DCF Philippines on tourist visa

[Haltom Family 40]

I agree on verwen's comment and to validate...A US Citizen with a tourist visa and living in the Philippines for about 6 months or more can possibly apply for Direct Consular Filing (DCF) -USCIS given that you are capable to provide the proof justifying your length of stay and residential tenure.  Our DCF application last February 2017 was accepted, and one of the proof we used is ACR (tourist) which also one of their requirement.   

 

 

The ACR I-Card from the Bureau of Immigration of the Philippines that ID contains details of your present address and an enough proof of residency. And in addition,  if you want to seek a Baranggay  or Mayor's Clearance, or any letter address to your name to justify your tenure in the address you provided you can do so.  But with the documents you mentioned above, signed I-130 Form plus the fees, and proof of marriage/relationship with your spouse, God willing you are good to do DCF.  

Edited July 1, 2017 by Haltom Family

[Spower82 2]

Do you have to married for 6 months in the Philippines or can one be present in the Philippines for at least 6 months then get married and apply for a DCF?

[wdieker 10]

2 hours ago, Spower82 said:

Do you have to married for 6 months in the Philippines or can one be present in the Philippines for at least 6 months then get married and apply for a DCF?

DCF - USC is in the Philippines for 6 months and can prove that via lease contract, his visa (can be tourist visa extensions), Philippines driver's license, membership cards, joint bank account... etc...

It does not mean that you need to be married for 6 months or more, you can even apply DCF, as long as you can prove you qualify, few days after your marriage. (But this is a hassle since you need to have PSA Marriage contract, and to have that, you need to either wait 2-4 months or avail their expedited service via urgency purposes.)

[Spower82 2]

Thanks for that info wdieker

 

21 hours ago, wdieker said:

DCF - USC is in the Philippines for 6 months and can prove that via lease contract, his visa (can be tourist visa extensions), Philippines driver's license, membership cards, joint bank account... etc...

It does not mean that you need to be married for 6 months or more, you can even apply DCF, as long as you can prove you qualify, few days after your marriage. (But this is a hassle since you need to have PSA Marriage contract, and to have that, you need to either wait 2-4 months or avail their expedited service via urgency purposes.)

Thanks for that info wdieker!

 

One more question that came up. I've been in the Philippines on a tourist visa for 14 months. I returned to the USA for one week back in June. So Ive consecutively been here 8 months. If I return to the states for a week, before initiating the I30 will my clock start over? Should I not leave the Philippines before applying?

 

I can't find anywhere that documents "6 consecutive months" it just says 6 months

 

 

[yuini 29]

2 hours ago, Spower82 said:

Thanks for that info wdieker

 

Thanks for that info wdieker!

 

One more question that came up. I've been in the Philippines on a tourist visa for 14 months. I returned to the USA for one week back in June. So Ive consecutively been here 8 months. If I return to the states for a week, before initiating the I30 will my clock start over? Should I not leave the Philippines before applying?

 

I can't find anywhere that documents "6 consecutive months" it just says 6 months

 

 

As far as I know it's 6 consecutive months. But I could be wrong. Would you risk it though?

 

http://sentimentsofmoonlightbutterfly.blogspirit.com/archive/2016/05/20/our-cr1-visa-dcf-journey.html

This link might be helpful to you as it helped us.

[deafguy72 99]

15 minutes ago, yuini said:

As far as I know it's 6 consecutive months. But I could be wrong. Would you risk it though?

 

http://sentimentsofmoonlightbutterfly.blogspirit.com/archive/2016/05/20/our-cr1-visa-dcf-journey.html

This link might be helpful to you as it helped us.

If you are not married yet so I recommend K1 that takes ONLY 4-5 months to process while you are on vacation. No harm at all 

Edited February 26, 2018 by deafguy72
wrong quote my apology

[deafguy72 99]

2 hours ago, Spower82 said:

Thanks for that info wdieker

 

Thanks for that info wdieker!

 

One more question that came up. I've been in the Philippines on a tourist visa for 14 months. I returned to the USA for one week back in June. So Ive consecutively been here 8 months. If I return to the states for a week, before initiating the I30 will my clock start over? Should I not leave the Philippines before applying?

 

I can't find anywhere that documents "6 consecutive months" it just says 6 months

 

 

 

1 minute ago, deafguy72 said:

If you are not married yet so I recommend K1 that takes ONLY 4-5 months to process while you are on vacation. No harm at all 

 

[yuini 29]

2 minutes ago, deafguy72 said:

If you are not married yet so I recommend K1 that takes ONLY 4-5 months to process while you are on vacation. No harm at all 

Yeah he can use k1 😊. I heard it's taking 9 months or more for the whole process lately. Unlike in DCF, it could take 3 months or less to get the whole thing done.

[geowrian 22,339]

6 minutes ago, yuini said:

Yeah he can use k1 😊. I heard it's taking 9 months or more for the whole process lately. Unlike in DCF, it could take 3 months or less to get the whole thing done.

Yeah, getting married and doing DCF is much, much faster than filing either the I-129F or I-130 in the US.

K-1 is taking ~8-10 months or so the last I saw in the monthly status threads. Only 4-5 months was the case like a year ago...the I-129F alone is taking over 6 months.

[Spower82 2]

On 2/26/2018 at 5:18 PM, geowrian said:

Yeah, getting married and doing DCF is much, much faster than filing either the I-129F or I-130 in the US.

K-1 is taking ~8-10 months or so the last I saw in the monthly status threads. Only 4-5 months was the case like a year ago...the I-129F alone is taking over 6 months.

Thanks for the input guys (or gals),

 

I agree with Geowrian that the average for K-1 is about 8-10 months these days.

 

The speed varies to some degree depending on the service center you use. Nebraska seems pretty bad and other service centers on average seem faster. You can use this tool and sort according to service center to see filing times, be sure to set the country as the Philippines and visa type to K1 or IR1

 

http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op3=5

 

Also

 

the K1 is costs about $3000

vs.

IR1 at about $1500

 

Additionally,  the IR1 allows Co-sponsors:

 

I think my best bet is DCF IR1

 

 

[geowrian 22,339]

2 hours ago, Spower82 said:

The speed varies to some degree depending on the service center you use. Nebraska seems pretty bad and other service centers on average seem faster. You can use this tool and sort according to service center to see filing times, be sure to set the country as the Philippines and visa type to K1 or IR1

For reference, all I-129Fs for a K-1 are processed by CSC (California Service Center). I-130s could go to any service center and are assigned to one apparently using some form of black magic. You can't pick the service center.

 

Quote

the K1 is costs about $3000

vs.

IR1 at about $1500

 

Additionally,  the IR1 allows Co-sponsors:

K-1 is $800 + medical/document/translation/travel costs. Then another $1225 for AOS.

IR-1 is $1200 + medical/document/translation/travel costs. No AOS needed.

 

Quote

I think my best bet is DCF IR1

I concur. DCF is by far the best option for those who are eligible for it. DCF means the I-130 is adjudicated at the USCIS office at embassy, not a service center in the US, which means it takes weeks instead of the better part of a year.

Edited February 28, 2018 by geowrian

[Jorge V 195]

On 2/26/2018 at 12:32 AM, Spower82 said:

One more question that came up. I've been in the Philippines on a tourist visa for 14 months. I returned to the USA for one week back in June. So Ive consecutively been here 8 months. If I return to the states for a week, before initiating the I30 will my clock start over? Should I not leave the Philippines before applying?

The answer is specific to both your case and especially your embassy, but I'll give you my experience doing DCF on a tourist visa in Mexico. I had been living in Mexico for several years with my now wife, but ever bothered applying for residency. After I found out about DCF, I decided to try to apply for it even though I was in Mexico as a tourist. I sent several pieces of evidence in lieu of a residency card, including a lease with my name on it and my ATM transaction history. I was approved without a problem even though I had traveled back to the US multiple times over the previous 6 months, both for family and work reasons. I was never asked about this and it did not cause problems.

 

So, in my experience my clock did not reset after leaving and returning to Mexico. Take this merely as a data point, not as gospel, but it is a good sign that they don't consider short trips outside of the country as a reset on residency.

Edited February 28, 2018 by Jorge V