DCF - Exceptional circumstance - Student?

[PumpkinSpiceLatte 1]

Hi everyone! 

 

I am a U.S. citizen currently living abroad for several years now for studies, and got married here in the meantime. My studies though are coming to an end in a couple of months and my student visa here is expiring, so I want to go back home to the U.S. with my husband as my purpose for being here has come to an end. Would this be considered an exceptional circumstance? I don't currently have a job offer but I will be working in the States. I hope you guys can help me out. Thank you!

Edited May 24, 2023 by PumpkinSpiceLatte

[Boiler 43,433]

You would need to ask the Consulate.

[Dashinka 23,242]

Possibly, doesn’t hurt to ask.

[Redro 4,599]

1 hour ago, PumpkinSpiceLatte said:

Hi everyone! 

 

I am a U.S. citizen currently living abroad for several years now for studies, and got married here in the meantime. My studies though are coming to an end in a couple of months and my student visa here is expiring, so I want to go back home to the U.S. with my husband as my purpose for being here has come to an end. Would this be considered an exceptional circumstance? I don't currently have a job offer but I will be working in the States. I hope you guys can help me out. Thank you!

Generally exceptional circumstances means an unforeseen event... you've known your studies would come to an end around this time so consulate might say this is not a surprise and you could and should petitioned your spouse a year ago. 

But, some embassies are a little more lax so it doesn't hurt to request DCF as soon as you can and then if you are refused you can petition your spouse via USCIS. 

[PumpkinSpiceLatte 1]

11 minutes ago, Redro said:

Generally exceptional circumstances means an unforeseen event... you've known your studies would come to an end around this time so consulate might say this is not a surprise and you could and should petitioned your spouse a year ago. 

But, some embassies are a little more lax so it doesn't hurt to request DCF as soon as you can and then if you are refused you can petition your spouse via USCIS. 

Thank you so much for your response! It was sort of an unforeseen event, although we've been together for a long time, we've only married recently. I would have definitely applied through USCIS otherwise.

[mam521 1,723]

You may want to fill out your timeline to get the best answers: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=449595

 

Most people applying for spousal visas are recently married, so I don't know how exceptional your case is going to be perceived because getting married certainly isn't exceptional, nor is the end date to studying.  As the others have said, all you can do is ask.  

[Aluvaboy 61]

3 hours ago, PumpkinSpiceLatte said:

Hi everyone! 

 

I am a U.S. citizen currently living abroad for several years now for studies, and got married here in the meantime. My studies though are coming to an end in a couple of months and my student visa here is expiring, so I want to go back home to the U.S. with my husband as my purpose for being here has come to an end. Would this be considered an exceptional circumstance? I don't currently have a job offer but I will be working in the States. I hope you guys can help me out. Thank you!

Since you are a US citizen with a US passport, your entry into US will not be a problem at all. Whether you have a job here or not. But if your husband  is not a US Citizen, you will need to file I-130 and start the immigration process. I don't think that he will be allowed in with you under the exceptional circumstances rule. And since your spouse has an immigration intent, I doubt if he will be issued a visitor's visa! 

[carmel34 3,531]

3 hours ago, PumpkinSpiceLatte said:

I want to go back home to the U.S. with my husband as my purpose for being here has come to an end. Would this be considered an exceptional circumstance?

Get a written job offer from an employer in the US.  That is your best path to getting DCF approved, which takes a few weeks or months depending on the consulate/embassy.  If DCF doesn't work, you'll have to do the regular spousal visa process, which takes 1-2 years.

 

Exceptional Circumstances

Examples of exceptional circumstances include:

• Military emergencies – A U.S. service member, who is abroad but who does not fall under the military blanket authorization for U.S. service members stationed abroad on military bases, becomes aware of a new deployment or transfer with little notice. This exception generally applies in cases where the U.S. service member is provided with exceptionally less notice than normally expected.

• Medical emergencies – A petitioner or beneficiary is facing an urgent medical emergency that requires immediate travel.

• Threats to personal safety – A petitioner or beneficiary is facing an imminent threat to personal safety. For example, a petitioner and beneficiary may have been forced to flee their country of residence due to civil strife or natural disaster and are in precarious circumstances in a different country outside of the United States.

• Close to aging out – A beneficiary is within a few months of aging out of eligibility.

• Petitioner has recently naturalized – A petitioner and family member(s) have traveled for the immigrant visa interview, but the petitioner has naturalized and the family member(s) requires a new petition based on the petitioner’s citizenship.

• Adoption of a child – A petitioner has adopted a child abroad and has an imminent need to depart the country. This type of case should only be considered if the petitioner has a full and final adoption decree on behalf of the child and the adoptive parent(s) has had legal custody of and jointly resided with the child for at least 2 years.

• Short notice of position relocation – A U.S. citizen petitioner, living and working abroad, has received a job offer in or reassignment to the United States with little notice for the required start date.

Discretion

The list of examples provided above is not exhaustive. DOS may exercise its discretion to accept local Form I-130 filings for other emergency or exceptional circumstances of a non-routine nature, unless specifically noted below. However, such filings must be truly urgent and otherwise limited to situations when filing with USCIS online or domestically with an expedite request would likely not be sufficient to address the time-sensitive and exigent nature of the situation.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-b-chapter-3