MarcusMuc

Update: I received everything in the mail. Passport with immigration visa in it and my whole file sealed which I need to hand in to the boarder officer once I immigrate - that will be next Monday.

There is one more step which is to pay for your SSN / Green Card. That can be done via a link provided on the form (for me the link didn’t work and I had to google for the right address) in which you have to enter your case and visa number. Then pay.gov gets 220 USD. I paid via credit card.

Already put my flight immigration info to Lufthansa and Monday I’ll immigrate through SFO.

Ill bring for this my sealed immigration package; passport; and the sealed chest x-ray. 

I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

Last update: passport was posted yesterday with UPS and arrived today at my delivery address.

28 minutes ago, rangers90 said:

Thank you for the full explanation and recommendation! Overall, I’m very happy to hear it went well outside of the med exam paperwork.

 

We are still waiting for package 4 to setup the interview. Again, thank you again for all the info and tips. Let us know how everything plays out and I hope it happens quickly for you!

Updated: After calling my panel physician they called the general consulate. I wrote an email to the consulate and asked if they could let me know the status. They just wrote back that my medical had been found and my visa is processed as we speak.

So that was quick and I want to give a shout-out to the whole crew in the general consulate for their professionalism and ease of process. Sure it takes a while, even with DCF, but it is certainly not up to the caseworkers, consular officers or basically anyone you’re working with on how the process is designed or fast it can go.

Now I’ll patiently wait for a surprise in the mail and hopefully take my immigration flight as planned next Wednesday to start my new job and life on October 1st with my wife.

Perhaps I find the time to summarize my whole experience and provide in one easy overview necessary links and documents for a DCF IR-1. In the end it was more or less easy, once you dig through and know which process and way to follow.

Marcus & Laura

Update post interview:

I slept in the Best Western which is 5 minutes to the general consulate. My appointment was timed for 7:50 and the confirmation letter says you should not show up earlier than 15 minutes prior to that. I arrived at 07:15 and gave it a shot, was no problem. You first go to a window outside the general consulate and state your business. You receive a ticket with a waiting number and a large sticker on your passport. After that, you go through security and walk through a couple of doors into another building. There, you walk to the cashier and hand in your passport and in my case missing files. I only gave him my new passport pictures as I was told  my other ones were too old and needed an update. The missing IRS document he did not take, but told me to hand to the caseworker in the next step. I paid my fee (310 EUR) in cash (but credit card would've been fine too) and then was told that they'll now keep my passport in the file and I should sit and wait. The waiting area is basically the whole building in one big room with windows and consular officers and case workers all around the walls behind counter windows in that room. I sat down and was called 5 minutes later to a window. A case worker ran me through my file and stated everything looks, I handed in my wife's missing IRS transcript, good BUT my medical exam is missing. I could still do my interview and should wait. I sat down again and waited for an hour and was called to a consular officer, a nice young person which greeted me with a smile. I could see her before I was called to the window; the consular officers take their time to look in all details through your file. She took an oath from me that I swear all information provided to the immigration unit written or verbal are correct and true. After that she asked me which language I prefer. We spoke english, her mother tongue. She asked me how I met my wife. She asked me if I ever lived more than 6 months outside of Germany. She asked me which language my wife and I speak at home. She asked me if I live together and where with my wife. After answering all questions she stated that everything looks good and she has no objections to allowing me the VISA I applied for, but without the medical exam file she is not able to process it.

Break. For most people I the journey should end here, you get your passport with the VISA printed/sticker into it in the mail after ~ 4 work days and then you're good to go. 

In my case she told me to directly call my medical examiner and ask about the files. I left the consular office and was pretty happy that everything was OK, but my medical. I called my panel physician's office and they in return called the general consulate. End of the story (for now) is that the consular office is switching from mail to a digital system for medical files and I am likely an unlucky person who's file got lost/currently cannot be found. The consular office told the panel physicians that my file was received on September 5th but cannot be found. 

I wrote the consular office an email to see what the status is and if they found it. In any case, I asked the panel physician to resend the exam to the consular office. 

So overall I am very happy with the experience, the cashier, case worker, consular officer and basically anyone I talked to were really nice. That they're switching systems and it is how it is and I've to just sit this out. I'll keep you updated but am convinced that this is a one time story and you won't have these issues. Protip: Perhaps do the exam asap and schedule your interview not too close to it. Do not book travel to the U.S. before you have your passport with VISA in your hands..

Laura & Marcus

Interview tomorrow. I am bringing (a bit more than stated here https://de.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/Instructions-for-IV-and-K-Visa-Applicants-1.pdf) 

• the DS-260 confirmation page,
• 2 missing/outstanding documents (IRS transcript original and passport photos),
• application confirmation,
• e-mail from FRA to go ahead an schedule my interview
• passport
• application fee in cash, mastercard, visa card (https://de.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/fees/)

I'll let you guys know how it went. Marcus & Laura

12 hours ago, GoodJack said:

How long did it take to get tax transcripts by mail to Germany? 

Hm, I don't really remember this but I think it was 2 weeks. But make sure to try the online methode first! https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript 

Sure, hope it helps! 

Package 3, for us at least, was this checklist https://de.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/Instructions-for-IV-and-K-Visa-Applicants-1.pdf. We prepared all necessary files which are mentioned in that one, for a IR-1 Visa, send it all to Frankfurt. So I think to recall that with receiving my NOA-2 we received a case number which starts with "FRN" and the link above. 

Make sure to pay some extra attention to the IRS tax transcript as we needed to get that one in mail, which took some weeks. There is the option to get this online, but for unknown reasons that didn't work for my wife.

Marcus & Laura

On 8/13/2019 at 6:43 PM, NFBP said:

That's great that they just let you bring the missing items to the interview instead of waiting for you to send them first and then schedule the interview date! Glad they are friendly and responsive. We are having trouble creating an account on the UStraveldocs website but hoping their customer service/contact us email gets back to us quickly.

 

How far away were the interview dates?

Good news. I did the right thing. So once you have had your medical and ALL files necessary for the interview / process, you can request an interview under the website I attached above. This request has been approved today by Frankfurt. 

The appointments I could choose were September 16th, 23rd and 30th at 07:50 AM. So I guess those are always in the morning on a Monday and seem to be ~ 4 weeks out from approval that you can schedule your interview. I will let you guys know how it went and provide some more info on the day of the interview itself. 

This here came out after I scheduled the interview, fyi. (Link / clip not relevant as for nonimmigrant visas).

Update from our side. 

We've heard back from Frankfurt and they state that the latest IRS transcript is missing and I need to bring a new photo. In an e-mail from today they wrote:

"We have received your recent correspondence including some of the requested documents, however, for your  final visa interview we still require the following document(s).Please submit the requested document(s) on the day of your visa interview. Without the required documents your case cannot be processed to completion."

So I went ahead and under http://cdn.ustraveldocs.com/de/index.html?firstTime=No I applied to an interview. This came out at the end:

I hope I did the right thing. Good news is that they seem friendly and responsive. So if I don't hear back in a couple of days I will write them again. Note: Don't write them about your case if you are within 30 days past YOUR last action. They stated that they've a lot of incoming mail and it takes up to 30 days for a case-worker to see the files. So though we all want our visas, I'd recommend not to bother them too early.

Marcus & Laura

22 hours ago, NFBP said:

That's great! The next part is online right? This was three weeks after you received your approval? 

Yes. 

Next steps go a long these lines: https://de.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/application-instructions-and-required-documents/ with a detailed checklist for Frankfurt DCF here https://de.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/Instructions-for-IV-and-K-Visa-Applicants.pdf

We're right now finalizing the online forms. So far that seems to be the DS-160, delivery address confirmation.

We received Paket 3 today (which is just a single letter with your application / case number and instructions) from Frankfurt.

1 hour ago, NFBP said:

We applied April 9th and still haven't received an approval yet - we were also hoping to move around that time but does not look that way

6 hours ago, Allisongm said:

Okay I had a look thanks! Crossing my fingers that the packet 3s don't take long to arrive. We were supposed to move to the US early August 🙄

Hm yeah. I just wonder of the pkg 3 comes with mail or email. 

46 minutes ago, Allisongm said:

When did you file your petition? We filed mid April and have only received the first receipt so far.. 

 

Have you heart anything else or received Packet 3 yet? 

We filed in March, I think the 12th - just look into my timeline. Took a good three months. No news on NVC or package 3 instructions yet...

Good news, we just received the NOA-2 and it is approved. I guess Frankfurt is a bit slower but operates normal.

Hm, that's not good. So what happens if you're in the middle of that process? You think it might have it us and we can't do DCF?

Hi, we're filing through Frankfurt too. 

@Paul & Mary, why did you say one of the last ones to use DCF?

On topic, we haven't heard from the embassy either.. I prepared all files and we're ready to follow the NVC process, pay and send everything to Frankfurt!

Your plan isn't possible in its current inception, because once you have the visa, you need to use it within 6 months. However, you could start filing now and get the I-130 approved, and then if the job offer happens, you can pause your case for up to a year easily, and then resume with sending the next set of paperwork, doing the medical etc. Keep in mind that Denmark does NOT have DCF, only Germany does, so that could cause some complications/ delays if the case needs to be switched.

Doh! Thanks for catching that. But unfortunately, same issue with that county. DCF is only available in countries which have a USCIS office within the US embassy, which is currently the following: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-immigration-offices

Thank you for that advice, I did not think of that so far. However, a new question arises if I have to stay in Germany by going for a VISA. Can I not do the I-130, move to the Netherlands and hand in the missing parts as of Mid-2017? In other words, does one have to live in the DCF filing country for the whole process?

Dear VisaJourney community,

before starting my first post I would like to thank you in advance and let you know that this website and forums have helped us a lot! Thank you so much!

I have a specific question to a DCF filing. We, my wife, US Citizen, living with me in Munich since 03/15, recently got married and we now want to file for a DCF IR/CR Visa for me. I think we understood the process due to the very helpful information here. However, we have one open question which we can't figure out.

Background: I am working full-time, so is she. She has a job offer in the U.S., her Germany company opened recently an office at the est coast. My work contract is valid until 12/16. However, I started to look for jobs in Europe, and I think a very suitable job offer is currently in the Netherlands and we would go there for another year before moving to the states. Don't worry, I keep her updated on everything, no secrets

So the question is: There is a scenario I do not get the proposed job and in this case we still would go to the US by 01/17. In that case we would have to start NOW the DCF. However, what happens when we now start the DCF and in 2 months I get the job? Can one pause the DCF filing? Am I then still eligible going to the US (for holidays) as a tourist?

Rephrased I would like to ask: "Is it possible to get a full IR/CR Visa via DCF and then leave the U.S. after immigrating for another year again?"

We know that this sounds wild but that is the situation we are in because it will take up to 2 months for me to know if I get the job or not and we want to be prepared for both cases bc in 2 months DCF is too late for her and I would have to stay in Germany.

I hope someone know someone who has been faced with a simliar situation and I will keep up researching.

Regards from Munich

Laura & Marcus