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DS260 - Leave other applicant form unsubmitted

thanejm

New Member
I'm one of the DV2022 selectees, EU4xxx case number. I asked this question KCC multiple times already but I always get some sort of generic answer.

I'm unmarried at the moment. I filled in my DS260 (didn't submit it yet) in June. As I'm in a 5 year long relationship I was planning to get married and then submit both mine and her DS260 but we couldn't organize a decent wedding party because of the COVID situation here, so that is still on hold.

After I filled my form, just for the test purpose, I added another DS260 for my future wife expecting that I could just remove her form after that but guess what - there is no way to remove it. Neither KCC can do that. Now I'm in a trouble. I already lost months because I didn't want to submit both forms until we get married, and I couldn't submit just mine because even if I list myself as unmarried (which is true at that moment) under her unsubmitted form she is listed as SPOUSE.

Will KCC start processing my case if I only submit mine DS260 (as unmarried) for now? If yes, will they make any trouble because I added her form (even though I didn't submit it) because she wasn't my spouse at that point?

I'd like to avoid a situation where I get married in a rush now and then wait for months for KCC to ask for documents / schedule an interview. I'd rather start the procedure and then if lockdown is lifted at that point get married, unlock DS260, provide documentation for both and resume the procedure. If KCC asks for docs or is able to schedule interview before lockdown lift, I guess I'll just go to town hall to officially get married :)
 
Your case number is very very low, you are already current, so I would suggest, if you want to move forward with this, to get married at the town hall asap (and leave the wedding party for later) and update both your ds260 if you want to have a real chance at an interview.. This year is messed up as is, no need to add any complications to your case - just my 2 cents!
Plus you have to take into account that it takes a LONG time to process the DS260 - now that you have 2 applicants on your case, your DS260s won't be processed until the forms are submitted, so you would be trapped in a vicious circle.
 
Thanks for the info ralu_de. I was wondering if I need both forms submitted for them to start processing, guess I do..
 
No you don't need both forms submitted, especially since she was not even originally listed as a derivative. You can submit with just yours fully filled out - be sure to reflect your marital status on your DS260 as single in that case though. An added form cannot be removed, but it can be left uncompleted. KCC or the CO (at the time of your interview) can subsequently ask as to why the form was left uncompleted, you will simply explain you were unable to get married as planned, hence the incomplete form as she cannot be claimed as a derivative at that point.

The question you should really be asking yourself though is how important is it to be processed and get the GC with your spouse (if you get married now) versus waiting until you're able to have a large ceremonial party before getting married and scrambling to add your spouse, or even missing out on the opportunity to add your spouse and subsequently having to spend a lot more in order to sponsor your spouse in the future for their own GC
 
Thanks @Sm1smom !

It seems that DS260 and document processing can take months and I'm hoping that until then lockdown restrictions here will be lifted a bit so that we could organize a ceremony. If I get DQ'd at some point before that and we are still unable to organize a party then we will just go to the town hall and get officially maried. I can then still add her to my case as long as the interview is not scheduled (unlock and resubmit my form and finish and submit hers)?
 
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You do realize you will need to resubmit all of your documents if you go as planned above? Or you're assuming that will no longer be required because you've already been DQ'd? If you add a derivative after being DQ'd (and before interview has been scheduled), you'll have to resubmit your documents with that of the derivative and be DQ'd all over again. Your spouse's DS260 will also need to be processed after the new submission (which can take several months) and further push back your interview date. Think carefully about your plan to ensure you don't end up missing out on being scheduled for an interview in the long run.
 
Thank you for your time and replies. I was unaware of that. Some time ago I asked IV unit of US embassy in Belgrade on how to proceed. This is their response.

"You should fill out and submit your form DS-260 now.
If any of the information entered in your DS-260 form will change over time, you need to contact KCC (if you are not already scheduled) or us, if you are scheduled, and ask them/us to reopen your form and enter new information.
If your marital status later changes, you need to enter that new information in your DS-260 and your new spouse must fill out DS-260 for her, too."


After that, I asked if any update to DS260 regarding marital status will cause any delays or reschedules and they said no... I guess they just don't cover too many cases as embassy
 
And I didn’t say change in marital status or updating the DS260 leads to a reschedule, please read my response carefully. If you’re already scheduled for an interview following which you add a new derivative, what the embassy said in their email may apply as KCC will no longer have anything to do with your case at that point.
Not so if you add the derivative before the interview gets scheduled, like I already explained. In this case, KCC will need to process the new DS260 you’ve just added and submitted, you will also need to submit spouse’s documents (with yours again) at that point leading to you being re-DQ’d.

Anyway, you don’t have to listen to me, you can proceed like you’ve already planned. Your call.
 
Some time ago I asked IV unit of US embassy in Belgrade on how to proceed.
You got all correct and complete facts from the embassy. Besides the experiences of others from this forum, consider and performance of your embassy. Take look on statistics from previous year and draw conclusions about what you might expect:
View attachment 3179
It does look that they had heavy hit, espeially in domain of DV visas. Which means that they might have big backlog of other higher priority visas. And if you said that your decision about getting married is affected with lockdowns, it means taht probably embassy is affected with lockdown as well.
 
Thanks! I haven’t seen these stats before.. I guess I’ll have to review my decision if I’m going to waste a lot of time by submiting another ds260 later in the process. I thought accompanies were processed faster and hoped that relatively low CN would help me..
 
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Just checked on embassy page, they claim that in DV21 they processed all cases that were forwarded to them by KCC.
 
You are making a decision that will affect either KCC or Embassy processing. For KCC processes we don't know much, but so far we could say that they are processing DS-260 mostly by submission date. DQ process is strange, and there are high chances that DQ will follow DS-260 processing order, but there is a lot of exceptions. KCC might experience changes in its business processes. The guy who was in charge is stepping down, nobody knows how that will reflect processes they have in place. Also, new laws are emerging and it might affect KCC and Embassy operation. A new lawsuit is prepared for December 13, which is targeting prioritization which is probably mostly aimed at Embassy processing.

From Embassy's explanation, they said that if your case is done with KCC and is forwarded to Embassy you can contact Embassy to unlock the DS-260 case and add your spouse, which will have to submit her DS-260. If you follow that route, I am not sure if the processing of the spouse's DS-260 will go back to KCC, and how their queue looks at that point in time. Maybe KCC will be mostly complete with DQ process and it could be fast, but if you run into June\July they might start processing 2023 by then. Maybe Embassy at that point takes over DQ process and you suppose DS-260 processing goes directly to Embassy, and if they were able to process all DV applicants last year that might be a faster option.
 
From Embassy's explanation, they said that if your case is done with KCC and is forwarded to Embassy you can contact Embassy to unlock the DS-260 case and add your spouse, which will have to submit her DS-260. If you follow that route, I am not sure if the processing of the spouse's DS-260 will go back to KCC, and how their queue looks at that point in time. Maybe KCC will be mostly complete with DQ process and it could be fast, but if you run into June\July they might start processing 2023 by then. Maybe Embassy at that point takes over DQ process and you suppose DS-260 processing goes directly to Embassy, and if they were able to process all DV applicants last year that might be a faster option.
1. Once a case gets scheduled for an interview, KCC forwards the case file to the embassy. From that point, KCC has absolutely nothing to do with the case again. Any unlocking or updating request is managed directly through the embassy.
2. Embassies will not take over the DQ process for DV22 to enable KCC focus on DV23 cases, DQ is and will remain a KCC function. There are rules and laws in place governing the process, one person “stepping down” has no bearing on the laws governing the process.
 
I was not clear. I didn't think that Embassies will take over the DQ process in general. When the case is transferred to Embassy I was not sure that the processing of new updates to DS-260 and new derivative DS-260 forms of that specific case can be handled in Embassy. I was not sure if Embassy is able to verify and complete the DQ process for the updated DS-260 form, but you said DQ remains a KCC function - so clearly it's not the Embassy job.

In this case, if the spouse is added when the case is transferred to Embassy, Embassy will unlock DS-260 as they stated. After unlock, a new derivative will be added and the new DS-260 form will have to go through the DQ process back to KCC? So even if the case is at the Embassy, DS-260 processing and DQ for the new derivative applicants will be handled at KCC. That means that the progress of that case, although it is in Embassy depends again on the KCC queue?
 
I was not clear. I didn't think that Embassies will take over the DQ process in general. When the case is transferred to Embassy I was not sure that the processing of new updates to DS-260 and new derivative DS-260 forms of that specific case can be handled in Embassy. I was not sure if Embassy is able to verify and complete the DQ process for the updated DS-260 form, but you said DQ remains a KCC function - so clearly it's not the Embassy job.

In this case, if the spouse is added when the case is transferred to Embassy, Embassy will unlock DS-260 as they stated. After unlock, a new derivative will be added and the new DS-260 form will have to go through the DQ process back to KCC? So even if the case is at the Embassy, DS-260 processing and DQ for the new derivative applicants will be handled at KCC. That means that the progress of that case, although it is in Embassy depends again on the KCC queue?
For the umpteenth time, once a case gets scheduled for an interview and gets sent to the embassy, KCC no longer has any role to play with the case. Nothing gets sent back to KCC. Nothing is dependent on KCC at that point even if a new derivative gets added after the case gets sent to the embassy. That is the embassy’s call/decision from that point onwards.
 
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