I, an American, am getting married to a Spaniard on July 19, 2008 in Madrid, Spain. Accordingly, I am trying to get all the paperwork together to file for my husband-to-be's Green Card and I don't want to miss any detail. I have chosen to file for his Green Card the quickiest way by doing a Direct Consular Filing (DCF) for him through the US Embassy in Madrid (since we will be in Madrid after our marriage). I would like to know if anyone could pretty please provide me with a complete checklist for this DCF?
Thus far, I know we need to file :
I-130, G-325A for both of us, but I don't know what else since it is a DCF? I know one usually finds out after filing these forms, because the US Embassy would then mail us the checklist etc., but I would like to have EVERYTHING ready in advance to avoid any unnecessary delays. Specifically, I don't know what consists of this checklist or other paperwork/forms we will need to file after filing these two forms. Can someone please help??? I am trying to do this all without an attorney soANY help is very much appreciated!!! Please let me know if you have ANY information to help!!!

First of all, congrats on your impending marriage! I wish my husband had been that well organized in advance, we took things one step at a time - thankfully, DCF is a pretty fast process thus far! The first thing you need to do is check if DCF can be done in Madrid, and exactly what their time requirements are on your residency in Spain in order to file the I-130 petition. That can require special documentation to prove your residency from the Spanish government, and should be done as soon as you get there! (I think the rule these days is at least 90 days, or maybe even 180 days!) What we had to take to the USCIS office in Delhi:

1)I-130 petition form
2) Marriage Certificate
3) Wedding Photos
4) Proof of on-going relationship such as:
'proof of co-mingling of finances' i.e. joint bank account
or
joint tenancy/property i.e. shared lease on a home/apartment
or
sworn affidavits from family and friends
(we just did the joint bank account)
5) Proof of my citizenship (passport bio page copy)

I just know that I am missing something, the best thing would be to check the Embassy web-site for Madrid to make sure you have everything in order well in advance! You can also get everything else going before hand for the next level after the I-130 - things like his birth certifcate, police certificates for any places he has lived (especially if he lived outside of Spain), make sure your taxes are all filed and straight for 2007, 2006, 2005 and that you have the copies of the 1040 and W-2's or transcripts, that you have a job in the US that will put you at 125% of the poverty level for you, your spouse to be, and any children that might be involved. If not that, then assets to show 3 times the 125% poverty level, if not that, then find your co-sponsor now and make sure they are aware of all that is required of them. Also, make sure that you can show you have domicile in the US for your return to the States... What else, what else... His passport, of course... Any divorce decrees as they apply...

That is all I can think of - but the embassy site is the best place to start for lists of things you need - get rolling on all the requirements, and your DCF process should be pretty pain free once you get it started!

Good luck, keep us posted!
Carolyn

Carolyn gave you most of the information, and quite accurately!!!!
First check the residency requirement that you as a USC citizen need -- i.e. type of visa that allows you to live in Spain. In most cases, a tourist visa is not valid to do DCF, but don't take my word for it.
Also, begin gathering your previous tax transcripts for 3 years, and all kinds of goodies that demonstrate bona fide marriage.
AND..... congratulations on your wedding!!!!!


Almost forgot -- make sure you can still prove domicile in the US: you can do this by having a bank account in the US, having a driver's license, voter's registration, etc.

Also make sure you cover the poverty guidelines to sponsor your esposo --- if not, line up someone in the US to be a joint sponsor.

Good luck, L.

Hi!

We also did DCF in Spain last year (my husband is the USC and I am spanish). Everything that CArolyn listed is all you need. In our case they did not ask about wedding pictures and proof of relationship, even though we had only been married for less than two months at that time. The I-130 application went pretty smoothly. What you need to show, as Len_and_Bren mentioned is proof that you are legally residing in Spain, they will ask for your I.D. (with the x-number as they issue them in Spain). Our process was very fast after all (we even had to delay the interview because we were not planning to come back to the US till later in the year), so I think you will be fine.

Kitten

Kitten,

Thanks for the information. I do not have a Spanish DNI or ID however, I am also British and carry a British Passport. Do you think it would suffice to have a passport within the European Union to support being a resident? Once we are married we will be living in Spain until we have the Green Card, but I still don't have a Spanish ID. Once I did file a document in Madrid to establish domicile, but I don't think it is the same thing?? I have never applied for a Spanish ID, because I have been scared to get one since I already hold dual nationality for the US and UK as it stands. Plus I never want to give up either just to get a Spanish ID. Can you please let me know your thoughts?
Can you please tell me how we would go about getting his police certificate and medical evaluation? I would like to get all the info. needed so we can hurry and finish everything. I would like to get our homework done ASAP!
I figure the more things we can finish now, the less we will have to do when we file everything.

Thank you so much!!!

Hi there,

If you have established domicile in Spain that should be enough (did you mean "certificado de empadronamiento"?). This is exactly the certificate they ask you for (I guess I forgot to mention it) to prove that you are living in Spain. I am not sure if they will ask about your ID, but I think you should be ok with your UK passport since it is also European Union. This is a different case, so I would suggest you give them a call and find out. They are pretty good at answering questions on the phone, my husband called the first time as well to make sure we had all our required paper-work.

About the police certificate I just read the webpage again and realized they have changed the procedure for getting it since I did it last year. It can be done either by person or by mail. There is a special form that you can buy or download from the web and then you go to the "Registro Central" in Madrid, following address, to get it.

Registro Central de Penados y Rebeldes
Ministerio de Justicia
C/ S. Bernardo, 45 Planta Baja
28015 - Madrid.

The web page where it explains how to do it is as follows, it is only in spanish unfortunately, but your spouse can help you:
http://www.mjusticia.es/cs/Satellite?c=Tra...amite%2FTramite

Keep it mind that the police certificate is only valid for 3 months, so you have to plan when you will be sending packet 3 (or 2, I still get confused which one it is, DCF is a total different process than others listed here) in the mail. If you get it too soon then you will need to get another one. What I did is to get it just before sending the final package with all the other documents. If you go there they do it right at the same moment, by mail it takes about a week.

The medical evaluation is the last thing you do. In fact I did two days before the interview and I noticed many people do it this way too (specially to avoid an extra trip to Madrid). But since you live there, your spouse can do it one week or two before the interview. They will send you a choice of two places (private medicals) where your spouse needs to go and have the vaccines and X-ray taken. That takes only a few hours and then you pick up the results the next day. I found out that it is not a really serious medical examination, it is just some more paper-work that we have to go through.

I hope I answered your questions, let me know. And keep asking because, I agree, the process is at first really complicated and it differs a lot from country to country from what I have seen in this forum.

Kitten

Kitten,

Thank you so much. Wow, your English is perfect. We will have to talk and perhaps, celebrate once I return back to Spain! This is wonderful I already have the Certificado de Empradronamiento so it should speed things up. Also, my mother is Spanish and resides in Spain so perhaps this might speed things up as well. Perhaps, you can also help me convince my husband-to-be why exactly he wants a Green Card? He has visited the US many times, but he is 125% a Spaniard and he is afraid he'll get a job at McDonalds vs. his career field. Fear is a huge obstacle to overcome, but I have to constantly remind him that the job market in the US is easier than in Spain. Maybe since you have a Green Card one day you might be able to share with him all the positives? Are you currently living in the US or Spain?
Thank you so much for your help. I will email him the webpage about the Police Certificate and we will wait to do it until June prior to the wedding. I guess we will also wait on the Medical Evaluation as well. Te agradezco un monton!

Hi!

Yes, no problem about sharing some of my positives with your husband. I understand being 125% spanish... it is hard to adapt to another country, specially if you have never lived there before. I guess I had some advantage because I had lived in the US before (under a J-1 visa) and that made it easier. But, I agree, it is tough specially at the beginning, a new life takes some time to get used to. I am now living in the US, we (my husband and I) came last November to Denver (CO). And I just received by mail the green card, so things are finally moving for us here.

Once you file the I-130 form at the embassy it should not take him more than one month to receive the visa (if all other documents are ready). We found out that they were pretty quick at the US embassy in Madrid getting things done.

Kitten

Kitten,

Can you please help? I found the paperwork that I filled out on 05/03/03. It was not specifically for the "certificado de empadronamiento," but it was with the Ayuntamiento de Madrid. Basically, it appears I just registered my residence with the Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Junta Municipal de Barajas. It references my address in Spain and my UK passport #. Do you think this would serve like the certificate to to support the residency requirement? Please let me know as I am not sure???? Also, please tell me how you learned English so well other than living in the US? This way it can be an easier transition for my fiance. Thank you very much!

Hi!

They do not ask specifically for the "certificado de empadronamiento", but it helps if you have it. The one you have should be sufficient to support your residence in Spain, I think you will be ok. They just need a proof that you have been living in Spain for the last 6 months. You can give them a call and ask them, they are very helpful and nice on the phone.

mmmhh, how did I learn English? I guess I did learn some (at least the theoretical part) at school in Spain, although that was not enough to be able to listen and talk, which is quite different than writing. I mainly learnt when I lived here, it makes such a huge difference than learning from books... when your fiance comes to the US it will be much easier for him to learn english.

Kitten


quote:

Kitten,

Can you please help? I found the paperwork that I filled out on 05/03/03. It was not specifically for the "certificado de empadronamiento," but it was with the Ayuntamiento de Madrid. Basically, it appears I just registered my residence with the Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Junta Municipal de Barajas. It references my address in Spain and my UK passport #. Do you think this would serve like the certificate to to support the residency requirement? Please let me know as I am not sure???? Also, please tell me how you learned English so well other than living in the US? This way it can be an easier transition for my fiance. Thank you very much!
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