Direct Consular Filing Explained

[txladykat 1]

9 FAM 42.41 N4.2-2 Petitions Executed by U.S. Citizenship

& Immigration Services (USCIS) Abroad

The only conditions under which petitions may be filed at post are:

(1) The petitioner is a resident of the consular district. The petitioner

must have maintained continuous residency in the consular district

a minimum of the preceding six months in order to demonstrate

residency. (noting that this part is in bold italics on the website)

You may accept Form I-130 petitions from U.S. citizens

U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 9 - Visas

9 FAM 42.41 Notes Page 7 of 18

who reside in your jurisdiction and have done so for the previous

six months. U.S. citizens whose principal residence is not in the

consular district, and/or who have entered the consular district as a

temporary visitor/student/or with limited leave to enter and remain

must file the petition with the appropriate USCIS service center in

the United States.

d. If a petitioner has met one of the requirements in paragraph c above, and

you conclude after reviewing the petition that it is not "clearly

approvable," you are not authorized to deny the petition. Instead,

forward the petition, with all supporting documents, to the appropriate

USCIS office with jurisdiction over that location. (See 9 FAM Appendix N,

201 c.)

[avrsalo 0]

I am a little confused, I am reading DFC examples and everything I read is about spouces, my question is does DFC apply to children of American citizens ? My mother is an American citizen and has lived almost all her life in Bolivia South America, she currently holds a valid U.S. passport I wants to file a I-130 for me, unmarried 18 year old child. Does anyone know if we can file a DFC through the American embassy ??

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

Will she be immigrating with you? Or remaining in Bolivia? Personally I've never heard of this -- best thing to do is contact the consulate directly and ask if it is possible.

[Marisol73 0]

Will she be immigrating with you? Or remaining in Bolivia? Personally I've never heard of this -- best thing to do is contact the consulate directly and ask if it is possible.

Hi

I will be doing DCF in Mexico for my husband and my son. Iam the american citizen. I could not file a CRBA for my baby because of the request of continuos period in USA.

I will be immigrating to USA with them. I went to the consulate and they gave me the I-130 for both (my husband and my baby). So the DCF applies also for children. (At least in Mexico).

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

I should have been more clear -- I've never heard of DCF for relatives who were not the spouse or minor children of a USC.

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

I did a little digging on this. I used the London Embassy website since it is the most familiar to me, so I would hope the protocol is the same in La Paz (and you should still get in touch with them to see if this is the case). As I mentioned before, I have only ever heard of spouses and minor children doing DCF, but it seems that other preference categories ARE eligible. I don't know if the non-immediate relative visas (as you would be; only children under 21 are classified as immediate for these purposes) would be processed more slowly than the immediate ones because they are not automatically eligible for a visa number.

[avrsalo 0]

Hi

I will be doing DCF in Mexico for my husband and my son. Iam the american citizen. I could not file a CRBA for my baby because of the request of continuos period in USA.

I will be immigrating to USA with them. I went to the consulate and they gave me the I-130 for both (my husband and my baby). So the DCF applies also for children. (At least in Mexico).

What is CRBA ??

What is the request of continous period in USA ??

Thanks.

[amt 1]

<!--quoteo(post=3150588:date=Jul 24 2009, 10:25 PM:name=christeen)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (christeen @ Jul 24 2009, 10:25 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3150588"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Ok, perhaps I am a bit late on this, but I would be thinking about it if I did not ask! I have filed my I-130 here in the US and am waiting at the CSC.

However, I also have residency in Italy (home country of my husband) in the form of my Permisso Di Siorggornio (Italian Green Card) and an Identy Card. Is is possible to switch to a DCF filing at this point? I only ask as it has been 3+ months waiting for NOA2 and not looking to be moving too fast.

I will be in Italy with my husband for the next 6 weeks and wondered if possible to switch or also file there or would that screw stuff up??? BTW, my husband and I have been married for 7 years but he worked on a ship so we could not apply earlier. I have had my residence there since 2004.

Any info would be helpful...

Thanks

Christeen<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

no, it is not possible. It takes more than just having residency. You must actually reside in the country continuously for 6 months before filing. I moved to Denmark in October 2008, became eligible to file in May 2009. My residency for Denmark was still pending when I filed (they were taking approximately 13 months to approve residency permits). However, assuming i had received my residency permit and moved back to the USA before applying, I would no longer be eligible for DCF because my place of abode was the US, not Denmark. I qualified to file based on living there 6 months, not based on possessing a residence permit.

Hi txladycat,

You say that you qualified for DCF just because you lived in Denmark for 6 months, not because you had a residence permit. This leads to my question: What does "legal residence abroad" entail? If all that is required is to have lived abroad for a minimum of 6 months (in my case in an apartment in my name), then I qualify (I am a U.S. citizen). However, I am currently in Peru on a tourist visa. In a later post in this thread, you pasted some Visa notes that say that a U.S. citizen who has resided abroad for 6 months on a tourist or student visa is not eligible for DCF. Can I prove "legal residence abroad" or can I not?

Thanks!

[trailmix 77]

Hi txladycat,

You say that you qualified for DCF just because you lived in Denmark for 6 months, not because you had a residence permit. This leads to my question: What does "legal residence abroad" entail? If all that is required is to have lived abroad for a minimum of 6 months (in my case in an apartment in my name), then I qualify (I am a U.S. citizen). However, I am currently in Peru on a tourist visa. In a later post in this thread, you pasted some Visa notes that say that a U.S. citizen who has resided abroad for 6 months on a tourist or student visa is not eligible for DCF. Can I prove "legal residence abroad" or can I not?

Thanks!

Every consulate is different, what applies at one may not apply at the other. For instance, in Canada the 6 month rule does not necessarily apply, also, someone on a student visa may well qualify, in Canada. Always best to contact the consulate where you will be applying and check what their requirements are.

Edited May 6, 2010 by trailmix

[Zane David 0]

Hello, I am some what confused about the 6 month resident requirement in the U.S.

My wife just recieved her IR1 visa and have until January of next year to 'move'

State side. We live pretty much full time in Panama but have leased an apartment

in up-state New York sense 2008 and have joint savings and checking accounts there

as well. We were told by the Embassy here that we had to actually stay in the States

full time and not leave. This makes no sense to us as we have family here in Panama

and my wife will flip out if she can not see our grand-kids in that time period. Am

I missing something here.?

[binnybee3 0]

hi everyone. im in england and have been for over a year..i want to go threw the DCF..does anyone know if its any cheaper that way or if the costs r more because its more convienent...?? just curious as we're not yet married and had originally discussed applying for the K1 fiance instead...help??

[rodmanvirgo 0]

Hi everyone

I went to the Philippines last nevember and was married in december, i stayed there for 10 months all in all but only always extend my tourist visa each few months......can i use the DCF i have a wife and she has 3 kids under age 8 and no fathers listed to the birth records? I want to do this asap as im now in the states to find a co-sponsor, as soon as I have everything set here I will return to The Philipines to save on expence and to join my family there.

[3magic 0]

Hi,I've no idea about it.

Edited June 2, 2011 by 3magic

[3magic 0]

Hi,I was also interested to know about DCF link.I'm just new for this forum so any help is most welcome!

[RabbitMan 0]

Is there a place where I should put my experiences filling out forms?

My timeline is very fast, so I wanted to share what I did.

Thanks,

Ken

Edited August 15, 2011 by rabbitman