DCF i 130 from Moscow? or montreal? or Mexico?

[Crazy Cat 41,837]

45 minutes ago, lalaland said:

I am Canadian ,,with a HOME in Canada and residency in CANADA.

Is your spouse in Canada?

[*Snowdrop* 604]

2 minutes ago, analitikas said:

USCIS manual states that the residency is not a requirement. https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-b-chapter-3

Having said that, I was asked to show 6 months and I imagine embassies around the world will have their own set of critieria.

 

Just ask them. 

 

Exactly - they haven't made a hard and fast residency rule in the guidelines but you know that they are going to be asking questions to make sure that petitioners aren't simply trying to get around the waiting times for domestic filing.

[Crazy Cat 41,837]

9 minutes ago, analitikas said:

USCIS manual states that the residency is not a requirement. https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-b-chapter-3

Having said that, I was asked to show 6 months and I imagine embassies around the world will have their own set of critieria.

 

Just ask them. 

I read Chapter 3.  I guess I missed it.  Can you point me to the statement which states that? 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Crazy Cat

[*Snowdrop* 604]

1 minute ago, Crazy Cat said:

I read Chapter 3.  I guess I missed it.  Can you point me to the statement which states that? 

 

 

a. (U) Physical Presence and Residence Requirements:

(1)  (U) In General: You may only adjudicate the above petitions (consistent with additional requirements imposed below) if the petitioner and the beneficiary meet specific physical presence and residence requirements:

(a)  (U) Physical Presence:

(i)     (U) The petitioner and the beneficiary are physically present in the district.  The petitioner must file the petition by personally appearing at the consular section with the original documents.

(ii)    (U) The beneficiary is able to remain in the country for the time it normally takes to process the visa.

(b)  (U) Residence:

(i)     (U) Petitioner:

(A)    (U) Form I-130: A petitioner filing a Form I-130 at post is not required to be a resident of the consular district, but residence may be considered as a factor for acceptance under both the exceptional circumstances and blanket filing authorizations. A petitioner may not file overseas for the express purposes of trying to circumvent the processing times associated with domestic filings;

(B)    (U) Form I-360: A widow(er) of a U.S. citizen self-petitioning under Form I-360 must be a resident of the consular district.  You must require appropriate evidence that the widow(er) has permission to reside in the consular district; and

(C)    (U) Form I-600: A petitioner filing a Form I-600 at post is not required to be a resident of the consular district but must have been, or will be, physically present at some point during the adoption or immigrant visa process (up until visa issuance) within the jurisdiction of the U.S. embassy or consulate designated to act on the petition.  See 9 FAM 502.3-3(C)(3).

(ii)    (U) Beneficiary:  The beneficiary need not be a resident of the consular district.  However, a self-petitioning widow(er) must meet the residence requirements set forth above in 9 FAM 504.2-4(B)(1) paragraph a(1)(b)(i).

 

 

But when they say 

 

but residence may be considered as a factor for acceptance under both the exceptional circumstances and blanket filing authorizations.

 

and

 

A petitioner may not file overseas for the express purposes of trying to circumvent the processing times associated with domestic filings;

 

You know they are looking out for people who are cherry picking consulates

 

[Crazy Cat 41,837]

@*Snowdrop*, thank you.  I appreciate the response.

and that also says this:

"...but residence may be considered as a factor for acceptance under both the exceptional circumstances and blanket filing authorizations. A petitioner may not file overseas for the express purposes of trying to circumvent the processing times associated with domestic filings;" 

 

This is exactly what the OP is trying to do, it seems to me. 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Crazy Cat

[*Snowdrop* 604]

Just now, Crazy Cat said:

and that also says this:

"...but residence may be considered as a factor for acceptance under both the exceptional circumstances and blanket filing authorizations. A petitioner may not file overseas for the express purposes of trying to circumvent the processing times associated with domestic filings;" 

 

This is exactly what the OP is trying to do. 

 

Right - I think I mentioned that in my post

 

[Crazy Cat 41,837]

1 minute ago, *Snowdrop* said:

 

Right - I think I mentioned that in my post

 

Sorry.  I missed that.  I greatly appreciate the reference you provided.  I was looking at a summary, I guess......Thank you.

[analitikas 3]

9 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

I read Chapter 3.  I guess I missed it.  Can you point me to the statement which states that? 

last sentence in section A

 

"DOS may consider a petitioner’s residency within the consular district when determining whether to accept a filing, but it is not required.^[5] "

[Crazy Cat 41,837]

Just now, analitikas said:

last sentence in section A

 

"DOS may consider a petitioner’s residency within the consular district when determining whether to accept a filing, but it is not required.^[5] "

Got it.  Thank you so much. I think the requirement used to be listed on some consulate web sites.  The DCF guide, here on VJ, lists a reference....but the link is dead.

[lalaland 0]

5 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

@*Snowdrop*, thank you.  I appreciate the response.

and that also says this:

"...but residence may be considered as a factor for acceptance under both the exceptional circumstances and blanket filing authorizations. A petitioner may not file overseas for the express purposes of trying to circumvent the processing times associated with domestic filings;" 

 

This is exactly what the OP is trying to do, it seems to me. 

this is what YOU think that Im doing but NOT WHAT I AM TRYING TO DO!

I DO have a one in a lifetime job offer that I need to accept . The US embassy in Russia is CLOSED!!!(or semi) so I am trying to see how I can do this.

Who are you to say that im trying to circumvent anything?????????? read my posts!!!.

[*Snowdrop* 604]

1 minute ago, Crazy Cat said:

Got it.  Thank you so much. I think the requirement used to be listed on some consulate web sites.  The DCF guide, here on VJ, lists a reference....but the link is dead.

Yes - it was definitely a requirement on the good old regular DCF  - although it was definitely consulate dependent - some were more strict than others. I know the UK was definitely at least six months required. 

 

 

[*Snowdrop* 604]

Just now, lalaland said:

this is what YOU think that Im doing but NOT WHAT I AM TRYING TO DO!

I DO have a one in a lifetime job offer that I need to accept . The US embassy in Russia is CLOSED!!!(or semi) so I am trying to see how I can do this.

Who are you to say that im trying to circumvent anything?????????? read my posts!!!.

 

Because if it's really an urgent job offer which you will lose if you don't move to the USA asap you haven't got time to move you and your wife to another country to be able to use the other consulate.

 

It's horrible and I really feel for you but what most people end up doing is the US citizen goes back to the USA to take up their job offer and the couple have to be apart while waiting for the visa to process. 

 

 

 

[lalaland 0]

26 minutes ago, *Snowdrop* said:

I think there are some miscommunications here but here are your options and issues:

 

First:

DCF as it was no longer exists. There used to be a regular and well-used option in many if not most countries where the petition could be filed abroad if the petitioner AND beneficiary were living together there. You qualified for this option IF both the beneficiary AND petitioner were legally resident in the country of filing. AND the petitioner had lived there for over six months. (This was to stop people popping over on a tourist visa to get round the long waits for US filing). 

 

This all stopped in 2020 - USCIS started closing down it's field offices for this option one by one. I think the UK was one of the last to close, I know lots of people were rushing to make the deadline in the UK forum.

 

Next point:

Filing abroad is still possible. But only in exceptional circumstances and meeting those is fairly tough. The guidelines over residency have changed slightly because it's no longer the DCF process of before. Residency still comes into play but there's not a hard and fast rule about timeframes (going by the government's immigrant petition guidelines which I will link to)

 

9 FAM 504.2-4(B)  (U) Required Conditions for Filing Petitions at Post

9 FAM 504.2-4(B)(1)  (U) I-600 Petitions and Certain I-130  and I-360 Petitions

(CT:VISA-1248;   03-10-2021)

a. (U) Physical Presence and Residence Requirements:

(1)  (U) In General: You may only adjudicate the above petitions (consistent with additional requirements imposed below) if the petitioner and the beneficiary meet specific physical presence and residence requirements:

(a)  (U) Physical Presence:

(i)     (U) The petitioner and the beneficiary are physically present in the district.  The petitioner must file the petition by personally appearing at the consular section with the original documents.

(ii)    (U) The beneficiary is able to remain in the country for the time it normally takes to process the visa.

(b)  (U) Residence:

(i)     (U) Petitioner:

(A)    (U) Form I-130: A petitioner filing a Form I-130 at post is not required to be a resident of the consular district, but residence may be considered as a factor for acceptance under both the exceptional circumstances and blanket filing authorizations. A petitioner may not file overseas for the express purposes of trying to circumvent the processing times associated with domestic filings;

 

(U) Exceptional Circumstances:  The following are examples of the types of exceptional circumstances where consular officers may opt to accept I-130 immediate relative petitions:

(a)  (U) U.S. Military emergencies:  A U.S. service member, who is abroad but who does not fall under the military blanket authorization for U.S. service members stationed abroad on military bases, becomes aware of a new deployment or transfer with little notice.  This exception generally applies in cases where the U.S. service member is provided with exceptionally less notice than would normally be expected.

(b)  (U) Medical emergencies:  A petitioner or beneficiary is facing an urgent medical emergency that requires immediate travel.

(c)  (U) Threats to personal safety:  A petitioner or beneficiary is facing an imminent threat to personal safety.  For example, a petitioner and beneficiary may have been forced to flee their country of residence due to civil strife or natural disaster and are in precarious circumstances in a different country outside of the United States.

(d)  (U) Close to aging out:  A beneficiary is within a few months of aging out of eligibility.

(e)  (U) Petitioner has recently naturalized:  A petitioner and family member(s) have traveled for the preference immigrant visa interview, but the petitioner has recently naturalized and the family member(s) require a new petition based on the petitioner's citizenship.

(f)   (U) Adoption of a child:  A petitioner has adopted a child abroad and has an imminent need to depart the country.  This type of case should only be considered if the petitioner has a full and final adoption decree on behalf of the child and the adoptive parent(s) has had legal custody of and jointly resided with the child for at least 2 years.

(g)  (U) Short notice of position relocation:  A U.S. Citizen petitioner, living and working abroad, received a job offer in or reassignment to the United States with little notice for the required start date.

(h)  (U) Other:  The Consular Section may exercise its discretion to accept local Form I-130 filings for other emergency or exceptional circumstances of a non-routine nature, subject to the limitations set forth in 9 FAM 504.2-4(B)(1)(f).  However, such filings must be truly urgent and otherwise limited to situations when filing with USCIS online or domestically with an expedite request would likely not be sufficient to address the time-sensitive and exigent nature of the situation.

 

So technically - if you and your wife can go to Canada or Germany or another country then you can petition there. HOWEVER - your wife must be able to legally stay in that country for as long as the petition takes to adjudicate. 

 

Now here's where your problem lies:

 

1. Your only exceptional circumstances category as you've described it is Short notice of position relocation:  A U.S. Citizen petitioner, living and working abroad, received a job offer in or reassignment to the United States with little notice for the required start date.

 

If your job offer is urgent and short notice enough to qualify under this category then it's not going to give you time to arrange to go and live in another country. It's going to be very clear to the consular offier that you are cherry picking locations to try to circumnavigate the wait of the US process, and they are very strict about that.

 

A petitioner may not file overseas for the express purposes of trying to circumvent the processing times associated with domestic filings;

 

They are going to want to know exactly why you both ended up in Canada or Germany just before you need to go back to the US. 

 

So your best option to use the job as exceptional circumstances is to work out how to file via Russia or whichever consulate is dealing with Russia's applications at the moment. It's still going to be a long shot but could be worth a try. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thank you..it is very clear now ..thank you 🙏

[lalaland 0]

3 minutes ago, *Snowdrop* said:

 

Because if it's really an urgent job offer which you will lose if you don't move to the USA asap you haven't got time to move you and your wife to another country to be able to use the other consulate.

 

It's horrible and I really feel for you but what most people end up doing is the US citizen goes back to the USA to take up their job offer and the couple have to be apart while waiting for the visa to process. 

 

 

 

i guess this is what i will have to do then 🙏

[*Snowdrop* 604]

You are in a Catch-22 situation - which happens a lot in immigration journeys. 

 

To qualify for the Short notice of position relocation - you'll have to show short notice

 

If you have time to relocate to Canada or another European country then it lacks urgency.