Eligible or ineligible for DCF?

[Simple_Guy]

US Citizen here, recently married to a naturalized Japanese citizen (who was born and raised as a Chinese citizen until 3 years ago).

 

Since there isn't USCIS Field Office in Japan, we are hoping to move to Guangzhou and file I-130 via DCF there so that we can avoid filing with Chicago Lockbox and dealing with long processing times (18+ months).

 

However, after reading through the stickied guides about DCF, I may have stumbled upon a huge oversight.

 

Are we ineligible for DCF because my wife is a Japanese citizen and no longer a Chinese citizen?

 

Is DCF only available for beneficiary spouses who are citizens of the country that the Field Office has jurisdiction over?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

[Randy W]

DCF is the filing of a petition with the local USCIS office. It is done for the courtesy of the American citizen (you) living abroad, and has nothing to do with the citizenship of the beneficiary.

 

The requirement is that you LIVE in the USCIS district (beijing or Guangzhou) where you will file. You will need to provide documentation of this at the time you file. It is up to the officer it is submitted to as to whether you qualify. There is no "six month" requirement - that requirement was dropped in 2011.

 

Your post here SEEMS to indicate that you are not eligible, since you are "moving" to China only to submit the petition - but I do realize that may not be what you mean.

 

From https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/china-uscis-guangzhou-field-office

 

 

Who May File or Receive Service:

U.S. citizens residing in USCIS Guangzhou's jurisdiction filing on behalf of their spouse, unmarried child under the age of 21 or parent (if the U.S. citizen is over the age 21).

Filing and Other Special Instructions:

Residents of China filing with USCIS Guangzhou must submit the petition and supporting evidence in person.

In addition to providing the documents listed in the Form I-130 Instructions, petitioners should bring the original passport for both the petitioner and beneficiary (if available) at the time of filing, as well as copies of the biographic page of each passport.

Evidence of residency must be submitted with the petition. The evidence you submit must support a determination that you are a resident in China.

 

 

[Simple_Guy]

Thank you for the prompt reply.

 

On this sub-forum's 2nd stickied thread, Guide to IR-1 (DCF), it says...

 

Step Two: Direct Consulate Filing (I-130)

 

As the beneficiary is a Chinese citizen, his/her application is eligible for Direct Consulate Filing. This cuts out a huge step involving the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and National Visa Center (NVC). Beneficiaries who are not citizens of countries which allow DCF can wait up to eighteen months for their application to be approved.

 

So I'm not sure if the above is referring to filing with Chicago Lockbox when residing in a country without a USCIS Field Office or if it's referring to DCF when the beneficiary is not a citizen of the local USCIS office's country.

 

If DCF with Guangzhou is our fastest route to a CR-1 visa, then we are willing to move to, live and work in China for 1 or 2 years. Would officers accept my petition as early as my first month of living there as long as my Residence Permit/Visa, work contract, and housing lease are in order?

[Randy W]

Thank you for the prompt reply.

 

On this sub-forum's 2nd stickied thread, Guide to IR-1 (DCF), it says...

 

Step Two: Direct Consulate Filing (I-130)

 

As the beneficiary is a Chinese citizen, his/her application is eligible for Direct Consulate Filing. This cuts out a huge step involving the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and National Visa Center (NVC). Beneficiaries who are not citizens of countries which allow DCF can wait up to eighteen months for their application to be approved.

 

So I'm not sure if the above is referring to filing with Chicago Lockbox when residing in a country without a USCIS Field Office or if it's referring to DCF when the beneficiary is not a citizen of the local USCIS office's country.

 

If DCF with Guangzhou is our fastest route to a CR-1 visa, then we are willing to move to, live and work in China for 1 or 2 years. Would officers accept my petition as early as my first month of living there as long as my Residence Permit/Visa, work contract, and housing lease are in order?

 

 

The wording in red is not correct - see the link I provided above. The correction is made in the post FOLLOWING the one you referenced (I've now added a note to that effect and that the beneficiary need not be Chinese)

 

DCF processing is done entirely in the country of residence.

 

The petitions filed stateside go through USCIS in the U.S., to the Dept. of State National Visa Center, and finally to the interviewing consulate.

Edited June 16, 2017 by Randy W (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

Will your move to China involve work? Will your residing in China allow for a residency permit in China?

 

Typicially DCF involves evidence of residency in the jurisdiction of one of the two field offices in China.

 

As for foreigners, there have been several posted on this board that have done DCF. Check out topics tagged "Foreigner" http://candleforlove.com/forums/tags/forums/Foreigner/

[dnoblett]

One more note, the field office having jurisdiction over Japan is located in Seoul South Korea, they may handle your case there, and you may not need to make a move, but studying the info at their page this may not work, looks like only resident in Seoul South Korea may be considered..


https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/south-korea-uscis-seoul-field-office

Edited June 16, 2017 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Will your move to China involve work? Will your residing in China allow for a residency permit in China?

 

Typicially DCF involves evidence of residency in the jurisdiction of one of the two field offices in China.

 

As for foreigners, there have been several posted on this board that have done DCF. Check out topics tagged "Foreigner" http://candleforlove.com/forums/tags/forums/Foreigner/

 

 

A residence permit is NOT required. The residence evidence that may be used is listed on the link I provided.

 

Please Note: Certain pieces of evidence may more strongly support a finding of residency than others. For petitions filed at this field office, you must submit one or more of the following:

• A Residence Permit for Foreigner in the People’s Republic of China (居住许可).
• A Chinese visa (签证) in the categories of D, J1, Q1, S1, X1 or Z.

In addition, other evidence of residency may include, but is not limited to:

• Passport entry stamp
• Utility bills
• Housing lease
• Work contract or other employment documents
• Proof of local registration
• Military orders
• Bank statements
• Vehicle registration
• Local driver’s license
• Tax documents
• Foreign property deeds or registration (although proof of property ownership in itself, may be insufficient if there is no evidence that the petitioner resides at that property)

Any document issued in a foreign language must be accompanied by a full English translation and by the translator's certification that he or she is competent to translate the foreign language into English. The original documents, with one copy of the originals, and the English translation should be submitted with the petition. Any original documents submitted upon USCIS’ request will be returned.

 

[Randy W]

 

 

If DCF with Guangzhou is our fastest route to a CR-1 visa, then we are willing to move to, live and work in China for 1 or 2 years. Would officers accept my petition as early as my first month of living there as long as my Residence Permit/Visa, work contract, and housing lease are in order?

 

 

Your eligibility is determined at the discretion of the officer accepting your petition. What you are posting sounds bizarre - right off hand, I would say No, you DON'T live in China - you can't file DCF.

 

But I have no idea of what you're really doing, or why you would be willing to 'live and work in China for one or two years' to avoid a few months of processing stateside.

 

Generally speaking, it's NOT good practice to change your circumstances so dramatically for the sake of immigrations benefits. But, then again, if you REALLY DO MOVE TO CHINA, you may just save yourself a few months of wait time.

[dnoblett]

Not sure where the 18+ processing time came from.

 

Typically filing to the Chicago PO Box tends to be no more than 6 months to approval, then a couple months at NVC followed by a month or two at the consulate, for a total of perhaps 9-11 months processing.

 

http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?cfl=0&op1=3&op2=d&op3=5&op4=1&op5=5,6,8,10,11,13,14,15,16,17,18,20,21,22,25,26,27,28,108,110,111,208,210,211&op6=All&op66=All&op7=Japan&dfile=No&adv=

 

(Sort by interview date and look at time between NOA1 and Interview, (9-11 months)

[Randy W]

Not sure where the 18+ processing time came from.

 

Typically filing to the Chicago PO Box tends to be no more than 6 months to approval, then a couple months at NVC followed by a month or two at the consulate, for a total of perhaps 9-11 months processing.

 

http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?cfl=0&op1=3&op2=d&op3=5&op4=1&op5=5,6,8,10,11,13,14,15,16,17,18,20,21,22,25,26,27,28,108,110,111,208,210,211&op6=All&op66=All&op7=Japan&dfile=No&adv=

 

(Sort by interview date and look at time between NOA1 and Interview, (9-11 months)

 

 

The "Guide to DCF", which he quotes. was posted by kdavid3 - http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/46807-guide-to-ir-1-dcf/ - It may be time to re-arrange some of our links

 

But DCF can take as little as 1 to 4 months - petition to interview - plus moving time from Japan to China. That's IF they accept his petition.