Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Original or copies of G35a for I-129 Package	Yes, as stated above, I would definitely try to use a computer to fill these out. I am finishing up the I-129F packet now, and I had photocopies of my hand-filled G325's from the I-130 packet as reference. It took me no time at all to fill out the one, therefore all 4, G-325's in a cyber cafe down here. All I left out was the date to be written in by hand. It was WAY faster than hand writing it all in there. And it looks so pretty	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-14 18:16:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Interview Received	Congratulations! I can't wait to be able to say that!	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-15 19:46:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Got our NOA1 today!!	Yay! our first contact back from the USCIS.. our NOA1 arrived today! Woohoo!!!! Sorry, i know i'm still a million miles left to go but thats just made my friday Time to crack a beer open!!! Woohoo!! At least you got it. I'm still waiting for mine. word lol	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-17 14:54:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	do I have to come back to the US to file the k-3?	Andy F. Indeed they may - cover letters may not make it past the trash bin in the sorting room, long before the case file gets to an adjudicator. Important information should be written on or attached directly to the relevent form. Yodrak #######. This leads me to believe they very well may ignore my cover letter's request. Well #######. I wish (undoubtedly like so many) I had researched and known that ahead of time. Thanks.	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-17 14:57:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	do I have to come back to the US to file the k-3?	Someone on this forum have posted that he received his NOA at his Japan address. It took 2 weeks for him to get it. International mail is unreliable. Here's the link. #######. This leads me to believe they very well may ignore my cover letter's request.	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-16 13:34:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	do I have to come back to the US to file the k-3?	Jenni, Do you mean file your petitions? It makes no difference where they are mailed from, it does matter where they are mailed to. As a practical matter, you will need to have your hands on the Receipt Notice for your I-130 in order to submit an I-129f. That will take some logistical preparation if you will be in Albania. Yodrak Yes, this is exactly what I am dealing with right now. I am staying in Cancun and had my Mother take our I-130 petition back and mail it in from Ohio. The tricky part is getting that receipt letter. My "address" is in Cancun, but my mailing address (the only dependable one of the two) is my Ohio address. All I could think to do was explain this in my cover letter, stating that they need to send it to Ohio or I will most likely never receive it. I'm not sure what the mail situations are like where you will be staying, but this is definitely something to work out before sending in your packet. Good luck!	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-16 13:22:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I'm ecstatic. Interview next week (36 days after 129 approval)	Many congratulations! Good luck!	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-17 14:49:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	USCIS Correspondence Question	You can try calling to see what they say. I called them again today for a copy of my NOA1 and one of the first questions they asked was "has it been 4 weeks since you submitted your paperwork?". If I were you, I'd call to see what they'll have to say regarding your situation. So far the people I've had to deal with at customer service are very nice on the phone. Thanks for the info. I will call them within the hour. If I get time, I will strop by another cyber cafe and give an update on what they tell me. Until then, peace.	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-16 13:53:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	USCIS Correspondence Question	They'll use the petitioner's address to send you the NOA1 and the NOA2 for both forms. You should wait a couple of weeks before calling them to find out what your receipt # is with USCIS (your case # is assigned to you once the I-129F reaches the NVC stage). If you paid with a check, you can see the receipt # once they cancel it, but since you live in Mexico, I'm thinking you didn't. You're right. I paid with a money order and asked for delivery confirmation. Would it be out of the question for me to call and inquire with them on Monday (3 weeks since they received the I-130)? I don't want to jump the gun, but I am very concerned about getting that form sent to Ohio and not to Cancun. Thanks!	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-16 13:17:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	USCIS Correspondence Question	A quick question: Can someone let me know on what information and where in the I-130 or I-129F packets the USCIS uses to determine where they send their correspondence? Is it the "Petitioner's address" or would they base it on a return address on the package. Does the return address even matter? If you have read my other posts, you already know this. But I am worried that the USCIS will try to respond to our I-130 packet submission at our Cancun, Mexico address. I'm worried we will never even get it, since mail is entirely unreliable. Any help or ideas would be great. If I need to end up calling the USCIS without having a case #, which number should I call? Thanks in advance! Andy F.	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-15 19:35:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Update on our K3 Case	Hey everyone. I've been busy with my new job here in Cancun selling timeshare. It's going really well. Still no NOA1 for us, which tomorrow will make 31 days since our I-130 was delivered. I plan on calling the USCIS about this tomorrow afternoon when I get off work. For anyone who isn't familiar with what is going on, I asked the USCIS to correspond with me through my Ohio address instead of trying to send stuff to me in Mexico (since mail never gets to me here). Apparently they ignored the request and tried and it never got to me. If anyone has any feedback, it would be nice. The last time I called, they told me I had to wait 30 days for them to have access to my case in order to resend the NOA1 to another address. We'll find out tomorrow! Later!	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-28 13:35:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	People having problems with USCIS not sending I-130 NOA1	I didn't have a problem. I'm in the same boat. I called yesterday and they told me I had to wait til at least 30 days after they received my I-130 for them to "have access to my petition" afterwhich they will be able to give me a receipt number over the phone (which still doesn't fill the requirement for me to move on with the I-129F). Then I got forwarded to another lady who was telling me to change my address with the USCIS and make them resend it (to the US instead of Cancun). I can't do that since my case's evidence is based on me living here with my wife right now. Then the lady broke down and blamed me for "not paying attention on the I-130 with the difference in living address and mailing address." She totally shut down about it when I told her there is no such distinction on the I-130, and that for this reason I included in my cover letter an explanation about my situation and requested they correspond with me through my Ohio mailing address. I'm just going to wait the 30 days and call back. This is giving me a damn headache.	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-17 14:43:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I-129F and the I-130 Contradictions and Questions	This link gives you an approximation of when you will get what. Stats Oh wow. I always appreciate juicy links! I think that's it for now. Thanks for all your help. I'm sure I will be back on these forms quite often. Unfortunately, I don't have internet here, and all my internet activity is in a cyber cafe. But when I get a job that should change. Peace out, and until next time. Andy F. MY MYSPACE PROFILE	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-12 20:59:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I-129F and the I-130 Contradictions and Questions	When they send you Choice of Agent form. You can designate your residential address in Ohio as your primary correspondance or mailing address. They will know where to send. I don't know if they will accommodate your message regards to your mailing, but, you can only hope they will do it. However, you will get the form that will ask for Choice of Agent. Within that, just designate your primary mailing address. It will be mailed to you near the final stage of approval. Awesome. Could you recommend a maximum time I should wait without receiving a notification of them receiving it before I should call the USCIS and inquire as to which address they sent the confirmation to? I have heard that approximately 3 weeks is the normal wait time from them receiving it to them sending a confirmation letter with a case #. Is that more or less reasonable?	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-12 20:51:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I-129F and the I-130 Contradictions and Questions	Is the I-797C NOA what I will get from submitting the I-130 petition? Yes, you will be receiving a few days after your submission of I-130. Once I have it, I copy it and send the copy with a completed I-129F to Chicago? Yes, you will copy it and sent it with I-129F to Chicago because that's where the K-Visas are sent. Do the G-325As need to be originals again, even though I already submitted all of that information with the I-130? Yes, the G-325As must be original with original signatures and at the bottom box where it asks for what it's used for. Select other, and write I-129F. ...However, do I still need to file a I-134 myself, or does my ineligibility automatically negate me filling out the form? No. If you don't qualify as a sponser yourself you would not fill that form. This is awesome. I can't say it enough: Thank you! We filed our I-130 petition at the end of February. Today marked the two week mark of the USCIS receiving it. In my cover letter, I asked that all correspondence be sent to my US mailing address due to the unreliablity of mail in Cancun. Since my "address" on the forms was currently here in Cancun (and much of my supporting documentation being dependent on my wife and I living together), I was afraid they would try to send us information at the Cancun address. If this happens, there is a great chance it will not get here. The I-130 packet was sent from Ohio, and my letter requested use of my Ohio mailing address. Should I still be afraid of them sending me something in Mexico and me never being aware of it? I already downloaded all of these forms and will get started right away on the I-129F. Sometime soon, I will update my timeline on here to make it public. Thanks again! Andy F.	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-12 20:28:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I-129F and the I-130 Contradictions and Questions	First off, thanks for the replies. I can immediately see the amazing benifits of this forum, and I'm happy to be a part of it now. ...Since then, I have realized that it's title is outdated due to the LIFE Act. Am I understanding this correctly? In addition, I have also noticed that a lot of you submit your I-129F's after getting an NOA on the I-130. Does that mean I still did not screw up? I take it that I did nothing wrong, but I need to get to work on the I-129F right away? Am I right in this assumption? An additional question: This concerns the I-864 Affedavit of Support. I am unemployed, but currently looking for a job here in Cancun. I have been unemployed for months. What is the deal with the I-864 for people like me? Yet again, I see contradictions between documentation concerning this. If I have to do it, which agency needs it? The USCIS, Ciudad Juarez, NVC, or who? And when? I am thoroughly confused on this form, let alone the fact that we will be needing a co-sponor to file one as well. Any help in this area would be greatly appreciated Your welcome Andy. Everyone here is very helpful. We try to help wherever we can. Yes, you are correct, the Life Act will apply to you. And, you need to receive your I-797C NOA before you could file I-129F. Once you receive that notice, make a copy then mail it in with your I-129F. You also need to mail in a copy of the marriage certificate, your proof of citizenship, form g-325a for you and wife, one passport photo of you and wife, and a copy of I-797C form. The I-864 only applies if you're applying for the CR1 Visa. If you're going for the K-3, you will need to file I-134 Affadavit of Support not I-864. However, you will be given that form when the time comes. You may submit more than one I-134 if you like. In order to submit the I-134, you must also meet the 125% Federal Poverty Guidelines or else you will not qualify as a sponser. This is amazingly helpful information. If I may, please let me make sure I understand this 100% (if that is possible ). Is the I-797C NOA what I will get from submitting the I-130 petition? Once I have it, I copy it and send the copy with a completed I-129F to Chicago? The supporting documentation should not be a problem at all (marriage certificate, etc). I take it that the copy has to be officially translated again? Do the G-325As need to be originals again, even though I already submitted all of that information with the I-130? Alright, since I will be filing the I-134 instead of the I-864, this question may make more sense. My specific situation dictates that I have to have a co-sponsor, AKA I'm unemployed. They would look at my affedavit and laugh. So my mother will be filing an additional form I-134 as my wife's co-sponsor. However, do I still need to file a I-134 myself, or does my ineligibility automatically negate me filling out the form? I have read before that even if the "petitioner" doesn't meet the federal income guidelines, they still have to be the principal affedavit sponsor with a co-spnsor filling in the financial gap. In other words, do I (myself) even need to file a I-134, or will my mother's be the only one they ask for upon finding out I am unemployed and/or WAY below the income guidelines? Can you give a definitive answer on this? I realize I am probably thinking ahead of myself, but this process has turned out to be way more daunting than I ever anticipated when I moved to Mexico to live. I just want to make sure I am doing everything right so I don't have to do it twice. Thanks again!	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-12 19:56:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I-129F and the I-130 Contradictions and Questions	There are two entry methods into immigrating your spouse to the US, and have her remain here permanently. They are through the K-3 Visa process or CR1 Visa process. The CR1 Visa process will only require FORM I-130. When the petition is approved, and the interview is a success the Embassy will issue a VISA called the CR1 for your spouse to legally migrate to the USA. Your spouse will not need to file for EAD (Employment Authorization) with the CR1. If you are married within the USA before the petition process, your spouse will need to go back to her country of residence pending the CR1. The K-3 requires you to file both the I-130, and I-129F form. It is a faster process compared to CR1, however, it will require you to file for Employment Authorization upon entering the USA in order to legally work here. In your case, Andy, you didn't make a mistake. You decide to just file I-130 which is perfectly legit. The CR1 process can take a little longer compared to K-3, but it will allow for you wife to work legally in the USA once she gets the VISA. First off, thanks for the replies. I can immediately see the amazing benifits of this forum, and I'm happy to be a part of it now. Alright...I am applying for the K-3 visa for my wife. We currently live here in Mexico and plan to until we go for her interview in Juarez. So there is no chance of us marrying in the US before then. When I prepared the I-130 packet, I was sure I was doing all I needed to do at the time. And I even put "K-3" on the G-325's for my wife in the required space. Since my wife will not immediately be able to work (due to her learning English), I think the K-3 is our best route. But I am still cloudy on the issue. Originally, I ignored the I-129F form due to it's title. We are already married, so I could not make sense of submitting it or even reading it entirely. Since then, I have realized that it's title is outdated due to the LIFE Act. Am I understanding this correctly? In addition, I have also noticed that a lot of you submit your I-129F's after getting an NOA on the I-130. Does that mean I still did not screw up? I take it that I did nothing wrong, but I need to get to work on the I-129F right away? Am I right in this assumption? An additional question: This concerns the I-864 Affedavit of Support. I am unemployed, but currently looking for a job here in Cancun. I have been unemployed for months. What is the deal with the I-864 for people like me? Yet again, I see contradictions between documentation concerning this. If I have to do it, which agency needs it? The USCIS, Ciudad Juarez, NVC, or who? And when? I am thoroughly confused on this form, let alone the fact that we will be needing a co-sponor to file one as well. Any help in this area would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all very much, Andy F.	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-12 19:27:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I-129F and the I-130 Contradictions and Questions	Hello everyone: I am from Ohio, and I have lived in Mexico for over 9 months. My wife and I got married here on the 29th of January. In February, we submitted our I-130 Petition for an Alien Relative. Since then, I have seen a growing number of contradictions that have led me to believe that we made a mistake, and that we should have also sent in an I-129F as well. However, I have seen information that contradicts one another. For example, the guides on this website lead me to beleive I need to submit both, whereas these USCIS forms linked below describe the I-130 process without even mentioning the I-129F. If anyone can clear this issue up for me I would appreciate it greatly. I realize both of these forms don't apply to our situation, but the 2nd one does talk briefly about our process. These two links lead me to believe that we did the right thing and have nothing to worry about. Other sources are giving me a heart attack thinking we totally screwed it up. I plan on calling the USCIS after I get our case number in the letter saying they received our packet in Nebraska. USCIC Info Links: http://www.uscis.gov.../article/A1.pdf http://www.uscis.gov.../article/A2.pdf Thank you in advance for any help and advice you can give me. Andy F.	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-11 18:36:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Specifics about my wife's K-3 interview	I would think that living together during this process is pretty good proof! Does your apartment lease show both your names? Do you have mail addressed to yourself and your wife and the same address? Yes, exactly. We have photos that document our relationship ever since June 2005. The problem comes up with the apartment and paying rent. There is absolutely no documentation with our names anywhere on any piece of paper showing that we rent together. To combat this when we sent in the I-130 packet, I asked my landlord to include in his affedavit that we jointly pay rent and bills. It is typical in Cancun for renting to be completely informal and without documentation. This is one of the primary reasons I was nervous about the interview. One other really good thing about the photos we have that date back to June 2005 is you can genuinely see me losing weight all the way up to the present. There is no way the photos could be confused in any sort of dating order. The proof is in my cheeks. How about your marriage license and evidence from your wedding or marriage ceremony. Photos? Cards? We are golden on this. We have an officially translated marriage certificate. A copy of it went in with the I-130, a copy will go with the I-129F, and the original and copy will go with us to Ciudad Juarez for the interview. We also have the entire ceremony video recorded, and we have photos from the whole thing. There were no invitations or anything since it was a house wedding. It was primarily family and 4 witnesses that came. So beyond the certificate and the photos and video, there isn't much more. As said above, do you have any letters addressed to the both of you? Just keep some of that junk mail, like credit card offers and such. Or maybe when you have an online dvd rental, keep something from that. You have to get creative Very little or no mail gets to us. In our neighborhood in Cancun, there are no such things as mail boxes...mail is just stuffed in a gate or fence. What mail does get there is all addressed to our landlord. We don't do much online when it comes to rentals, but I suppose we could open a local joint blockbuster account or something. I'm just now getting the creativity muscles in my brain rolling. The first important piece of evidence is your marriage certificate, which you had to send with your I-130, then you can add to that pictures, affidavits, letters, maybe hotel receipts from vacations you've taken, airfare, that kind of stuff. But it sounds like you have enough evidence already to prove that you have a legitimate marriage. I agree. The marriage cert. is very important. We will take originals and copies to Juarez. And we did send a translated copy with the I-130. We are golden on pictures and affidavits (the same affidavits from the I-130 we used), and we have some birthday and holiday cards to and from each other. Also, we have letters my Mom wrote to my wife. I guess our weakest area is receipts from things with both our names on them. We hardly ever travel, just due to money issues. But I suppose we could travel locally just to get more evidence. I appreciate all the suggestions and help. I think we will be okay, but I figure that while I have time, I should strenghten our case as much as possible. I agree that it's fairly air-tight considering we live together; I just don't want to be caught off balance by something that other people know from experience to be very important or essential for K-3 approval. If anyone has any other info or suggestions, please let me know. Thanks again! Andy F.	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-14 17:22:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Specifics about my wife's K-3 interview	First off, my wife and I got married at the end of January and sent off her 1-130 Petition in late February to kick of the K-3 process. Once we receive further correspondence with the USCIS, we will move along with the I-129F. Everything is rocking on that side of things. What I am not so comfrotable about is when it comes time for us to go to her interview. I am from Ohio, but I have lived in Cancun since June 06...and I've lived with my wife here since we got married. However, I do not have an FM3 that is required for me to have a bank account here. So obviously this was a problem with the I-130 in proving the validity of our relationship. We countered this with 3 third party notarized and translated affedavits attesting to it's validity. Also, we rent an apartment here in Mexico, so there are no utility bills or phone records with our names on them. This type of evidence just is not there. But what we do have a ton of is photographic documentation (which also was included in the I-130 petiton). We have loads of pictures of us with each other's families that date all the way back to June 2005. Where I am going with all of this is this: What do they find most important in these interviews? I have heard before that photos are often most important. Is that true? If so, I'm feeling good. If they want more of the contemporary proof, I have to find a way to make that happen before our interview. Any help or advice on this subject would be of much help to us. Thank you. Andy F.	Andy F.	Not Telling	Mexico	2007-03-13 19:07:00