Direct Consular Filing ??

[Deckard]

Can someone who knows about this get in touch with me?

I just spoke at length with the U.S. embassy in Ukraine, and both the Visa services section and the American citizen services section have never heard of the term Direct Consular Filing. They did give me instructions that an I-130 visa would take between 3-5 months, 6 months maximum, but advised me to contact the U.S. embassy in Poland for the DCF procedure I had asked about (since Poland is where the visas are issued from).

So I called the embassy in Warsaw, and they tried to direct me to their website and when I pressed harder, would only give me information about filing an I-130.

I would *really* like to talk with someone who has successfully been through the DCF procedure with a Ukrainian spouse.

Doc Steen's website at http://k1.exit.com does describe this procedure, but if the embassy staff themselves are oblivious to it .... then what ??

Can someone help?

Peace,

-Deckard

[Dan]

... in response to Direct Consular Filing ??, posted by Deckard on Jan 21, 2003

Deckard,

While I did NOT file DCF, I *did* very nearly cancel my K-1 petition (waiting on Nebraska INS) and re-file DCF, so I checked it out very thoroughly.

I also discussed DCF with the Consular staff at the Embassy in Kyiv. My guess is that you spoke with someone that was not terribly knowledgeable (or helpful). It is also possible that they simply refer to the DCF by the primary form used for its filing - the I-130. It's just like some INS staff will only refer to a fiance visa by the I-129 form used to file the petition. Simple semantics.

The process as described on Doc Steen's (just reviewed it again) is exactly the process used in Kyiv - except that Kyiv does the document intake, then sends the package to Warsaw for processing.

I don't recall now if the interview is held in Kyiv or in Warsaw. I seem to have a vague recollection that it was in Kyiv - but am not certain about that. In any case, Kyiv is your primary point of contact.

The *huge* advantage of filing DCF is that the entire process is managed by the Consular Corps under the US Department of State rather than split between them and the INS under the Department of Justice.

Good luck Deckard. If you have any specific questions, please post them and I'll do my best to help - as I'm sure others will.

- Dan

[Deckard]

... in response to Re: Direct Consular Filing ??, posted by Dan on Jan 21, 2003


You know, it all fits now ... I guess they just never heard of the term "Direct Consular Filing", but when I replay all of the steps they described to me, they seemed to think it was much faster to just file the I-130 directly with the consulate in Kiev, rather than file with the INS in the U.S. They did say 3-5 months, which is much faster than the original 7 months-1.5 years I had in mind about the I-130 before. Maybe this is what Direct Consular Filing is all about.

From what I gathered from everyone that I had spoken with, the interview would be held in Warsaw, and visa handed out there.

After I spoke with the Warsaw embassy even more, I realized how much more helpful the Ukrainians had been, never rushing me and letting me ask all the questions I had.

Thanks again, Dan.

I have another question, but it's about being unemployed and the Affidavit of Support, so I'll post it seperately.

Peace,

-Deckard

[Griffin]

... in response to Thank you, Dan, posted by Deckard on Jan 21, 2003

is the time and/or money it takes to get married in Ukraine.  I have no experience but there are references to this as a problem on the Google site.

[Dan]

... in response to One other thing to factor in, posted by Griffin on Jan 21, 2003

is only a factor if unable to locate a malleable ZAGS office. Fortunately, there are plenty of ZAGS officials willing to cooperate with people in love --smile--.

- Dan

[Dan]

... in response to Thank you, Dan, posted by Deckard on Jan 21, 2003

If you need anything, just post or drop me a note.

Also, as you go through the process, please post your experiences so that everyone can learn from them.

Take care Deckard - and best of luck with everything.

- Dan