DCF CR-1 London I-130 to email/letter of approval + case number?

[LHR2SFO 2]

On 7/25/2021 at 4:26 AM, saksnoot said:

Update: I emailed the day after 12 weeks. Within 1 hour, I had an email with a case number and further instructions. Booked the medical. Working on DS-260 so we can book interview

What was the sequence of events for you to book your interview? My partner has completed the medical but everytime he logs into to submit a request to book his interview he gets a message under where you type in your case number that says 'is not ready for an appointment'.

 

Any help on this is appreciated, thanks!

[saksnoot 31]

23 minutes ago, LHR2SFO said:

What was the sequence of events for you to book your interview? My partner has completed the medical but everytime he logs into to submit a request to book his interview he gets a message under where you type in your case number that says 'is not ready for an appointment'.

 

Any help on this is appreciated, thanks!

Had this happen. Contact the embassy (ideally reply to the email with the I-130 filing appointment if you filed dcf in London) and they’ll fix that. They did it for us within an hour of sending the email. Then you can look at the available slots, and if there aren’t any, don’t worry. They’re released sporadically and can go fast. Just be patient and keep checking

[LHR2SFO 2]

8 minutes ago, saksnoot said:

Had this happen. Contact the embassy (ideally reply to the email with the I-130 filing appointment if you filed dcf in London) and they’ll fix that. They did it for us within an hour of sending the email. Then you can look at the available slots, and if there aren’t any, don’t worry. They’re released sporadically and can go fast. Just be patient and keep checking

Ok, thanks for the quick reply. Will give that a try!

[wonderer2505 3]

So glad I found this thread and wondering if anyone has had something similar to my case.

 

My wife is a US Citizen, I'm a British citizen and work for a Global Company. We're wanting to relocate and they are willing to offer me a role in the US, with the caveat that the visa process is left to me (so intra company transfer isn't readily available as an option). 

 

Would this qualify for a DCF Exception, giving that I (UK Citizen) would be the one going to take up work instead of my wife (a us citizen)? My wife doesn't have a paid Job and so i'm the sole earner. I'd love to know if anyone has had a case approved when the US citizen isn't the one with short term relocation?. 

 

Thanks a lot!  

Edited December 8, 2021 by wonderer2505
Confidentiality

[saksnoot 31]

8 minutes ago, wonderer2505 said:

So glad I found this thread and wondering if anyone has had something similar to my case.

 

My wife is a US Citizen, I'm a British citizen and work for a Global Company. We're wanting to relocate and they are willing to offer me a role in the US, with the caveat that the visa process is left to me (so intra company transfer isn't readily available as an option). 

 

Would this qualify for a DCF Exception, giving that I (UK Citizen) would be the one going to take up work instead of my wife (a us citizen)? My wife doesn't have a paid Job and so i'm the sole earner. I'd love to know if anyone has had a case approved when the US citizen isn't the one with short term relocation?. 

 

Thanks a lot!  

Does not qualify for the exception. I’d be surprised if you got approved for this. If your company wants you to move to the US in any short order, they should assist you to do that. If the move to the US is only coming from you/your partner wanting to and not the company, then your case is basically the same as any other as far as I can see. The main difference of course is that you can actually have a job lined up in the US for when you do get your greencard, and that’s a luxury that many don’t have. 
 

The reasoning behind the exception is this. If the person needing to relocate to the US for work weren’t a US citizen, they could relatively quickly get an L1 or H1-B or similar, and bring their partner with them on a dependent visa. With a US citizen needing to relocate quickly however, they would be separated for likely a lengthy period based on the I-130 and IR1/CR1 process. Basically, this exception stops it being disadvantageous to have a US citizen relocating to the US for work, rather than a foreign national relocating to the US for work. 

[shibbles 1]

Filed for DCF on October 20, 2021

Received successful response in the post Jan 15th, 2022

Earliest medical appointment was Feb 8th, 2022

Earliest visa appointment was Feb 25th, 2022

 

Hoping to have visa in hand in March!

[Boiler 43,458]

Good  be to know a recent timeline

 

trust everything else goes smoothly 

[sucho_journey 0]

This thread has helped us so much as we are preparing to file at London embassy under exceptional circumstances (short job relocation notice) next week. Fingers crossed the 12 week wait goes fast and there are  interview and medical appointments available when we get the case number. We have two small school children and can' t be apart at all so hopefully everything goes as smoothly as possible! 

[saksnoot 31]

23 minutes ago, sucho_journey said:

This thread has helped us so much as we are preparing to file at London embassy under exceptional circumstances (short job relocation notice) next week. Fingers crossed the 12 week wait goes fast and there are  interview and medical appointments available when we get the case number. We have two small school children and can' t be apart at all so hopefully everything goes as smoothly as possible! 

If you get started now and stay on top of it (maybe look for cancellations for medical/interview appointments to have it done quicker), you have a good shot of making it to the US by the August enrolment deadlines in the US, though I know it varies by state and district. Just a bit of encouragement

[sucho_journey 0]

Thank you for the words of encouragement! We are well organised and have most of the documents already ready (and translated) as this is not our first move. The relocation date is June 1st even though we can probably push it to mid June. I know it is very tight and many things can happen but we are still hopeful. I just need to start working on all my police certificates ( I have no records but lived in too many places and will take some time to get them all ). 

 

 

[Sarah1992 2]

While now 2022 I found timelines really helpful so wanted to share this here in the case someone else finds it helpful!

My husband and I filed through the London Embassy under DCF based on his company relocating him to the US. 

We first sent the email form detailing the circumstance to the London Embassy in early November and received an email back with an appointment the following week to file the i130.

 

The i130 was approved on the spot but we then had to wait a full 12 weeks until we received our case number. 

On the 12th week to the day (7th Feb) we emailed the embassy (Replying to the initial appointment notice) asking for our case number. Our lawyer filled out our DS260 and then we booked the medical. We then booked the interview exactly 1 week from the medical - they managed to get the medical results to the embassy in time for interview and was approved on the spot at interview with very few questions asked. The interview was last week and we received my passport and the visa packet on Tuesday! (2 working days later)

 

While incredibly stressful at times, we got there in the end and the DCF process was super quick and easy - a far better option than filing stateside for those that meet the requirement! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wonderer2505 3]

Hi Friends, 

 

Just putting my info here, as it may help others. 

We had a "medical emergency" that meant we had to move soon. (I can't give any additional info for privacy reasons, sorry).

 

We figured the fastest route was DCF, however we were not sure about exceptional circumstances, we researched and planned to try the Job route. However we did not feel our case was strong enough.

 

We decided we'd just be forthright and explain what the our need to move as it really was, instead of some excuse. We got a response the next day, with a date for i130 submission. Here is a rough timeline. 

• Request for EC and Response (24hrs)
• From EC Response to Interview (1 Week) 
  • They asked for a lot of evidence of the medical issues and reviewed these with care. (I've read that for Jobs all you need is a letter, our case was different in this regard)
• From i130 to medical 4 Weeks
• Medical to Interview 1 week. (Approved on the spot)

All in all, our process took just under 2 months. I am glad it did, because we have a legit issue that needs attention asap (sadly). 

 

I hope this comforts some, that if you have a legitimate emergency, the process can be really fast. Be upfront, give all the info you have. Don't lie, they will catch you. 

I'm glad we didn't try to get a Job offer and just told them how it is, ended up being of benefit.

[UK2USspouse 2]

Hi all, 

 

This chain helped my spouse and I a lot while we applied for exceptional circumstances so we thought we'd provide our timelines here to help anyone else.

 

I (US citizen) received a job offer which would require me to move back to the US in May so we started the process around April:

• April 2: Applied for exceptional circumstances using: https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/family-immigration/i130-exceptional-circumstances-request-form/ 
• April 4: Received an email from the embassy setting up a meeting on April 11th
  • They gave us a pdf attached to the email with a checklist of stuff to bring. We basically made sure we got everything sorted and made copies of everything just in case
• April 11: I went to the embassy to drop off the I-130 application and it was a pretty straightforward process. You go up to the window, show them all your documents and they take it away and return the originals while they keep the copies. They'll also double check your application and ask you to make any corrections (if any).
• July 5 (12 weeks + 1 day after submitting): I emailed the embassy using the original email I received on April 4 asking for any updates and they responded (in like an hour or 2) with next steps and case numbers
  • During the 12 weeks, we got her police records sorted as that can take a while for it to come
• July 15: Wife went to get her medical in London
• July 22: Wife had her interview and everything was good except I forgot to sign the DS-260. They didn't think it was that big of a deal and all we had to do is sign it and drop it off at the couriers. They kept all of her documents (like her passport) and told her to wait for an email from them with instructions for how we can drop off the signed document. We received that email later that day 
  • The questions were basic questions: "when do you plan on moving? who are you staying with?" 
• July 23: Dropped off the signed document at the courier (they use their own envelope so you don't have to buy your own).
• July 26: Document was confirmed to have been handed over to the embassy
• July 28: Received news that the visa was approved and will be delivered the next day
• July 29: We received the visa! 

Overall the process is pretty straightforward, just make sure to sign all your documents! The 12 weeks is a pain but everything else can go by really quickly as long as you have everything sorted. 

 

I hope this helps others as they go through their visa process! 

[Zack202 5]

On 7/29/2022 at 10:48 PM, UK2USspouse said:

Hi all, 

 

This chain helped my spouse and I a lot while we applied for exceptional circumstances so we thought we'd provide our timelines here to help anyone else.

 

I (US citizen) received a job offer which would require me to move back to the US in May so we started the process around April:

• April 2: Applied for exceptional circumstances using: https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/family-immigration/i130-exceptional-circumstances-request-form/ 
• April 4: Received an email from the embassy setting up a meeting on April 11th
  • They gave us a pdf attached to the email with a checklist of stuff to bring. We basically made sure we got everything sorted and made copies of everything just in case
• April 11: I went to the embassy to drop off the I-130 application and it was a pretty straightforward process. You go up to the window, show them all your documents and they take it away and return the originals while they keep the copies. They'll also double check your application and ask you to make any corrections (if any).
• July 5 (12 weeks + 1 day after submitting): I emailed the embassy using the original email I received on April 4 asking for any updates and they responded (in like an hour or 2) with next steps and case numbers
  • During the 12 weeks, we got her police records sorted as that can take a while for it to come
• July 15: Wife went to get her medical in London
• July 22: Wife had her interview and everything was good except I forgot to sign the DS-260. They didn't think it was that big of a deal and all we had to do is sign it and drop it off at the couriers. They kept all of her documents (like her passport) and told her to wait for an email from them with instructions for how we can drop off the signed document. We received that email later that day 
  • The questions were basic questions: "when do you plan on moving? who are you staying with?" 
• July 23: Dropped off the signed document at the courier (they use their own envelope so you don't have to buy your own).
• July 26: Document was confirmed to have been handed over to the embassy
• July 28: Received news that the visa was approved and will be delivered the next day
• July 29: We received the visa! 

Overall the process is pretty straightforward, just make sure to sign all your documents! The 12 weeks is a pain but everything else can go by really quickly as long as you have everything sorted. 

 

I hope this helps others as they go through their visa process! 

Thanks for your post, that's so useful!

Just one question, on April 11th when you submitted your I-130, did they ever tell you whether the petition got approved or denied?

My wife and I submitted our I-130 on 11th July, it's approaching 4 weeks now and we haven't heard anything. We're not sure if that's normal or not, most people say that their I-130 got approved on the spot but they didn't do that at our DCF appt. 

[UK2USspouse 2]

12 minutes ago, Zack202 said:

Thanks for your post, that's so useful!

Just one question, on April 11th when you submitted your I-130, did they ever tell you whether the petition got approved or denied?

My wife and I submitted our I-130 on 11th July, it's approaching 4 weeks now and we haven't heard anything. We're not sure if that's normal or not, most people say that their I-130 got approved on the spot but they didn't do that at our DCF appt. 

Glad that it could be of some help! 

They never told me it was approved or denied. After they reviewed my documents they just said that they would be in contact. I asked if they had a rough estimate and the person I talked to couldn't give me an answer so I basically just waited the 12 weeks like it said in the original appointment letter. 

 

As long as they take all the documents during the appointment and didn't say there was anything wrong, I think you should be fine. You just got to wait the 12 weeks (which is a pain) before you can email them and move on to the next step. 

Let me know if you need anything else. Happy to help.