do you have to be married for a long time to do DCF?

[irishgalinabq 0]

Hi guys,

Well, I am starting my visa journey and all of the posts on here have been a big help. My fiance and I are getting married next month here in Australia. He is the USC and I am Irish. We lived together in Baltimore, MD (I was on a H1B) and then in February of this year moved to Australia. Now, my fiance's company has invited him to come back to the USA in February so we are making plans for that. Our plan is to get married in Sydney next month and then do DCF here at the Sydney office. I have noticed that most of the DCF applicants have been married for a long time. Do you know if there is any limitation on the length of time you must be married before applying for DCF? We were hoping to start the process right after the wedding. Please let me know if you have read anything else here in our story that may preclude us from DCF.

Thank you

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

As far as I know, it has nothing to do with how long you are married (though you must be married- cannot do fiancee visa DCF), but the USC spouse must be legally resident in the country for at least 6 months. So, assuming your USC partner is in Australia legally resident and not just on a tourist visa, you could get married now and then start DCF right away.

[MargotDarko 0]

Penguin is right. The only time frame that counts is how long the USC has been resident in the country where you want to file.

[valenbb 0]

As long you have resided in the same city where the consulate is located. It makes you eligible for DCF.

How long you are married is just for classification as CR1 or IR1.

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

As long you have resided in the same city where the consulate is located. It makes you eligible for DCF.

That is incorrect, it only has to be the same country, not the same city

[NYN 0]

Hello there!

I married my husband about two months ago in El Salvador, and did DCF about ten days ago. We wanted to file right away as well, but we had to run around because of problems with his birth certificate.

I was asked to provide proof of residence for at least six months in El Salvador, which I did not even think I had to prove because I had been living here for about a year and a half. But the lady said my passport travel was not ´reliable´as proof of my residence. So I provided documents from school, mail I received during that period, bank accounts and other government transactions I performed while there like getting an ID etc. to prove I had been here during that time as a resident and not just visiting.

Hope this helps.

[valenbb 0]

Yep! You are right: "Not city but country". My error.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[pushbrk 12,154]

Penguin is right. The only time frame that counts is how long the USC has been resident in the country where you want to file.

Since the OP is Irish and wants to DCF in Australia, it will also matter that both meet the Consulate's residence requirements.

Edited July 27, 2008 by pushbrk

[kaffy 2]

What kind of visa are you and your fiance here on? Here is the Sydney consulate's DCF residency requirement:

Under the revised procedures for filing petitions outside of the U.S., embassies and consulates may resume accepting I-130 petitions from American citizen petitioners who have maintained continuous residency in the consular district a minimum of the preceding six months. Petitioners must be able to show that they have permission to reside in the consular district and that they have been doing so for at least six months before filing the petition.

Exceptions to the petitioner’s residency abroad requirement can be made only in cases of true emergency such as life and death or health and safety or when in the national interest. Examples would include minor children who would be unexpectedly left without a caretaker. Family reunification or new marriages alone are not emergencies. Examples of national interest include facilitating the travel of United States military and other U.S. government direct hire employees assigned overseas who are pending imminent transfer on orders and need to petition their spouse and minor children at posts overseas. Individuals who are in Australia on a temporary status, such as student or tourist, would not be considered to meet the residency standard.

All lawful permanent residents, and American citizens’ resident in the United States or with a permanent address in the United States, will file the I-130 petitions at the USCIS Service Center having jurisdiction over their place of residence as indicated on the USCIS website: HYPERLINK "http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-130.pdf" http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-130.pdf