USC petitioner living abroad

[wisegeek 8]

1. Country USC resides in: Qatar

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: March 2013

4. How long had you been living abroad: 1 year

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes, residence permit

6. What is the reason for your residence: To be with husband

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Technically, no. I sent it first to my dad so he could add the check then he fwd'd it to Chicago lockbox via UPS.However I wrote across on the envelope "Filed from Abroad"

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes included copies of my Passport pages with Qatar Residence Permit.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes, mentioned in cover letter

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Yes, 98 days.I hope 98 days isn't considered too long

There was a mix up with the payment.The check my dad sent was invalid as my old savings account was closed due to dormancy.The check bounced and USCIS sent a $30 fee plus $420.This took a month - for them to send the new invoice.However they printed the MSC number of another petition on this invoice.The payment was charged to his card but they updated cases status saying case was suspended due to insufficient funds.After countless calls to uscis nscs they finally rectified it.This was the reason for taking so long for the I 130 approval.

[wisegeek 8]

just bumping this thread if someone hasn't noticed

please post here if you have been approved quickly while both USC and foreign spouse stay abroad.

would be interesting to know if this trend is still continuing.

[burnabrenna 19]

1. Country USC resides in: Canada
2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No
3. When did you file the I-130: April 2013
4. How long had you been living abroad: Since May 2012
5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes, on a visitor visa that I keep current with the government
6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/ Work - Tourist
7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes
8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes
9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Not really, just the fact that we got married abroad and had a foreign joint bank account.
10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes
11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? I guess so, 80 days.

Not sure if 80 days is expedited, but it seems that recently it's been taking a bit longer for foreign applications compared to a few months ago.

[lucybelle 453]

I'm at 103 days now. I'm almost thinking it would have been faster for them to transfer it to my local office (Raleigh/Durham), since it's so small I bet it would have gone real quick. I was told it'll stay at NBC so I'm still hoping for an "early-ish" approval.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

I'm at 103 days now. I'm almost thinking it would have been faster for them to transfer it to my local office (Raleigh/Durham), since it's so small I bet it would have gone real quick. I was told it'll stay at NBC so I'm still hoping for an "early-ish" approval.

I don't want to pop your hope bubble, but our original I-130 took 6 months because it was transferred to the local office. The second one we sent took a day or two because they let us do DCF on account of the mix up.

[perdesi 1]

Does the case get expedited if both spouses are abroad but in different countries?

[NikLR 13,220]

It's based on if the USC is abroad and doesn't have a US address.

And it's not expedited - it's simply not sent to a local office.

[cb9908 1]

It's based on if the USC is abroad and doesn't have a US address.

And it's not expedited - it's simply not sent to a local office.

i am living abroad and plan to until our cr-1 is issued, but i do have a address at my parents house in the US. do i list the foreign address as my address on the i-130 in the information about me to try for an "expedite"? i see that sometimes they ask you to change this address to a US address

[NikLR 13,220]

They only ask you to change it if you call in. I do not suggest a US address anywhere until you are at the NVC stage.

[Chris & Trinh 15]

1. Country USC resides in: Vietnam

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No
3. When did you file the I-130: NOA1 March 18, 2013

4. How long had you been living abroad: Since 2009

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes, on a 5 year visa exempt for spouses

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist - work/travel

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes
8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes
9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? No. Just put it as my address on the forms when asked for current address

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes
11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? I guess so, 120 days. We had an RFE which set us back about a month. We were still processed faster than most who applied at the same time.

[mimistar44 5]

1. Country USC resides in: Vietnam

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: NOA1 March 18, 2013

4. How long had you been living abroad: Since 2009

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes, on a 5 year visa exempt for spouses

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist - work/travel

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? No. Just put it as my address on the forms when asked for current address

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? I guess so, 120 days. We had an RFE which set us back about a month. We were still processed faster than most who applied at the same time.

congrat and thank you for posting! this gave me a hope.

[cb9908 1]

They only ask you to change it if you call in. I do not suggest a US address anywhere until you are at the NVC stage.

i see, thank you. so i should put my foriegn address on the g-325a as well?

[LoveExile 27]

1. Country USC resides in: The Netherlands
2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No
3. When did you file the I-130: 18 July 2013
4. How long had you been living abroad: 4 years
5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes
6. What is the reason for your residence: Family Unification (EU spouse); also work for International Organization
7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes
8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes
9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes, I included our rental agreements as proof of relationship
10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? The cover letter listed our address, and I specifically mention that we live together in Europe where it asks for a U.S. address where beneficiary will live.
11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? I don't know. I hope soon!

[flamby 1]

1. Country USC resides in: United Arab Emirates
2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No
3. When did you file the I-130: April 9th 2013
4. How long had you been living abroad: Since November 2012
5. Do you reside in the country legally? My husband was there with me while I was working - he had a visitor visa which he renewed by doing a border run
6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/ Work - Accompanying me (his wife)
7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes
8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? No - we sent it to his parents who sent it to us
9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes. We also wrote "filed from abroad" everywhere we could!
10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes
11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? 99 days so it would seem so. Certainly quicker than other April filers

[wisegeek 8]

i see, thank you. so i should put my foriegn address on the g-325a as well?

Yes everywhere except of course wherein it asks for where you intend to stay in US,

thats what we did.