DCF Indonesia (Jakarta) v.s. Filing Online

[Womby314 0]

I'm a US Citizen living temporarily in Indonesia, about to get married to my Indonesian spouse and petition for a CR1/IR1 visa for her. I plan to return to the US with her once her visa is approved. According to the US Embassy in Jakarta, it's possible to do direct consular filing here, but I have to email them after my wedding to make sure our circumstances allow it.

 

My question is... what is the fundamental difference between filing the I-130 at the embassy (DCF) v.s. doing it online via the USCIS website? Will the rest of the process (submission of the I-865 form, interview, etc.) be different? Does this change the timeline or likelihood of acceptance? I suppose I don't really understand what the benefit of doing Direct Consular Filing is, especially considering it's in another city from where I live.

 

Thanks for any and all feedback!

 

-- Brian

[Boiler 43,494]

3 months vs 2 years?

 

Most importantly on what basis do you qualify for DCF?

[Dashinka 23,262]

Overall, the consulate process would stay the same relative to the visa interview.  As @Boiler mentioned, the DCF route is much faster as the consulate handles the entire process (no USCIS and no NVC) which is why consulates only do this based on exceptional circumstances (see link).

 

Good Luck!

 

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