Filing and Living Abroad

[moenicy 1]

Hi everybody,

 

my husband and I are in the process of putting together our initial I-130 for USCIS to apply for a CR1 Visa. He is a US Citizen and I am German. We got married only a few weeks ago and went through a very seamless process of registering my husband here in Germany. Our Plan to be able to be together is to live in Germany together until my visa (hopefully) gets approved. Registering him here was nescessary so he is legally allowed to work in Germany.

 

The first question we had was wether it makes sense to file the petition in the Frankfurt office of the USCIS since we both are in Germany. Is there any disadvantage? Are we even eligible?

 

Then we started to fill out the form and got immediately stuck on the simple part of filling out the mailing/physical adress. Should we give my husbands US adress and our adress in Germany? If so which one goes where? Does his living abroad have any influence on his ability to petition? (As for being my sponsor, we are already assuming that we will have to ask one of his parents to be a co-sponsor since we won't meet the financial requirements)

 

Does the choice of where we file (Frankfurt or New York) influence which adress we should give?

 

Thank you so much!

[Lenchick 133]

55 minutes ago, moenicy said:

Hi everybody,

 

my husband and I are in the process of putting together our initial I-130 for USCIS to apply for a CR1 Visa. He is a US Citizen and I am German. We got married only a few weeks ago and went through a very seamless process of registering my husband here in Germany. Our Plan to be able to be together is to live in Germany together until my visa (hopefully) gets approved. Registering him here was nescessary so he is legally allowed to work in Germany.

 

The first question we had was wether it makes sense to file the petition in the Frankfurt office of the USCIS since we both are in Germany. Is there any disadvantage? Are we even eligible?

 

Then we started to fill out the form and got immediately stuck on the simple part of filling out the mailing/physical adress. Should we give my husbands US adress and our adress in Germany? If so which one goes where? Does his living abroad have any influence on his ability to petition? (As for being my sponsor, we are already assuming that we will have to ask one of his parents to be a co-sponsor since we won't meet the financial requirements)

 

Does the choice of where we file (Frankfurt or New York) influence which adress we should give?

 

Thank you so much!

You can file to US embassy in Frankfurt if he has a resident permit for another 6 months. Direct Consular Filing is much easier process. You will use your German address in this case and all the process will go through Frankfurt. This is what the US Consulate in Frankfurt website says

 

Evidence Of Residence

We require evidence of petitioner’s residence in Germany, such as a photocopy of a Certificate of Residence, a Foreigners’ Permit to Stay, or a copy of the petitioner’s orders if he/she is a member of the U.S. military stationed in Germany.

[Lenchick 133]

1 hour ago, moenicy said:

Hi everybody,

 

my husband and I are in the process of putting together our initial I-130 for USCIS to apply for a CR1 Visa. He is a US Citizen and I am German. We got married only a few weeks ago and went through a very seamless process of registering my husband here in Germany. Our Plan to be able to be together is to live in Germany together until my visa (hopefully) gets approved. Registering him here was nescessary so he is legally allowed to work in Germany.

 

The first question we had was wether it makes sense to file the petition in the Frankfurt office of the USCIS since we both are in Germany. Is there any disadvantage? Are we even eligible?

 

Then we started to fill out the form and got immediately stuck on the simple part of filling out the mailing/physical adress. Should we give my husbands US adress and our adress in Germany? If so which one goes where? Does his living abroad have any influence on his ability to petition? (As for being my sponsor, we are already assuming that we will have to ask one of his parents to be a co-sponsor since we won't meet the financial requirements)

 

Does the choice of where we file (Frankfurt or New York) influence which adress we should give?

 

Thank you so much!

I recommend you to file through Frankfurt. It is very easy. Actually I never found the requirement to show the residence at least for the next 6 months but I am sure it was before. Now they have only this requirement:

 

Who May File or Receive Service:

U.S. citizens residing in Germany filing on behalf of their spouse, unmarried child under the age of 21 or parent (if the U.S. citizen is 21 years of age or older).

U.S. citizens residing in this field office’s jurisdiction but outside of Germany may file with the U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulate having jurisdiction over the U.S. citizen's place of residence if the USCIS Frankfurt field office director determines that there are exceptional circumstances.

Active duty U.S. Military: Active duty U.S. military service members stationed permanently at a military base in USCIS Frankfurt's jurisdiction, but outside of Germany, may file this form directly with the Department of State without needing to establish exceptional circumstances.

Filing and Other Special Instructions:

Residents of Germany filing with USCIS Frankfurt must submit the petition and supporting evidence by mail.  Petitions are adjudicated in the order in which they are received.  You may use our Form I-130 Petition Checklist (PDF) or Form I-130 Petition Checklist for Members of the Armed Forces (PDF) to help ensure you submit a complete application package.

Evidence of residency must be submitted with the petition.  The evidence you submit must support a determination that you are a resident in Germany.  Please note that certain pieces of evidence may more strongly support a finding of residency than others.  For petitions filed at this field office, you must submit one or more of the following:

• Residence Permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis); or
• Residence Registration (Anmeldebestätigung)
• U.S. Military orders – Please do not wait until you are being reassigned to the United States to file the Form I-130, this will ensure your family can accompany you.

In addition, other evidence of residency may include, but is not limited to:

• Housing lease in your name
• Work contract or other employment documents
• Proof of local registration
• Bank statements in your name
• Proof of school enrollment
• Vehicle registration
• Valid local driver’s license
• Tax documents
• Foreign property deeds or registration (although proof of property ownership in itself, may be insufficient if there is no evidence that the petitioner resides at that property)

Any document issued in a foreign language must be accompanied by a full English translation and must include  the translator's certification that he or she is competent to translate the foreign language into English. The original documents, with one copy, and the English translation should be submitted with the petition.  Any original documents submitted upon USCIS’ request will be returned.

[moenicy 1]

Hi Lenchick,

 

thanks so much for the response! Yes we had considered Direct consular filing. Actually, I wrote another post a while back when we were looking up different ways to process (http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/626235-cr1-directly-vs-dcf/)

 

We have since discussed the question quite a lot and - this might be silly - but we mostly see a psycological difference for ourselves. We can either get proactive now and petition right away, or we sit around for six months and petition then. For the timeline, in the end, it will probably not make so much of a difference... (9-12 Months if petitioning now, 6 + 3-6 months if waiting first...) But please correct me if I am wrong  

 

what I meant this time is - without going for direct consular filing, does it matter wether we send the package to the Chicago PO box or to Frankfurt? I thought that even if you did not do Direct Consular Filing it was possible to send it to either if you are currently not in the US. Or does that immediately count as DCF? Sorry for being so confused

 

[moenicy 1]

Now we posted at the same time  Yes I was on the same page from Frankfurt! It says nothing about 6 months...

[Lenchick 133]

3 minutes ago, moenicy said:

Hi Lenchick,

 

thanks so much for the response! Yes we had considered Direct consular filing. Actually, I wrote another post a while back when we were looking up different ways to process (http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/626235-cr1-directly-vs-dcf/)

 

We have since discussed the question quite a lot and - this might be silly - but we mostly see a psycological difference for ourselves. We can either get proactive now and petition right away, or we sit around for six months and petition then. For the timeline, in the end, it will probably not make so much of a difference... (9-12 Months if petitioning now, 6 + 3-6 months if waiting first...) But please correct me if I am wrong  

 

what I meant this time is - without going for direct consular filing, does it matter wether we send the package to the Chicago PO box or to Frankfurt? I thought that even if you did not do Direct Consular Filing it was possible to send it to either if you are currently not in the US. Or does that immediately count as DCF? Sorry for being so confused

 

If you choose to go  DCF route, you only send it to Frankfurt, if you want to go the US route, then only send it to Chicago. But better send it to Frankfurt if you are eligible. You are in Germany and to have all the paperwork done locally is much easier. You will save yourself from much headaches applying in Frankfurt.

[moenicy 1]

Thank you again! I think I might give the Frankfurt Embassy a call and ask wether my husband does not need to be a resident for a certain amount of time. I will post an update in that case (And maybe this should be moved to the DCF forum then? Not sure...).

 

I think I misunderstood a very basic thing here. Filing in Frankfurt automatically counts as DCF. I always thought there was still a difference...  

Edited March 22, 2017 by moenicy

[Lenchick 133]

9 minutes ago, moenicy said:

Thank you again! I think I might give the Frankfurt Embassy a call and ask wether my husband does not need to be a resident for a certain amount of time. I will post an update in that case (And maybe this should be moved to the DCF forum then? Not sure...).

 

I think I misunderstood a very basic thing here. Filing in Frankfurt automatically counts as DCF. I always thought there was still a difference...  

 after you make a call, please get back and share for others  what they have told you.

[moenicy 1]

I went on the contact page of the embassy and saw that their preferred means of contact is via email. So I did that instead of calling. I immediately got an automated reply back telling me that all the information is on the website. Specifically about the I-130 it said

• Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative: If you are a U.S. citizen residing in Germany, you may file a Form I-130 on behalf of an immediate relative (spouse, child, or parent) or Form I-360, as the self-petitioning widow/widower of a U.S. citizen.  You must file the form by mail, please send the completed form and fee to USCIS, Giessener Strasse 30, 60435 Frankfurt, Germany.  Our processing time is approximately 90 days. Petitions are adjudicated in the order received.  The form, checklist, and local filing instructions are here by clicking on the link “Green Card – Family Petitions”.  Approved cases are transferred to the DOS Immigrant Visa Section who will notify your relative about the next step of the immigrant visa process. 

Now I was not sure wether this was the only email I will get back. It nowhere said that they will in addition send an actual reply to my question.

 

I then tried calling and did not get through. I was again told by an automated voice that all the information is online.

 

Have you had any experience with contacting the embassy? Obviously they would get thousands of calls so I understand that they have to give somewhat standardized answers but I am still no smarter than before wether we are eligible for DCF or not...

[Magical 1]

Make sure he keeps his domicile in USA or you guys will be having issues like me

[moenicy 1]

Just read your thread on your issues with domicile and yeah, that is a point that has me worried, too...

 

He might be able to keep his apartment lease in NY - and if not his sister was going to write us something about being able to live with her when we come back. I also have a secure job lined up for when we arrive. But I am not the petitioner... Hopefully he will have some job lined up there as well - at least by the time we go in for the interview. If he has not, do you have suggestions of what else to provide? (Oh, he also has his drivers license and bank account etc...)

[moenicy 1]

I apologize for not updating this thread sooner - I heard back from Frankfurt after a while via Email and they said there is NO requirement for the amount of time he has to have lived in Germany!

 

So we waited for his Aufenthaltstitel and then filed the I-130. I will start creating a timeline here and keep this updated if anything changes (i.e. if we get an RFI after all...  Also if we run into any difficulties concerning domicile)

 

Thanks in anycase to you guys for pointing us in the right directions  So much appreciated!

[Lenchick 133]

On 3/23/2017 at 3:00 PM, moenicy said:

I went on the contact page of the embassy and saw that their preferred means of contact is via email. So I did that instead of calling. I immediately got an automated reply back telling me that all the information is on the website. Specifically about the I-130 it said

• Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative: If you are a U.S. citizen residing in Germany, you may file a Form I-130 on behalf of an immediate relative (spouse, child, or parent) or Form I-360, as the self-petitioning widow/widower of a U.S. citizen.  You must file the form by mail, please send the completed form and fee to USCIS, Giessener Strasse 30, 60435 Frankfurt, Germany.  Our processing time is approximately 90 days. Petitions are adjudicated in the order received.  The form, checklist, and local filing instructions are here by clicking on the link “Green Card – Family Petitions”.  Approved cases are transferred to the DOS Immigrant Visa Section who will notify your relative about the next step of the immigrant visa process. 

Now I was not sure wether this was the only email I will get back. It nowhere said that they will in addition send an actual reply to my question.

 

I then tried calling and did not get through. I was again told by an automated voice that all the information is online.

 

Have you had any experience with contacting the embassy? Obviously they would get thousands of calls so I understand that they have to give somewhat standardized answers but I am still no smarter than before wether we are eligible for DCF or not...

For the future reference, the unit that will deal with your i-130 is always this way. Hard to reach, short on additional info and you wait for their emails for several days. When your petition is approved they will transfer it to the immigration unit and that's where you will get instant replies to your questions. If not the same day then at least next day answers. 

[moenicy 1]

Hah, good to know! So it should only get better from here