Starting the DCF Process in Frankfurt, Germany

[D.K. 16]

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for this informative website/forum... I've just recently starting looking into getting a Greencard for my hubby and it seemed overwhelming, but this website really broke it down for me in a simple yet thorough manner.

Our history in a nutshell: My husband (Egyptian) was in the US for business when we met at one of his workshops in April 2006. We began a long distance relationship with me visiting him in Germany (where he's lived for more than 25 years now) and him coming back to the US to visit me during the same year. I took the plunge and moved to Germany in Jan 2007 to be with him and we got married at the Egyptian Consulate in Frankfurt in May 2007. We have a son who was born June 2008.

so here's our current situation:

My husband has a Business Visa for the US and travels back and forth 2-3 times a year without problems. We've decided to move to the US to be closer to my family now that our son is older-I want them to be a part of his life, so we're getting started with the DCF Process. Since we live near Frankfurt, I've scheduled an appointment through INFOPASS for next week to submit the I-130 form and supporting documents in person.

My husband is getting previous divorce records and our marriage certificate translated from Egyptian to English. We'll have those in our hands 2 days before our appointment. All other supporting documents are in our hands now.

My German Residence Permit expires in August 2013, so it's not exactly 'Permanent'. The reason why I don't have Permanent status right now is because I have not finished the required language integration course w/certificate (even though I have a German son). Is this going to be a problem? I've had a Resident Visa since Jan 2008, so it's been 4+ years that I've lived here... well past the 6 month guideline mark.

Also, do I need to get my German Residence Permit translated into English?

Thanks for any help!

[D.K. 16]

was this too stupid a question to answer?

Edited June 15, 2012 by salad-lover

[GirlWithAGerman 0]

Hi there. As long as you have been living in Germany on a residence permit for over 6 months, I think it is ok. I only had a 1 year erlaubnis. And no. You don't need it translated. As long as the original documents are in English or German I don't think anything has to be translated except criminal records...

Hope that helps!

[ljandjl 1]

I was told by the Embassy in Frankfurt that ANYTHING in German has to have an English translation - it doesn't have to be a court certified translation, but anything not originally in English must be translated. Given how small and simple an Aufenthaltserlaubnis is I would definitely have it translated! It's not worth delaying the process for it

[D.K. 16]

I had my appt yesterday and my hubby and I went to drop of the I-130 with all accompanying paperwork. It went really smoothly, and the officer on duty looked over our paperwork and gave us the DS-230 form to fill out. Luckily for us, I already did that ahead of time and had it with us, so we turned it in and they gave us the info packet on the necessary paperwork that my hubby needs to submit through the mail.... it took all of 1 hour and 15 minutes

So hubby's in the process of getting his police reports (which have nothing on them) and birth certificate.... my sister is my joint sponsor and she's sending us the form and paperwork next week. Hubby will get his medical examination next weeks as well. If everything goes as planned, we should be able to send in all the paperwork in 2-3 weeks..... and then we'll sit on our hands and wait until we get notification of a scheduled interview.

btw.... the German residence permit did not need to be translated, and the US embassy accepts all paperwork in both English and German. It's all other languages that need to be translated.

Edited June 21, 2012 by salad-lover

[missmango 0]

I was told by the Embassy in Frankfurt that ANYTHING in German has to have an English translation - it doesn't have to be a court certified translation, but anything not originally in English must be translated.

That is not true. Only court documents need to be translated to English by a certified translator. All other documents can be in German.

http://germany.usembassy.gov/visa/iv/step4/

[ljandjl 1]

That is not true. Only court documents need to be translated to English by a certified translator. All other documents can be in German.

http://germany.usembassy.gov/visa/iv/step4/

I'm not arguing what's on the website, just reporting what the Consular official wrote to me. I know plenty of people submitted German & English documents - I also didn't mind spending 15 minutes translating a birth certificate to be sure , esp after they told me it was necessary (maybe they need to read their own website!)

[marlex 0]

Edited August 16, 2013 by marlex