Seoul Embassy is Cookin'!

[Momus 0]

After submitting my I-130, they told me to sit tight for about two months. This seemed a bit long based on what I had seen around here, so when I got home I emailed the officer to double check. He confirmed what I had suspected, which is that they just say "two months" to be safe, but it's likely closer to 30 days. I was pretty satisfied with that.

Exactly 5 business days later, I got an email with our case number and Packet 3!!! We already prepared everything ahead of time, so the only things left to do were the online DS-260 and medical check. We did the DS-260 immediately and already scheduled the medical for two weeks from now. We could be done with this thing in less than a month!

We are really relieved and grateful to the immigration officers at the embassy.

[CallMeShams 34]

That is amazing.

Sounds like you would set a record.

So that is direct consular filing eh?

[Momus 0]

It seems so... I don't believe it's typical or should be expected, but I guess they've got their act together over here. I strongly doubt it, but it could have helped that in my email regarding the wait time, I briefly laid out our situation and the importance of us finishing this thing quickly. He attached an obviously pre-assembled explanation of which specific conditions merit special consideration (none of which we met; stuff like persecution, political asylum, national security) but I'm sure they aren't processing a lot of refugees out of South Korea. So maybe the guy just read my situation and thought he'd do me a favour. Maybe.

Anyway, if anyone else is researching about DCF in Seoul, I hope my story can provide some encouragement.

[lululola 0]

You said you emailed the officer once you got home.

How did you get his email?

Or if it was just a general embassy email, which one did you use?

[Momus 0]

Sorry for the late response! Haven'e been back here in a while.

The email address was posted literally above the window where I talked to the guy. I just copied it down. I didn't expect anyone to answer, but they were really on top of it. I think they answer more promptly once they have your files. If you email before submitting, they just auto-respond or ignore.

Best of luck!