DCF I-130 Madrid (CR1 visa)

[Arensis 6]

Hi all,

 

I am opening this thread to document Direct Consular Filing (DCF) of a CR1 visa for my spouse in Madrid embassy so it can be useful for anyone that needs to do this in the future. I am a US Citizen and my spouse is an Ukrainian citizen. We are residing in spain and I got a job offer in the US, we applied for DCF of form I-130 so she can move with me within a short timeframe. I will be updating the thread to document the whole process and to ask any questions that may arise as I prepare all documents.

 

These are the steps I took:

• I sent a mail to American Citizen Services of Madrid embassy asking about how to apply for DCF of form I-130. They provided me the mail of the Inmigrant Visa Department in Madrid and asked me to write them a mail explaining my case. The Inmigrant Visa Department asked me to send them a mail with scans of the following documents so the "visa chief" can check if we meet the requirements. They asked for a scan of our biographic page of passport, our marriage certificate and the job letter stating the starting date.
• November 15th, 2022: I sent a mail to the Inmigrant Visa Department with the requested documentation: Scan of biographic page of passport for both of us, marriage certificate (in Spanish) and a job offer letter stating that I will start working on November 28th.
• November 22th, 2022: They confirmed that the DCF request was accepted and they scheduled me an appointment to present I-130 on December 13th, 2022. They requested the Petitioner (the US Citizen) to come personally for this appointment. They provided the following checklist of documents to provide. They also asked that the beneficiary (spouse of US Citizen) has to be in Spain as they cant send the passport outside Spain.

  • Form I-130 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-130)

  • Form I-130A  completed by your spouse  

  • Original passport and a copy of the biographic page. 

  • Beneficiary's original passport and a copy of the biographic page.

  • Original marriage certificate and a copy.

  • If any of you have been married before, original and copy of the marriage dissolution documents.

  • Job contract with the date of being moved to the U.S.

  • One photo of each (white background, no glasses, 5 x 5 cm.).

  • Payment fee, $ 535.

 

I will be updating this post as we progress through the process. I was surprised that they talk about sending the passports to Spanish address. Do they keep our passports when we provide file I-130? Although my job offer states that I begin working on November 28th, actually, I agreed with the company to start in January, and I already asked the company to provide a letter stating this. We were planning to travel together to the US at the start of January (she would initially enter the US as a tourist), and we were planning to go back to Spain for the 2nd interview. We will adapt to whathever process they have, but I would like to know about this so we can plan accordingly.

 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by Arensis

[guiri2000 1]

We're in the same situation! I'm the US Citizen, my husband is Spanish and we're moving back due to my job offer. I emailed the embassy early November, they replied back a few hours later with an appointment to submit the I-130 application (I had emailed them all the relevant documents in my first email to prove my circumstances). 

 

You don't need to send passports for the I-130 appointment, just bring both of them with you (and a copy) to the appointment in December. You'll be at the embassy for a few hours, so be patient (your spouse can't be there). You'll be able to leave with all your originals, so you can still plan to travel to USA (of course you still need to come back as you stated above). After this step, you will receive the approval via email with a case number to submit "package 3" of the documents (I got mine a week later) - which is basically everything else (i.e. DS-260, I-864, criminal record, copies of everything again, etc...). They will send you a checklist and you must mail everything original + copies (except for passports). 

 

Then, they will review all the paperwork and send you the final interview date for your spouse. We are currently at this step, waiting for the final interview date. We need the interview date to make the appointment for the medical check, so in a holding pattern right now. I believe at the final interview they do take your spouse's passport, but I think they return it with the visa inside a few days later (you don't need an appointment to pick it up, they leave it at another office nearby - I overheard someone at the Embassy saying some nearby Correos office, but I'm not sure).

[Arensis 6]

@guiri2000 Thank you for clarifying. It is a bit sad they couldn't provide you with an interview appointment in one month, but hopefully all will be good.

[guiri2000 1]

Just now, Arensis said:

@guiri2000 Thank you for clarifying. It is a bit sad they couldn't provide you with an interview appointment in one month, but hopefully all will be good.

 

Right - they won't give you an interview appointment until after you submit the I-130/I-130A, get approved and then submit the DS-260/packet 3.....Regardless we're starting our move anyways because I need to be in the USA next week (technically, I don't need to be here after I submitted the I-130 and it was approved)! Good luck in your journey back home

[Arensis 6]

I had my first appointmente in Madrid to present my I-130.

 

I went to the first appointment. They only require the US Citizen to attend. In the security control of the embassy they keep your smartphone and they do not allow laptops at all, I don't know if there is somewhere to store them nearby since I just gave it to my wife and went in by myself.

 

When you enter they give you a number and a few minutes later they call you to a window to show your papers.

The documents they request for this first interview are the following:

• Form I-130 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-130)

• Form I-130A  completed by your spouse  

• Original passport and a copy of the biographic page. 

• Beneficiary's original passport and a copy of the biographic page.

• Original marriage certificate and a copy.

• If any of you have been married before, original and copy of the marriage dissolution documents.

• Job contract with the date of being moved to the U.S.

• One photo of each (white background, no glasses, 5 x 5 cm.).

• Payment fee, $ 535.

I had prepared a copy of the spanish certificate and a certified english translation, but they only needed the spanish copy, not the english translation.

 

Regarding the payment of fees, you go to a separate window and you can pay in cash (EURO or USD) or with card, I used a credit card. When you pay, you give the receipt back in the same window you have shown your documents and then you have to wait for a short interview (do not leave the embassy).

 

I had to wait 90 min for the interview, there, they just confirmed again that I am a US citizen with my passport and they ask you why are you applying for Direct Consular Filing instead of USCIS processing. I told them that I had a job offer that includes relocation to the US, but that it requires relocation on a short timeframe and that I will lose the oportunity with the current USCIS timeframes.

 

I went to the interview on a Tuesday, and the following monday they e-mailed me and my spouse (using the e-mail addresses filled on form I-130) telling us that the I-130 was approved and providing our case number. They also provided detailled instructions for providing additional information by physical mail. They request that we deliver the following documents before proceeding with the visa:

• DS-260 - To be completed online with the case number. You need to provide the embassy with confirmation page you get once you finish it.
• Copy of biographic page of passport of the petitioner.
• Birth certificate (original and copy) of the petitioner. I will provide also a certified translation since it is not in spanish.
• Marriage certificate (original and copy). It is the same that they asked when preparing form I-130.
• Police Certificates for all countries where the petitioner lived more than 1 year, and anywhere the petitioner was ever arrested for any reason. You can get the spanish police certificate online on the spot for like a 3 euro fee.
• Court and prison records (does not apply to our case)
• Military records (does not apply to our case)
• One photograph of the petitioner (5x5 cm)
• I-864 with appropiate evidence of assets or work, including tax returns.
• Any documents not in English or the official language of the country of the embassy (spanish in this case) must have a certified english translation.

 

Once they receive these documents they will schedule you an appointment. I will deliver this next week so I will update it once I have an appointment.

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by Arensis

[Arensis 6]

I sent all documentation requested after the first I-130 interview last thursday December 29th and today they answered by mail confirming they received all information and that they scheduled an interview for January 31st.

 

In this mail, they told that the form 1040 that I provided along the I-864 is not valid, they require the IRS transcript. Does anybody have experience in this? I delivered my IRS returns for the last 3 years with the streamlined procedure by physical mail to the IRS, but they told me that they take months to process it, I will not have a return at the time of the interview.

[Zolakiwi 0]

About to start the process and had a question about "Police Certificates for all countries where the petitioner lived more than 1 year". Other than the certificate from Spain, did you need to do the FBI background check as well? I have one from September, but not sure if its too old now.

[Chancy 6,233]

35 minutes ago, Zolakiwi said:

did you need to do the FBI background check as well?

 

Unless you were ever arrested while in the US, criminal records from the US are not required from you.  US immigration agencies have access to the FBI database and will do the background check themselves.