Hi again, after 6 months of thinking about leaving my country (Guatemala) with my wife (US citizen), we finally decide to start the DCF process. So this past week we went to the US Embassy. So you don’t get confused, I, the beneficiary will be the one writing, my wife, the US citizen, is not that interested in reading a lot on the internet to know what to do, so I will be the one writing about the process.

I will use this thread to post everything about the steps we are taking, and also everything that I think can be helpful to others.

After reading a lot in forums, I decided to write a cover letter for my documents,  I  used one that I found in Visajourney, I only modified the documents I include in the packet.

This is the letter:

                                                                                                May 23rd, 2013

Officer-in-Charge

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Department of Homeland Security

Subject: Form I-130 submission, from petitioner XXX for beneficiary XXX

To whom it may concern:

I am an American citizen currently residing in Guatemala with my Guatemalan husband. We wish to move back to the United States together, and therefore are applying for a long-term/permanent residence permit for him. Please find the forms and supporting documents attached in conjunction with the I-130 for Beneficiary:

1.       Form I-130 petition for alien relative, completed by Petitioner for Beneficiary

2.       Form G-325A, biographic information for Petitioner.

a.        Biometric photo of Petitioner attached to form G-325A.

3.       Form G-325A, biographic information for Beneficiary.

a.        Biometric photo of Beneficiary attached to form G-325A.

4.       Document proving US citizenship of Petitioner.

a.        Copy of United States Passport.

5.       Documents proving legal residency in Guatemala of Petitioner

a.        Guatemalan ID, issued back in 2001

b.       Employment letter, proof of a year and half working in Guatemala.

c.        Copy of Petitioner Guatemalan passport.

6.       Documents proving beneficiary, Beneficiary, identity.

a.        Copy of Beneficiary Guatemalan Passport.

b.       Copy of Beneficiary Birth certificate.

7.       Documents proving family relationship between Petitioner and Beneficiary.

a.        Copy of Marriage Certificate.

b.       XXX (daughter), birth certificate issued in 2002, with Beneficiary and Petitioner registered as parents. 

Copies of the submitted documents are exact photocopies of unaltered documents, and I understand that I may be required to submit original documents to an Immigration or Consular officer at a later date. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance. My contact information is provided below.

Sincerely,

Petitioner
Guatemalan Address
Guatemala phone number

We checked in the US embassy in Guatemala web page, what were the schedules to turn this in, but it was confusing, as they have different schedules of attention depending on what you need. I checked this page:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=96290a9de954d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=1ac900c262197210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

So I decided to go on the 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM schedule, at window number 5 (Consular section), my wife and I arrived at 12:15, and there were already like 15 people, not that bad, we had to wait outside the embassy, and at 12:45 they started letting us in, once inside the embassy, we waited and exactly at 13:00, they opened the window, most of the cases that people went for, are because they’re in the middle of their process and they don’t know what to do (how do I know this? At the window when you make question and the embassy lady answers, she does it through a speaker so everyone can hear what you’re doing).

It took us like 20 minutes to get to the window, once there, the lady asked us what do we need, and we told her that we wanted to start the Immigrant Visa request process, she asked us for all the papers, so we gave the envelope to her. She started checking, she didn’t even checked the cover letter, neither she asked us anything else.

When she finished organizing our paper, she told us that we need translation of some papers (mostly the legal certificates, like the marriage certificate, and my birth certificate, I think all documents emitted by the Guatemala Government need translation), then she told us that it would be better if we send photographs in the package, we thought it was not necessary as we have been married for 8 years and our daughter is 10 years old, we thought that would be proof enough to show relationships, but the lady told us that the more proof the easier the process. I asked her if it matter if the forms had that days date, when we turn them in next week and she said it doesn’t matter. We also asked how we pay, and next to that window there’s a cashier, so after she checks all the papers, we have to pay, not before. We forgot to ask how much was it.

So basically that’s day 1, I know this doesn’t give you that many details, but I thought that it would be nice to share the entire process in case someone else is in the same spot as I am right now.  I’ve been reading this forum to get an idea of what to expect, and as helpful as others have been to me I hope to be to others. So I’ll update this thread next week.

Good evening everyone, I have a important question and I hope this can be the right section to get an appropriate answer.

I applied for a California State ID and I got a letter today stating that the DHS was unable to verify my documents.

I had no trouble with the documents I took while I was at the DMV and the documents I provided are in the required and acceptable documents.

I want to see if I can get any advice and if this has happened to anyone before, how did you deal with it and what's the best solution?

Thank you so much.

The documents I took was my SSN, Guatemalan passport ( expired), and my I-94 form stating I am an asylee sec (208).

Trying to get some help kind of getting frustrated, Filled out I-130's for my Wife and 2 Daughters, they are in Central America, Got NOA2 on 04/17/2013, been calling the NVC for the last 2 weeks, and sent the email to nvcresearch on day 15th as advised by the NVC rep 4 days ago. 

Today I called USCIS and they transferred to an Immigration officer, after 1 Hour and 36 Minutes on HOLD a super rude agent picked up, he asked for my address, name and DOB and said my files were still with the officer in charge of the case, haven't even left USCIS. I told him what was the delay that the note I received almost a month ago clearly said "Petition approved and forwarded to the NVC" all he said was that it can take up to 4 months to leave USCIS even if i receive that letter and that all i could do was wait and almost hung up on me. 

It's ridiculous that a petition approved a month ago is still sitting on a desk and all they have to say is wait and that there is nothing they can do. 

How can I proceed anything I can do? Please advise 

Hello everyone,

I was wondering ive seen so many topics on this but i seem to not get how you can track the package from NVC to consulate.using DHL

Can anybody help me please..I would really appreciate it!!

Hello everyone

I was wondering once you pay the fee for the interview is it possible to make an

interview appointment or do you have to wait for nvc to give it to you?