Expedite processing of I-130 in case of job offer or relocation

[doraemon 0]

I am a US citizen living abroad. I would like to relocate back to the US, but my wife is not a citizen (nor does a green card) so we are soon going to start the paperwork for her. At the moment the processing times don't look too good as we all know, but I recently read that there are ways to expedite the process under specific circumstances. From: Policy Manual Volume 6 - Immigrants Part B - Family-Based Immigrants Chapter 3 - Filing: "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."

Has anybody ever tried this route? Does it actually work in practice? or the adjudication is a difficult thing to obtain?

I don't have a job offer at the moment but I would definitely want to have one before moving back.

Thanks

[Dashinka 24,353]

If you as the USC have a reason to relocate back to the U.S. on relatively short notice, you can request the consulate in the country you are currently in to process the I130.  This is referred to as Direct Consular Filing (DCF) under exceptional circumstances.  If the I130 is submitted to USCIS, DCF will no longer be an option, but you can request expedited processing at the various stage of that process.

 

I would do research on DCF as there are many that have taken this route.  The VJ search engine can be helpful with that research.

 

Good Luck!

 

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

 

 

[Crazy Cat 41,587]

***Moved to Direct Consular Filing***

[Redro 4,611]

Some consulates are super receptive to DCF with job offer while others aren’t… 

Where are you currently located? 
Which consulate will you go through? 

[doraemon 0]

I am Italy, I am not sure about the consulate, maybe Naples?

[millefleur 5,045]

13 hours ago, doraemon said:

I am Italy, I am not sure about the consulate, maybe Naples?

It would be the US embassy in Italy as embassies are the ones that handle immigrant visas. Looks like that would be Rome.

 

https://it.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/

[karalis 5]

On 2/22/2024 at 9:14 AM, doraemon said:

I am a US citizen living abroad. I would like to relocate back to the US, but my wife is not a citizen (nor does a green card) so we are soon going to start the paperwork for her. At the moment the processing times don't look too good as we all know, but I recently read that there are ways to expedite the process under specific circumstances. From: Policy Manual Volume 6 - Immigrants Part B - Family-Based Immigrants Chapter 3 - Filing: "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."

Has anybody ever tried this route? Does it actually work in practice? or the adjudication is a difficult thing to obtain?

I don't have a job offer at the moment but I would definitely want to have one before moving back.

Thanks

Hi,

 

My green card application just got approved today and I was in the same situation, in Italy.

 

My wife (the american citizen) got a job offer in the US for a new role with her company so we have to move back to the US (I had a green card years ago).

 

We emailed the Consulate in Naples (NOTE: THIS IS THE ONLY CONSULATE IN ITALY THAT HANDLES DIRECT CONSULAR FILINGS, and I believe the only one that handles immigrant visa applications) explaining the situation and attaching the offer letter in November and a few days later we were told the request was approved and we got an interview appointment. 

 

We then went to the interview and directly filed our form I130 and brought evidence of bona fide marriage.

 

After 2 weeks we got an email saying that our application was approved and that we could schedule my final interview (in this case the american citizen is already supposed to be in the US by the time of the final interview). 

 

I scheduled my interview at the end of February but there were pleanty of earlier dates available.

 

At the final interview i had to bring my i864, proof of income and my italian rep sheets. 

 

The process was very smooth and i was approved in less then 2 hours.

 

It was also WAY easier than a lot of the stuff I've read on this forum.

 

Hope this helps!

[karalis 5]

On 2/23/2024 at 4:49 AM, millefleur said:

It would be the US embassy in Italy as embassies are the ones that handle immigrant visas. Looks like that would be Rome.

 

https://it.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/

Sorry but no - I live next to the US Consulate in Milan and I still had to go to Naples to file and complete the process as they're the only ones in Italy that handle this stuff

[millefleur 5,045]

9 minutes ago, karalis said:

Sorry but no - I live next to the US Consulate in Milan and I still had to go to Naples to file and complete the process as they're the only ones in Italy that handle this stuff

Oh ok, that's just the first time I've heard of it going through a consulate and not the embassy. Thank you for informing.

[karalis 5]

20 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Oh ok, that's just the first time I've heard of it going through a consulate and not the embassy. Thank you for informing.

It does get confusing as things change constantly. Even the info they send you on the instruction letters are not always 100%

 

Im also sure they went through a big reorganization process after 2020.

 

Overall my experience was pretty smooth though, everyone was nice, efficient and accomodating

[jan22 3,042]

19 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Oh ok, that's just the first time I've heard of it going through a consulate and not the embassy. Thank you for informing.

There are several countries where this is the case.  Mexico (Ciudad Juarez), Canada (Montreal), India (Mumbai), Germany (Frankfurt), Brazil (Rio de Janerio), Nigeria (Lagos), Morocco (Casablanca) come quickly to mind.

[millefleur 5,045]

33 minutes ago, karalis said:

Overall my experience was pretty smooth though, everyone was nice, efficient and accomodating

Good to hear!

 

31 minutes ago, jan22 said:

There are several countries where this is the case.  Mexico (Ciudad Juarez), Canada (Montreal), India (Mumbai), Germany (Frankfurt), Brazil (Rio de Janerio), Nigeria (Lagos), Morocco (Casablanca) come quickly to mind.

Huh never knew that, had always just assumed those were embassies. The more you know.

[doraemon 0]

2 hours ago, karalis said:

Hi,

 

My green card application just got approved today and I was in the same situation, in Italy.

 

My wife (the american citizen) got a job offer in the US for a new role with her company so we have to move back to the US (I had a green card years ago).

 

We emailed the Consulate in Naples (NOTE: THIS IS THE ONLY CONSULATE IN ITALY THAT HANDLES DIRECT CONSULAR FILINGS, and I believe the only one that handles immigrant visa applications) explaining the situation and attaching the offer letter in November and a few days later we were told the request was approved and we got an interview appointment. 

 

We then went to the interview and directly filed our form I130 and brought evidence of bona fide marriage.

 

After 2 weeks we got an email saying that our application was approved and that we could schedule my final interview (in this case the american citizen is already supposed to be in the US by the time of the final interview). 

 

I scheduled my interview at the end of February but there were pleanty of earlier dates available.

 

At the final interview i had to bring my i864, proof of income and my italian rep sheets. 

 

The process was very smooth and i was approved in less then 2 hours.

 

It was also WAY easier than a lot of the stuff I've read on this forum.

 

Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for sharing. This really helps.

[doraemon 0]

Hello,

we were able to move on with DCF after the american citizen received the job offer. Here is our timeline so far:

Fri, May 10    Job Offer
Sun, May 12  Letter to Embassy
Tue, May 14  Embassy accepted case and sent list of required documents
Fri, Jun 7       I-130 interview
Tue, Jun 11    I-130 acceptance letter from Consulate

 

Unfortunately, because the applicant lived in Canada and UK after the age of 16, we've been struggling with the police records (mostly Canada!!!! so painful!!!). Now that we are almost ready with the documents, we tried to book an appointment for the medicals and the final interview and the first available is around September 6th   The american citizen will need to show up at their job on August 5th!!!! we are moving our entire household on July 31st and we have a 5 years old daughter that we were going to try to put in school asap... and now will most likely be separated from one parent for more than a month!

I believe that it's not recommended (or even possibly?) for the applicant to travel on a tourist visa and then maybe fly back for the interview, what do you guys think? I am considering writing a letter to the consulate to basically 'beg' them to help us, but I am not sure it that is going to help or make things worse. Any experience with this matter?

thanks again for all the precious information!

 

[Dashinka 24,353]

If you have all the documents, it does not hurt to ask the consulate/embassy to expedite the second interview.

 

Good Luck!