BGROAD26

I just want to add one more thing: months before this whole process we did some information gathering, and we payed a consult for a lawyer to talk us through the whole process. The lawyer gave us bad information.... please do your own research. Thank god we did not trust her. This forum is a great resource, do not be afraid to reach out and ask questions.

update: by now we completed the whole process. (i made a post detailling the process). to answer my own question: We had to go to the Embassy 2 times. For the virst visit she had to be there. The second visit i could have done solo So it would have been ok for her to leave after the first visit to the consulate)

Hi everyone, We recently completed a successful visa journey and I wanted to share the details. This forum was a huge help, thanks everyone for sharing your story and answering questions. I am belgian and my wife is from the states. We have been living in belgium for a couple of years now. 29 october 2025 My wife got a job offer 5 november: we file a request for DCF 10 november: consulate emails us: our request for exceptional filing has been approved and we have to come to the embassy on november 21. We need the I-130 and I-130A, both our passports, mariage certificate, my birth certificate ,proof the my wife is living in belgium (original + copies) 21 november : embassy visit. Everyone is super friendly. We have to hand over our papers and that was basically it. On the trainride home we recieve instructions for the next step: we have to contact the embassy when we have all the required next documents: DS260 + I864 + police certificate + court/prison/divorce records (we don't have those) + IRS transcripts of my wife for the last 2 years+ I have to do a medical exam at an approved doctor 25 november: I do my medical exam. You have to prepare some papers before (the embassy mails them to you). Do not forget to bring ALL vacination records... you need a bunch of vaccinations. I did not have all of them (well I had them as a kid, but could not prove it...) so they gave them to me again that day. 26 november: we email the consulate that we had all the required papers 3 december we recieve an email inviting is for an interview at the embassy 12 december: day of the interview. The interview was a bit formal, remember to answer the questions directly and truthfully. We got approved! I have to leave my passport there and await instructions to come pick it up. 23 december: I am contacted that my passport Is ready. I choose to have it fedexed to my house 29 december: fedex delivers. I open the outside envelope but I was not carefull and made a small tear in the inside envelope... the inside envelope you are not supposed to open, but give unopened to the customs official when you arrive. I contact the embassy and they tell me to come by and get a new enveloppe. My main takeaways: If you plan to do DCF, do NOT start a normal application before that. It is impossible to switch from a normal application to DCF. thank god we did not do that! In the DS260 step they ask for your address in the states. We did not have that yet... so we had to locked down an apartment in this step. I don't know what will happen if you leave your address blank there. It's a lot of paperwork and you have to be very exact in filing it in. Where did I live (dates, adress), employment history (dates, roles, ...), ... it's a lot of paperwork and you want to be as precise as possible with it. For a brief period a couple years ago my wife got unemployment support. I was worried about that, but it was not an issue. I read other reports in this forum where people prepared documents with pictures etc. We prepared those aswell, but we could not hand them over. I wanted to ask my brother in law to be a sponser for the I-186 but we did not end up doing that, and didn't need to. If you qualify you qualify... Everyone at the consulate was super friendly and professional, and the whole process went faster then we thought. My wife already left to the states during the process, and that was no problem. She really only needed to be there for the first embassy visit. The second embassy visit i could have done solo. (i mean she was there for it, but she did not have to be). Good luck everyone and thanks for all the help!!!!!

Hi guys, i just wanted to thank you for sharing this story! my wife and me recently completed a DCF journey and this was a lot of help! (practical and emotional help!)

My wife is american and we are doing a DCF process in Brussels for me (the huband). My wife has a new job, in the usa, and we werre in the embassy on friday. Now we have to do a medical check, fill in the affidavit of support, etc. we are looking at flights. My wife starts in januari 5th and she wants to fly to the states end of december, to get set up. but we do not know when i will get my greencard. Can she fly ahead, or does she have to be here for the whole process?

So you are saying that, without a job offer, DCF is off the table? (without wanting to sound like an idiot: chatgpt told me: What you do need for DCF: To get permission to file an I-130 directly at the U.S. Embassy in Brussels (or any embassy), the main requirement is that the U.S. citizen spouse lives in the country (in this case, Belgium). Specifically: Requirement Needed? Notes U.S. citizenship of petitioner ✅ Yes Your wife must be a U.S. citizen Living in Belgium ✅ Yes Your wife should have proof she resides here "Exceptional circumstances" 🔸 Sometimes Brussels often approves just based on residency Job offer in the U.S. ❌ No Not required to qualify for DCF Financial support (Form I-864) ✅ Yes — but later Only needed before your visa interview, not now (sorry if that is a stupid question: i am new to this whole process)

Hi everyone, I have a couple of questions regarding DCF and the affidavit of support. I am from Belgium and my wife is from the USA. Married 2+ years. We now live in belgium and my wife has a residency permit here since last year. We want to move to the USA in '26. We have not started any procedure yet but are in information gathering fase. Direct Consular Filing seems like a nice option. A problem for us i expect will be the affidavit of support: - in 2024 for a couple of months my wife worked, from belgium, for a USA company (online). I don't know exactly how much income she can show, but i think around 30K - She collected USA unemployment for a couple of months, although technicaly she shouldent have because living in belgium. - she payed USA taxes on that income (technicaly should have payed belgian taxes) - since oktober '24 she works for a belgium company and makes about 80K/year - she has, due to an issue with an inheritance in the past, an openstanding tax debt of about $40K - she has savings (cash) of maybe 30K. combined we have savings (including stocks etc) of around 60K - she has a property abroad, south america, that is in a process of being sold, but its a long procedure and it may take 1-2 years - my wife hasn't lived in the states for 7 years, but kept a domocile (like a legal adress) there, it's at a friends house; So my questions are: - can she outright qualify for an affidavit of support? - if not: what is the easiest way to do it? - at what stage of the process do you have to produce the affidavit of support? if it is at the end, it could be an option for her to move to the states a couple months ahead of me, and get a higher paying job there. - Does tax debt / past unemployment benefit matter a lot? - should she file taxes for 2024 also in the USA? (we file in belgium since we live here) Also: - does anyone have experience with DCF from Belgium: brussels? How long does the process typicaly take? - is it an option to start with the DCF route, but possibly change to another method (fly there on ESTA, or IR1 visa) should my wife get for example an amzing job offer soon. We know that getting a "sponsor" is an option, but it seems like a very big ask to ask of someone...