passport size photos (US template) or just normal passport size photos are required?

Also-  what if my husband and I never lived together since marriage (married in Feb ending and had to leave the country for work immediately)?

You can check the requirement for photos here. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/photos.html

As long as you are legally married, it should not matter because you have a reason (job?) for staying in different countries. Though you have to prove the bona fides of the marriage with the submission of I-130 and there is a lot of other evidence that you can use for that. 

Edited April 1, 2019 by Kuneesa

[millefleur 5,046]

3 hours ago, kkodi721 said:

Also-  what if my husband and I never lived together since marriage (married in Feb ending and had to leave the country for work immediately)?

Very common. It's all about showing evidence for the timeline of your relationship. If you married and lived together at the time of filing, they will except to see some evidence of cohabitation. If you married and have never lived together, focus on time spent together and the recent wedding.