DCF Moscow Experience

[Lermontov 0]

In tribute to the very detailed report by "julia&alex," I wanted to share my own recent experience of applying for DCF in Moscow. There were some unexpected things along the way, so I hope my experience contributes to navigating your own journey.

So, where to start?

1. Getting Married in Russia

My wife (Russian citizen) and myself (US citizen born and raised) met Online a few years ago, and in 2013 decided to get married in her hometown (not going to go into specifics here, but it's a mid-size Russian city that is surprisingly modern). I got a 3-year, multiple-entry, private stay Russian visa in about two weeks with no big hitches. On her end, the only thing I needed was a notarized invitation stating the dates we wanted the visa to be valid, cities to be visited, etc. Only word of advice...make sure the Russian notary uses special paper with a serial number on it! Not completely sure, but I've heard they aren't issuing these visas anymore. Anyway, I've been lucky (or blessed) with bureaucracy up to this point, and got the visa without too much drama. By the way, just for those wondering, my wife and I are the same age.

So, before moving to Russia, my wife visited the local "palace of marriages" (i.e. ZAGS) to check up on marriage requirements, and told me they had copies of the "non-impediment to marriage" forms from most US states. It was surprising how many USC's had gotten married there. But, they didn't have one from my state. I just had an apostilled form from my state's Dept. of Health which stated they could find no prior marriage records, and this was accepted.

After registering our marriage date about a month before the ceremony, the only hiccup we had was about the suffix on my name (Jr.) I also had Jr. (мл in Russian) on my visa. So, because my wife wanted to change her name to my own, they wanted her to also be "Junior!" Clearly that wasn't going to fly. Lol. So, we explained to the very educated, English-speaking ZAGS administrator that this is just an American convention, and her last name should be without suffix. After making a quick phone call, she agreed, and so it was. Our daughter went through the same confusion when she was born, and they wanted her to be "Jr." on her Russian birth certificate! Again, my very persuasive wife talked them out of it.

ZAGS weddings are very egalitarian...we loved it. Happiest day of our lives. They did require an in-person translator, however, to make sure I understood the legal aspects of what we were entering into. So, if the translator didn't show up, we wouldn't have been able to get married! That was nerve racking, but the translator showed up, and we were hitched. And, that's that!

2. Submitting I-130 via DCF

So, because we aren't in Moscow, submitting the I-130 was going to be the first step of a big process of booking flights, traveling to Moscow, etc. Not the most convenient thing. I wanted to submit our I-130 in February 2014, and just travel by myself to Moscow and get it knocked out. Our daughter was only a few months old, and we didn't want her and my breastfeeding wife flying in the dead of winter.

Due to my visa type, and length of stay in Russia for over 6 months, I qualified for DCF. USCIS Moscow was very responsive both via phone and e-mail, and answered all my questions. One of my big questions was about how long a trip could be outside of the country to still qualify for DCF. They told me 7-10 days, which is very generous. I only took two trips since I moved to Russia, one for 1 day, and the other for 3 days. The customer service was excellent for the most part. So, I thought I had everything together and was about to go to Moscow in February, and then I found out.......

If you have been married for less than 2 years, your spouse must accompany you to file your I-130 -- something that to this day I cannot find guidance about on the USCIS website, or even on Visa Journey. I was aware of the CR-1/IR-1 differences dealing with the number of years you have been married, but had never heard that they need to interview both spouses in person if they've been married less than two years. I only found this out through a random e-mail I sent to USCIS before my trip. If anyone has documentation about this, just in retrospect, I'd love to see it.

So, our February submission of the I-130 was scuttled. We finally waited until June 2014 and went to Moscow together.

The trip was easy for the most part. It was sunny, the embassy was easy to find, and our daughter was a champ on the plane ride. The day we arrived we went to the embassy (American Citizen Services) and applied for a passport and CRBA (consular report of birth abroad) for our daughter, which was pretty seamless.

The next day we had the appointment with USCIS (you enter via the right hand entrance of the embassy if you are facing it, there is a left-hand entrance that is used for ACS). But, the security guy, despite speaking some English, didn't seem to know what USCIS was (even after showing him our InfoPass appointment). So, we grabbed the security guy we chatted with the day before at the other entrance and he explained our situation.

We then went through to security (no one else there in the afternoon), and went up to USCIS on the second floor, to a white-washed waiting room with a few doors leading to interview rooms. It was pretty dingy, and not all that glamorous. I'm sure funding and space issues play a role here. We went to the reception area, where you pick up a phone and tell them that you're there. A nice Russian guy (USCIS employee) came and reviewed our documents with little delay, and then we waited for our interview with the USCIS-equivalent of a consular officer.

The officer interviewed us separately (me first, with my wife and child outside the room), which lasted probably 25 minutes (an hour or so all together). The officer typed everything into a computer: Where we met, etc. etc. Honestly I can't recall that much about it now. Everything was basic, but a little more in-depth than I expected. Like, when we first met, how often we spoke on Skype together. So, it went well beyond cursory knowledge, but was still routine. Then it was my wife's turn, which basically consisted of comparing her answers to mine. And, that was it!

I don't want to go into any of the details about questioning, etc. It was all routine. However, to my surprise, the officer (who had been friendly, if not a bit quirky) at the end made a very strange and sarcastic comment to us. But, we perceived it to not be friendly. That put a damper on us and made me worry the rest of the trip.

Upon leaving (and paying) we checked-in again at the reception desk, and a very nice lady (the supervisor I think) told us that she had seen my name before from the e-mails I had sent, and what could to expect next in the process.

A few days later we received an e-mail that our I-130 was approved with an attached PDF letter, and we got a hardcopy of the same letter via DHL a week or two later.

3. Visa Interview

After the initial USCIS e-mail approval, we received very quick e-mail confirmation from the embassy that our case had been transferred to immigrant visa unit, along with our case number, and received instructions for how to schedule an interview appointment on USTravelDocs. We received nothing via regular mail.

Our lives were turned upside down for a few days as my wife then received her new "Zagran Passport" (Intl. Russian passport), but they spelled her name (the English transliteration of her Russian name) completely different from how she spells it in English. Google it, it's a common problem. We just decided to go with it, and not go through the hassle of changing it. As long as the name spellings sound similar phonetically, it doesn't affect any of your embassy paperwork from the I-130, but you have to make sure on the next round (i.e. DS-260) that the name you submit matches the passport, as this will also be the name on your visa. So, my wife finally fell victim to Russian bureaucracy (which up until this time we had no complaints about). I sarcastically mentioned to my wife that we could bribe them to change it...and she said we could go to prison if we tried that. Contrary to popular belief, I've never experienced any kind of corruption in Russia, and no one has ever intimated or asked us for a bribe, nor have we ever thought that attempting that would get us anywhere. I don't know where corruption exists in Russia, but it's not in our town. From hospitals, to ZAGS, to the passport place, everything (i.e. bureaucratically) has functioned just as well, if not smoother than in the US.

So, preparing for the next leg of flights, etc. to Moscow in July 2014 (a month after I-130 submission) was fraught with the same worries about getting documents together, our daughter flying, etc. But, it all went fine. My wife got her police certificate easily, in about 3 weeks (it only listed the places she had lived, not that it had been checked against a central database), and it only took a day for translations. On the first trip, USCIS told us that they "weren't sure" if my big packet of evidence (with photos, etc.) would be transferred to the embassy, so I wound up making another one again with photos, etc. Turns out the embassy did indeed have all our USCIS materials in their file.

Medical. We booked our medical appointment with IOM by phone about two weeks before our interview, and were surprised that some of the days that week were fully booked. However, there was plenty of interview space on USTravelDocs, so it was easy to change my original interview date to later in the week to accommodate the medical slots being booked. The medical has two legs: 1) Show up to their administrative offices from 8-9 AM, or so, to register and pay. 2) Travel to the actual medical clinic for your exam.

We were processed pretty fast at IOM, which was open before we got there at 8:30. We filled out some sheets, paid, they took a quick look at my wife's vaccine record, and that was it. We then hopped in a taxi and got to the medical clinic (close to Red Square), which took 20-25 minutes.

We were the second people there, and it took around 2 hours all in all. However, it seemed to go pretty slow after that, and I'm sure some of the later folks had a longer wait. We were pleased with the speed of it all, and picked-up the results the same day at 4 PM. The price was around 7000 rubles (a bit more, but don't recall the exact amount). They ONLY TAKE CASH, no credit cards. Once at the clinic, turns out my wife needed an extra immunization that was out of date, and we weren't charged for it.

Interview. The next day we had the interview at the embassy 8 AM. We showed up around 7:15 and there were already people waiting. So, I don't know what I did wrong, but at the first security checkpoint inside the embassy they actually WOULDN'T LET ME IN at first because my name "wasn't on the list." Only my wife was on there. Maybe doing DCF screwed something up. But, basically, they were about to not let me into the interview with my wife (which would have been terrible, since I had assembled our folder with forms, evidence, etc. and she had no familiarity with any of it). I still don't know how one gets onto this "list," since I'm the petitioner I thought 100% my name would just be on there. But, anyway, they sent my wife and daughter ahead of me, made me wait for 5 minutes, made a call, and I was let in. But, Jesus, talk about stressful!

So, we go up to the second floor (again, close to where USCIS was), and sit down. Since we have a baby, I talked them into letting me submit my documents first, but other than that it seemed to be a free-for-all system of who submits their forms first. Then, I went downstairs to pay, and back upstairs again (wife and daughter stayed upstairs). Then, very quickly we were called into the interview.

Both of these trips because of the time difference from our hometown in Russia, we had been sort of jet lagged/out of it. That's why I can't really recall the nitty-gritty details of the USCIS interview. I'm sure petitioners who travel from the US face the same thing.

So, all of our hard work and waiting boiled down to this point, jet lagged, going into a non-air conditioned interview room...

My wife and I entered and she did the fingerprint thing and took the oath (you have a choice to say it in Russian or English, she elected for Russian). I raised my right hand and took a shorter oath. Despite saying "Spaseeba," however, the consular officer never asked if my wife would be more comfortable doing the interview in Russian (she would have been). But, again, we were jet lagged, and we didn't even think about asking.

The questions at first were usual: Where we met, my wife's employment, etc.

Then, the consular officer eventually breaks it to me that I didn't meet the "poverty guideline." I had lots of assets, but only a small "estimated annual income" (or whatever it is that you estimate on the I-864 for the current year). I was like $1,000 short. Why? Because they divide your assets by five. So, my tens of thousands of dollars worth of assets were suddenly divided by five, and when added to my estimated annual income, didn't reach the poverty threshold.

So, why was I calm throughout all of this? Because, anticipating this might happen due to the asset/income disparity, had my father fill out an I-864 as a joint sponsor.

However, the consular officer didn't even ask for a joint sponsor. He was busy rattling off the ways in which I could find more assets to qualify (house, car, etc.). He even started to fill out a 221(G)! I finally said, "I have a joint sponsor, will that work?" I handed over the papers and he checked them over and asked quickly about my father's employment. "You obviously came prepared," he said. Yeah.

So, after the shock of not being let into the embassy, and having my assets divided five times over, I thought that was it. However, in my idiocy -- after asking about my wife's employment (she's a science teacher) -- unsolicited, I bragged that my wife had a PhD. Education wasn't asked about on any previous form, either. The officer asked if I had a copy of her CV (I didn't), but I did have a copy of her dissertation abstract (I had it in lieu of her diploma, which she hasn't received a hard copy of yet). So, he asked for it and intimated it would have to be reviewed. He was about to get up and leave...

"Wait, where do we go from here," I asked. I was then told her visa could be issued in "1-2 days," or it "might take a month." We were then told if we had any questions to contact the embassy, and he CIRCLED THE EMBASSY E-MAIL ADDRESS ON THE 221(G) HE WAS ORIGINALLY FILLING OUT FOR ME. I didn't realize this at the time, but he basically handed the 221(G) to us without explaining anything, and leaving us unsure whether he was just guiding us to contact information, or genuinely issuing a 221(G) to us. I think he didn't issue it, but I'm not sure. So, definitely no "congratulations, welcome to the US," or whatever. It was this kind of ambiguity that typified the entire interview. No questions about our daughter, and no USCIS-type relationship questions at all. All in all it probably lasted 15-20 minutes.

Post-Interview

It has now been over a week since our visa interview, and CEAC still says "Administrative Processing." Today, August 8 (a little over one week since the interview), I received an e-mail asking for my wife's CV and a list of scientific publications.

So, I am anticipating this might last a month or so (as the officer explicitly said), but the "AP horror stories" I am now reading are making my thoughts go wild Maybe it's karma for the ease of DCF? Anyway, at least we are together -- I can't imagine what it would be like going through AP if you're apart from your spouse after all your waiting and hard work.

I will update this thread with updates about our visa.

Hope this helps!

Edited August 8, 2014 by Lermontov

[Dave&Roza 748]

Thanks for writing about your experience. I will point out that the guy was incorrect according to the instructions on the I-864 form. If you use assets you divide them by 3 not 5 if you are sponsoring your wife and/or minor child like you were. So it goes to show you that not everyone knows their own rules. In my dealings with this process so far I would say the CBP people are the best trained, then the USCIS, and lastly the SSA.

I hope you get good news soon,

Dave

[Lermontov 0]

Thanks for writing about your experience. I will point out that the guy was incorrect according to the instructions on the I-864 form. If you use assets you divide them by 3 not 5 if you are sponsoring your wife and/or minor child like you were. So it goes to show you that not everyone knows their own rules. In my dealings with this process so far I would say the CBP people are the best trained, then the USCIS, and lastly the SSA.

I hope you get good news soon,

Dave

Thanks for the support, Dave. If you have any documentation that definitively states this, I'd love to see it.

Best.

[MUXAGIRL 69]

Lermontov,

I hear ya! Anytime you mention a science PhD in consulate, they give you 221(g). I have been through it quite a few times and have lived to tell the tale. For me AP lasted about 15 days.

I have heard many horror stories about administrative processing as well and they are really scary, but don't panic yet. At least you are with your family right now. I think if one has a unique, uncommon name, the processing does not take too long. If it's a very common name and when they check it against FBI database and find many matches in many countries, then it takes longer.

Also I am quite familiar with the name translation screw up by Russian authorities. One of my friends from Ukraine has a very common name 'Anna' and when they translated it for her on her external passport, they wrote 'Ganna'. The poor thing is going to be known as Ganna for the rest of her life!

[MUXAGIRL 69]

@Dave&Roza

The CO was correct in dividing the assets by five. It says so on the instructions of form I-864. The only thing that does not have to be five times of the minimum income threshold is your income from a job which can be documented by w2.

[Lermontov 0]

Lermontov,

I hear ya! Anytime you mention a science PhD in consulate, they give you 221(g). I have been through it quite a few times and have lived to tell the tale. For me AP lasted about 15 days.

I have heard many horror stories about administrative processing as well and they are really scary, but don't panic yet. At least you are with your family right now. I think if one has a unique, uncommon name, the processing does not take too long. If it's a very common name and when they check it against FBI database and find many matches in many countries, then it takes longer.

Also I am quite familiar with the name translation screw up by Russian authorities. One of my friends from Ukraine has a very common name 'Anna' and when they translated it for her on her external passport, they wrote 'Ganna'. The poor thing is going to be known as Ganna for the rest of her life!

Hahaha, MUXAGIRL, thanks for the much needed breath of fresh air. You and my wife might need to trade contact details when we move back to the US You all sound very like-minded.

I made the very unfortunate error of thinking that high qualifications are a good thing! Oh well, we are both very educated people and value education, so it's hard to hide. Let's hope it's only 15 days like you! Luckily she does have a very unique name.

In my line of work (higher education administration) I have dealt with many international, PhD students who have missed a semester or more of classes because of the MANTIS checks. Of course you have the 80% who have quick clearances, but for those 1/5 of students for whom it takes 2-3 months or more, it can be tough. I have studied the issue and advocated for them a lot. Let's hope some of that lucky karma comes back to us. But, I feel like I'm putting in my time now and experiencing what I never thought I'd have to experience.

Ganna is just terrible! We were told that the passport could be changed, but that the request would have to go to Moscow for approval. But since I don't speak Russian, the responsibility would fall on my wife to go back to the passport place and do the whole thing over. Her name wasn't butchered like your friend, but just spelled in an "unorthodox" way, let's say. So, given we have a baby and the time it would take to go there and do all the stuff, and our desire to get the interview over with, she said the name was fine. She still thinks in Russian rather than English, so it didn't matter to her (maybe it will later). I was more upset! It will be a fun story, and has some deeper lessons too.

Thanks for your reply!

Edited August 8, 2014 by Lermontov

[Dave&Roza 748]

Thanks for the support, Dave. If you have any documentation that definitively states this, I'd love to see it.

Best.

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/support/i-864-frequently-asked-questions.html here is another source for the three times verses five times value of assets needed. Scroll down to ASSETS and look for the how much FAQ.

@Dave&Roza

The CO was correct in dividing the assets by five. It says so on the instructions of form I-864. The only thing that does not have to be five times of the minimum income threshold is your income from a job which can be documented by w2.

On page 7 of the I-864 instructions, it states:

"In order to qualify based on the value of your assets, the total value of your assets must equal at least five times the difference between your total household income and the current poverty guidelines for your household size. However, if you are a U.S. citizen and you are sponsoring your spouse or minor child, the total value of your assets must only be equal to at least three times the difference."

So that is two different sources that state it is three times--one is the USCIS I-864 instructions and the other if from the DOS.

Dave

Edited August 8, 2014 by Dave&Roza

[Lermontov 0]

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/support/i-864-frequently-asked-questions.html here is another source for the three times verses five times value of assets needed. Scroll down to ASSETS and look for the how much FAQ.

On page 7 of the I-864 instructions, it states:

"In order to qualify based on the value of your assets, the total value of your assets must equal at least five times the difference between your total household income and the current poverty guidelines for your household size. However, if you are a U.S. citizen and you are sponsoring your spouse or minor child, the total value of your assets must only be equal to at least three times the difference."

So that is two different sources that state it is three times--one is the USCIS I-864 instructions and the other if from the DOS.

Dave

Spaseeba, Dave.

[MUXAGIRL 69]

Yeah, people like us who value education and won't stop until we reach the educational apex and then some think it's such a great thing that we have PhDs and therefore, COs gonna give more weight to our words, and they do! So much weight in fact the visa gets stuck underneath it for a while for AP! I would love to communicate with your wife once I am back in the US, which I think might happen in September.

Even though my AP is over, during AP my visa category retrogressed hence they could not issue me a visa! So I am stuck here without my husband waiting it out. See, we spouse of green card holders have something called priority date which becomes current and then non-current etc pretty much randomly, if we can't get our visa processing done when it's current, then we must wait it out till it's current again! Terrible stuff.

My hubby and I both are PhDs from the US, still they do this 221(g) to me every time!

It was my third, btw and each time it took about two weeks.

@Dave&Roza

I stand corrected. I guess since my hubby is not USC, my rain totally ignored the "three times" part and latched onto the "five times".

Thank you for the info.

I meant brain, not 'rain' -above :-)

[Lermontov 0]

So much weight in fact the visa gets stuck underneath it for a while for AP!

Lol, good one.

You are a veteran! That makes sense. Best of luck, and let's hope it's soon!

[Dave&Roza 748]

Spaseeba, Dave.

пожалуйста (pozhaluysta)

[Lermontov 0]

I just wanted to provide you all with an update to the novel I wrote above...

After 70+- days of being a nervous wreck, we got word today both on CEAC, and via e-mail that our visa has been issued!

CEAC never changed to "ready," and back to AP like I had read about. Just "issued" out of the blue. Over the past week our case status was updated 4-5 times on successive days, so we knew something was up.

POE soon Hope these experiences help.