megaladon

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.

Ok, thanks! so I'll wait until I-130 is approved. Some follow up questions: 1. Should I update her address online where my I-130 is to Germany now, or also wait until the approval to do that change? 2. once it's approved, will she get an immediate notice to go to her home country embassy, and would that cause an issue in terms of not having enough time to transfer things? Or on the other hand delaying the process? Not sure I have a clear picture of what follows the approval.

Thanks. When I submitted the I-130 online I received a receipt notice that already has a case number. So I'm not clear on why they would issue a new case number or why this process is needed, since it's just an address change (and change of country). I already selected Frankfurt consular processing route on the I-130 online form.

I applied for direct consular filing in Frankfurt Germany, because I work in Germany, but this was not approved. So next I applied for an I-130. At the time of application her address was in her home country. On the I-130 I selected the Frankfurt Embassy and opted for consular processing. While we have been waiting for I-130 approval, she has relocated to Germany and obtained a SOFA card and lives with me in Germany now. We'd like to do her interviews in Frankfurt, Germany since we both live there now. What would be the best moves for us as next steps? Should I update someone on her address change to Germany? Should I do this by directly emailing the Frankfurt Consulate and asking them to transfer the case to themselves or something like that?

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?

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?

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?

Yes, my questions as it pertains to the I-130 only. I just need to pass that to get her to me. Then I already have a bank account where I can set her up as a joint tenant, and she will be cohabitating with me on the lease we already have with her name on it. But for the I-130 all I have is the marriage certificate and 1 notarized affidavit.

Well, they know we're married as they have known both of us for years, and kept in touch regularly as the relationship developed and as we went through the process of getting married. We still live in separate countries so don't have any join assets in common. We don't have a joint bank account, and it's a bad idea to set up a bank account with a foreign national I realized after researching it and discussing it with my bank in great detail. She is on my lease, but doesn't live with me yet, as she needs to get the I-130 approved to be able to live with me. I have no other evidence except our marriage certificate, years of photos of us, etc., the fact we are on the same health insurance plan with my employer, and I ordered a second credit card with her name on it (amazingly they didn't ask for her SSN which she doesn't have).

I don't know for sure, but the certificate itself says that it is punishable by US law to copy, print or photograph the certificate without lawful authority".

Thank you for pointing out the or and its significance. We were told during the citizenship oath that was a very serious violation to ever photocopy a naturalization certificate, so I feel extremely unsure about including that. Perhaps the US passport will be sufficient evidence.

The following is listed within the I-130 instructions as one of the ways to show proof of a bona fide marriage. My questions are: 1. It uses affidavits in the plural so how many do they need, if one is not sufficient? 2. Do they have to be notarized? It doesn't say that in this paragraph, but I was told by someone it must be notarized. Can one be notarized and a second one not be notarized (that's what I have obtained so far). 3. Does the person making the affidavit have to have met the spouse in person, or simply know them through online communication. For example my family knows I'm married but have only talked to my wife online? Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital relationship. Each affidavit must contain the full name and address of the person making the affidavit; date and place of birth of the person making the affidavit; and complete information and details explaining how the person acquired his or her knowledge of your marriage; or

I'm reading the instructions for form I-130, and it lists documents A-E which show that the petitioner is a U.S. citizen. My questions about this section: 1. The instructions do not clearly state whether ALL must be provided or only ONE must be provided. What do they want? 2. It makes no sense to provide item A if you were not born in the US originally. So do you still provide it? 3. Providing a copy of a naturalization certificate is tricky because we were told during the naturalization to never under any circumstances make a photocopy of it. What should I do? Break their own rules to follow their rules? For reference here are the documents they list: A. A copy of your birth certificate, issued by a civil registrar, vital statistics office, or other civil authority showing that you were born in the United States; B. A copy of your naturalization certificate or certificate of citizenship issued by USCIS or the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS); C. A copy of Form FS-240, Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), issued by a U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulate; D. A copy of your unexpired U.S. passport; or E. An original statement from a U.S. consular officer verifying that you are a U.S. citizen with a valid passport.

I have been advised that a sponsor is not eligible to apply for a spousal green card, if they have not maintained a continuous address for a full year prior to applying. Has anyone got some info on this rule?

I am sponsoring my wife and want to correctly complete my physical address history. I have been in Germany for about a year, but am a US resident for tax purposes. I have a permanent address currently in Germany that I will use as my physical address when I apply. However, for most of the year living in Germany I was physically living in AirBnBs for a month at at time, or in hotels. I'm not clear if I should put all those hotel addresses down, or what to do. Also I spent a year and a half in Afghanistan with no particular physical address, just living in cargo boxes. The directions are to provide physical address, not where you legally reside, right? So what should I do. My legal residence (domicile) I guess during all this time could be my parent's physical address, where I keep some stuff. But I'm not physically living there so it doesn't seem I can do that as they want physical address. I also do want to show I've been living in Germany a year so I can get local consular processing, for which I may be eligible under some of the rare special exceptions that apply to service members abroad (I'm a contractor under military command but may still qualify for exception). So from that perspective it seems to list the half dozen AirBnBs as my address this year. Any thoughts on this?

I wonder if they accepted your application or not without a police report and only this website? My wife said most Indonesians are getting it done at the national level in Jakarta, but she didn't mention anything about needing local involvement as well.

I wanted to ask what kind of police report from Indonesia would be accepted for the Green Card application, how recent it must be, if fingerprints are also required, etc. Basically I need to tell my wife what exactly to get. We'll be applying through the Frankfurt Embassy since we both live in Germany, but she is in her home country now (Indonesia) and wants to know what to bring with her back to Germany before we apply for the Green Card.

It sounds like most people in this forum are unaware of the exception for military to the normal Green Card rules! I also should clarify that I don't need emergency processing, just consular processing. I was confusing the two concepts. I have been consulting with others who have done this so I think I know what is needed by the consulate to approve this track.

Hi Crazy Cat. Please let me comment on your points: 1. you stated that my spouse has never lived in the US with a Green Card. That's why she's getting a Green card to be come a US resident. I don't quite catch why you would think there is something unusual about that. The whole point of immigration is to reside in the country you are applying to immigrate to. Yes it's a visa, and you get a green card as your immigrant (alien) identification card. 2. You have stated the OP has no clear plans to relocate to the US. You seem to profoundly misunderstand. I reside in the US already. I have already stated that repeatedly. I work and live temporarily in Germany because the US Army has station me here, but I'm 100% a US resident. I explained this a number of times so I'm not sure why you are claiming the opposite or what you are basing that on. 3. You have stated that this does not meet exceptional circumstances in your opinion. This is fine to have an opinion, but the entire reason the consulate exists is to serve Americans who are temporarily overseas, so it seems to be their entire purpose is to serve people like me, who are US citizens and residents temporarily serving the country abroad. Living abroud doesn't mean giving up residency or intending to not return. I'd really appreciate some help with my actual question. We seem to be going off on unrelated tangents here based some commenters misunderstanding how this works.

As far a your comment about a green card being for living in the US, not Germany, she will reside in the USA but under military orders and be physically present with me in Germany. I also maintain a domicile in the USA and am a US resident. Just working abroad or living abroad temporarily doe snot mean you are giving up your US residency. In no way are we becoming residents of Germany. That's why were under TESA and SOFA, it's a temporary work "visa" in essence, not an immigration visa to Germany. This does work. I have multiple people I personally know who have done this just this. As far as how she would come to the interview, that's because she will provided with a SOFA card which she can use to live (NOT reside) in Germany. My only outstanding question here is how to make the best case for consular processing so that I can speed up processing versus the online method.

Yes I will ask the consulate, but am using this forum to gather as much understanding before I contact them, to optimize my chances. To clarify she will NOT be residing in Germany. She will be accompanying me in Germany as a military dependent, or she may also choose go to the USA to work on her career as she cannot work in Germany legally if she is here with me. In any case she will maintain a domicile in the USA as I do, and for the purposes of immigration will be a resident of the USA, not Germany, who happens to be physically present in Germany except for returning to the USA at least once per year and maintaining a domicle there.

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.

Thank you. Would I have exceptional circumstances? I live and work in Germany and my wife lives in a different foreign country. She cannot join me in Germany without the Green Card due to Germany's restricted country list, but I can't move back to the USA due to my job in Germany. We have been separated since marriage due to the circumstances. Does that qualify as exceptional circumstances?

Hello. I do have questions about the Frankfurt DCF process. 1. Should I apply using the online, or with paper? I was warned by someone who applied in early 2022 that my application would be delayed by 2 years if I used the online process, even if I select the consular processing path. He said use the paper route which is faster, and instead email the consulate first, get approval to apply, and then apply using a paper application. Is this information still accurate? 2. What happens if I have to move to a different apartment in Germany after I have submitted the I130? My landlord could conceivably terminate the lease in the middle of the process. i have heard that the mere act of moving and updating the address can precipitate a serious delay in processing of the application, from two to 10 years. Therefore, I need to make a hard decision as to whether to apply now or move to a place with a longer term lease before I apply. Thanks