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[travisleake]

Hello Kevin,

While I have gone through the K-1 process before, and experienced no problems with completing the documentation, I am not familiar with the DCF process.

To be honest, should i decide to go through this process again, I have zero intention of doing a K-1. The process is just simply too grueling and cumbersome from a perspective of waiting 9 months before you can be with your fiancee/wife.

I read your section on DCF, but I am left with a few questions probably you can answer.

(1) It is mentioned more than once to have a letter from your employer stating 2 weeks of vacation. I assume this is to increase your priority, but is there another reason perhaps? What about those who receive more than 2 weeks vacation, or someone who will ( like myself ) take a 3 month leave of absence from his employer (I work for the Univ. of California and it's not so difficult to get a summer leave)?

(2) Workability: Let's say that I am able to find a nice, loyal Ukrainian lady that I can't see myself without... So I come to Ukraine, we meet, we decide to get married, we get married nice and legal. Do we then go to Kiev, file some documents at the embassy, get a medical test at the AMC in Kiev, do all that paperwork, THEN what?

Hypothetical Timeline as I understand it:

1) Marriage Ceremony
2) Trip to Kiev for some initial paperwork filing for DCF at the U.S. Embassy.
3) Wait for appointment in Warsaw?
4) Go to Warsaw, then head to America?

If I have the order of events correct, then how long can I expect to need to allow between step 2 and step 3?

While I may be overthinking this, my inclination is to think that maybe this is important to know because it could be weeks or months?

BCIS website information is useful, but even more useful I believe is the practical real-world experience that you have.

Thanks for the assistance, look forward to meeting you one day.

Travis
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Travis

[drwhistler]

Hello Travis,

I went through the DCF process.... it is much quicker, and it have its own hassles. Unfortunately, you will no longer to be able to use DCF option in Kiev. The Embassy changed the rules that DCF is an option if the American citizen is living in Ukraine.... as a lawful resident.

Sorry about that. The rules have completely changed and the information on Kevin's site on DCF is old and out of date.

The timeline you outline is a little wrong... here is how it worked for me.

1.) Go to Embassy and get a Letter of Non-Impediment to Marriage. Have it notarized at the embassy. Then take it to Department of Ministry and have it stamped so it will be recognized as a valid document for Zags. Zags is the government agency that marries people.

2.) Go to Zags and submit the paperwork and prepare for the marriage. The couple will have to wait for 30 days. You pay a "bribe" and show proof that you cannot wait for 30 days (such as airline ticket showing the date you will leave)

3.) Perform the marriage ceremony

4.) Take the marriage certificate to the Department of Ministry in Kiev and have it apostiled so the marriage will be recognized in USA

5.) Have the marriage certificate translated into English

6.) Gather all information that is required for the filing such as your W2s, your tax forms, etc

8.) You and your wife will show up together at the Embassy and present all paperwork

9.) If your application is approved, then your wife will get more forms and will have to gather more documents

10.) Your wife will be scheduled for an Interview with the consulte at the Embassy once she finishes gathering her documents

11.) If she is approved after the interview, the Embassy will take your wife's passport and place the visa in it. The passport will be Fed-Ex to your wife's address

12.) Your wife will have to get proof that she can leave the country and does not owe any taxes or anything.... she will get another document and show at the airport when she goes through passport control.

If you have any questions, let me know and I can fill you in the specifics of DCF if you are still interested, but I don't think you will be able to perform DCF, not unless you are planning to move to Ukraine for a while.

Thank you
Dustin
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Dustin

[christian36]

You still have to file a K-3 Visa once you are married. Yes, you have to go to the consulate there to file paper work to be approved. Many are, but some do get denied for reasons. The consulayte will do their duties then forward the paperwork to a Service Center for processing then back to the consulate. The catch to this is, if you are a USC and marry a Foriegn National, you must file a I-130. This will be a change in status. Now, by just getting you approved, does not give you the visa. Currently, I believe it is processing only at January 2008. There are only so many I-130's per year though. The waiting time is going to be awhile for the change.

One thing which is important: when doing the paperwork, be honest, thorough, and timely. This will help with processing;)
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Christian