DCF for ‘exceptional circumstances’

[PJWhitby 17]

Hi everyone - I was wondering if anyone had any experiences with obtaining permission to file locally (I.e. at a local consulate) under the ‘exceptional circumstances’ route?

 

For background, my spouse (the I-130 petitioner) was just about to mail the I-130 package to the US to start the ‘normal’ process, when her company (at short notice) brought forward her transfer timeline. They now need her to move “ASAP” which leaves us a bit high and dry (among other things, her accommodation allowance is currently paying for our apartment; when this gets removed once she heads back to the US I’m going to struggle to cover the rent by myself). We were planning to request permission from the local US consulate here in Hong Kong to file locally since my spouse is having a change of employment at (very) short notice.

 

Does anyone have any tips on how to set out this request (I believe we email the consulate here through a web-form) in order to give us the best possible chance of having this approved? We were planning on mentioning the financial impact of the loss of the accommodation allowance, for example. We will also attach the letter from my wife’s company ‘proving’ the transfer of her employment back to the US; at the moment it simply reads that they anticipate her moving date to be “as soon as possible once all necessary administrative and logistical steps have been completed” - is this sufficient, or should we ask for a ‘set’ date to be included in a revised letter from her HR team? (It actually took us a while to get this letter from them since they were initially reluctant to put it in writing for some reason, but I only mention that as it might mean receiving a more ‘precise’ letter might take some time, for some internal company reason which is beyond my understanding). Realistically, she could be moved as soon as July, or maybe August/September depending on whether she tries to push back or not etc.

 

Any tips of thoughts would be greatly appreciated, and thanks a lot in advance!

[Chancy 6,241]

5 minutes ago, PJWhitby said:

I was wondering if anyone had any experiences with obtaining permission to file locally (I.e. at a local consulate) under the ‘exceptional circumstances’ route?

 

Many couples over at the DCF sub-forum have successfully gone through the process -- https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/82-direct-consular-filing-dcf-general-discussion/

 

[PJWhitby 17]

Ah, thank you! 😊

 

Moderators: obviously feel free to remove, or re-home this post if it fits better there. Thanks a lot!

[pushbrk 12,883]

Explain your circumstances and make the request.  However, whether you personally can continue to pay for your CURRENT housing out of your own income is not a valid concern, as there are solutions to that problem, like moving to a place you can afford, or your spouse assisting in covering the cost.

[PJWhitby 17]

Thanks! I thought maybe the Consulate wouldn’t really care about rental arrangements etc, but wondered if it provided a bit of colour - you think it’s detrimental to include it (or worth keeping in as an aside)?
 

Otherwise, do you think an HR letter without a ‘transfer’ date is problematic, or is the reference to ‘ASAP...’ etc sufficient? I know it’s difficult to tell what any one consular official might do on any given day, but if anyone has any experience in writing (or receiving!) these types of request that would be really great to understand! 🙂

[Boiler 45,489]

Focus on the reasons they will approve, relocation. They do not approve colour.

[PJWhitby 17]

Thank you - makes sense. Turns out there is only a 500 character limit (!) in what I can submit to the consulate anyway, so barely enough space for anything. Does anyone know how one is supposed to ‘attach’ the required files to the Visa Inquiry Form for the HK consulate? I think this may be a HK-specific question, but the web form doesn’t appear to allow you to do this, despite the instructions requiring it... Ho hum.

[Just Paul 4,595]

9 hours ago, PJWhitby said:

Thank you - makes sense. Turns out there is only a 500 character limit (!) in what I can submit to the consulate anyway, so barely enough space for anything. Does anyone know how one is supposed to ‘attach’ the required files to the Visa Inquiry Form for the HK consulate? I think this may be a HK-specific question, but the web form doesn’t appear to allow you to do this, despite the instructions requiring it... Ho hum.

Fax it to them . .  .(852) 2801-4151   You can also use the email support-hongkong@ustraveldocs.com   I remember there being another email but I can;t seem to put my finger on it.

[PJWhitby 17]

14 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

Fax it to them . .  .(852) 2801-4151   You can also use the email support-hongkong@ustraveldocs.com   I remember there being another email but I can;t seem to put my finger on it.

Thank you very much for that! It seems they have a bunch of fax numbers in different parts of their website (and the website says they will / won’t accept different things on them etc). I’ll give the one you provided a try as that appears on the immigrant visa page as well - many thanks again!