Direct Consular Filing (DCF) is a process related to immigration to the United States whereby Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative), I-360 (Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant), or I-600 (Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative), is filed with a United States embassy or consulate in another country rather than with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services lockbox or service center facilities located within the US. The approved form can then be used to obtain an IR or CR visa within the same country. DCF is available only under exceptional circumstances and can only be done in the country where the petitioner (who, in the case of Forms I-130 and I-600, is distinct from the eventual visa applicant) legally resides.
Contents
Official rules
The regular application process for people outside the United States who wish an approval for Form I-130, I-360, or I-600 is to submit the application to the USCIS lockbox facility in Chicago, Illinois. However, there are some exceptions:
The DCF petitioner must reside legally in the consular district of the U.S. Embassy or Consulate at which he or she is requesting to file. Further, a visa applicant for whom a petition is filed with a U.S. Embassy or Consulate must be able to remain in the country where the embassy or consulate is located for the time it takes to process the visa, since a petition approved by an embassy or consulate can only be used to apply for a visa from the same embassy or consulate.
Consulates where DCF is available and the rules used by these consulates
The USCIS does not have unified guidance on the conditions under which embassies or consulates may process DCF applications, and each embassy or consulate has its own rules, usually accessible on its website. Most embassies and consulates that support DCF only allow Form I-130 petitions by US citizens who have been residing in the consular district from which the petition was made for a continuous period of at least six months.
The embassy or consulate that processes the Form I-130 petition may differ from the one whose consular district the petitioner applies from (which is also where the applicant wil appear for the visa interview), because not all embassies or consulates in a country can process DCF petitions. For instance, in India, only the Delhi embassy can process DCF petitions, and the Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad consulates cannot. Therefore, somebody who resides in the consular district of the Chennai consulate must have the DCF petition approved by the Delhi embassy and then appear for a visa interview at the Chennai consulate. Similarly, in China, only the Beijing embassy and Guangzhou consulate can process DCF petitions.
Process differences
With both DCF and regular processing, the relevant form (Form I-130, I-360, or I-600) must be submitted and approved, and the approved form can then be used to apply for a visa at the US consulate or embassy. The key difference is that DCF requires the petitioner to be residing in the country where the DCF petition is made. In the case of Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, the petitioner is distinct from the visa applicant. Thus, for instance, DCF cannot be used by a US citizen residing in the US petitioning for a spouse residing in another country. It can only be used if the US citizen is also living in the foreign country along with his or her spouse. In some cases, DCF petitioning might require the petitioner and visa applicant to appear for an interview with the embassy or consulate processing the petition (note that this is distinct from the visa interview, that only the visa applicant attends, and that happens after the petition has been approved).
Speed comparison
DCF is considered faster than the regular processing, with wait times of about 3-4 months for petition approval, compared to about a year for regular processing, but there is no guarantee of speed.