DCF ending??

[canrun]

Hi folks,

 

I've not been active here for years...hope everyone is well! I have a friend here in China who wants to do DCF, but says that service is ending at all consulates (in China and otherwise) at the end of the year. I can't really find anything about this. Has anyone heard of this before and, if true, can you shed some light on it? What will the options be going forward for those living abroad?

 

I've asked my friend to register here, but his email is having issues in China, so I thought I'd ask for him.

 

Thanks for any help! Hope all are well!

 

Aaron, Helen and William Brown

[Randy W]

Filing through the USCIS Lockbox is always an option of course, but it looks like the only change is for countries which DO NOT HAVE a USCIS office.

 

The change was made effective Aug. 15, 2011

 

https://www.uscis.gov/archive/archive-news/uscis-centralizes-filing-form-i-130-0

 

This does not apply to China - he can file in Beijing or in Guangzhou, depending on which district he lives in.

 

 

DOS - Filing Immigrant Petitions Outside the United States

 

 

Countries without USCIS Offices

I-130 Petitions

Petitioners residing outside the United States are no longer able to routinely file Forms I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, with U.S. Embassies and Consulates. Petitioners residing overseas in countries where USCIS does not have a public counter presence are required to file their Forms I-130 by mail with the USCIS Chicago Lockbox. U.S. embassies and consulates can only accept and process Forms I-130 in exceptional circumstances, as explained below.

 

 

The DCF acronym is not recognized by the Dept. of State, and is generally only used on bulletin boards like this one.

[canrun]

Thank you for the reply, Randy. I'm just the messenger here, but here is what my friend says: "The word is that all USCIS international offices will be closed by the end of the year." Anyone hearing similar rumblings?

 

I hope my friend can register soon so he can ask the relevant DCF questions.

 

-AB

[fluffyballs]

This has been in the news for some time now: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/trump-administration-overseas-immigration-offices . All the international USCIS offices are projected to close by March 2020.

 

The Moscow office has already been closed. I believe Manila (Philippines) is up next. They stopped accepting new petitions May 31 and the office slated to fully close July 5: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/696808/us-to-close-manila-immigration-office-in-july/story/ . At this point I130s from the Philippines must go through the normal CR1/IR1 process beginning with the Chicago lockbox. You'd be looking at 14-16 months these days from submission to visa in hand, on average.

 

So, yes. DCF is ending.

 

Thank you for the reply, Randy. I'm just the messenger here, but here is what my friend says: "The word is that all USCIS international offices will be closed by the end of the year." Anyone hearing similar rumblings?

 

I hope my friend can register soon so he can ask the relevant DCF questions.

 

-AB

[canrun]

Oh, lord. That's a hell of a wait. We had to give up my wife;s green card, as we decided to move back to China until our son is in school. 16 moths is a shocking length of time. Hope that gets addressed before we leave at some point (and hope China gets put on some sort of waiver list.) But wow. Had not heard this. How will Chinese adoptions be handled I wonder?

[Randy W]

Well, it'll be sad to see what kind of effect that has on everything, especially if these people are redirected to asylum applications.

[fluffyballs]

Yes, it's probably going to suck for those that are affected by this, as they'll be going from a 2-3 month wait vs 14-16, but the whole DCF scheme was kind of an oddity to begin with. Aside from around 20 countries, everyone else had to go through the normal immigrant visa process beginning with the lockbox. And DCF would only be relevant if the petitioner was a resident (student/work) in the country of filing.

 

I have two theories on why this happened:

1. The international offices had excess capacity (possible given how fast they can approve an application) and that capacity is now being moved stateside to help clear out the monstrous backlogs current applicants are facing. I'd bet the int'l offices are also more costly to operate -or-
2. This was just another jab by the current administration (the ole' metaphorical middle finger).

[canrun]

Please members keep us updated here on how things ultimately pan out. Might not affect all of us, but it most definitely affects a few of us.

[Randy W]

DCF has always been a major topic here, so I'm sure it's kept THEM (USCIS) busy, as well as adoptions. There were always several adoptions going through on any given day. So maybe they'll keep at least one of the two offices around for now.

 

We've been to the Consulate for (American) notary services, and my passport renewal, but I guess (hope) that American Citizen Services won't be affected.

Edited June 12, 2019 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

I'm not seeing anything official about this (and nothing on the Consulates' sites, except what there was before), although there is plenty in the news media - BuzzFeed, Washington Post, Reuters, etc. Gary Chodorow gives his own take, but it's mostly just about the BuzzFeed article - https://lawandborder.com/uscis-to-close-international-field-offices/

[canrun]

Thanks for sharing.

[Randy W]

My guess is that the China sites will be around for a while, and hopefully, get a reprieve.

[Randy W]

USCIS information at

 

USCIS Office Closings

This page was last updated on June 12, 2019.

 

 

 

This is the only listing at present under International Offices

International OfficeType of OfficeStatus

 

Moscow, RussiaField OfficeClosed

 

 

 

 

 

 

This page was last updated on Oct. 10, 2019.

 

 

International Office . . . Type of Office . . . Status

Seoul, South Korea . . . . Field Office . . . . . . Closed

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico . . Field Office . . . . . . Closed

Monterrey, Mexico . . . . . . Field Office . . . . . . Closed

Manila, Philippines . . . . . . Field Office . . . Closed

Moscow, Russia . . . . . . . . . Field Office . . . Closed

Edited October 11, 2019 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Apparently, this was as much of an announcement as was given:

The director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, L. Francis Cissna, told senior staff members this week that the international division, which has operations in more than 20 countries, would close down by the end of the year, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting.

Agency officials said the move was intended to provide more staff resources to handle the lengthy backlog in asylum applications from tens of thousands of migrants crossing the southern border every month. But it could come at the expense of legal migration, which President Trump has said he favors: Some agency staff members said closing overseas offices will make it more difficult and time-consuming to apply to immigrate from abroad, especially for refugees already in the United States who hope to bring other family members to join them.

 

Trump Administration Plans to Close Key Immigration Operations Abroad

[jnqian]

I am at the point to go through DCF for my wife's I-130. I found this online "USCIS has delegated authority to DOS to accept and adjudicate a Form I-130 filed by a U.S. citizen petitioner for an immediate relative[4] if the petitioner establishes exceptional circumstances or falls under blanket authorization criteria defined by USCIS. This policy applies even in countries with a USCIS presence. Without such delegation, DOS has no authority to permit a U.S. embassy or consulate to accept a local Form I-130 filing abroad."

I did get an auto message from CIS filed office in Guangzhou that DCF is no longer available from CIS, however from above quote, I read that DOS could perform DCF under some criteria. My question is that a DOS office is the same as Citizen Service Counter at Guangzhou Consulate? Which, is still open and taking appointment.

Please help.