File I-130 now or wait for DCF?

[rightsided 4]

Hi all,
I want to be as brief as possible. 

My situation:
I currently work in a U.S. company in Japan and have lived in Japan for the past 6 years. I have been married to my Japanese spouse for 3 years and we have three children together. We have decided to move forward with getting my wife a U.S. visa. I have been at my current company for a year and, thus, became eligible for overseas transfer. If offered a position stateside, I would probably have 3-6 months to relocate myself and my family. 

That brings me to my dilemma: Should I go ahead and file for the I-130, and possibly wait 12-14+ months for approval, or apply for a better position stateside and then go for DCF after I have received an offer? I want to minimize the time we will be separated as it will be quite difficult for anyone to care for three little ones all by themselves. 

Thanks for taking the time to read & respond. 

[Lil bear 4,261]

34 minutes ago, rightsided said:

Hi all,
I want to be as brief as possible. 

My situation:
I currently work in a U.S. company in Japan and have lived in Japan for the past 6 years. I have been married to my Japanese spouse for 3 years and we have three children together. We have decided to move forward with getting my wife a U.S. visa. I have been at my current company for a year and, thus, became eligible for overseas transfer. If offered a position stateside, I would probably have 3-6 months to relocate myself and my family. 

That brings me to my dilemma: Should I go ahead and file for the I-130, and possibly wait 12-14+ months for approval, or apply for a better position stateside and then go for DCF after I have received an offer? I want to minimize the time we will be separated as it will be quite difficult for anyone to care for three little ones all by themselves. 

Thanks for taking the time to read & respond. 

DCF will be no longer available in the near future. USCIS is closing all overseas offices by 2020. Some are already closed and DCF no longer available in those countries.  There will be approx  3 months notice of specific location closures .. you will need to decide quickly if your timing can take advantage of DCF still being available , or if Consular processing timeline works better. 

[rightsided 4]

Quote

DCF will be no longer available in the near future. USCIS is closing all overseas offices by 2020. Some are already closed and DCF no longer available in those countries.  There will be approx  3 months notice of specific location closures .. you will need to decide quickly if your timing can take advantage of DCF still being available , or if Consular processing timeline works better.

Thanks. Afaik, Japan's cases were handled through South Korea, so I may be SOL as the S.K. office closed last month...  

Edited October 27, 2019 by rightsided
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[Dashinka 24,642]

2 hours ago, rightsided said:

Hi all,
I want to be as brief as possible. 

My situation:
I currently work in a U.S. company in Japan and have lived in Japan for the past 6 years. I have been married to my Japanese spouse for 3 years and we have three children together. We have decided to move forward with getting my wife a U.S. visa. I have been at my current company for a year and, thus, became eligible for overseas transfer. If offered a position stateside, I would probably have 3-6 months to relocate myself and my family. 

That brings me to my dilemma: Should I go ahead and file for the I-130, and possibly wait 12-14+ months for approval, or apply for a better position stateside and then go for DCF after I have received an offer? I want to minimize the time we will be separated as it will be quite difficult for anyone to care for three little ones all by themselves. 

Thanks for taking the time to read & respond. 

As you mentioned, the USCIS office in South Korea was closed, so DCF is not really an option.  At this point, there are a lot of ifs in your question regarding timing.  If your company is a fairly large multinational company, you may want to talk to your HR to see how they handle international transfers when a spouse is a nonUSC.  Beyond that, I would start the I130 process now.

 

Good Luck!

[rightsided 4]

Thanks.... yes I will go ahead and submit the paperwork. Never know what may happen, and I'd rather have the ball rolling since DCF no longer looks like a viable option. 

[Just Paul 4,595]

You can request a DCF if there is no international field office and the consulate will contact USCIS to get permission to handle it.  When South Korea closes you can still request it via the immigrant visa unit in Japan.

[rightsided 4]

17 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

You can request a DCF if there is no international field office and the consulate will contact USCIS to get permission to handle it.  When South Korea closes you can still request it via the immigrant visa unit in Japan.

Wow, didn't know about this... I'm planning on filing my I-130 later this week, however. I wonder if I get a job offer/transfer during the application process, if it can be expedited. Thanks for all the input. 

[payxibka 10,047]

7 minutes ago, rightsided said:

Wow, didn't know about this... I'm planning on filing my I-130 later this week, however. I wonder if I get a job offer/transfer during the application process, if it can be expedited. Thanks for all the input. 

It won't be accepted unless you have extenuating circumstances at the time of filing