Our DCF Experience in Ecuador

[jessibicho 0]

I am not sure if other South American countries let you DCF, and apparently I am the only person on VJ who is married to an Ecuadorian, but if other South American countries let you DCF then this may be helpful.

First of all you should learn about which type of visa you will be applying for because at the embassy in Quito the people were not helpful and just threw forms at us..... My husband and I are applying for the CR1 but for months we thought we were doing a K3!

My husband and I filled out the forms and after a lengthy attempt to get our "original hand written marriage certificate from the book" , we wound up having to bribe a judge 80 dlls to give it to us.

In anycase once we had all the information we went to the embassy and filed the I-130. However, this was before I had discovered VJ, and we were not prepared for an interview.

At the interview the officer told us that we had not submitted sufficient evidence - we brought only a few photos and only about 4 of our wedding photos. Our parents did not attend the wedding because at the time they didnt know. This turned out to be a HUGE mistake and the officer essentially ripped us a new one.

She started making statements like "Perhaps your husbands mother didnt attend the wedding because she wants him to marry someone else" ..... Anyways it just went REALLY badly and in the end the officer decided to call friends and family members and question them to see if we were really married. She asked them trick questions too .......

What I have learned from this, and what I hope you will learn from this too is that you MUST be PREPARED - I have read a few posts on here from people sayng not to bring too much proof of the relationship - perhaps this is the case if you are marrying someone from someplace like Canada or the UK, but from my experiences in Ecuador I would say that you should be over prepared.

Find out about your countries visas stats - in Ecuador, for example, males between the ages of 18 to 35 basically CANNOT get a tourist visa to the US because they are at a "high risk" - if your husband or wife or fiance falls into this category and you are applying in a place like Ecuador I would come prepared for anything!

I hope this will help someone avoid the mistakes that we made!!

good luck!

[meauxna 15]

I am not sure if other South American countries let you DCF, and apparently I am the only person on VJ who is married to an Ecuadorian, but if other South American countries let you DCF then this may be helpful.

Hey jess, great report---thank you for sharing!

Can you tell us what qualified you to file the I-130 in Equador? Do you have a special visa/residency type, or have you spent a certain amount of time there?

That would be a big help for future filers.

Thanks!

[jessibicho 0]

HI Meauxana -

OK well in Ecuador to file DCF the USC must have a valid current visa and you have to fill out this paper that says that you are not married to anyone else. Then you take the paper to the embassy and they stamp it. Next you can get married. My visa was actually expired by several months, however there are always officials who are willing to give you the visa stamp under the table for about 200 dollars - the US embassy does not look at the USC's visa, only the people at the marriage license place look at it. Ecuador has SUPER strict visa policies.... currently they are charging people sometimes up to 2 thou for overstayed visas but if you go to the immigration office you can pay a fine of 200 dlls and they give you a paper that says you dont have to pay the 2 thousand and it gives you 48 hours to leave.

In anycase make sure that your visa is current - it doesnt matter if you are on a tourist visa or a student or volunteer visa, it just has to be current.

[meauxna 15]

HI Meauxana -

OK well in Ecuador to file DCF the USC must have a valid current visa and you have to fill out this paper that says that you are not married to anyone else. Then you take the paper to the embassy and they stamp it. Next you can get married. My visa was actually expired by several months, however there are always officials who are willing to give you the visa stamp under the table for about 200 dollars - the US embassy does not look at the USC's visa, only the people at the marriage license place look at it. Ecuador has SUPER strict visa policies.... currently they are charging people sometimes up to 2 thou for overstayed visas but if you go to the immigration office you can pay a fine of 200 dlls and they give you a paper that says you dont have to pay the 2 thousand and it gives you 48 hours to leave.

In anycase make sure that your visa is current - it doesnt matter if you are on a tourist visa or a student or volunteer visa, it just has to be current.

Thanks again, jess!

So there is no minimum period of stay required in Ecuador before filing? You could literally go there as a tourist and then file with the Consulate?

Sounds very good, but if anyone else would like to do this, I'd remind them that (as always) they should contact the Consulate and ask before making plans.

Congrats again!

[Jasman0717 9]

Thanks for sharing. What happens now?

[jessibicho 0]

Now we have to submit the I 864 and DS 230 and my husband must go for the interview. Apparenly in Ecuador it takes about 2 months to get an interview and they tell you then and there if you get the visa or not. However, there are a lot of fees that you have to pay for the interview. I think it comes out to around 500 dlls.

To respond to the question above, yes, I think it would be best to contact the embassy in Quito and make sure that you could get married there on any kind of visa, but this is the information that we were told. However, they seem to change their policies frequently and also they only serve american citizens on tuesdays and thursdays from 1 to 3 pm.