Direct Consulate Filing (DCF) is a procedure that in which the people who have married US citizens can submit all the paperwork directly to the US consulate in their country. The consulate handles the visa petition and decides the immigrant's eligibility for a green card without requiring that any paperwork be handled by USCIS offices in the US. Entire procedure can take as few as 3 months instead of a year or more. However, this procedure is not offered and there is no readily available list of consulates that offer DCF.

Most consulates allow DCF if the sponsor is residing in the foreign country. However, procedures vary if the sponsor is residing in the US. Some consulates allow even if the sponsor lives in the US and foreign spouse abroad, as matter of courtesy. If you are US citizen now but originally from that country, or previously been a resident of that country, it may help influence the outcome.

Even though DCF is faster than processing through a US Service Center, it is not instant. The immigrating spouse still needs to go through entire visa application and collect various documents such as birth/marriage/police/military certificates.

Procedure:

• US citizen and the foreign spouse submit the I-130 application. Submission may either be by mail, courier or in person with or without an appointment or only on specific days.
  
  Application details
  
  
• I-130 is adjudicated.
  
  
• Consulate sends Packet 3 to the immigrating spouse. Spouse returns Packet 3 to the consulate. If you have all of the documents ready for I-130 petition and visa application ready at your first visit to the consulate to file the I-130, you may request the officer to accept the visa application early.
  
  Consular processing details
  
  
• The foreign spouse attends the interview. US citizen spouse does not have to be present at the final interview.
  
  
• The foreign spouse enters the US with immigrant visa.

US consulates in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata are not authorized to accept any immigrant visa petitions in Mumbai. Department of Homeland Security has exclusive jurisdiction to accept petitions, as per the procedure described above.

American citizens and Legal Permanent Residents living in the United States should file the petition as per the procedure described above.

American citizens residing in India (for 2 months or more) may contact the Department of Homeland Security office at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. Anyone wishing to file an IR immigrant visa petition in New Delhi must contact Department of Homeland Security New Delhi on any working day (Monday through Friday) between 9:00 AM and 12:30 PM in order to file an I-130 Petition. A personal interview will be mandatory in each case. In all IR-1 (and CR-1) cases, marriage photographs must be submitted (where there was a traditional religious wedding). There will be no waiver for documentary evidence required by regulation.

Department of Homeland Security will attempt to accommodate all applicants in one day. However, in unforeseen circumstances, it may take more than one day for filing of a petition.

In case of any questions, applicants may call Department of Homeland Security New Delhi at +91-11-2419-8000, ext. 8475 and 8506.

Canada does NOT allow DCF even if both the spouses are residents of Canada.

Australia allows DCF even if the US citizen is not resident of Australia.

Please contact your US embassy/consulate to find out whether they allow direct consular filing.

Also check a list maintained by an attorney. As the procedures at consulates around the world keep changing constantly, this list changes frequently and may not be up to date.

Check individual experiences for tips related to your specific consulate.