uncle_chai

Just an update in case anyone is curious or comes across this thread looking for information. I visited the embassy last Friday and all went smoothly. I was in and out in about an hour; the consular officer signed off on the I-130 after a few cursory questions and what sort of felt like praise on the completeness of my I-864. I received the paper I-130 approval letter before leaving the embassy, which my wife used to get the police certificate ordered today--it's expected to be done within a week. We're still waiting for her case to show up in the system so we can schedule the medical check and fill out the DS-260. From what I've read it typically takes a few days to show up, so we're hoping to see the e-mail from the embassy mid-week.

I’m (Beneficiary) posting our experience for the DCF-EC process for IR1 through the Embassy in Singapore, as I benefitted tremendously from this forum, and wanted to pay it forward. I added in some more operational details/things I wish I knew beforehand.
 
Summary
DCF exceptional circumstances requested due to the Petitioner’s new job offer starting in 2 months USC Petitioner, with 2 USC children under 10, married over 8 years Time from request to visa in-hand: 67 days An especially big thanks to a previous post for Singapore The Embassy in Singapore was really efficient and responsive  
Timeline
Oct 1, 2023: E-mail Embassy to request DCF due to exceptional circumstances E-mail outlining details of our situation (job change) with Petitioner’s information attached, and requesting for assistance to file the I-130 locally. Later I realized there is a template on VJ here (can't find the link), but here's another one for a different country. Oct 2, 2023: Embassy responds The Embassy had a template set of questions that we had to fill out, and many questions actually overlapped with the details we sent in the request letter They asked for confirmation of having the Petitioner’s original birth certificate, to which we scramble family to overnight the birth certificate to us Their e-mail emphasizes that both Beneficiary and Petitioner need to have been resident in Singapore, and maintains status until filing date to be able to file locally Some questions in their e-mail were not applicable to our case (e.g: questions about transfer instead of change of employment) Oct 2, 2023: Respond to Embassy with details Oct 3, 2023: Embassy responds that the request is under consideration Oct 3, 2023: Embassy allows local filing Provided a list of items to bring (originals, copies, translations) A filing date was given for 2 weeks later Both Petitioner and Beneficiary are required to attend together Unexpected: the Beneficiary’s original birth certificate was included in a list of documents to bring, prompting my travel to get an original from country of citizenship (lost and a new one was needed) At this point, I began the process to translate documents as well Oct 18, 2023: Petition filed with both Petitioner and Beneficiary present at the Embassy Submitted I-130, I-130A, and documents at counter 7 to administrative clerk. Minimal documents requested, most were returned to us. We had prepared a thick binder as evidence of Bona Fide Marriage and Proof of Domicile, which they didn’t ask for. Called to counter 8 to meet with Consular Officer from DOS. CO reviews process, documents, returns our originals, confirms filing looks good and gives information on next steps (approval from USCIS, DS-260, medical and interview). Informed us that the I-864 isn’t needed at this point (it was on the checklist from the Embassy), also that the Petitioner doesn’t have to be in country anymore and can leave to start work. The rest of us could remain in Singapore as long as our passes allowed it. Apparently November interview slots fill up fast due to quota resets. They were quite sympathetic of wanting to be minimally separated given the young kids. We were given a Filing Acknowledgment Letter with an SGP Case Number. Further action is pending background checks and approval from USCIS, and we were given an estimate of 2 days to 2 weeks. We were also given a list of civil documents to start collecting. For police certificates that need a letter from a foreign authority (e.g. Singapore Police Force), we would have to wait until the USCIS approval letter and packet to be able to start the process. Oct 23, 2023: Correction in mailing address on Filing Acceptance Letter E-mailed Embassy to correct the mailing address. The Embassy responded on the same day. Tip: Check that the filing acceptance letter had the correct mailing address. There was an error on ours, hence this step. The next correspondence is by post! Oct 27, 2023: Receive I-130 approval and Packet 3 by post We had been anxiously checking our e-mail inboxes/refreshing regularly only to find out it’s by snail mail The packet contains instructions on next steps: application instructions for the DS-260, arranging a medical exam, a letter to verify that a foreign authority is requesting Police Certificate (for countries that require it), a checklist to (snail) mail back to the Embassy which will initiate the appointment booking process Oct 29, 2023: DS-260 submitted, with confirmation on submission Oct 30, 2023: Begin process for other required documents (Providing this to give an indicative time frame relative to the whole application process) Request for Singapore police certificate appeal (timeline not included here, but it took about 5-7 days in total to the certificate in hand) Scheduled medical exam Oct 31, 2023: Medical exam (Providing this to give an indicative time frame relative to the whole application process) Before the appointment could be made, the clinics needed additional information with passport, DS-260 confirmation, and Case Number. It's not as straightforward as just booking, as an FYI. I needed several vaccines and it got pricey at their approved clinic (total was SGD1.2K), but it was fast. Needed to go to another location for the X-Ray. Nov 6, 2023: Ask Embassy if we can mail the checklist yet while Police Clearance if pending Embassy responded on the same day advising to mail the checklist Nov 8, 2023: Checklist sent by same-day courier Re-sent by private courier (scanned copies) as the local mail delivery/previous attempt from the 6th had some delays Nov 14, 2023: Receive e-mail to register on waitlist to schedule interview appointment This was from the USTravelDocs portal, and approval is needed after submitting  Nov 15, 2023: Request to Schedule has been approved e-mail This allows the Beneficiary to select an interview slot Nov 15, 2023: Appointment Confirmed e-mail E-mail confirmation sent Nov 24, 2023: Appointment reminder e-mail from the Embassy Nov 29, 2023: Interview Arrived about 30 minutes early, and allowed to go inside to wait IV applicants were seated in the back of the room until they were called up Clerk called to counter to collect additional paperwork (civil documents), given domestic violence pamphlet, and instructions on how to the Interview Fee, then return the receipt to clerk Called up by the CO for interview. I was asked a few basic questions about my education, where I attended university, how the Petitioner and I met, where/when we got married, age/birthplace/citizenship of children, and summarize domestic violence rights of immigrants Informed me that we could move forward, and that my passport would be held for stamping and it would take 3-5 days In total this took about 1.5 hours in the Embassy Dec 7, 2023: (Midnight) Notification of passport ready for collection at pick-up point Passport collected, and returned items included a sealed manila envelope (do not open!) to be handed over to the immigration officer upon arrival to the US There were also instructions on how to pay an Immigrant fee, which was recommended prior to departure  
We flew the week after for reunification! At entry, the immigration officer opened the sealed envelope, and the process did take slightly longer than others going through. The officer informed me I would be able to study, work, enter/exit as a permanent resident from that point on, and took my most recent address on where to mail the physical green card.
 
Hope this helps, and good luck to all!

I’m (Beneficiary) posting our experience for the DCF-EC process for IR1 through the Embassy in Singapore, as I benefitted tremendously from this forum, and wanted to pay it forward. I added in some more operational details/things I wish I knew beforehand.
 
Summary
DCF exceptional circumstances requested due to the Petitioner’s new job offer starting in 2 months USC Petitioner, with 2 USC children under 10, married over 8 years Time from request to visa in-hand: 67 days An especially big thanks to a previous post for Singapore The Embassy in Singapore was really efficient and responsive  
Timeline
Oct 1, 2023: E-mail Embassy to request DCF due to exceptional circumstances E-mail outlining details of our situation (job change) with Petitioner’s information attached, and requesting for assistance to file the I-130 locally. Later I realized there is a template on VJ here (can't find the link), but here's another one for a different country. Oct 2, 2023: Embassy responds The Embassy had a template set of questions that we had to fill out, and many questions actually overlapped with the details we sent in the request letter They asked for confirmation of having the Petitioner’s original birth certificate, to which we scramble family to overnight the birth certificate to us Their e-mail emphasizes that both Beneficiary and Petitioner need to have been resident in Singapore, and maintains status until filing date to be able to file locally Some questions in their e-mail were not applicable to our case (e.g: questions about transfer instead of change of employment) Oct 2, 2023: Respond to Embassy with details Oct 3, 2023: Embassy responds that the request is under consideration Oct 3, 2023: Embassy allows local filing Provided a list of items to bring (originals, copies, translations) A filing date was given for 2 weeks later Both Petitioner and Beneficiary are required to attend together Unexpected: the Beneficiary’s original birth certificate was included in a list of documents to bring, prompting my travel to get an original from country of citizenship (lost and a new one was needed) At this point, I began the process to translate documents as well Oct 18, 2023: Petition filed with both Petitioner and Beneficiary present at the Embassy Submitted I-130, I-130A, and documents at counter 7 to administrative clerk. Minimal documents requested, most were returned to us. We had prepared a thick binder as evidence of Bona Fide Marriage and Proof of Domicile, which they didn’t ask for. Called to counter 8 to meet with Consular Officer from DOS. CO reviews process, documents, returns our originals, confirms filing looks good and gives information on next steps (approval from USCIS, DS-260, medical and interview). Informed us that the I-864 isn’t needed at this point (it was on the checklist from the Embassy), also that the Petitioner doesn’t have to be in country anymore and can leave to start work. The rest of us could remain in Singapore as long as our passes allowed it. Apparently November interview slots fill up fast due to quota resets. They were quite sympathetic of wanting to be minimally separated given the young kids. We were given a Filing Acknowledgment Letter with an SGP Case Number. Further action is pending background checks and approval from USCIS, and we were given an estimate of 2 days to 2 weeks. We were also given a list of civil documents to start collecting. For police certificates that need a letter from a foreign authority (e.g. Singapore Police Force), we would have to wait until the USCIS approval letter and packet to be able to start the process. Oct 23, 2023: Correction in mailing address on Filing Acceptance Letter E-mailed Embassy to correct the mailing address. The Embassy responded on the same day. Tip: Check that the filing acceptance letter had the correct mailing address. There was an error on ours, hence this step. The next correspondence is by post! Oct 27, 2023: Receive I-130 approval and Packet 3 by post We had been anxiously checking our e-mail inboxes/refreshing regularly only to find out it’s by snail mail The packet contains instructions on next steps: application instructions for the DS-260, arranging a medical exam, a letter to verify that a foreign authority is requesting Police Certificate (for countries that require it), a checklist to (snail) mail back to the Embassy which will initiate the appointment booking process Oct 29, 2023: DS-260 submitted, with confirmation on submission Oct 30, 2023: Begin process for other required documents (Providing this to give an indicative time frame relative to the whole application process) Request for Singapore police certificate appeal (timeline not included here, but it took about 5-7 days in total to the certificate in hand) Scheduled medical exam Oct 31, 2023: Medical exam (Providing this to give an indicative time frame relative to the whole application process) Before the appointment could be made, the clinics needed additional information with passport, DS-260 confirmation, and Case Number. It's not as straightforward as just booking, as an FYI. I needed several vaccines and it got pricey at their approved clinic (total was SGD1.2K), but it was fast. Needed to go to another location for the X-Ray. Nov 6, 2023: Ask Embassy if we can mail the checklist yet while Police Clearance if pending Embassy responded on the same day advising to mail the checklist Nov 8, 2023: Checklist sent by same-day courier Re-sent by private courier (scanned copies) as the local mail delivery/previous attempt from the 6th had some delays Nov 14, 2023: Receive e-mail to register on waitlist to schedule interview appointment This was from the USTravelDocs portal, and approval is needed after submitting  Nov 15, 2023: Request to Schedule has been approved e-mail This allows the Beneficiary to select an interview slot Nov 15, 2023: Appointment Confirmed e-mail E-mail confirmation sent Nov 24, 2023: Appointment reminder e-mail from the Embassy Nov 29, 2023: Interview Arrived about 30 minutes early, and allowed to go inside to wait IV applicants were seated in the back of the room until they were called up Clerk called to counter to collect additional paperwork (civil documents), given domestic violence pamphlet, and instructions on how to the Interview Fee, then return the receipt to clerk Called up by the CO for interview. I was asked a few basic questions about my education, where I attended university, how the Petitioner and I met, where/when we got married, age/birthplace/citizenship of children, and summarize domestic violence rights of immigrants Informed me that we could move forward, and that my passport would be held for stamping and it would take 3-5 days In total this took about 1.5 hours in the Embassy Dec 7, 2023: (Midnight) Notification of passport ready for collection at pick-up point Passport collected, and returned items included a sealed manila envelope (do not open!) to be handed over to the immigration officer upon arrival to the US There were also instructions on how to pay an Immigrant fee, which was recommended prior to departure  
We flew the week after for reunification! At entry, the immigration officer opened the sealed envelope, and the process did take slightly longer than others going through. The officer informed me I would be able to study, work, enter/exit as a permanent resident from that point on, and took my most recent address on where to mail the physical green card.
 
Hope this helps, and good luck to all!

I’m (Beneficiary) posting our experience for the DCF-EC process for IR1 through the Embassy in Singapore, as I benefitted tremendously from this forum, and wanted to pay it forward. I added in some more operational details/things I wish I knew beforehand.
 
Summary
DCF exceptional circumstances requested due to the Petitioner’s new job offer starting in 2 months USC Petitioner, with 2 USC children under 10, married over 8 years Time from request to visa in-hand: 67 days An especially big thanks to a previous post for Singapore The Embassy in Singapore was really efficient and responsive  
Timeline
Oct 1, 2023: E-mail Embassy to request DCF due to exceptional circumstances E-mail outlining details of our situation (job change) with Petitioner’s information attached, and requesting for assistance to file the I-130 locally. Later I realized there is a template on VJ here (can't find the link), but here's another one for a different country. Oct 2, 2023: Embassy responds The Embassy had a template set of questions that we had to fill out, and many questions actually overlapped with the details we sent in the request letter They asked for confirmation of having the Petitioner’s original birth certificate, to which we scramble family to overnight the birth certificate to us Their e-mail emphasizes that both Beneficiary and Petitioner need to have been resident in Singapore, and maintains status until filing date to be able to file locally Some questions in their e-mail were not applicable to our case (e.g: questions about transfer instead of change of employment) Oct 2, 2023: Respond to Embassy with details Oct 3, 2023: Embassy responds that the request is under consideration Oct 3, 2023: Embassy allows local filing Provided a list of items to bring (originals, copies, translations) A filing date was given for 2 weeks later Both Petitioner and Beneficiary are required to attend together Unexpected: the Beneficiary’s original birth certificate was included in a list of documents to bring, prompting my travel to get an original from country of citizenship (lost and a new one was needed) At this point, I began the process to translate documents as well Oct 18, 2023: Petition filed with both Petitioner and Beneficiary present at the Embassy Submitted I-130, I-130A, and documents at counter 7 to administrative clerk. Minimal documents requested, most were returned to us. We had prepared a thick binder as evidence of Bona Fide Marriage and Proof of Domicile, which they didn’t ask for. Called to counter 8 to meet with Consular Officer from DOS. CO reviews process, documents, returns our originals, confirms filing looks good and gives information on next steps (approval from USCIS, DS-260, medical and interview). Informed us that the I-864 isn’t needed at this point (it was on the checklist from the Embassy), also that the Petitioner doesn’t have to be in country anymore and can leave to start work. The rest of us could remain in Singapore as long as our passes allowed it. Apparently November interview slots fill up fast due to quota resets. They were quite sympathetic of wanting to be minimally separated given the young kids. We were given a Filing Acknowledgment Letter with an SGP Case Number. Further action is pending background checks and approval from USCIS, and we were given an estimate of 2 days to 2 weeks. We were also given a list of civil documents to start collecting. For police certificates that need a letter from a foreign authority (e.g. Singapore Police Force), we would have to wait until the USCIS approval letter and packet to be able to start the process. Oct 23, 2023: Correction in mailing address on Filing Acceptance Letter E-mailed Embassy to correct the mailing address. The Embassy responded on the same day. Tip: Check that the filing acceptance letter had the correct mailing address. There was an error on ours, hence this step. The next correspondence is by post! Oct 27, 2023: Receive I-130 approval and Packet 3 by post We had been anxiously checking our e-mail inboxes/refreshing regularly only to find out it’s by snail mail The packet contains instructions on next steps: application instructions for the DS-260, arranging a medical exam, a letter to verify that a foreign authority is requesting Police Certificate (for countries that require it), a checklist to (snail) mail back to the Embassy which will initiate the appointment booking process Oct 29, 2023: DS-260 submitted, with confirmation on submission Oct 30, 2023: Begin process for other required documents (Providing this to give an indicative time frame relative to the whole application process) Request for Singapore police certificate appeal (timeline not included here, but it took about 5-7 days in total to the certificate in hand) Scheduled medical exam Oct 31, 2023: Medical exam (Providing this to give an indicative time frame relative to the whole application process) Before the appointment could be made, the clinics needed additional information with passport, DS-260 confirmation, and Case Number. It's not as straightforward as just booking, as an FYI. I needed several vaccines and it got pricey at their approved clinic (total was SGD1.2K), but it was fast. Needed to go to another location for the X-Ray. Nov 6, 2023: Ask Embassy if we can mail the checklist yet while Police Clearance if pending Embassy responded on the same day advising to mail the checklist Nov 8, 2023: Checklist sent by same-day courier Re-sent by private courier (scanned copies) as the local mail delivery/previous attempt from the 6th had some delays Nov 14, 2023: Receive e-mail to register on waitlist to schedule interview appointment This was from the USTravelDocs portal, and approval is needed after submitting  Nov 15, 2023: Request to Schedule has been approved e-mail This allows the Beneficiary to select an interview slot Nov 15, 2023: Appointment Confirmed e-mail E-mail confirmation sent Nov 24, 2023: Appointment reminder e-mail from the Embassy Nov 29, 2023: Interview Arrived about 30 minutes early, and allowed to go inside to wait IV applicants were seated in the back of the room until they were called up Clerk called to counter to collect additional paperwork (civil documents), given domestic violence pamphlet, and instructions on how to the Interview Fee, then return the receipt to clerk Called up by the CO for interview. I was asked a few basic questions about my education, where I attended university, how the Petitioner and I met, where/when we got married, age/birthplace/citizenship of children, and summarize domestic violence rights of immigrants Informed me that we could move forward, and that my passport would be held for stamping and it would take 3-5 days In total this took about 1.5 hours in the Embassy Dec 7, 2023: (Midnight) Notification of passport ready for collection at pick-up point Passport collected, and returned items included a sealed manila envelope (do not open!) to be handed over to the immigration officer upon arrival to the US There were also instructions on how to pay an Immigrant fee, which was recommended prior to departure  
We flew the week after for reunification! At entry, the immigration officer opened the sealed envelope, and the process did take slightly longer than others going through. The officer informed me I would be able to study, work, enter/exit as a permanent resident from that point on, and took my most recent address on where to mail the physical green card.
 
Hope this helps, and good luck to all!

Hi @uncle_chai
 
To be honest, this is the part our lawyer did but as far as I know the proof they used for DCF was the job offer letter of the petitioner. There are only a few reasons you can ask for DCF, a job offer with short-term notice (ours was 2 months) is one of them. Based on this, our DCF was approved. 

Sorry @uncle_chai for the late reply. I was traveling so didn't have much time to react.
Actually I flew the dog to The Netherlands first, where my parents live, for him to stay for a bit while we get settled in the US. But I did look into the paperwork for the US and it seems even easier than the EU.
For the Netherlands I took the following steps:
1. booked the dog as excess baggage on my ticket to the Netherlands on KLM. They are known to be good with dogs. Dog ticket is around 200 euros.
2. I already had a crate from the time we flew him from Hong Kong to Singapore, but make sure  you have a decent sized crate
3. I made sure the dog had a rabies vaccination, more than a month before flying (needs to be 21 days before but can take a bit more time to be on the safe side). USA doesn't require a rabies vaccination from non-high risk countries like Singapore. But it always seems wise to vaccinate your dog anyway: https://www.cdc.gov/importation/bringing-an-animal-into-the-united-states/dog-origin.html
3. You need to obtain an export license from NParks, not earlier than 30 days before flying (This is a Singapore requirement). Easy to do online with your Singpass: https://www.nparks.gov.sg/avs/pets/bringing-animals-into-singapore-and-exporting/exporting-dogs-and-cats/preparing-to-leave-singapore . I got it about 20 days in advance because I wanted to be covered in case the flight or my visa would be delayed.
4. I needed a EU health certificate to be signed by a vet (upon health check of the dog) not earlier than 10 days in advance. For USA there is no federal requirement but states might request it. As we live in Chicago, I checked Illinois requirements and they do require a health certificate not earlier than 30 days in advance. You can check your state here:https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/bring-pet-into-the-united-states/pet-travel-dogs-into-us
5. For the EU, the health certificate needed to be endorsed by AVS/NParks in Singapore. Which is also quite a straightforward process to apply for online, and was done within 1 business day. But it depends on your US state if this is needed. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/bring-pet-into-the-united-states/pet-travel-dogs-into-us
 
This was all the paperwork, and the US might be even easier depending on state. I did it without an agent.
Do realize though that a flight from Singapore to the US is much longer and has a layover which might complicate the situation. It's good to do some research on that.
Checking in with KLM was seamless and picking the dog up in Amsterdam Schiphol airport was easy too, they checked the paperwork at the red custom lane (something to declare) and we could go on our way. No quarantine from Singapore, that seems the same for most US States as well.
 
Good luck bringing your dog over!
 
 

Hi all,
 
This forum has been a great help for me and would like to give back by sharing my full journey/experience. Reading these experiences form others has helped me a lot in easing my mind and setting expectations. 
 
Our situation
My husband is American and I'm from the Netherlands. We married in Hong Kong 6 years ago and have 5 year old twins. We were living in Singapore when we had an opportunity to move to the US last May (2021), due to a job offer for my husband. We decided to file the I-130 with exceptional circumstances (job offer in the US with start time in 2 months).
We did engage a lawyer (because we really wanted to be accepted for DCF through the embassy) but found out half way through the lawyer wasn't much help and ceased the engagement to finalize the process ourselves.
 
Our Journey and experience:
 
1. Sent all forms and documents etc to the lawyer in the 3rd week of May 2021
 
2. I became a bit disgruntled that it took the lawyer 2 weeks to submit papers to the embassy, but was submitted in the first week of June
 
3. Within a few days we received approval for DCF from the US Embassy in Singapore and an appointment to file the I-130 in person on 15 June (big sigh of relief)
 
4. In the list of needed documents to bring to the embassy, it said 'Petitioner's birth certificate', this scared us because my husband is a naturalized American, born in China, where they don't give out birth certificates. We checked with his parents and indeed they confirmed there was no birth certificate. Our lawyer told us it was not usual procedure to ask for the petitioner's birth certificate (as naturalization doc and/or passport suffices) and it could be requested or waived at the embassy's discretion. He said it might be waived if we explained the situation.
 
5. On 15 June we went to the embassy with a big file full of documents and were pretty confident. Until... the question of my husband's birth certificate came up. We tried to explain it but the guy who collected the docs (not a US officer but a local Singaporean contractor) cut us off quickly and said we should have gotten it earlier as it was in the letter and we should get a certificate from his birth place in China. This made us panic because my husband was about to leave to the US to start his job in 2 weeks and we had no idea how to go about this. They gave us a paper on how to get the Notary certificate of birth (which is pretty straightforward when you live in China but not from outside of China), collected our other documents and that's that. They accepted the petition but said they couldn't process until we had the birth certificate. All other documents were in order.
 
6. This started a stressful week where we mobilized family and were lucky to find a cousin in Beijing (his birth city) who knew where to go and went to the right office to get this paper. Unfortunately she was denied because the office in Beijing was not able to certify that the child in his passport from the 80's was the same person as the 39-year old American passport holder. Also because he added an English name to his Chinese name. So we tried a different path: we collected all kinds of IDs over the span of his life (like driver's license, high school card) to show the progression from that boy into the man he is now. Including a name change certificate from his naturalization (picked up by a friend at the courts of Chicago). We were lucky his cousin is a feisty lady; she went there again and basically bullied the guys at the Beijing office to issue a notarized birth certificate. Which they did after she obtained a note from the Police in Beijing that his name was in the family register (hukou). As you can imagine we sent that cousin boxes full of chocolates as a thank you. Not sure how we would have managed without her. It only delayed us for 1.5 weeks in the end. But could have been months.
 
We also found out that the lawyer was useless and just confused the situation so we ceased our commitment with them to get some of the money back
 
7. I had also mentioned to the embassy (personally and through email) that I needed a letter from them requesting police clearance from all countries I lived it. I had already requested most police clearances except for Hong Kong (where I had lived for a few years). Hong Kong has a bit of a cumbersome process where you need a letter from the embassy to request the police clearance, with your name and case number, and after mailing that to the HK police, they will mail the result directly to the embassy. Counting in the time for the post to deliver, this would all take 6 weeks as well. So this could definitely slow down the issuing of my visa. The embassy would only be able to give this letter once my I-130 was approved.
 
7. Once the birth certificate was in, I received the approval of the I-130 within 3 days and they remembered my request so they directly issued a letter for the HK police. So I was able to start that process (with the help of a friend in Hong Kong). I directly called for my medical exam and was a bit lucky. They asked me about my Covid vaccination and I was just about to receive my 2nd Moderna shot in 2 days. They told me I should postpone that shot because I can't have the DTP, MMR and Influenza so close to the Covid shot. Otherwise I had to delay medical exam with 3 weeks. So I delayed my Covid shot instead (only 2 weeks, 3 weeks seemed excessive and wanted to be fully vaccinated before travel) and went for the medical the next day already and the results were all delivered at the embassy after a week. Super fast!
 
8. Once the medical was received on 8 July, and I had sent the checklist back (noting that the HK police certificate would be sent directly to them within a few weeks) they directly invited me for my visa interview on 27 July. I was overly prepared, being quite traumatized from the previous session at the embassy. But in the end they only requested the standard documents and asked a few questions on how we met and how our relationship evolved (I had brought photos, evidence of co-mingled finance etc but did not need to show). I also received a folder on domestic abuse and they asked me to summarize. All easy and done quickly. They issued me a 221(g) for the HK police certificate.
 
9. In the meantime I had been emailing with the HK police, indicating the timeline and The Police Clearance was coincidentally also sent out to Singapore on 27 July. They provided a tracking code and on 2 August it already arrived at the embassy. The embassy confirmed it the same day by requesting my passport.
 
10. I handed in my passport on 3 August and on 7 August I received the note that my passport was ready for pick up. Will pick it up tomorrow (it's a public holiday today) and we are ready to fly with kids and dog on 13 August! Woooohoooo
 
So including the hick-ups it took about 10 weeks. But if we didn't have the problem with the Chinese birth certificate and the HK Police Clearance, all could have been done in less than 2 months.
 
My take-aways:
- We really did not need a lawyer. The US Embassy in Singapore was very responsive to email and quick to move forward whenever the right docs were received. 
- Even the Hong Kong Police was very responsive through email on the police certificate
- If you have all documents in order and you qualify for exceptional filing,  DCF is a very straightforward process at the US Embassy in Singapore
 
Hope this helps others in setting their expectations and preparing for their journey.
 
Cheers!