Direct Consular Filing Questions for Mexico City

[kitkat1 5]

Becca, this is really good to know and I'm glad we have a recent experience to clarify some of the misinformation (my own included). So yes, DCF is done in Mexico (just as indicated in the DCF guides here on VJ) but there are some important details in this thread that need correction:

It is, and always has been, possible to DCF in Mexico City. There is a USCIS Field Office at the Embassy there, and they will accept I-130 from USCs with FM-2 or FM-3 Mexican visas.

Any consulate or embassy can accept the I-130 petition, but they will send the case to the consulate that handles immigrant cases

Nope -- Mexican consulates will NOT accept the I-130. They must go through the Field Office as beccas did.

Mexico City does NOT issue the visa in these cases. Only the petition is adjudicated at the USCIS Filed office (which saves a good 6-8 months I assume). The petition will still be transferred to Ciudad Juarez where the interview will take place. Current wait times for a CRI/IRI interview are 12-14 months.

On a side note, in Mexico it's ALWAYS faster to go the K1 route since there is no wait for a fiance visa interview to be assigned.

[crfmexico 0]

Becca, this is really good to know and I'm glad we have a recent experience to clarify some of the misinformation (my own included). So yes, DCF is done in Mexico (just as indicated in the DCF guides here on VJ) but there are some important details in this thread that need correction:

It is, and always has been, possible to DCF in Mexico City. There is a USCIS Field Office at the Embassy there, and they will accept I-130 from USCs with FM-2 or FM-3 Mexican visas.

Any consulate or embassy can accept the I-130 petition, but they will send the case to the consulate that handles immigrant cases

Nope -- Mexican consulates will NOT accept the I-130. They must go through the Field Office as beccas did.

Mexico City does NOT issue the visa in these cases. Only the petition is adjudicated at the USCIS Filed office (which saves a good 6-8 months I assume). The petition will still be transferred to Ciudad Juarez where the interview will take place. Current wait times for a CRI/IRI interview are 12-14 months.

On a side note, in Mexico it's ALWAYS faster to go the K1 route since there is no wait for a fiance visa interview to be assigned.

Thanks for the further clarification. It gets really confusing jumping around from web site to web site trying to sort out who does what and how.

A few more questions:

1. Can I go the K1 route if I am living here and not in the states and we plan to marry here? I thought the K1 was only for marriages that take place in the U.S. and the American citizen is living in the U.S.

2. As it relates to weddings, we are both practical, frugal, not-big-on-pomp and circumstance sorts who figured it would be better to save our money for a house back in the states rather than have a big wedding, and my family cannot come here anyway. We were planning to go visit to our friend who is a judge in the Registro Civil and have the legal ceremony, then perhaps just have dinner with his family afterward. Will this hurt us if we do not have a wedding album as evidence of our happy union when it comes time for the adjustment of status down the road? In other words, will immigration look askance at a couple that skips the flowers, cake, fancy dress and rings?

Thanks again for all the great help and advice!

[MargotDarko 0]

Becca, this is really good to know and I'm glad we have a recent experience to clarify some of the misinformation (my own included). So yes, DCF is done in Mexico (just as indicated in the DCF guides here on VJ) but there are some important details in this thread that need correction:

It is, and always has been, possible to DCF in Mexico City. There is a USCIS Field Office at the Embassy there, and they will accept I-130 from USCs with FM-2 or FM-3 Mexican visas.

Any consulate or embassy can accept the I-130 petition, but they will send the case to the consulate that handles immigrant cases

Nope -- Mexican consulates will NOT accept the I-130. They must go through the Field Office as beccas did.

Mexico City does NOT issue the visa in these cases. Only the petition is adjudicated at the USCIS Filed office (which saves a good 6-8 months I assume). The petition will still be transferred to Ciudad Juarez where the interview will take place. Current wait times for a CRI/IRI interview are 12-14 months.

On a side note, in Mexico it's ALWAYS faster to go the K1 route since there is no wait for a fiance visa interview to be assigned.

Thanks for the further clarification. It gets really confusing jumping around from web site to web site trying to sort out who does what and how.

A few more questions:

1. Can I go the K1 route if I am living here and not in the states and we plan to marry here? I thought the K1 was only for marriages that take place in the U.S. and the American citizen is living in the U.S.

2. As it relates to weddings, we are both practical, frugal, not-big-on-pomp and circumstance sorts who figured it would be better to save our money for a house back in the states rather than have a big wedding, and my family cannot come here anyway. We were planning to go visit to our friend who is a judge in the Registro Civil and have the legal ceremony, then perhaps just have dinner with his family afterward. Will this hurt us if we do not have a wedding album as evidence of our happy union when it comes time for the adjustment of status down the road? In other words, will immigration look askance at a couple that skips the flowers, cake, fancy dress and rings?

Thanks again for all the great help and advice!

I'm sorry I can't definitely answer the first question here, but as for the second question, it definitely doesn't matter. Having a big wedding isn't relevant to having a bonafide marriage.

[kitkat1 5]

1. Can I go the K1 route if I am living here and not in the states and we plan to marry here? I thought the K1 was only for marriages that take place in the U.S. and the American citizen is living in the U.S.

No - K1s are for bringing a foreign fiance to the US in order to marry and live. You can FILE from Mexico while you are there (using your parent's permanent address in the US so your mail is received) but once the visa is in hand, you have to enter the US within 6 months and marry within 90 days in the US.

2. As it relates to weddings, we are both practical, frugal, not-big-on-pomp and circumstance sorts who figured it would be better to save our money for a house back in the states rather than have a big wedding, and my family cannot come here anyway. We were planning to go visit to our friend who is a judge in the Registro Civil and have the legal ceremony, then perhaps just have dinner with his family afterward. Will this hurt us if we do not have a wedding album as evidence of our happy union when it comes time for the adjustment of status down the road? In other words, will immigration look askance at a couple that skips the flowers, cake, fancy dress and rings?

Nothing about the wedding is important - there are no wedding "requirements" for a visa.

[payxibka 10,045]

Nothing about the wedding is important - there are no wedding "requirements" for a visa.

wedding = the act of marrying

based on the definition above, for a K-3 and IR1/CR1 there is a "wedding" requirement as you must actually be married.

Just to add clarity to what kitkat1 posted above, there is no size, style, format or type of wedding ceremony requirement for a visa as the only requirement would be that you are legally married.

Edited August 22, 2007 by fwaguy

[kitkat1 5]

wedding = the act of marrying

based on the definition above, for a K-3 and IR1/CR1 there is a "wedding" requirement as you must actually be married.

Clearly the question was about the type of wedding, not whether or not they actually have to be married!

will immigration look askance at a couple that skips the flowers, cake, fancy dress and rings?

[senoritacindy 0]

i know this link is kind of old, but i just wanted to post that i also filed for the K-3 visa and IR-1 visa in mexico city. i have been living in mexico for almost 2 years, so i already had my fm-3, but we had no problems submiting our papers. we filed on march 1, 2007, got our second packet and returned it in may (i think) and our appointment in cuidad juarez was made on sept. 6th for the 11th of december. so it wasn't a year wait. but times are constantly changing, so you never really know what will happen. but i had a very positive experience in mexico city filing the papers.

hope this helps anyone that is considering!

cindy