DCF in Jakarta, Indonesia

[andrewwynn 0]

I was just about to get my K1 visa paperwork started when i realized that indonesia was still on the shrinking list of countries where you can DCF...

I've been searching and not finding timeline information for anybody that's filed DCF from jakarta, and of course would be wildly interested in finding out.

There is one member i emailed when noticing they JUST started DCF in the same exact embassy, so needless to say i'm quite interested in following that case!

I am very curious what to expect from the point of the initial acceptance interview which seems to only take a bit over a week (yahoo!).. 'til the 'packet 3'.. and any ideas from that point.

We are getting married 2 Dec and i'm really hoping she won't have to wait much more than Feb 'til she can have her passport updated with the glued-in visa/PR.

Anybody with experience in this particular embassy?

Since we didn't get married yet it was kind of interesting starting to fill out the paperwork.. first time i ever checked [x] married on a form! That was bizarre.. i actually had to go back and change it.

Also.. there was some confusion about the civil registry of marriage there.. the embassy website said there was a 10 day waiting period... my fiancée thought it could actually be done before the church ceremony.

I'm very glad to have found this site.. actually i had bookmarked the original 'k1faq.com' or whatever it was and it didn't work anymore but google took me right here.

DCF seems to have solved some major issues we were having regarding the 'dance' of where to 'really' get married... and VJ is helping very much to calm nerves.

BTW.. 'pingo.com' has excellent rates to indonesia and most of the world.. something like 5-6 cents to land phone and 13.5 to mobile.

-awr

[meauxna 15]

I'm very glad to have found this site.. actually i had bookmarked the original 'k1faq.com' or whatever it was and it didn't work anymore but google took me right here.

DCF seems to have solved some major issues we were having regarding the 'dance' of where to 'really' get married... and VJ is helping very much to calm nerves.

Wow, there'a an oldie but a goodie site name.. that is the FAQ that lives here now.

I'm glad you've got the other poster (maspablo?) to give you some up to date info, but I think you'll find Jakarta pretty quick---about a month? They should be able to give you an idea.

We'll look forward to your stories!

Salamet!

[andrewwynn 0]

I recognized the faq here i was very glad to have found it! also i like the step-by-step pages though i coudln't find one for DCF nor a very accurate timeline. Although.. the person that is 'just ahead' of me has an estimated date of adjudication .. i'm wondering if that is accurate at all or is assuming he's filing from the usa.

-awr

[maspablo 0]

andrew

I am 12 hrs from interview in Jakarta.

I will get back to you more extensively in a day or so .

but simply ... You must do DCF in Indonesia , process so far has been simple and lightening quick .!

Thanks to this board , especially meauxna . I am very optimistic .

embassy personnel have been helpfull and answered all ??'s .

get all your .... lined up and go to jakarta!

andrew

I am 12 hrs from interview in Jakarta.

I will get back to you more extensively in a day or so .

but simply ... You must do DCF in Indonesia , process so far has been simple and lightening quick .!

Thanks to this board , especially meauxna . I am very optimistic .

embassy personnel have been helpfull and answered all ??'s .

You will need all her info( birth certificate and wedding book) translated , embassy will give u list of approved translators in jakarta , shouldnt take more than a day to do , we handed in day before interview.

also she will need medical check up , at least week before interview . again embassy has list of approved MD's the send test results to embassy before interview.

the prices $$ that they say u will pay , are definately more . bule prices $$ !!

yes , we were married on one date , and the marrriage book says another ( official date) just make sure u get the book .

u will also have to get sworn statement that u are single , to get INDO officials to official recognize marriage . ours was done by swearing before US official @ bali consulate office , small fee

get all your .... lined up and go to jakarta!

apologize for repost , had problem editing .

[meauxna 15]

I recognized the faq here i was very glad to have found it! also i like the step-by-step pages though i coudln't find one for DCF nor a very accurate timeline. Although.. the person that is 'just ahead' of me has an estimated date of adjudication .. i'm wondering if that is accurate at all or is assuming he's filing from the usa.

-awr

It is not possible to make a step by step guide for DCFs; re-read the Guide and you will see how to construct your own, personalized version.

Every Consular Office, even those within the same country, has its own way of doing these types of cases. You have to be prepared to do more research and think about the answers more with a DCF vs other type of case.

Not only that, but your local Consular Section will typically be very helpful to you. Don't be shy about contacting them.

I am 12 hrs from interview in Jakarta.

woohoo---you go, maspablo!

Will be eager to read your story.. I hope all is going well! (in fact, I'm sure it is)

[andrewwynn 0]

i suspect a lot of my next visit will be spent dealing with the embassy there so i can get things all in-order before i have to go back home (man that one will be the hardest ever).. i've had to part ways with Lita four times and they are always not easy.. but once we are actually married.. ouch! I am saving $ for my increased phone budget that's for sure!

-awr

ps.. waiting i'm on pins n needles to hear back from maspablo!

[meauxna 15]

i suspect a lot of my next visit will be spent dealing with the embassy there so i can get things all in-order before i have to go back home (man that one will be the hardest ever).. i've had to part ways with Lita four times and they are always not easy.. but once we are actually married.. ouch! I am saving $ for my increased phone budget that's for sure!

-awr

ps.. waiting i'm on pins n needles to hear back from maspablo!

awr,

don't you think you can get it all done in the one visit???

You really shouldn't have to have a lot of interaction w/the Embassy outside of your interview day. You can make the list of documents you need now, and start getting things ready..

or did I miss something?

Yes, I'll look forward to maspablo's message soon too!

[maspablo 0]

YEAH!! We got it !!! success finally , waiting for 2 yr anniversery to fly , so have permanet(she has green card ) . jan 5th 07 she has to go to embassy to give Passport ( get stamp)

back in Bali . interview was simple , same case officer we had when we handed I-130 in . she was called in room , then came back out to get me .

Spent maybe 10 minutes with officer , asked for emails , phone records and pictures . glanced at all , to make sure we were on up and up .

spent half time entering data on computer .

I will give all details in next few days.

Andrew , dont be intimidated , hand in I-130 and get it done. dont waste multiple visits .

thanks to all , Sincerely . thanks

What i mean , is she will get permanet green card as of Jan 5th 07 . 2 yr wedding anniversery date . She will then travel to USA for first time.

Edited October 20, 2006 by maspablo

[andrewwynn 0]

meauxna.. had i realized how the DCF would work.. I would have likely gotten officially married during my last trip.. and just used the 2 Dec. date as a reception.. Lita could have her visa by the time of the reception and returned with me.. as it stands now i will have to leave her behind because the visa process as quick as it looks like it will be.. will take more than 30 days of course so i will have to leave since i will only have a 30 day tourist visa of course. There is a chance i would go back to pick up lita if i have the $ at the time of her getting the visa, but that's not likely since i'd rather spend the $ on my USA reception.

The embassy has been exemplary with providing me with information, they emailed me all the forms that Lita will need AFTER the initial I-130 petition is put into motion, and the attitude of the agent was wonderful including a funny description basically saying 'duh why would anybody not use DCF' which made me feel very very good.. they also pointed out that i can actually give them a 2-week warning before i file my I-130 so they can verify Lita is not on a terrorist watch list... can shave 2 weeks off the wait for that I-130 interview.

Maspablo.. awesome feedback and thanks for posting again.. very cool on skipping visa to go right to green card.. sometimes it pays to wait i guess.. funny i miss-read your wedding date thought it was '06 not '05.

I will print out some of my phone records and emails etc to bring with to the interview.. I also have hundreds of pictures including her and me from my trips to jakarta.

email me with any juicy details i would love to hear any details you can supply!

Oh.. as far as handing in the I-130.. it will already be completely filled out only waiting for date and signature a month before i go there.. and i've already looked into using the 'magic form' that will likely let me waive the normal 10 day waiting period for registering the wedding..

Oh.. i have a question you might be able to answer:

with the religious and civil marriage separate.. what date do they use, or does the civil marriage registration just confirm the religious ceremony? i'm not going to be happy if my marriage certificate has a different date than my actual marriage.. the particular date has significant meaning to me.

-awr

[meauxna 15]

What i mean , is she will get permanet green card as of Jan 5th 07 . 2 yr wedding anniversery date . She will then travel to USA for first time.

Woohoo! Way to go maspablo!!

Did you wife submit DS-230, her police check etc?

What is the stamp she gets in Bali? And when does she get it?

Do understand that she will not get a 'green card' before she leaves for the US. She will use her Immigrant Visa. When she enters the US, she will have Permanent Resident status, and the green card which comes about a month later will be her evidence of that.

meauxna.. had i realized how the DCF would work.. I would have likely gotten officially married during my last trip.. and just used the 2 Dec. date as a reception.. Lita could have her visa by the time of the reception and returned with me..

awr,

Have you confirmed how long the timeline is from I-130-->visa interview? It might fall inside of the 30 days. But doesn't anyone do visa runs from Bali anymore?????

It sounds like the staff in Jakarta is great to work with! Good work on getting your forms packet early, and a tip for speeding up the name checks or whatever it is they do.

I'd appreciate any lists or info you guys can organize and post to help others with DCF Jakarta.

[maspablo 0]

We submitted police check with I-130 on 10/12, the DS-230 I handed in the day 10/18 before her interview which was 10/19 .

The Jakarta case officer explained that they only do 12 DCF's a week , so he wasnt worried about confusing our case . everything was very casual . I knew he would walk me thru any questions I had , or difficulties we faced. In fact day before inteview , when we handed in DS-230 he asked us about medical check up , we told him we completed it last week and doctor said he sent it , and he said " Ok, I will look for it later ".

Dayu (wife) gets stamp in Jakarta embassy on 2 yr anniversery for travel JAN 5 .07( she has to fly back to Jakarta from Bali ) , and then permanent (green card) visa comes to house by mail within a month of her arrival in USA .

Yes , she only get temporary visa in Jakarta to travel to USA .

and I will work on getting a better list of things to do

[William33 110]

andrewwynn,

If you need more time in Indonesia, you can do the "Singapore loop".

Basically, you fly to Batam, take the ferry to Singapore. Go through immigration in Singapore, hang around the ferry terminal for an hour or two until the return ferry to Batam. You can then get another 30 day visa on arrival for USD25. Fly back to Jakarta.

The whole operation can be done in 8 hours and for less than USD160 total.

meauxna.. had i realized how the DCF would work.. I would have likely gotten officially married during my last trip.. and just used the 2 Dec. date as a reception.. Lita could have her visa by the time of the reception and returned with me.. as it stands now i will have to leave her behind because the visa process as quick as it looks like it will be.. will take more than 30 days of course so i will have to leave since i will only have a 30 day tourist visa of course. There is a chance i would go back to pick up lita if i have the $ at the time of her getting the visa, but that's not likely since i'd rather spend the $ on my USA reception.

The embassy has been exemplary with providing me with information, they emailed me all the forms that Lita will need AFTER the initial I-130 petition is put into motion, and the attitude of the agent was wonderful including a funny description basically saying 'duh why would anybody not use DCF' which made me feel very very good.. they also pointed out that i can actually give them a 2-week warning before i file my I-130 so they can verify Lita is not on a terrorist watch list... can shave 2 weeks off the wait for that I-130 interview.

Maspablo.. awesome feedback and thanks for posting again.. very cool on skipping visa to go right to green card.. sometimes it pays to wait i guess.. funny i miss-read your wedding date thought it was '06 not '05.

I will print out some of my phone records and emails etc to bring with to the interview.. I also have hundreds of pictures including her and me from my trips to jakarta.

email me with any juicy details i would love to hear any details you can supply!

Oh.. as far as handing in the I-130.. it will already be completely filled out only waiting for date and signature a month before i go there.. and i've already looked into using the 'magic form' that will likely let me waive the normal 10 day waiting period for registering the wedding..

Oh.. i have a question you might be able to answer:

with the religious and civil marriage separate.. what date do they use, or does the civil marriage registration just confirm the religious ceremony? i'm not going to be happy if my marriage certificate has a different date than my actual marriage.. the particular date has significant meaning to me.

-awr

[andrewwynn 0]

actually we are thinking of a honeymoon to malaysia or singapore which would have the same effect... the trick is dealing with the round-trip ticket to get to jakarta that they want you to show on entry to get the visa in the first place.

-awr

[William33 110]

andrewwynn,

Of the time I spent in Jakarta, some of which was under a Kitas (for others who don't know - like a temp green card) there was a period of time where I did the "Singapore loop". I was never required to produce a return ticket. Of course, it helps if you speak decent Bahasa Indonesian.

In Batam, you will be processed in under five minutes, no return ticket questions asked. Just have the immigration card, Visa fee and passport ready to go. They always ask, tiga hari atau satu bulan (3 days or one month). The answer: "Se bulan pak, ya". That's it.

actually we are thinking of a honeymoon to malaysia or singapore which would have the same effect... the trick is dealing with the round-trip ticket to get to jakarta that they want you to show on entry to get the visa in the first place.

-awr

[andrewwynn 0]

thought i should follow-up..

married 2 dec 06

I-130 application 26 dec 06

IV interview 4 jan 07

visa on 9 jan 07

US entry 24 jan 07

whoo hoo.

-awr