quickatie

Hi all!!

Looking for some advice. My husband's green card was stolen, but he is still here on conditional status. In 2 months we are able to apply to lift conditions and get his 10 year GC.

To replace his stolen card, we will have to pay $450. Then we'll have to pay another $400-$500 to apply for the lifting of conditions.

What should we do??? What if we wait to just apply for the lifting of conditions in 2 months (90 days prior to the expiration date).... does anyone foresee any problems if we go through the application without the original GC? (we have copies)

Thanks for your help!

We are going to use Air Berlin, the8ir one ways are half the price of a round trip. I can being three people from the UK to Los Angeles for 1000 Euros.

Ditto!!! With AirBerlin, we ended up paying only about 350 euros each from Italy!! We were looking at 900+ euros with a round trip ticket.

Even if you can't find a flight to your final destination in the US, you can always fly into NY and from there get an internal flight with one of the US cheapie airlines (Southwest, Jet Blue, etc.)

Good luck!

Thanks! I think you're right... the US govt is probably not going to care. I'll probably buy it just in case. I would hate for that stupid useless stamp (or lack thereof) to postpone this process in anyway.

My interview's coming up next month!! Very excited. Thanks for the input on your experience

Hello everyone,

PACKET 3 ARRIVED TODAY!!!!!!

I'm sure this will open up a lot more questions from my end, this is the first one:

One of the first things that my husband will need is a "passport that is valid for travel to the US". For all of you Italian DCFers, does this mean that my husband needs the stupid 50 euro "bollo" on his passport?? He's traveled several times to the states without ever getting this, even though technically he's supposed to have a valid "bollo" (government taxed stamp) for every year that he travels. Should we just bite the bullet and shell out 50 buck so that there's no hold up at the consulate??

Whoever filed in Italy - to get the "bollo" or not???

Thanks!

Thanks!!

My husband got one from Palermo and he was told it was good for 6 months. Hope that helps.

I also heard this was true. 6 months seems to be the validity of all the documents required. Although I contacted Naples directly and they said my husband's original military certificate (dated 13 years ago) would be okay for the interview.

Naples is very reponsive by email! I had a response within 2 hours of emailing my questions: IVNaples@state.gov

ginger, are you filing through DCF?? I'd love comparing notes with you on your process! There are so few of us "Italians" on this board!!

hi max,

i'm not how soon she wanted/needed italian citizenship, but she can easily apply for italian citizenship after 3 years of being married to an italian citizen (you, i'm assuming ) - she could apply after 2 years if she was an italian resident during those two years. be sure that your marriage is registered with the anagrafe to make sure it is in italian public record and you'll be fine!

applying for citizenship via jure sanguinis (through her parents), will involve a precise and sometimes tedious application process, and sometimes could take just as long.

if you want to save yourself the hassle, just wait out the 3 years! if you want more info on getting italian citizenship through jure sanguinis, have your wife check out: expatsinitaly.com. there are a lot of italian citizen hopefuls that are going through the process and they share their experience here!

good luck!

sent my i-130 DCF june 21, still no word!! i'm getting nervous because i see all of you got your noa's pretty quickly!! should i be worried??

wow! thank you all for your replies!

so if i'm understanding, i should just make a copy of all the forms i filed, and i guess the "irs-generated tax return transcript documenting late filing" as it states in the instructions (i read them over again carefully last night ) and have all that ready to turn in with the i-864.

my husband and i are filing separately because we are newlyweds!! this tax year will be the first that we will file jointly.

i spoke with my CPA family member and she said if i give her the tax returns filed in italy it will be quick and painless. woohoo!!

as far as the sponsor-ship goes, my mom has happily agreed to be our joint sponsor. we will have no problem fulfilling the 125% poverty line requirement... thank god! i know that with my and my husband's meager income and near-nothing assets we would have never made it... especially since it's all foreign income!!

new question: my last US tax return was filed in 2006. should i just file 2010, 2009 and 2008 to meet the 864 requirements or throw 2007 in there for good measure? will they even care if 2007 is filed? are there pros and cons?

i'm sure this is all stuff i should have asked the CPA, but she had only mentioned filing until 2008 to meet the requirements.... any thoughts?

thanks again

thanks to both of you for your responses!

in the meantime, my husband and i got married (yay!), we sent in our i-130 today through dcf (yay!) and now trying to prepare everything we can for the next part of the process. i fly out in about 10 days and since i'm much better at this paperwork stuff than my husband, i'm feeling the pressure to get everything handled!! the hardest part is dealing with italian red tape. my husband has lived in three different italian cities during his life, so it's just a matter of knowing who to call for what documents, and praying that they get here quick!

thanks again for your input, it's been a crazy month, but i'm glad things are moving along!!

our i-130 was sent today!! yay!

so, i've started on the i-864 stuff, but like many, i haven't filed my taxes in the US in years!!

after reading the posts from other DCFers like me who haven't filed in the US because of foreign employment (i'm the USC, have been living and working in italy for about 5 years now and only filed taxes for the first year i lived here ), my question is this: how lengthy of a process is filing for previous years??

luckily i have a CPA in my family and can get professional help filing, but once the papers are in are we talking weeks or months before i get any response?? or is the receipt of filing good enough to submit with the i-864?

thanks for any help!

OFFICIAL WORD FROM US CONSULATE IN ROME: all documents not in ENGLISH must be translated... including docs in italian. boo!

i've got everything now, except the translations!!! it's fine, though, will just set me back a day, but annoying!

for the i-130 app that goes to rome: all docs in italian must be translated

for the rest which goes to naples: docs in italian or english are fine.

grrrr...

ciao all!!

if all goes well, i'll be sending in my i-130 today!! (just waiting for the cashier's check being mailed my way!!) thank you so far for all of your help!!

two question for italian DCF... looking to get as many documents ready as possible for the second part of the app:

- my husband (italian citizen) has his military records ("folgio matricolare") from thirteen years ago when he did civil service. is this document valid? or does he need a new one issued from the "ufficio leva" dated more recently?

- when my husband got his police records and "carichi pendenti" from the office where we are current residents, he was informed that this should cover all of his records from all of italy. he has lived in 3 different italian cities for 18, 10 and 3 years respectively. i'm confused: does he need to get police records from each of the cities where he has lived?? or are the policemen correct in saying that the one he got from our city of current residence cover the entire territory of italy??

help! thank you

thanks for the quick input, max!! i had figured that they wouldn't need the English translations (considering everyone I've spoken with so far at the consulate has been Italian!)

i'll probably call the consulate on monday to make sure....

any DCFers out there willing to share their experience???

Hello all! This is a question for all you "Italian" DCF filers!!

Do I need to translate all documents that I submit with my I-130 from Italian to English??

I'm confused, because I thought I had read on the Rome US Consulate somewhere that only documents in languages other than Italian and English needed to be translated!! Now I can't seem to find where I saw that... Help!!

I'll be fine in a pinch to get someone to translate quick things like birth and residency certificates.... but what about the emails I'm sending in as proof of bona fides marriage??? There are pages and pages!!

Any help or advice would be great, thanks!

I think she'll be okay, I have known lots of people who have worked illegally in the US in the past yet still were able to get their green cards. My brother in fact owned and ran a couple of different companies in the US before getting his green card a several years ago.

...Does anyone else find this really frustrating??

No offense at all to either posters, but how is it okay that someone who essentially broke US immigration law be allowed a visa while they seem to be so strict on so many other small and insignificant details!!!!!!!

...sorry, my rant is over. Great news for the OP though!

wow.. did you even look at things??? Italy is a VWP country. Y'all can come and go as you please. Your significant other can come and go all the time. filing for a k-1 or for an i-130 does not matter. You can still visit the US an go back and forth. However, if you marry in the US, you need to remain until AP is given. Marrying in italy may not be a problem. but would not recommend until a K1 is filed and approved. the nice part is your finace can come and stay here while waiting. Your fiance does not have to wait in Italy. You just need to be careful on the entry and exits times allowed so as not to get in trouble with your fiance stay in the US going over the limits.

As a few other posters mentioned, our intentions are 1. to get married and 2. to stay in the US after our wedding. So, we're not really interested in being able to come back and forth from the US to Italy. Marrying in Italy is possible only with incredible amounts of paperwork and long wait times. DCF route is quicker for people who are already married, or can get married quickly. And call me stubborn, but I'm not thrilled about the idea of a quickie Las Vegas wedding. It would mean going back to the US for a quick trip in the beginning of high season (lots of money on airfare), having to be back in Italy to file DCF and then potentially having to stay in Italy while my papers are being handled (someone correct me if I'm wrong!!)

I'm also aware that my fiancé will "technically" be able to come to the US for less than 90 days for any visits while we are waiting for the fiancé visa....with sufficient proof that he'll be on his way back to Italy within 90 days. Although we're less concerned about this point.

My priorities are very few: I want to go the the States as soon as I can and return to living there permanently, my fiancé and I will just be apart for the time we are waiting for our papers. I would preferrably like to have just one wedding (no quickie Las Vegas deal just to get the paperwork out of the way) and I would really REALLY like my dad to walk me down the aisle. Perhaps this last point should have been the second point on my list. My very first wish would actually be that my dad is perfectly healthy... but obviously, I can't just wish things to happen.

I appreciate ALL input and especially anyone who can show me the light on the best way of going about this (especially if I'm being foolish in taking the fiancé visa route). So thank you to EVERYONE again!

you could take a picture of you two together holding today's newspaper

I totally thought of that, haha!! My fiancé just laughed at me and thought I was joking when I mentioned it. HA! And to thelastpetitioner, that's relieving that in the past it was actually suggested by a US embassy!!

I will definitely throw that in there, too. Here's the kicker, though: should the newspaper be an English language newspaper?? I live in a tourist city and there are several English papers that you can get here. Will having the paper in Italian require (yet another) translation? Will having the paper in English rise suspicion because, afterall, our papers say that we're in Italy? Am I overthinking this?? I think I am!

Maybe we'll take the pic with an English and Italian paper while eating pizza, playing a mandolin and standing in front of some famous Italian monument. That should clear things up, right?

Thank you all so much for your suggestions! Keep 'em coming if you have any more!

Since you both live there I think the quicker way is to go and get married there and then do a DCF (Direct Counselor Filing) straight with the embassy. You have to verify that you are eligible for DCF and your embassy processes DCFs.

By the way passport stamps in the EU does not mean much because you only get a stamp for your POE into the EU and then nobody stamps your passport in any EU country.

We've explored that option, although for our situation it won't necessarily be quicker. Italian laws and red tape are one bazillion times more lengthy and complicated than those in the US and for me (USC) just to get MARRIED here requires a ridiculous amount of paperwork and sometimes months of waiting for appointments, wedding dates, etc.

To add salt to the wound - and even more stress to get this thing out of the way - we're immigrating to be closer to my dad who is seriously ill. I'll be heading to the US in a couple of months. My fiancé will join me as soon as he can and then we'll marry there. I think that between getting married and doing a DCF or going the fiancé visa route, we're looking at potentially the same time frame. The only difference is that I can feel free to return to the states to be with my dad while waiting for the paperwork to be handled, instead of being "stuck" here until I can finally get an appointment to be married at city hall in Italy and starting the DCF paperwork in a couple of months!!

Anyone who can prove me wrong and thinks DCF will be faster (even if we still need to get married) your comments/advice are welcome!!!!!!!! Seriously, anything to get this process done as quickly as possible.

Don't count on pictures for proof of meeting. Pictures can be faked, edited, manipulated, etc.

Any documentation that has your name (or both of your names) will help - your drivers licenses showing the same address, a copy of an apartment lease, etc.

You should also include copies of passport pages showing stamps for entry/exit into the beneficiary's country. Also, if you had an Italian visa, make a copy of it. Whatever shows you were in the same country as your SO is what they're looking for.

Oooh... good thinking with the Italian residency permit. I'll definitely add that to the bunch. Unfortunately, I handed over my passport YESTERDAY to the US consulate to get renewed!! I won't get the new one for another two weeks and now panic is setting in because I didn't ask if I'll get the old one back!!!!!!!!!! I have so many stamps in that sucker I had nearly run out of space! It would have been excellent solid proof. I'll call the consulate on Monday.

Should I also include a copy my fiancé's passport? He hasn't travelled outside of Italy for over two years. Our last and only trip to the US was in 2008!!

Hi all,

My fiancé and I have lived together in Italy for nearly three years. I'm planning on including a copy of our apartment lease (translated into English), both of our drivers' licenses that show our same address, the receipt for the engagement ring, and some photos of us together as proof of us having "met" in the last two years. It kind of makes me laugh because living in a tiny apartment together means that I couldn't get away from the man if I tried!!

What else can I show??????? Unfortunately (stupidly) hotel receipts, etc. from our vacations together have all been thrown away because it never occured to us that we might need them one day. I'm racking my brain for any documentation that might have both our names on it. But all utility bills are addressed solely to him, as is the insurance for the car and scooter. Our relationship doesn't really have many "tracks" since we see each other all the time!!

If anyone has any ideas, or is living with their fiancé that they are filing the 129f for... all suggestions are welcome!!!

Thanks!

ok, great! thanks for the quick replies!

Hi everyone!

Perhaps a stupid question, but how do I know which USCIS center will be handling my paperwork??

I'm filing for an I129f for my Italian fiancé. We are both permanent residents in Italy. We are planning to move to California after our paperwork is **hopefully** approved!!

I'm assuming this means our petition will be handled by the California Service Center... but just wanted to make sure.

Thank you!!

Hi everyone!

I'm new here and have been scouring the site for any help I could get for DCF in Italy. A quick background: I live in Italy and I am a legal resident in Italy since 2006 and have all of my work papers in order. I have been with my Italian fiancé for 4 years, we got engaged about 6 months ago and were planning on getting married in Italy in 2012 with no urgent plans to go to the US.

Recently, however, my father's illness has become increasingly concerning and I feel I need to be with my family, at least for a year, maybe more, while my dad gets treatment. My fiancé and I both prefer that we go to the US together and live/work in the States. Because of a series of coincidences, the best time to return to the US would be the first of July of this year. I already have a plane ticket (bought with the intention of making a quick trip to attend a friend's wedding) and my contract at work expires June 30, even though my employer has the full intention of renewing it. I have no job prospects in the US, but have both my parents who are eager to have me home and would be happy to host us in their home until we get on our feet with a job and some income.

It's already the end of April!! Is there any chance in hell that my fiancé and I will be able to get married, get our paperwork in and have everything settled by the first of July?? We've already decided that getting married at city hall would be fine for now... we'll think about a more relaxed wedding celebration at a later date... I'm more concerned about the paperwork. Where do we begin? Who do I contact?? I've seen a lot of helpful links, etc, but many do not seem to be up to date and I'm finding this very confusing.

If anyone has any past experiences they can share about DCF in Italy, especially which papers I need to get in order and processing times, that would be really really appreciated!!

Grazie!