Success Story: Approval of an I-130 Petition in Less Than 4 Months 

Success Story: Approval of an I-130 Petition in Less Than 4 Months 

Our client, a U.S. citizen residing in the UK, received a job offer requiring her to relocate back to the U.S. with short notice. She was residing in the UK with her British husband, not wanting to leave him behind, she reached out to our firm for help. 

The job offer our client received required her to start in 4 months from receiving the offer, this left her with little time to navigate the immigration process that allows her to bring her husband back to the States with her. The usual processing time to petition for a spouse to move to the U.S. can be anywhere from 12 to 15 months. In our client and her husband’s case this means they would have to be separated for over a year. Luckily the U.S. Embassy in London allows people to request Direct Consular Filing (DCF) to expedite their immigration cases. 

DCF lets a U.S. citizen petitioner living abroad file Form I-130 straight with a U.S. embassy or consulate instead of through USCIS in the States, but it’s only allowed in limited “exceptional circumstances”. It can expedite a case by bypassing the standard 12–24 month USCIS-to-NVC-to-interview pipeline, since the petition is reviewed and processed locally at an embassy post rather than routed through the normal domestic backlog. If a U.S. citizen receives a job offer or reassignment to the U.S. with very little notice for the required start date, this qualifies as an exceptional circumstance for direct consular filing of an I-130. 

Due to the immediate and urgent nature of our client’s case our firm was able to request a DCF with the London embassy. After a continuous liaison between our client, our firm, and the embassy, the DCF request was approved! 

As a result we were able to file our client’s case directly with the U.S. Embassy in London. Our client’s husband was able to receive his Green Card in hand, in only three and a half months! We would like to extend a huge congratulations to our client and her husband who are now together living and working in the U.S. 

Facing a sudden relocation and worried about being separated from your spouse? You don’t have to navigate it alone. At Blue Lake Law, we know how to move quickly and effectively in time-sensitive immigration cases like this one. Contact our team today to find out if Direct Consular Filing could keep your family together and on schedule.