USC petitioner living abroad

[Laure&Colin 279]

Hi everyone!

This topic is made to pinpoint the exact requirements that allow most USC petitioners filing from abroad to have their I-130 auto-expedited, while some others seem to go through regular processing queues.

Background: on August 15, 2011, the rules for DCF changed and this alternative option disappeared in all countries that don't have a local USCIS field office, in other words in most countries in the world. Since September 2011, VJ members filing an I-130 while residing abroad with their spouses have been, in most cases, adjudicated extremely fast by USCIS, indicating that the case was expedited, although they did not request it. For an example, see my timeline, and note that this "auto-expedited" processing is only valid at the USCIS stage.

The details of this special processing queue are unclear and USCIS operators are not aware of its existence. In addition, a few members in the same situation have had their cases pending for months, indicating they were not placed in the fast queue.

I made a little survey that will help us understand what the conditions are to be placed in the fast queue. Please add questions if you think other relevant information is missing

All US citizen petitioning for your spouse and residing with them abroad, please fill it in!

(My answers in green).

1. Country USC resides in: France

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: November 2011

4. How long had you been living abroad: 2.5 years

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/other - Scientist

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes. They were meant to be evidence of bona fide relationship, but they also proved the USC was residing in France.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Yes, 16 days.

[Amanda&Elvio 12]

Thanks Laure this seems to be a confusing topic.

My answers are below in purple.

1. Country USC resides in: Paraguay

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: January 2012

4. How long had you been living abroad: 2 years

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: United States Peace Corps Volunteer

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? No. I sent it to my parents house in the US and they forwarded it to the Chicago Lockbox.

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? No.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? No.

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Yes, 10 days.

[chaine1 116]

1. Country USC resides in: Kuwait

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: February 2012

4. How long had you been living abroad: 5 years

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/other - work

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes. *See note below about this*

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? No - sent it to my parents for them to add a few things, they then forwarded it on to Chicago. Had my mother write across the envelope 'Filed from Abroad.'

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? No, not direct evidence, like a copy of my work permit. Evidence that showed residence abroad indirectly: Our marriage took place in Kuwait, so my marriage certificate is in Arabic. Also, as part of proof of a bona fide relationship, we included numerous flight itineraries that showed travel together. Most of these flights departed from Kuwait.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes – mentioned it in cover letter.

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Yes. 13 days between NOA1 and NOA2.

Here I would also add that my husband is not a Kuwaiti citizen, so it doesn’t seem to matter if the USC resides abroad in the spouse’s country, as has been mentioned.

**Kuwait has terrible post, but I still used my Kuwait address because I was hoping for the expedited approval. In order to circumvent this issue, I included an attachment that gave my Fedex account number. The Tier 2 Operator at USCIS told me they would try to honor that request, but couldn't promise. Well, nearly one month onward, I have received no Fedex package, or anything through regular mail (but that doesn't surprise me).

[Amanda&Elvio 12]

**Kuwait has terrible post, but I still used my Kuwait address because I was hoping for the expedited approval. In order to circumvent this issue, I included an attachment that gave my Fedex account number. The Tier 2 Operator at USCIS told me they would try to honor that request, but couldn't promise. Well, nearly one month onward, I have received no Fedex package, or anything through regular mail (but that doesn't surprise me).

Paraguay has an awful mail system too. I just recently received the NOA-1 and still haven't received the NOA-2. It was worth it though for faster processing. Also, NVC does everything through e-mail.

[Laure&Colin 279]

Thanks guys for answering!

One question Chaine1: does your spouse reside in Kuwait with you? Or are you alone in Kuwait while she's waiting in New Zealand?

As far as the post goes: not receiving the NOAs isn't too concerning, as we're not supposed to need them in the future (except if the file got lost on its way to NVC), unlike K1 filers. But it would really be a problem if an RFE was to be sent, since you only have a specified amount of time to respond! So members who file from abroad really really need to read the guides VERY carefully and work on their I-130 package, make sure nothing's missing and there's no error!!

[chaine1 116]

One question Chaine1: does your spouse reside in Kuwait with you? Or are you alone in Kuwait while she's waiting in New Zealand?

My husband lives and works in Kuwait too. We met here. I realize that might not be perfectly clear based on my profile...when we started the process, we were unaware that DCF had stopped and thought he would have to go home to New Zealand for the interview. We are leaving Kuwait for good at the end of July, so are on a bit of a time crunch!

[OhNoRobo 0]

1. Country USC resides in: Japan

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: February 3rd, 2012

4. How long had you been living abroad: almost 3 years

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: Work (work visa)

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes, other than the required US address where I used my parent's home address.

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes.

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Not really, other than current address and marriage license from Japan.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes, I explained that I was filing from Japan for my Japanese husband.

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Not sure yet - haven't received NOA2.

[Knockse 1]

1. Country USC resides in: Belgium

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: February 2012

4. How long had you been living abroad: 28 years

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: other - work

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes.

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? No - sent it to a friend in FL, who added a money order. He FedEx'ed it to Chicago

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? No, not direct evidence,but our kids are born in Europe and we are married here.

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? NO

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Yes. 7 days between NOA1 and NOA2.

Edited March 14, 2012 by Knockse

[Laure&Colin 279]

There's more of us out there, we need more answers to understand the conditions!

[JNEKG 4]

This is very interesting to me. I am sure there is many more out there. I am hoping we get into the USC abroad queue too. For those of you who have already posted could you please update which service centre you went to? Give us some California sc people some hope. Thanks

[chaine1 116]

For those of you who have already posted could you please update which service centre you went to? Give us some California sc people some hope. Thanks

Mine was sent to the California Service Center. What address did you use on your I-130?

[JNEKG 4]

Our Australian address.

[Laure&Colin 279]

CSC for me too. I think, but I'm not 100% sure about it, that all the "auto-expedited" cases I've seen were processed at CSC.

There are many more out there and I hope they'll show up here and tell us about their details.

[Amanda&Elvio 12]

<----CSC also.

I have a friend here who also married a Paraguayan and sent in the I-130 in March. Theirs got routed to VSC although I told her to use her address abroad. I'm interested to see how soon their petition gets approved.

[Adriene H 89]

1. Country USC resides in: England

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? Yes

3. When did you file the I-130: August 31, 2011

4. How long had you been living abroad: 1 year

5. Do you reside in the country legally? No

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/other - Tourist

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? No

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? No

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? No

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? No