To Allen B, about DCF

[Jack]

Allen I read below of your recent experience with going thru a DCF.

DCF if I understand correctly stands for Direct Consular Filing.

Allen, could you share your time line. How long did it take to get your lady in America from the first day you filed?  When did you marry in Ukr?  Can you walk us thru the DCF process?

Your experience, good or bad, good be helpful to other guys wanting to know of other options to the K-1.

[AllenB]

... in response to To Allen B, about DCF, posted by Jack on Jul 9, 2004

Hi Jack,

Always happy to help if I can.

First, you are correct.  DCF does mean Direct Counselor Filing which is a faster way of bringing your wife to the U.S. rather than the slow K3.  Remember that using a DCF rather than a K1 means you are already married so it is not for everyone.

Anna and I were married in Ukraine so Russia or the other CIS states may be a bit different.  To answer the obvious question, Anna and I had been dating for some time and we knew we loved each other and wanted to marry.  To start you need to have a document furnished by the U.S. Consulars office in Kiev that states you are free to marry.  This means that you must either never have been married or have gone through one of the most ludicrous exercises in stupidity that I have ever heard to have your divorce decree attested to by the U.S. government and then accepted by the Ukraine Consulate in Washington, D.C.  Now as a side note, I have been divorced once.  When we first went to the U.S. Consulate in Kyiv to obtain this document the man asked me if I had been divorced.  I answered honestly and then he told me of the crazy law that Ukraine requires.  I gave him my certified divorce papers along with all other documentation but he refused to provide the document because there was not acceptance by the Ukraine consulate in D.C.

Anna and I returned to our hotel in Kyiv and were very upset because we planned this for several months but missed this one point.  The next day I told Anna that we were going to the U.S. Consulate again and I requested the document again.  The exact same man asked me if I was in there the day before and I told him yes.  He asked me if I had ever been married before and nodded his head no.  I said no and he proceeded to get the document created for us.  Now that we had the necessary document from the U.S. to marry we took the train to her hometown of Krivoy Rog where we were married at ZAGS.  All girls in Ukraine must be married at thier local ZAGS, they cannot be married elsewhere.

Once married you file your immigrant visa papers, I believe it is the I-130 along with the G-325 and financial responsibility papers, etc., etc., etc. with the U.S. Consulate in Kyiv.  After the consular officer interviews both of you to determine whether to approve or disapprove the application you have the opportunity to either DHL yourself to Warsaw or have them send it through diplomatic mail, which is much slower.  We sent through DHL.  I stayed in Ukraine the entire time so it is important to request that they update you via an email address.  They will still send the invitation to your wife at her home address but it will be very slow.  Print our the exit interview invitation for presentation to the Polish passport control and be sure that you wife already has her international passport.  Go to the exit visa interview on your appointed day and then collect her international passport with her immigrant visa then take your flight back to America to live life happily ever after.

Time from filing in Kyiv to exit interview in Warsaw was 4 weeks.

If anybody has any questions I will be happy to answer.

[Frank O]

... in response to Re: To Allen B, about DCF, posted by AllenB on Jul 10, 2004

Thanks for the great post. Excellent info. I KNOW EXACTLY what you mean about the incredibly asinine requirements for having had a divorce. We encountered that in Ukraine. I had to bribe someone in order to get married. They would NOT take my notarized divorce paper & said & needed it "authenticated" blah blah blah...well, I sent it off to get authenticated in Texas THEN sent it to DC for Colin Powels (?!((*#&$^$) to put his stamp on it & got it promptly back saying that it is NOT necessary. Then I sent it to the incompetent Ukes & have NOT gotten it back yet. This was back in April so talk about slow. It does NOT surprise me since getting my wifes name changed on her passport took 5 months!!! Anyways if you are divorced HERE I seriously DO NOT recommend you marry over there unless you want to be spitting venom & paying bribes up the caboodle.

[tim360z]

... in response to Re: To Allen B, about DCF, posted by AllenB on Jul 10, 2004

Good info Allen.  I hope any divorced guys now know the best way to nod their head.  That part is curious.

[Frank O]

... in response to Re: Re: To Allen B, about DCF, posted by tim360z on Jul 10, 2004

Sad but I thought about lying as well. It would have saved us much time & money. However I did NOT want to lie on the US paper so that had a lot to do with it.

[AllenB]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: To Allen B, about DCF, posted by Frank O on Jul 10, 2004

Lying is such a harsh term.  I prefer "communicating so that all parties are satisfied with the result".  No I am not a politician but a pretty good rationalizaton don't you think?

Frank, when you got your divorce papers back from the U.S. stating that it was not necessary, you basically got the answer that the counsellor clerk gave me.  He simply stated "stupid law".  I don't think the U.S. cares about Ukraine's insane and archaic bull*&%$.  When I showed him my certified divorce papers from the Illinois Secretary of State and the county court seal of authenticity you could see that he know it was authentic but another American would be trapped because of Ukraine's corrupt system.

To any man who has had a divorce before and you want to get married in Ukraine so you can do a DCF and be together with your wife in America in about 1 month.  The U.S. Consulate simply wants your verbal answer "Have you ever been married before?"  To DCF then you have never been married.

Good Luck Gents.

[Frank O]

... in response to U.S. vs Ukraine, posted by AllenB on Jul 10, 2004

Man it would have my life a LOT more easier than the insanity I went through. I can't even begin to describe what we went through. Trips to Zhytomir, then bribing people there, SEVERAL Trips to Kiev then bribing people there, trips in Radomyshl THEN again the same. LIke I sid to THIS DATE I STILL have not gotten that paper back from the Uke consulate here. I don't even care anymore as Diana will be here soon but that female dog who worked there & DEMANDED it still bothers Diana & her family over the paper. To make matters worse apart from the bribe she actually had someone call & threaten with I don't know what but basically told her "Dina & Frank will be going again tommorow. They WILL Be married. Is that a problem?" The next day her attitude was night & day. I felt bad because it was obvious she had received a SERIOUS threat but then again she had it coming man. I guess it's a LOT like MExico only in Mexico I can fend for myself because I speak the language. HOnestly had I known the American just wanted a YES or no answer I would have given them one & avoided all this crap.

[AllenB]

... in response to Re: U.S. vs Ukraine, posted by Frank O on Jul 10, 2004

I don't think the divorce papers were the reason that you had to bribe everybody.  With every document exactly the way they wanted it I had to bribe everybody to get us married.  ZAGS even turned us down with their own official paperwork because they had to have it notarized by a specific notary and not the notary that was required (we paid extra for (read bribe) that the Oblast officials required).

I am not a patient man and I am not tolerant of corruption so I constantly told them what pieces of &^%$ I thought they were but luckily my wife (she is the opposite of me, she is an angel) told them that I was saying to hurry because we need to be married.  I read the posts about how terrible the BCIS is and I do agree but they are efficient, caring and respectful compared to the Ukrainian officials.

[JoeC2003]

... in response to Re: Re: U.S. vs Ukraine, posted by AllenB on Jul 10, 2004


      Direct Consulate Filing (immigrant visa) or K1 (fiance visa) choice depends upon the country where she resides. If she is divorced or has children or both, will be a bigger challenge for going the DCF route. Single and no children is easier.
      Authentication of documents is what the Ukraine Government considers a "legal document." This can be done at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after the documents have been translated by a legal translator. Stamp, Stamp, and more Stamps are very common in this kind of government.
      RAGS (ZAGS) is an obstacle to encounter. To expedite the wedding date requires one of two reasons, besides a bribe.
      1. She is pregnant and has papers from a recent Doctors exam. Or,
      2. You provide a document from your work stating that "you are on vacation to get married and you must return by [Insert a given date] because you have no more vacation days left this year." This document must be translated by a legal translator and legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

      Airline tickets idea Did Not Work, I learned this the hard way. Otherwise, I would have been married in April 2004. I asked if there was a fee to expedite the wedding date and all I got was a "no," probably because there were 2 people in the office. You must wait 30 days to get married after filing at RAGS. My fiance sent a letter to change the date to July 17, because I wasn't going to be there in May. I didn't show up for the May wedding they scheduled, but the government employee said an AM showed and my fiance wasn't there. Talk about non-communication!
 We are getting married in Kyiv, and she lives in a different Oblast. This is the new change in their law.
 I know an AM who filed the DCF on Dec 1 and she had her visa by Jan 22. The holidays slowed the process a little and she also gets her green card with this process. This process averages 45 days.
 Here was my schedule for the marriage process in the Ukraine:

      April 1    

      1. U.S. Consulate to obtain Non-Impediment To Marriage Letter. cost $55. (between 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm, Monday - Friday.)Get to translation service (that is also a notary) done before visiting ZAGS. (my Passport, birth certificate, and Non-Impediment To Marriage Letter.) We will pick up these documents tomorrow morning. Cost 40 grivna.

       April 2

      2. Rescue documents from translator and go to the Ukraine Ministry of Foreign Affairs before 12:30 to get all documents authenticated.
      3. ZAGS Office, the official marriage agency. Get earliest appointment. Saturday! (ZAGS open until 7) She brings her birth certificate, internal passport, and Marriage Letter.
     
      April 3 Wedding Day!!!      

      April 5  Monday  

   4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get the marriage certificate ”legalized,” Drop off in the morning and pick it up after 4:00.
    5. After picking up the marriage certificate from the foreign ministry, we take it to the translation service and drop it off.
    6. Next we go to a shop to have new passport and immigration photos if she hasn't already done this. The consulate will give you an example of the pose needed for the I-130/G-325A. The evening is spent completing and organizing our paperwork [I-130, I-864 and G-325A].
 
      Sound like a good strategy, but it didn't work. RAGS was the roadblock and this Summer the roadblock won't be there. Hope this helps.
      By the way read this for more info. http://kiev.usembassy.gov/visa_immigrantvisas_eng.html

[Frank O]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: U.S. vs Ukraine (More DCF in..., posted by JoeC2003 on Jul 11, 2004

Thanks for the input. Good information & great story. We tried the pregnant thing & had to go bribe to get a paper verifying she WAS pregnant!!! LOL!!! We DID get married in less than 30 days so perhaps that was a small miracle in itself.

[JoeC2003]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: U.S. vs Ukraine (More DC..., posted by Frank O on Jul 11, 2004

Hey Franko, be careful with this avenue. If she really is pregnat, congrats. If she is not, another bribe is needed before going to the official US exam.

[Frank O]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: U.S. vs Ukraine (Mor..., posted by JoeC2003 on Jul 14, 2004

NO she is NOT pregnant....at least she better not be or something is SERIOUSLY wrong!!! LOL!!!

[LP]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: U.S. vs Ukraine ..., posted by Frank O on Jul 15, 2004

[Jack]

... in response to cookie n/t, posted by LP on Aug 14, 2004

test

[LP]

... in response to Re: cookie n/t, posted by Jack on Aug 26, 2004