wheresmyrainbow

Thanks, I will prepare for that, and I imagine I’d be starting the job before getting to the interview part so hopefully that plus our documentation will be enough.

I’m going to apply for DCF in Canada and have received a job offer listing the start date as “TBD” - is that acceptable or will I have to have an actual date?

Please let us know how it goes!

Congrats on the finalization! We also adopted and been living abroad so I feel (some of) your pain with this process! Will you be requesting Direct Consular Filing for a quicker process?

Were you able to find out any helpful tips? We applied for N600K when the processing time at Pittsburgh said 2.5 months, now it's up to 7 months. Really discouraging, if there's a way to reach out and move it along I'd love to know how.

Would it be an option to apply for tourist visa for medical treatment? Or the primary goal is to get your sister to live in the US?

Hi Veronica (OP) were you able to change the location?

Hello, can you please advise - If I get college transcripts, can they be unofficial/unsealed or do they need to be sealed? I read there's something from Social Security - can it be printed from online? What about property tax records - does that prove presence? Thanks!

I believe USMCA is what the US calls the former-NAFTA agreement. Canada calls it CUSMA - that's what you should search for. See if your profession is one of those under CUSMA and you can get a work permit which was fairly easy but you do need a job offer and an employer willing to fill out something online and pay a small fee (I think it was around $100-200?).

More questions - does the US job offer have to be equal or better to current job to qualify? Could argue overall quality of life and income to expenses is better? If the consulate accepts your I130 is it possible (or likely) to get denied further in the process? Could they initially accept my imminent need to leave the country and then after we pay fees and travel for interview, etc then deny us for not being a good enough reason? I know I'm asking a lot of questions but if you knew how we had suffered over the last 5 years you would understand. I need to be vague for privacy reasons. We need to be home with family ASAP.

I have not applied yet. I think it’s a little confusing since some threads were merged but my question was if I have to have a job offer to qualify for DCF because where the policy lists the possible acceptable reasons it says adoptive family with imminent need to depart the country, that is a separate reason from having a job offer.

Well I emailed Montreal, and they didn't really answer my question if we will qualify based on our imminent need, just general response about if we are confident we will qualify, to send XYZ information.

No for our process we will use I130 as a family process because we have lived together overseas for 2 years. I864/tax returns should not be needed because the kids will become citizens immediately after arrival.

You might be right, but on the other hand it says after living together 2 years, so I don’t know. I wish I felt more confident about it. Thanks for answering my question.

Yes we left our kids birth country after a year and moved to Canada, been here almost a year but financially struggling a lot.

Reading USCIS policy manual here, wondering if we can really qualify for DCF without a job offer. Under the adoption reason given by USCIS it doesn't mention a job offer just says "imminent need to depart" and our imminent need is severe financial strain (will explain need to live with family and have help with childcare). Any opinions on our chances? I don't see many posts about DCF involving adopted children, so it's hard for me to know if I would be successful. I'm nervous to ask the consulate because if they say no, then I come back later and have a job offer, will that look shady? I may still get a job offer, but I'd prefer not to wait for that if I don't have to, plus I don't want to have to leave my kids to start a job while the rest of the process is pending. Chapter 3 - Filing | USCIS Adoption of a child – A petitioner has adopted a child abroad and has an imminent need to depart the country. This type of case should only be considered if the petitioner has a full and final adoption decree on behalf of the child and the adoptive parent(s) has had legal custody of and jointly resided with the child for at least 2 years.

Thanks, I'm not able to file anything until Oct 1 because I have to fulfill certain requirement for my kids to be eligible, so I have to wait until then either way.

I want to get back to the states as soon as I can, been away too long.

Yeah I get that but I don't want to be separated from my kids very long. If I knew it would only be a month tops it would be OK but hearing that Montreal can be difficult and slow, I'm worried to leave first for an unknown amount of time.

I'm just curious how people are explaining your overseas situation when you're applying for jobs in the States? During the interview, do you mention you'll need a start date in a few months, or it might be delayed more due to immigration? Do you wait until you get the offer letter, then say "by the way...I have this complication"? I can't apply for DCF until earliest Oct 1 (because of needing to meet certain immigration requirements) with estimated start date of Dec or Jan so I thought it might be a little early for me to apply now, but I saw a good opportunity and went for it. The company was really nice but told me to check back closer to 1-1.5 months prior to desired start date, which probably would not work for me having to deal with Montreal consulate (which I've heard takes longer than others). Just looking for advice to form my strategy.

Hi, yes their adoption was complete in their birth country and we have been living with them almost 2 years so we will file I-130 at the right time. The info for DCF has adoption listed as one of the acceptable special circumstances.

That's great to hear, thank you for the detailed update! We might be doing the same thing in a few months, also in Vancouver. Best wishes for your life back in the States!

Did you have any luck with the DCF?

If you have gone through or are going through Direct Consular Filing with Montreal Canada consulate, please let me know how long the process took?

Update, after reading some more posts in the Canada forum, I think I've found 1 office near Vancouver that does US immigration medical, so hopefully that will work for us.