That's it! No more DCF via Frankfurt

[Inita 44]

5 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

Yeah I wish I was wrong on changing to DCF! 

 

For your son, you might have your husband reach out to the US congressman or Senators from Hawaii and ask for their help getting things moved along.  Once your petition gets to the NVC you can get working on the financial info, etc.   Stress the financial burden and the DOD angle.

 Thank you  Does he need to be living in Hawaii or could he do that from Germany already as he'll be moving there at the end of March?

[Just Paul 4,595]

43 minutes ago, Inita said:

 Thank you  Does he need to be living in Hawaii or could he do that from Germany already as he'll be moving there at the end of March?

He can do that from Germany now.  Just contact the US Senators office or the US House Rep and explain he is moving there as DOD contractor, that he files for the two of you and the son was separated.   All of you will have to fill out a privacy release, scan and email after contact has been made.

[Nadja 0]

On 2/9/2020 at 6:51 AM, Paul & Mary said:

Once a case is filed it cannot be changed to DCF.   You can ask to have the petitions expedited at the NVC and consulate.

Does anyone know if we could do the DCF if we withdrew our application at USCIS? Thanks in advance! 

[SalishSea 17,829]

8 minutes ago, Nadja said:

Does anyone know if we could do the DCF if we withdrew our application at USCIS? Thanks in advance! 

I wouldn’t have thought so, that USCIS Office is closed now.

[Nadja 0]

7 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

I wouldn’t have thought so, that USCIS Office is closed now.

Well we would have a case for the exceptional situation so just wondering

[Just Paul 4,595]

2 hours ago, Nadja said:

Well we would have a case for the exceptional situation so just wondering

You can always contact the consulate and ask to be processed based on exceptional circumstances.  You can also contact USCIS on your existing petition and ask to have it expedited based  on those some exceptional circumstances.

[SorrowL 138]

On 2/18/2020 at 10:50 AM, Germerican said:

Quick question to anyone who filed via FRA and already submitted packet 3.

We sent in our packet 3 via priority mail on Jan 28. The next day the tracking status changed to

and has remained like this ever since.

Now, I assume this simply means that our packet was forwarded to a Consulate post office box and hopefully was received and is being worked on. Unfortunately, I don't know for sure and the Consulate's response was that we shouldn't contact them before it's been at least 30 days.

My concern is that our packet is lost somewhere and I won't know for another 2 weeks. If that were the case, it would throw a serious wrench in our in our relocation timeline.

I did already raise a trace request with Deutsche Post but no response so far.

Has anyone run into something like this before?

This happened to me when I submitted my I-130. Generally they do deliver it, but it takes a couple days longer for them to get. Took my “Einwurf Einschreiben” envelope 6 days longer than the standard. Eventually status changed to delivered. since then I’ve just sent all documents to the consulate via DHL EasyExpress, which costs 13€ but they’ll literally get it next day and you have full tracking evidence of it.

[Germerican 42]

On 2/21/2020 at 12:31 AM, SorrowL said:

This happened to me when I submitted my I-130. Generally they do deliver it, but it takes a couple days longer for them to get. Took my “Einwurf Einschreiben” envelope 6 days longer than the standard. Eventually status changed to delivered. since then I’ve just sent all documents to the consulate via DHL EasyExpress, which costs 13€ but they’ll literally get it next day and you have full tracking evidence of it.

Thanks for the update. I intended to send it via DHL and asked for Priority and Tracking at the counter. I was a bit in a hurry and didn't realize that they had sent it via Deutsche Post rather than DHL until it was already too late.
I've read of a few cases where people got the "redirected" message but it eventually switched. Mine hasn't so far, which is beginning to really worry me.

I have an email ready to send to the consulate as soon as it's been 30 days (Thursday this week). Still hoping that the tracking status just never updated though.

[SorrowL 138]

7 minutes ago, Germerican said:

Thanks for the update. I intended to send it via DHL and asked for Priority and Tracking at the counter. I was a bit in a hurry and didn't realize that they had sent it via Deutsche Post rather than DHL until it was already too late.
I've read of a few cases where people got the "redirected" message but it eventually switched. Mine hasn't so far, which is beginning to really worry me.

I have an email ready to send to the consulate as soon as it's been 30 days (Thursday this week). Still hoping that the tracking status just never updated though.

You can call Deutsche Post as well, to ask about the exact status. I hope for your documents aren’t lost. 

[Germerican 42]

On 2/24/2020 at 12:20 PM, SorrowL said:

You can call Deutsche Post as well, to ask about the exact status. I hope for your documents aren’t lost. 

Well, DP hasn’t been very helpful. Status still hasn’t changed.
 

I was getting ready to send out a status update request to the Consulate tomorrow, mentally preparing to find out that our paperwork was lost and trying to figure out our best course of action, when, just now, an email popped up from the Consulate, letting me know they are ready to begin final processing!

...

 

Phew!! I don’t easily stress anymore but as we’re getting closer to our departure date and not knowing whether they had actually received our stuff, it was beginning to test me a bit.

 

Now on to scheduling the medical and interview...

[SorrowL 138]

6 hours ago, Germerican said:

Well, DP hasn’t been very helpful. Status still hasn’t changed.
 

I was getting ready to send out a status update request to the Consulate tomorrow, mentally preparing to find out that our paperwork was lost and trying to figure out our best course of action, when, just now, an email popped up from the Consulate, letting me know they are ready to begin final processing!

...

 

Phew!! I don’t easily stress anymore but as we’re getting closer to our departure date and not knowing whether they had actually received our stuff, it was beginning to test me a bit.

 

Now on to scheduling the medical and interview...

Good luck! I just got to the US yesterday. I’m glad they got your stuff and you’re in final processing. Depending on where you do your medical, it could take about 5-9 days until the consulate gets it based on lab processing times and all that. 

[Germerican 42]

15 hours ago, SorrowL said:

Good luck! I just got to the US yesterday. I’m glad they got your stuff and you’re in final processing. Depending on where you do your medical, it could take about 5-9 days until the consulate gets it based on lab processing times and all that. 

Glad you made it all right! I just scheduled my medical in FRA for the 9th and the interview for the following week on the 16th. We are planning to leave around April 6th, so if everything goes smoothly, we should be able to stick to that timeline.

[amusebouche 0]

How is COVID-19 impacting everyone?

 

I recently secured a job offer in the US needing to relocate in the next few months.  I am going to contact the consulate to check if they can process DCF as an 'exceptional circumstance'.  However, I saw the following in a recent email update from DOS:

 

Quote

"The U.S. Embassy in Berlin and Consulates General Frankfurt and Munich are only offering emergency services.  All routine consular services remain suspended."

 

So, obviously there is only a "bare bones" crew working at the consulates now and DCF is not an emergency service, but do you think that the consulate will be able to tell me whether they'll *eventually* be able to grant the DCF?  Otherwise, I've thought to wait another month to request the DCF.  I wouldn't need to relocate until mid-May at the latest.

 

Thanks!

[Nadja 0]

18 minutes ago, amusebouche said:

How is COVID-19 impacting everyone?

 

I recently secured a job offer in the US needing to relocate in the next few months.  I am going to contact the consulate to check if they can process DCF as an 'exceptional circumstance'.  However, I saw the following in a recent email update from DOS:

 

 

So, obviously there is only a "bare bones" crew working at the consulates now and DCF is not an emergency service, but do you think that the consulate will be able to tell me whether they'll *eventually* be able to grant the DCF?  Otherwise, I've thought to wait another month to request the DCF.  I wouldn't need to relocate until mid-May at the latest.

 

Thanks!

You can always send them an email and ask, since it still takes a good two months to have the VOH. If you currently have a case that is being processed at the service centers in the States they won‘t accept any exceptional circumstance cases

[amusebouche 0]

1 hour ago, Nadja said:

You can always send them an email and ask, since it still takes a good two months to have the VOH. If you currently have a case that is being processed at the service centers in the States they won‘t accept any exceptional circumstance cases

 

I guess my question is really whether the consulate's decision to grant DCF is influenced by any current staff shortages because of COVID -- i.e., if the same underlying 'exceptional circumstances' are less likely to result in a grant of DCF now vs. when things are more normal post-COVID.