Frankfort DCF Questions (Merged)

[smuller 2]

On 11/6/2023 at 4:08 PM, megaladon said:

To clarify, I do maintain a domicile and intent to return to the USA.  By living in Germany, I don't mean I'm a German resident.  I'm here under TESA and US Military orders.  It's not intended to be a permanent stay in Germany.  The plan is to bring her here to live with me while I'm in Germany then return to the USA when my contract here ends.  I don't know if this is exceptional circumstances, but I would have to quit my job to go back to the USA, which seems like an exceptional burden.

What she can do is, apply for a BFD (Bundesfreiwilligendienst (She will need German level A2 or B2 minimum for it. If you’re in Vilseck I might know a place taking with low German level)) in Germany in the same city or at a city close to you. Then she will be able to do DCF in Frankfurt. 
My husband is also military (was in Germany also but has returned to the US) and I am BFD in Germany as well. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by smuller

[megaladon 2]

Would someone who has successfully submitted a request for direct/local processing of an I-130 to the consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, please provide the following:

What's the correct email address to use?

How long to wait for them to respond?

 

Should I follow up with another email or what should I do as I received no response for a month?

 

 

[Crazy Cat 41,814]

***DCF threads merged to preserve history of OP questions under a single subject thread***

- VJ Moderation

Edited December 15, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[megaladon 2]

Hi,

 

I emailed the US Embassy in Frankfurt a request for direct consular filing, as I believe I meet the requirements.  The email address I used was frankfurtvisainquiries@state.gov, and they responded that this is the email address for questions about immigrant visas with an automatic reply, so it appears I have found the correct email address, but it's unclear as they don't say if they mean US immigrant visas or German Immigrant visas.   But it also says they won't read my email unless I first go to Visa Navigator.  However, the link they provided to get to the Visa Navigator did not work.  I googled for Visa Navigator and found a German website, but I don't know why they would be referring me there, as I'm a US citizen looking for help.  Is there also a US website Visa Navigator, and maybe they forgot to update the link?

All this is after using an other email address to contact them which I thought was valid, and I know people have used in the past, but I never received any response from that inquiry a month ago.

 

I've literally been trying to reach the US consulate for over a month with no success, simply to file my request.  How the heck do I move my request forward as I can't figure out how to reach the US consulate?

[Crazy Cat 41,814]

***OP's Frankfort DCF threads merged again***

Edited December 19, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[D-R-J 192]

On 12/19/2023 at 3:14 AM, megaladon said:

Hi,

 

I emailed the US Embassy in Frankfurt a request for direct consular filing, as I believe I meet the requirements.  The email address I used was frankfurtvisainquiries@state.gov, and they responded that this is the email address for questions about immigrant visas with an automatic reply, so it appears I have found the correct email address, but it's unclear as they don't say if they mean US immigrant visas or German Immigrant visas.   But it also says they won't read my email unless I first go to Visa Navigator.  However, the link they provided to get to the Visa Navigator did not work.  I googled for Visa Navigator and found a German website, but I don't know why they would be referring me there, as I'm a US citizen looking for help.  Is there also a US website Visa Navigator, and maybe they forgot to update the link?

All this is after using an other email address to contact them which I thought was valid, and I know people have used in the past, but I never received any response from that inquiry a month ago.

 

I've literally been trying to reach the US consulate for over a month with no success, simply to file my request.  How the heck do I move my request forward as I can't figure out how to reach the US consulate?

Looks like the visa navigator is just a fancy google doc: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScEvNF5RK-2bvqW7SicenUtdxrPxl-4XfdyfR6FWoC3uNRk4g/viewform

 

I went through and these were the instructions I got for your situation:

 

How long ago did you send the email? I bet you will get a response from that address eventually.

[D-R-J 192]

Maybe try this address:

USCIS may authorize the Department of State to accept a petition filed with a U.S. Embassy or consulate in other limited circumstances (PDF, 60.52 KB).  To request to file Form I-130 at the U.S. Consulate in Frankfurt, please send an email to FrankfurtIV@state.gov.

[megaladon 2]

So far I've determined that FrankfurtIV@state.gov does not work.  I sent a request there over a month ago and got no reply.

 

I agree that frankfurtvisainquiries@state.gov is probably the correct email address, as of December 2023, and so I plan to try it.  Just emailing this address rejects the email and provides an incorrect link to a visa navigator, and probably they mean US citizen services navigator and just haven't updated the email automatic response. 

 

I tried the navigator as well and it generated this email but didn't generate a code as the poster above found, but I emailed another department and they agreed to provide code 199 (or is it I999) for general questions.  I am preparing an email.

 

One thing that remains unclear is if I should attach my documents to the email requesting exception under emergency circumstances, so that they have all the info needed to make the decision, or to not submit the documents and only submit the request with an explanatory paragraph?

 

[Pat2014 2]

@megaladon, did you end up finding the correct Point of Contact for DCF in Frankfurt?  We're also really struggling finding out who to contact.

 

I've tried calling the Munich consulate, who referred me to file via USCIS for Visa requests (the woman on the phone didn't even let me explain I wanted DCF or hear my case, just immediately told me to use the website). 

 

So then we called the Frankfurt consulate but found it impossible to get a human being, being sent instead to a pre-recorded message telling us to file via USCIS every time, like with Munich. 

 

After that, I then emailed Frankfurt directly via FrankfurtIV@state.gov and was also told via auto-reply to use their website Navigator. 

 

After sending a message via the Navigator to frankfurtvisainquiries@state.gov, I was sent a strangely formatted reply email about military exceptions, reiterating the USCIS office at Frankfurt closed in 2020.
 

The closest thing I've gotten was a new email address (FrnUSCISInquiries@state.gov) from that reply, but I haven't heard a reply yet (it was sent a week ago).

 

I've seen multiple posts of couples requesting and getting DCF through Frankfurt since 2020, so I know there has to be someone to contact there.  Traveling to Frankfurt would be inconvenient but we will do it if that is the only way to go about DCF.

 

Am I missing something in the wiki, and/or do you have a Point of Contact I could refer to about my request?  We know that once we start the I-130, it's really hard/impossible to switch to DCF, so we don't want to do that unless we absolutely have to.

Thank you!

[megaladon 2]

14 minutes ago, Pat2014 said:

@megaladon, did you end up finding the correct Point of Contact for DCF in Frankfurt?  We're also really struggling finding out who to contact.

 

I've tried calling the Munich consulate, who referred me to file via USCIS for Visa requests (the woman on the phone didn't even let me explain I wanted DCF or hear my case, just immediately told me to use the website). 

 

So then we called the Frankfurt consulate but found it impossible to get a human being, being sent instead to a pre-recorded message telling us to file via USCIS every time, like with Munich. 

 

After that, I then emailed Frankfurt directly via FrankfurtIV@state.gov and was also told via auto-reply to use their website Navigator. 

 

After sending a message via the Navigator to frankfurtvisainquiries@state.gov, I was sent a strangely formatted reply email about military exceptions, reiterating the USCIS office at Frankfurt closed in 2020.
 

The closest thing I've gotten was a new email address (FrnUSCISInquiries@state.gov) from that reply, but I haven't heard a reply yet (it was sent a week ago).

 

I've seen multiple posts of couples requesting and getting DCF through Frankfurt since 2020, so I know there has to be someone to contact there.  Traveling to Frankfurt would be inconvenient but we will do it if that is the only way to go about DCF.

 

Am I missing something in the wiki, and/or do you have a Point of Contact I could refer to about my request?  We know that once we start the I-130, it's really hard/impossible to switch to DCF, so we don't want to do that unless we absolutely have to.

Thank you!

 

I went to the Frankfurt embassy website and tried the citizen navigator tool (despite previously being misdirected by the Embassy to use a "visa tool" at a URL that no longer exists.)

The tool provided the email to contact but the necessary subject line code was blank, so they have a glitch in their tool that makes it impossible to contact them on any non-standard question.

Calling them is no use as they no longer provide phone service, so they are basically making themselves unreachable.  

But at any rate what I had to do is contact a completely different department using an unrelated code and had to beg them to provide the code to put in the subject line for "other question" so I could get my question through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 16 by megaladon

[Pat2014 2]

Thanks @megaladon!  I'll keep bouncing around the Frankfurt departments to see if I find anything and I'll let you know. 

I did some research on the FrnUSCISinquiries@state.gov email address, and it kept showing up in all sorts of documents for expedited Visas in Germany, so I do think it is monitored and active.  However, most mentioned that due to the War in Ukraine, replies could take up to two weeks.  I'm right at my two week mark since last sending an email, so I sent another one just to be safe.

 

I'll keep you updated!

[Andrew+MM 7]

FrnUSCISInquiries@state.gov is the email address we used for the initial question as to whether we qualified. This was in October 2022 and an answer came back in 2 days.

[Pat2014 2]

@Andrew+MM thanks for the reply!  I still haven't heard back from that email address personally.  I plan on submitting my I-130 via DHL as a friend of mine recommended mailing it to them if bringing it in personally was not feasible.  I'll let everyone knows how that goes!

[Pat2014 2]

@megaladon and @Andrew+MM, unfortunately my packet was denied and no explanation was given, only that our situation "does not meet exceptional circumstances."

It turns out they had replied via email, exactly 1 month after my initial email, but it was sent to my spam folder.  Sounds cliche, but anyone reading this in a similar situation - maybe check there?

 

The consulate referenced this email in their written reply, which included the entire packet, check (not easy to acquire in Germany!), and supporting documentation we had sent two weeks prior.  Again, the letter did not give me any reason why, just that our situation did not qualify and referred us to the email sent, which also did not provide a reason why.

 

This outcome genuinely surprised, to say nothing of frustrated, me as I've seen countless anecdotal evidence that similar situations did warrant DCF in Germany as recently as last year, and DCF seems to more lenient in many other countries than Germany.

 

Outside of pleading with the Consulate or contacting my Congressional representatives, I don't know what else I can do.  I have to attend school on August 12th and fly back before that.

[Boiler 45,449]

What is your status in Germany?