hello,

I recently emailed the US Embassy in Greece about direct filing in Athens. I get the reply that I(the US citizen spouse) has to have a physical presence in Greece for at least 6 months before i can file. Does anyone know what the purpose of this? I mean how can I just live there for 6 months without a job or anything? this is soo crazyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can anyone help me?????


Nergiz(kezi)

Sounds like you will not be able to DCF

no but if K1-Visa for Fiancee takes a year, that would be my option i guess.....

In order to file DCF in most countries, you have to be a legal resident of that country for a minimum period. Greece requires a 6-month minimum. So, unless you have legal residency for that period, you cannot file DCF. It is done this way so that US citizens don't go off to any old country to get married and file for permanent residence for their new spouse. Maybe the restriction is also in place to ensure that consulates don't get over burdened.

Since it sounds like you don't have a reason to get legal residence in Greece, your best and fastest option is to go for K-1.

G

How long is the period for K-1 Visa? a year?

There is only 1 timeline for Greece in the database, and it shows total processing time of 140 days from application to visa being granted. So, it is reasonable to say that the process would likely take 4 to 6 months. However, there are lots of factors that can influence the duration, such as which service center you go through, whose desk it lands on at the service center, how many applications are going through the Athens consulate, how long it takes you to file the paperwork at the embassy, etc, etc, etc.

G

so gag, u filed the fiancee visa right? and it took urs one year huh.. i was looking at ur timeline. Its just a long period of time thats why i wanted to do Direct Filing. But i can do I-130 and K3 visa in the US too right? Or if i get my marriage lisence in Greece i would have to file over there? or can i just file K3 visa over there?

kezy,

If you read the DCF Guide, contacted the right people, and got the answer that you did, well, that's the answer.
DCF is typically for USCs who are resident abroad. Since you can only stay in Greece for 3 months at a time, you would not be able to live/work there as a tourist and unless you have another basis for living there (marriage to a Greek resident will ususally do it, but it costs +500euro) DCF may not be possible for you.

I'm sure a K-1 doesn't normally take a year.. there is another K-1 here going through Athens; I don't think they've been waiting a year (interview soon).

Any route you go, there will be a wait. No way of really getting around that.

yea i suppose your right, i did call and email the US Embassy in Athens.. so if marrying the Greek citizen, does that mean i can do DFC or would i still have to live in Greece for 6 months. if K-1 visa is my only way, then i'll just have to do the K-1 visa. which other person is going thru Athens? i would like to ask them some questions. Thanks for the info meauxna

You can find some of the other Greek filers here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...sort_order=desc

There is another one and I've PMd them to ask if they will respond to any questions you've got. They are filing K-1.

More important than where to file, or what type of visa to pursue, IMO, is *what do you, your fiance and your families want*?
Getting married can be a big deal; you two may have some opinion on where you get married, who will be able to attend etc.
You may need for your fiance to have immediate work authorization. A K-1 or K-3 will likely not be employed in the US for their first 4-6 months in the US.
Your fiance may need to have immediate travel authorization. A K-1 will have a wait of 4-6 months before they can travel internationally.
You mention a wedding in Greece; each of the spouse visas has their plusses and minuses.
Then there is the speed in moving to the US. How ready is your fiance to move, how would a difference of 3-6 months separation affect your other choices. where in the US you live etc.

When you've figured out which things are most important, then you can start working out which visa fits that.

As to the DCF, you have not detailed who you called/emailed, what exactly you asked them, what further info you gave them etc. I can not tell if what you're reporting is a new policy, or a brush off. Our experience was certainly awhile ago and things could've changed. I tried to clue you into the fact that there is a USCIS office there (that's where I-130 gets filed); if you asked the wrong people the right question, you might not have got the correct answer.
Are you Greek American by chance?

OK, the main thing that me and my fiancee want is for my fiancee to come over here as soon as possible, I dont really care what kind of wedding I have in Greece, a little reception is ok with us both. We've discussed it like thousands of times.. Plus when we come home I will have a Kurdish reception here. I live in Texas, my family lives over here, his family lives in Iraq and he lives in Greece. So anyways, we've been wanting to get married for 3 years now but he was traveling in Europe and he didnt have residency in any other country so i couldn't really file anything til he finally settled in Greece.

I emailed Anna Tokmakidou at US Embassy in Athens, and the 3rd time i emailed Maria Marinaki replied. Im going to post u what they wrote me. :

Dear Negiz,
Thank you for your e-mail. You are asking how you can file
a petition for your spouse who lives in Greece after you
get married.

If you are a resident of Greece for at least six months you
can file the petition at the American Embassy in Athens.
You can therefore call their office at 210-720-2404 or
210-720-2405 and talk to them.

If on the other hand you are living in the U.S. and coming
to Greece to get married, then you wiil have to go back to
the U.S. after your marriage and file the petition in U.S.
You can enter our web site at
<http://www.travel.state.gov> www.travel.state.gov and see how you can file for this
petition. You can enter the web site mentioned by going to:

- Permanent immigrant, then to
- visa types for permanent immigrants, then go to
- marriage to a foreign national, then to
- spouse/fiance to marry U.S.citizen (IR1 or CR1).
If you have any other questions dont hesitate to ask or
call us.
Thank you again,

Immigrant visa unit, Athens
Tel. 210-720-2452 or 210-720-2453

2nd Email:
Thank you for your e-mail. The six months residency pertains to the U.S. citizen spouse who is filing the petition. Please note that we are referring only to married cases and not fiance cases. A fiance petition has to be filed in the U.S. by the USC spouse while the beneficiary is waiting abroad.

In married cases Its much quicker if the U.S. citizen spouse files the petition at the INS in the U.S.Embassy in Athens.USC spouse has to have at least 6 months residency in Greece before filing the petition .
Our office can accept to process the case if the beneficiary can live here in Greece for as long as its needed to process his case.
You may call our INS office at 210-720-2404 or 210-720-2405 and ask them any questions you may have on your case. Once the petition gets approved by their office, it will be forwarded to our office and it can take one and a half to two months for our office to process the case depending also on how quick your spouse can get her documents together. If the petitioner gets to file the petition in the U.S. there is a long waiting period for the petition to be approved and forwarded to our office. at portsmouth, NH to be entered in our computer systems and then they sent it to our office.
Thank you once again and if you have any other question we can respond to, please dont hesitate to write or call,
Immigrant visa unit, Athens
Tel. 210-720-2404 or 210-720-2405

3rd Email:
Dear Sir/Madam:

This is to advise you that a US citizen can file in Greece only if he has a physical presence for at least six months. If he has met the physical presence he can file by submitting his US passort, proof of his
citizenship, marriage certificate with official translation, divorces if any, one
color picture of each one of you and 190$ fee. Our office is open from
8:30am to 12:00 Monday to Friday (window No. 41).
For more info. you can call us at 210-720-2404.
I hope I have been of assistance to you.
Sincerely,
Maria A. Marinaki
DJS/CIS, Athens, Greece

4th Email:
If you don't reside in Greece you cannot file from here. Otherwise you can file from the U.S. while your spouse is waiting in Greece. You can also mail you application to a processing center in the U.S. having
jurisdiction over your place of residence in the U.S.

____________________Reply Separator____________________
Subject: Re:FW: marriage papers
Author: "~O~ -NeRgiZ- ~O~" <SMTP:nergiz15@yahoo.com>
Date: 4/12/2006 12:24 PM

Hi, Thanks for the information. I am a US citizen, so that means I have tocome and live there for 6 months and then file? What if I come to live there for1or 2 months? Because I have a job here and I can not come
live there for 6months! Thats a long time. What are my other options? Please help me, there'sgot to be a easier way.
Thanks,
Nergiz

hmm, I must've accidentely lost the answer I thought I posted here....

The upshot is, it's VERY clear that Athens will not let you file I-130 with them.
Since you are not married, a fiance visa will likely be 'faster' than a spouse visa.

Prepare yourself for longer processing due to your citizenship(s)--his for sure, yours = unknown. This will apply no matter what type of visa he pursues.

Steel yourself for this and be happy if it takes less time than expected. The delay you have already gone through is irrelevant and was under your control. If you're filing from today, you just have to deal with the processing times (which are far better now than they were 3 years ago--maybe you played it smart!).

well we didnt file because of personal reasons, it was about it being delayed or anything.. nikh says they told them the same thing about staying over 6 months. So thats out of question, i will do the k-1 visa as soon i can go. I am american citizen and my fiance is just a resident, not a Greek citizen.

I would be ok even if it takes 4-6 months. I'll be filing from Texas so maybe it will be faster. Who knows, maybe sooner.. as long as we get approved.