DCF through Frankfurt

[roscove 0]

Hello all,

I am fairly sure the US embassy accepts documents in the language of the country the embassy is in. That is why you do not need a translation of the police certificate from Germany if you submit to Frankfurt. So I do not believe you need to translate anything if it is in German and you are submitting to Frankfurt. I could be wrong but am fairly sure the instructions state this.

Dave

[Fischkoepfin 1]

Hello all,

I am fairly sure the US embassy accepts documents in the language of the country the embassy is in. That is why you do not need a translation of the police certificate from Germany if you submit to Frankfurt. So I do not believe you need to translate anything if it is in German and you are submitting to Frankfurt. I could be wrong but am fairly sure the instructions state this.

Dave

You're right about that. Just had my interview in Frannkfurt and they accept German documents without translation, as evidenced by their acceptance of my birth certificate and the police report.

[Germlish 0]

Hi All

Lotsa good stuff here and a bit of my own to add.

Re: the translations;

This whole visa thing is two department process; US State Dept. and USCIS. The USCIS gets the I-130 and they have a normal number to call. I did just that today and asked him if my own translation of the divorec decree was ok, he said yes as long as I state that it is a true and accurate translation. (He didn't happen to mention that it wasn't necessary to translate at all if it's in German but by the way he answered, I can imagine they don't need any translation at all.)

I figured the difference between the two departments could have an affect on the language requirements; USCIS deals only with people wanting to come to the US, State dept deals with all things foreign so they should have translators and multi-lingual people on staff.

Re: the payments

I will be travelling to the consulate by car and will take credit cards and cash with me. I have a US bank account but (fortunately :-) no checks for it. Thanks for hint about the Verrechnungsscheck - good to have it posted here, and good to know that the consulate does not accept personel checks.

Re: Searching the archives

I got this hashed out. When you open the archives link, the login info disappears. And, when you search, if nothing is returned, it looks like you have to log in. Read the info carefully, then change the search data to get some hits, it worked.

Was some nice info in there and interesting cases. (Like DCF in Romania with USC not resident in country, got his Romanian bride to the US within a month after the marriage.)

Re: The paper size.

The USCIS guy seemed to be a bit suprised by this one as well. His answer was something along the lines of " ... as long as you aren't trying to file on poster sized paper ..."

Re: Residency requirement in Germany

The friendly USCIS man did specifically ask me to bring my residency permit. I have the residency permit glued into my passport but I am also registered in Germany so I will bring that document also.

It also says on the Frankfurt consulate website German residency required.

Re: Website quality for the consulate

Having said that about the residency requirement, I have seen other silly thing on their web site and on the Austrian consular web site. In Austria they have a very niceh German list of what to do, but several things are wrong - like translations have to be done by a certified translator. And on the Frankfurt website there are references to paying with DM, a currency which hasn't been in circulation here now for several years.

Key takeaway? You only ever know whats REALLY true after having done it.

Re: Auswanderer Forum

I have also been reading there and it is a good German specific forum. I've not signed up because while I can read it all (16 years over here), my written German has a horrible american accent - as does my spoken German. I was trying to get my wife to read through it but she is even busier than I am.

Re: current status

We have her new passport with my name in it, we are travelling to Frankfurt tomorrow evening. Friday (28 Apr 06) morning she will be at the Dr. while I file the I-130, she meets me back at the consulate and we hope to get at least some other parts of this done the same day.

Thanks for all the wishes, I hope to be posting some cool stuff on Saturday!

P.S. I see some people posting the timeline in the signature block. I have filled in the timelink link but it is still a bit empty on the normal fields. The nots block shows more details. If you think I should add the timeline as part of my signature let me know.

[meauxna 15]

Hi All

Lotsa good stuff here and a bit of my own to add.

Re: the translations;

This whole visa thing is two department process; US State Dept. and USCIS. The USCIS gets the I-130 and they have a normal number to call. I did just that today and asked him if my own translation of the divorec decree was ok, he said yes as long as I state that it is a true and accurate translation. (He didn't happen to mention that it wasn't necessary to translate at all if it's in German but by the way he answered, I can imagine they don't need any translation at all.)

I figured the difference between the two departments could have an affect on the language requirements; USCIS deals only with people wanting to come to the US, State dept deals with all things foreign so they should have translators and multi-lingual people on staff.

hiya Germ, good work!

To confirm/clarify about the agencies and translations:

In some Consulates, there is a USCIS Field Ofice and the I-130 is actually processed by them and passed over to the Immigrant Visa Unit, which is part of the State Dept.

Anything destined for USCIS must be in English or have an English translation.

Anything destined for the Consulate can be in English or the local language(s).

In a 'true' DCF case where the Consulate adjudicates the I-130, I'm not sure what the 'rule' would be, but I would be tempted to keep all things I-130 related in English or translated, and all things visa application related in English or the local language.

Frankfurt, London and Athens all have local USCIS offices, so anyone filing in those offices is not a 'true' DCF case even tho everything is filed abroad (hope that makes sense). You can find the other USCIS Field Offices here: http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/fieldoffices/worldmap.htm

I would suspect that your German language divorce cert must be translated for the I-130 submission.

[Germlish 0]

Thanks Meaxuna - I agree completly.

The Immigration checklist (required by the Frankfurt consulate) says all documents can be in German except if there are any entries on the police report and all court records must be translated and submitted in triplicate.

I've translated the divorce documents and put a signed statement on them that they are accurate and blahblah. If nothing else I'll just have to get them done by someone.

That makes sense about the DCF, though I'd never though of it that way. Since the acronym DCF is actually "public domain created" I guess it could be construed to mean any filing done at the consulate, and the USCIS offices are colocated in the consulate - or is it really "Direct Consular Filing? Agh - semantics - just hope this all works.

I'm hacking on the I-864 now and it's lotsa fun too!

[meauxna 15]

That makes sense about the DCF, though I'd never though of it that way. Since the acronym DCF is actually "public domain created" I guess it could be construed to mean any filing done at the consulate, and the USCIS offices are colocated in the consulate - or is it really "Direct Consular Filing? Agh - semantics - just hope this all works.

I'm hacking on the I-864 now and it's lotsa fun too!

hmm, oddly enough (for me) I never looked up when the term Direct Consular Filing came into play.

It is a semantics thing.. but one that hardly matters to the end user. I used to have it all in the Guide, but it just confuses things.

The 'direct' part of the filing refers to the petition I-130, which would normally be filed in the US. The visa application always takes place.

If you want to read the law that governs 'true' DCF, check this out. It probably explains it better than I:

http://foia.state.gov/masterdocs/09fam/09n0200.pdf

Oh yeah, the I-864 can be a lot of fun when you're living overseas. Lucky for you, I think yours will be more straightforward than most. Have fun!

[Germlish 0]

Oh yeah, the I-864 can be a lot of fun when you're living overseas. Lucky for you, I think yours will be more straightforward than most. Have fun!

Yep - it was lots of fun though you are probably right, more straghtforward than most. I earn enough to keep us above the poverty line and didn't have any tax returns, additional people, nor any other distractors.

But now, the tension is mounting !

I {hope and believe I} have now (4:30 am) finished all paperwork for both the I-130 and the Frankfurt checklist (DS-230, I-864 and co).

Please everyone wish us luck. My wife and I will be in Frankfurt at oh-dark-thirty Friday morning. She will get her medical while I am filing the I-130, and hopefully she will finish with the Dr and be back at the consulate in time to be there to submit the visa stuff, we will see.

Stay tuned for more.

[meauxna 15]

By way of an idle question.. she got it cleared to take the medical ahead of time, and it's with a panel doc?

I have *every* confidence in you--you really got a grip on the whole process quickly and I can tell you've put a lot of effort into getting everything right and thoroughly. No need to wish you luck, you're too prepared! It'll be a doodle and you'll be wondering what all the fuss was about, you'll see.

Still, it's a great time if you make it--we're almost at the end of the road now, but I remember those days very fondly. I hope you will too! (er, your own, not mine <g>)

OK, a little mojo going your way.. .have a good time & come back for a report--I think you've done a great job of documenting the path for the people who come after you!

[zauberblume 0]

she got it cleared to take the medical ahead of time, and it's with a panel doc?

I emailed the Frankfurt Embassy that exact question.

My Email:

"On April 15, 2006, I filed an I-130 visa petition with American Consulate General in Frankfurt. The petition has not yet been approved. As I have gained more understanding about this process, I would like to know if the beneficiary can complete the medical examination at an U.S. Embassy certified physician in Berlin while the petition and subsequent Immigrant Visa Application, DS 230, are pending."

Response from a Chief at the Frankfurt Embassy Immigrant Visa Unit:

"Referring to your e-mail of April 24, 2006 concerning the medical examination, we would like to inform you that the examination has to be performed in the country where the visa is issued. If the applicant chooses to have his visa case processed here in Frankfurt, he would be required to have the medical examination performed by one of our cleared panel physicians as listed below. The examination may be done prior to the applicant's appointment."

Notice that he didn't directly answer my question. There's still a logistical or, rather, an organizational problem. Does he mean prior to the interview stage or prior to the approval for the petition and subsequent application? I think he means that the examination can be done prior to the interview, which may well be while the petition is pending.

Some people choose not to take the medical examination before the interview or even while the petition is pending because they want to know that they'll actually receive the visa or receive application approval, barring that there are no problems with the medical examination. At least, that's what I think right now.

[Germlish 0]

...

By way of an idle question.. she got it cleared to take the medical ahead of time, and it's with a panel doc?

...

uhhh ......

no ....

was she supposed to?

I found the list of panel physicians in Germany. The closest were Munich and Leipzig and when I called, both had no appointments before June.

The one in Frankfurt, however, takes walk-ins 7:30 - noon.

I have received no clearance for anything ... should I be worrying (as though I'm not)?

I called the expensive call center number - he had no idea, suggested I submit a K3 or something. Said he couldn't help me because the number was only for non-immigration visas.

We'll know more in about 27 hrs, 43 min. Not that I'm counting or anything.

[meauxna 15]

zauberblume & Germlish,

The reason I asked is because of policy in *some* Consulates. In some countries, the applicant needs the letter from the Consulate with a case number or control number of some kind to get an appointment.

If you were very clear with the doc's office about what you are there for and they accepted your appointment, maybe there is no problem in Germany.

Do try to find out if they will give you the results, or they send them directly to the Consulate. Again, this varies by location. You should be able to find these experiences in the CR-1/IR-1 forum here---those visa applicants are going through all the same steps as you while still in Germany. Only their petition method and initial visa app docs are done differently (NVC).

We had planned to 'try' and figure out the vaccine requirements on our own and get the required shots ahead of time at a lower rate. We were told by the IV Unit to NOT do this but to wait for the Doc to do the exam.

This turned out to be good advice--I would've sent him for 3 shots and he only needed a tetnus booster. Info the doc uncovered in his exam overrode what we thought.

In Athens, we were required to have the Consulate's letter before booking the appointment. I know it is different elsewhere.

zauberblume: you can just reply back to the email, highlighting your question again. Their answer was totally vague but maybe some of what I wrote can help you underscore to them what your real question is: do we need a letter from the Consulate to go to the doctor's appt?

good luck guys!

[zauberblume 0]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...opic=7357&st=75

In that post, CWR, who went through Germany, says: "In Germany, you don't even really have to have the case number.....just walk into the doctor's office in Frankfurt and tell them you need a medical for the US consulate. Also, in Germany you don't receive ANY medical forms in package 3.....you get them at the doctor's office and fill them out right there and then."

I think you may be okay, Germlish.

Either way, once I get a response from the Embassy, I'll post it just to confirm.

[zyggy 9]

Hi All

Lotsa good stuff here and a bit of my own to add.

Re: the translations;

This whole visa thing is two department process; US State Dept. and USCIS. The USCIS gets the I-130 and they have a normal number to call. I did just that today and asked him if my own translation of the divorec decree was ok, he said yes as long as I state that it is a true and accurate translation. (He didn't happen to mention that it wasn't necessary to translate at all if it's in German but by the way he answered, I can imagine they don't need any translation at all.)

I figured the difference between the two departments could have an affect on the language requirements; USCIS deals only with people wanting to come to the US, State dept deals with all things foreign so they should have translators and multi-lingual people on staff.

hiya Germ, good work!

To confirm/clarify about the agencies and translations:

In some Consulates, there is a USCIS Field Ofice and the I-130 is actually processed by them and passed over to the Immigrant Visa Unit, which is part of the State Dept.

Anything destined for USCIS must be in English or have an English translation.

Anything destined for the Consulate can be in English or the local language(s).

In a 'true' DCF case where the Consulate adjudicates the I-130, I'm not sure what the 'rule' would be, but I would be tempted to keep all things I-130 related in English or translated, and all things visa application related in English or the local language.

Frankfurt, London and Athens all have local USCIS offices, so anyone filing in those offices is not a 'true' DCF case even tho everything is filed abroad (hope that makes sense). You can find the other USCIS Field Offices here: http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/fieldoffices/worldmap.htm

I would suspect that your German language divorce cert must be translated for the I-130 submission.

Rome does as well.. don't forget Rome.. When doing DCF in Italy.. you have to file the I-130 in Rome.. but the interview is in Naples..

[Germlish 0]

Hi All

After the Friday at the consulate we decided we needed a weekend away and we were off line until about a half hour ago.

Everything went fairly well, here some of my worries and unexpected problems:

- Arrival and overnight:

We arrived in Frankfurt and stayed at the Friedberger Warte Hotel. I had checked hrs.com for prices and they quoted me around € 220 - congress-price. A direct call to the hotel got us a rate of €119, and without the congress-pricing HRS is now quoting €86. Check on prices before you plan. The hotel is fairly new, clean and serves a decent breakfast at 6:30am.

The consulate is located on the grounds of the old military hospital in frankfurt, so anyone that wants to Google-Earth it, look for the buildings with red crosses on them. The hotel is behind the hospital complex but in Google-earth it is still a sand pit.

The hotel is directly behind the grounds, and it takes 4-5 minutes to walk, depending on how urgent it is.

Cell phones were a problem for everyone. The U-bahn stop where you can deposit them is at least as far away as the hotel and it is a pain to have to leave the line to walk so far. We also saw someone toss his cell-phone over the wall into the graveyard across the street saying he'd go fish for it later - risky but not a bad solution.

Car keys with electronic transmitters are also difficult but they will let you deposit them there. My wife also had a perfume bottle taken.

- The Dr. visit

In some countries, the applicant needs the letter from the Consulate with a case number or control number of some kind to get an appointment.

... was no problem. We had called ahead and they recommended arriving early for opening at 7:30 am. On arrival in Frankfurt late Thursday evening we punched the Dr.s address into the navi and drove there. Even at 11pm it was a complicated drive so we decided to leave it to a taxi. She left just before 7 am from the hotel to the Dr. (taxi cost 12€) while I went to the consulate.

She had checked with her GP the previous day and he donated a MMR (measles, mumps & rubella) to the cause stating that the tetanus shot wasn't due till next year. The panel physician in Frankfurt gave her the D&T shot anyway, charged her €125 for the exam, €22 for the shot, and sent her on her way.

Not having a registration number with the consulate was no problem, neither for the Dr. nor for the nice lady at window ## in the consulate. It all goes by last name so as soon as the Dr.s report arrives she (being responsible for our last name) will receive it. Point here is that you can go to the medical exam whenever you want - of course within the time frame limits.

The consulate visit, part 1,

could have been smoother.

It started with the wait outside. Arrival at about 7:05 put me about 16th in line, and a wait of about 25 minutes. Just before 7:30, the man came out and explained about the cell phones, then split us up into citizen services and non-citizen services. Both of the two lines fed into the same window but I think they want to have a good mix of requested services when people go into the building.

At the window we got numbers which start with a letter. The letter designates your destination in the building and for the USCIS, go upstairs. Don't lose or let go of that number - it is your place in line and they are very tightly controlled - more later.

After the number aquisitítion phase, the line moves to the actual security checkpoint. After security, the consular services are in a different building , and there are the stairs for the USCIS.

USCIS didn't arrive until 8 and that was about a fifteen minute wait since the main entrance line moves fairly quickly.

I was second in line for the USCIS and my I-130 submission. I had intentionally left everything unsigned and dated as these were quick steps and I wanted to finalize everything in front of the USCIS guy, but it turned out that my wifes biographical (G-325) was missing her signature - and she was off getting medical examined.

To confirm/clarify about the agencies and translations:

In some Consulates, there is a USCIS Field Ofice and the I-130 is actually processed by them and passed over to the Immigrant Visa Unit, which is part of the State Dept.

Anything destined for USCIS must be in English or have an English translation.

Anything destined for the Consulate can be in English or the local language(s).

USCIS reviewed the I-130 submission, and I watched as he reviewed the translations. He didn't say so, but I watched him compare the translations to the originals, and I am sure he was accuracy checking them. Whatever he did, he made no comment and accepted them so I was happy. Another couple who lives not too far from the consulate reported that their petition had initially been returned because there were no translations. I think the correct answer here is to get everything translated - yourself, your spouse, neighbor, etc doesn't matter, just make sure it's right. The USCIS field office in Frankfurt may not need the translation, but they probably forward it to someone somewhere who is not as multilingual.

The consulate visit, part two,

was also not as unproblematic as I hoped, either. I left the consulate to wait for my wife outsied. As she arrived from the Drs. Office (she found a ride with someone else coming from exam to consulate so saved taxi cost), she still had her mobile phone. After a ten minute jog to the hotel and back where the car was parked, we went through a much shorter line than this morning when I initially waited, got a new number and went inside.

The new number had the same letter but was of course later. I just gave the papers to the USCIS guy between other numbers and explained to him about my second number. He had to fiddle around with his number machine, and the whole double number thing just caused plain confusion.

He sent me downstairs to the State Department visa people and we submitted the DS 230.

There was one problem

with the rest of the package. The Affidavit of Support did not contain my tax return. I have always assumed that a tax return is not necessary if no taxes are owed so I did not file a return this year. Nice lady at the window said it was necessary so now I need to stop such a long post and get the return done.

She also said no problem on the med exam or any of the other paperwork. As soon as I get the return my wife will be scheduled for an appointment. Current waiting time for the interview appointments is about 4 weeks so I don't know if we can meet the June 1 goal but we will see.

Epilogue

The "DCF" must be the fastest method to get this done. I think this is because this is the only situation where the State Department and USCIS are co-located. My understanding of the process is that USCIS has the final say as to who can be admitted or not, but before they admit someone, State Department has the responsibility of investigating the applicant and reporting to USCIS on the "quality". A visa will not guarantee entry because it comes from DS. If USCIS says no anyway, then the answer is no (pending appeals, of course)

I think the speed here comes in that USCIS and DS are almost coworkers in Frankfurt (and other USCIS field office locations) and the documents are passed within the same building. No need for anything to go to the National Visa Center or any of the other myriad of steps it needs to travel between USCIS-DS-Source Country consulate.

I'd also like to comment that the Frankfurt consulate appears to be fairly well organized. The waiting times were within reason, and I think anyone arriving with a bit of patience will be treated well and have no problem getting things done.

The building itself is fairly new, the systems are modern enough and the staff is large enough to handle appropriate workloads.

They DO have machines for stamps, change, coffee, cold drinks and snacks. A pay phone is also available for mobile phone addicts but warning here: put in lots and lots of Euros if you want to call to a mobile phone. For €3 I was not able to say that I needed her here soon to sign the documents.

All in all not a horrible experience. Now let's go do some IRS paperwork.

[Candace 2]

Thank you for posting such a comprehensive report Germlish, it is really useful for those of us yet to attend at Frankfurt, especially the location, hotel and cellphone informations.

I hope you get your interview date quickly!