jobsande

Thanks guys, we've got it sorted out all good

Hi there! A couple days ago my original post here got *tons* of responses, while interesting and IMHO well intentioned by all, mainly went off on a tangent...

In a nutshell, from the replies, whether or not we refer to it as a "DCF" or simply filing with the USCIS international Office (in my case, Frankfurt) - the most important point is that in any case it seems this will be my best/fastest option. Much better than the lockbox thing, (if I understand correctly).

Ok, now that we have the background, here's my next question -- as I mentioned on my last post, we are now leaning towards the CR-1 instead of K1. In order to be able to file the I-130 for this, I must be able to prove at least 6 months permanent residency in Germany (per https://www.visajourney.com/content/dcf). I am not sure if I can claim this, can someone chime in if it sounds like I'll be able to?

I'll briefly explain - I have an apartment in Berlin and have filed at the local registration office and received an official "anmeldung" for the apartment (registration paper). As a US citizen, I currently also have a 6 month "job seeking" visa for Germany, but this will expire a month or two before we get married. Then I will officially become a "tourist" for a couple months, until I get married to my lovely Croatian fiancee, and then we believe we should be able to file for EU residency based on the fact that she is Croatian. The entire time throughout this, although our wedding will be in Croatia and I'll be spending perhaps at least a month there to prepare, do family stuff, etc, we can officially keep the apartment in Berlin.

Even though I can maintain this apartment residency in Berlin for over 6 months, I still will be keeping my "permanent" residence in the US, (in other words I'll still pay taxes as a resident of Illinois as well as Federal US taxes) based on that Illinois home address.

Based on the above, will I still be able to file the I-130 and begin the CR1 process at the USCIS in Frankfurt for the German residence? Really am not sure. If anyone can shed any light on what defines a 6 month residency in a country that would be great! Thanks again!!

Awesome, super helpful.. based on your advice we are now looking into the CR-1. Even though that means we will probably have to wait in Europe much longer (3 months processing time would be amazing but I've heard it's much longer in other places so we can't 100% count on that sadly!) it's worth it since it's a more direct (less steps) process and overall cheaper.

Thanks!

Thanks for the super fast answer! It sounds like you'd recommend that, though of course it'd mean getting married now vs later... how much faster is it?

And for the K1, I guess I'd first need to file an I-129F petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in the United States, right?

Hi, I'm a US citizen with a permanent residence (domicile) in the US, and my job is with a US company based in the US. However, I'm temporarily residing in Germany. I also have official proof of my residence here in Germany etc.

Is it possible to start the K1 process in Germany or do I still need to go back to the US? Any ideas? Thanks in advance! :)

Jordan