Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	CFO Pre Departure Orientation Seninar	My wife attended the CFO Pre-Departure Seminar prior to receiving her visa. In fact, she attended not long after receiving her passport in October 2010. The certification you receive from the CFO at that time is valid for one year. Upon receipt of the visa, she went back to the CFO office to obtain the CFO stickers for both her and my stepson's passports (even though he did not have to attend the seminar, he was still required to have the sticker). By the way, when you go to the CFO for the sticker, please remember to bring along the documentation you have gotten from NBI and NSO; she was asked to show this to them. She was also asked to provide passport size photos (for their records; they clip them to a form that you need to complete to get the sticker). Luckily she had them in her magic bag of documents. If you have any concerns about what to take to the CFO on the day of the seminar/interview, let us know and we will provide the listing of documents that we gave to them. Take care and God bless! Joe and Ann	Joe and Ann	Male	Philippines	2011-08-09 15:48:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Totally confused!! Please help	Our NOA2 said the same thing, but the approved petition still had to make a pit stop at NVC. We were lucky: we got a case number two days later and it was forwarded to Manila two days after that, with the Embassy having record of it less than a week after NVC said it had been sent. This language always causes confusion (it did with us) and this question has come up several times on VJ. The solution is usually to give it a few days and then call NVC to obtain the case number. Take care and have a great day! Joe and Ann	Joe and Ann	Male	Philippines	2011-08-09 11:30:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	and so the journey begins	At least you are approaching the process with some of the good humor needed to survive it. Good luck and godspeed!!! Joe & Ann	Joe and Ann	Male	Philippines	2011-08-15 13:14:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Earnings and paystubs	It was probably overkill, but I used to be an auditor and am always asking annoying "what if" questions. The result is usually that I provide A LOT of documentation; probably too much. With that said, though, no RFEs or rejections so far. I provided Ann with tax transcripts for the last three years, my last six paystubs, and a letter from my firm confirming the length of employment, annual salary, and position/title.	Joe and Ann	Male	Philippines	2011-08-15 13:19:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	What kind of folder/binder is best to send for I-129F?	We used a two-hole punch along the top of all of the documents and used and ACCO prong and compressor to keep it together. We used dividers for each section, with tabs at the bottom. We included a cover letter which had an index to the forms, photos, and evidence corresponding to the tab numbers. We paper clipped to the top couple of pages of the packet the electronic notification form and the check made out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. We then rubber banded the whole thing top, middle, and bottom. Hope this helps. Good luck with your journey! Joe & Ann	Joe and Ann	Male	Philippines	2011-08-24 14:52:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 Visa - Things to be aware at customs?	There's usually a CBP officer directing people which line to get in. Tell them your situation and they'll direct you to the line they want you in. I traveled with my wife and step kids from Vietnam. There were a few dozen people in the visitor's line, but only a few people in the citizen's line. I told the CBP officer who was directing traffic that I was a citizen and the people with me were a K1 and two K2's. He sent us to the citizen's line, which was a lot faster. If the CBP officer asks her a question that she doesn't understand then feel free to translate. If she understands then let her respond on her own. Most K1's are not given a hard time by the CBP when entering the US. The most common problems they encounter, like immigrant intent, don't apply to a K1. Hi Jim, Exactly our experience at Dulles International Airport. I accompanied my fiancee and stepson from the Philippines to the U.S. Upon arrival, I asked a CBP officer into which line we should go and she directed us to the U.S. Citizens line. Except for a few questions, no headaches at all. The only question that tripped her up was the first one (she was nervous): Where are you from? She responded "Calamba" (that is her barangay ... neighborhood) and then responded "Cebu City" ... the officer just looked at her passport and then at her and said, "And Cebu is in what country?" She stammered, "Philippines, Philippines!!!" Have a great day! Joe	Joe and Ann	Male	Philippines	2011-12-22 09:54:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	I-134	For the second job, as for the first, you will want to get a letter from your employer confirming your dates of employment and your annual income. Along with my affidavit I also included three years of IRS income tax transcripts and a couple of pay stubs. Good luck with the rest of your journey! Joe Edited by Joe and Ann, 19 September 2011 - 04:30 PM.	Joe and Ann	Male	Philippines	2011-09-19 16:29:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	How to print Skype call logs or details	I use a program called SkyHistory. do a google search for it.	Ro79	Male	Russia	2014-09-29 22:51:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Didn't meet tough a IMB, do I need to submit prior charges on I129F?	I did read the instructions.  I am on this forum to ask the question..  If I didnt meet through an International Marriage Broker, or website, do I need to disclose all that information?  Or, if my fiancee writes a letter that she is aware of my past and are we all good.  It's going to be a huge pain getting that paper work since over 15 years ago, most are sealed files now since over 10 years.	Ro79	Male	Russia	2013-08-26 13:54:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Didn't meet tough a IMB, do I need to submit prior charges on I129F?	excuse me not proofreading this post before submitting!!  "Didn't meet through an IMB, do I still need to check the boxes that I have prior nonviolent convictions?"	Ro79	Male	Russia	2013-08-25 23:21:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Didn't meet tough a IMB, do I need to submit prior charges on I129F?	Hello,   I am the American citizen, my finance is who I would like to bring to the US.  We did not meet through an IMB website etc. I am reading through the requirements and paperwork needed, and see a lot based around the IMBA.   I have a felony from 15 years ago, and other small stuff.  The I-129f looks to be based around IF we met through an IMB.  If not, than do I have to attached all the court paperwork etc?   Thanks in advance for your prompt rely,    Rob	Ro79	Male	Russia	2013-08-25 23:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Texas Center has the posted date as February 2nd for almost two months!	The date hasn't stayed at Feb2nd for two months.  Where did you get that info from?  Just wanted to add that in September the date changed from Dec 31st to Feb 2nd.  Go to Processing Times at the top of the VisaJourney webiste, look at the Alila Repored Processing Times/USCIS Service Centers, and choose TSC.  It will give you a list of the previous reported processing dates.  Edited by Ro79, 05 October 2014 - 02:53 AM.	Ro79	Male	Russia	2014-10-05 02:49:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Texas Center has the posted date as February 2nd for almost two months!	I'm in the same boat. NOA1 Feb 10th.   This is really F'in things up.  Every time I call, it's the same response "We process in the order received".  BS..  Igors list, VJ shows otherwise.	Ro79	Male	Russia	2014-10-05 02:35:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	New kid on the block...	Hello all, Im new to this forum (joined earlier today) and wanted to find out if anyone has any advice/experiences/tips to share regarding filing petitions filed in the Johannesburg (South Africa) office - sadly we are right at the beginning of what seems to be a very long process! My husband and I currently live in South Africa (SA). We met at the end of 2008 in the US, got married on one of my visits there in 2009 and then he relocated here soon after. Since he has lived here in South African for more than 6 months, we are led to understand that he can submit his petition to a USCIS office here in Johannesburg. Our first challenge is that we wanted to file this month but as his spousal permit has expired (he is currently awaiting an extension of said permit from the notoriously slow SA department of home affairs), the USCIS office has advised that he needs to have a current valid spousal permit in hand when he submits the petition or they will not accept it. Now it could take up to 3 months for his permit extension to be effected. So we would like to know if we should just go ahead and submit the petition to the chicago lockbox and start the process off that way? Will it not complicate thinfs for us later on? Are we better off waiting until his SA permit extension is issued (which could be forever) and then we submit here in Johannesburg? Our second challenge is that my husband has been unemployed since he got to SA and thus cannot show income on tax returns for the last 3 years. This would obviously affect the affidavit of support step of the process. Does the fact that we have a sizeable amount of cash in a South African bank account help in anyway? It is an amount that is well above the 125% of the US 2013 poverty line figure. Or should he just return home and try and get a job there before we reach that stage of the process? We are unsure how to handle that one and would appreciate whatever advice you can give us. Many thanks. Ms Twinkle Toes PS - I must thank those that have created this forum - its really useful snd encouraging for people like myself!	Ms Twinkle Toes	Not Telling	South Africa	2013-04-14 11:39:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	One parent missing and one unknown - how to complete DS 230 form	Hello all, I wanted to find out how others have dealt with a missing parent when completing their DS 230 form. I never knew my mother as she abandoned me as an infant and I was raised by various family members and family friends. I remember meeting her a bunch of times when I was very young but that was it and there was no relationship at all. I was told she disappeared when I was a teenager (she apparently tended to do that) - no one knows quite where she took off to and with whom and she has been gone since. She has been gone so long, the family generally presumes she is dead - this is just family talk and not an official record by the way. So looking through the form, I am unsure what to write under 'city and country of residence'. Should I write 'unknown' or 'missing' (will they not want proof of an official missing status?) or should I just enter the last city she was known by her family to have been in. Not sure how to handle this one. Further to that, my mother did not name my father on my birth certificate so I will have a whole bunch of 'unknown' entries on my form. What do you think the implications of that will be? Thanks in advance for your response.	Ms Twinkle Toes	Not Telling	South Africa	2013-04-21 15:21:00
Asia: South	Nepali VJ-ers Chautari Chat	Hello people, I'd like to connect with you all and share each other's cases and in general - Hold it together - cause the k1/cr1 can be very taxing especially living so far away. Where are you all from? How did you meet? etc. etc. I met her online while still in the US as a student. Came back to nepal to discover shes the one I want to spend my life with. Anyways, turns out you need to do this thing called K1 visa to be able to live together. Without research it felt like this should take a couple of months max. With research it turns out to take a bit more than half a year! So I guess you'll be seeing me here for the next six months. Hi	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	11/10/2012 21:55
Asia: South	Kathmandu - Letter of no Objection.	Thank you Sir, I made the appointment couple days ago. What is it exactly, what do they write? How do they verify if I am eligible to marry or not? The reason i ask is because when i called the local county/district they had no idea what it was and how to get it. I'm guessing you are the citizen? They just check if you've been married before (in the US). Fortunately, for them, all information is conveniently stored in databases so they can access that really quick. If you were previously married, then they might ask for your divorce papers. Some states make you wait an arbitrary number of months before you are deemed eligible to marry. They will also indulge you in idle talk like "when did you meet", etc etc. The local county/district is generally clueless about a lot of stuff But you will find that our for yourself soon enough my friend All the best, and happy married life. Remember, after 15 days, you need 3 nepali citizenship card holders to vouch that you got married. Cheers.	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2/6/2013 11:38
Asia: South	Kathmandu - Letter of no Objection.	Yeah. I just did that. Set up an appointment with the US Consulate. Choose 'Request notarial and other services not listed above' option, select your date. On the day of the appointment, the citizen needs to go with their US passport, and $50. It will take you 15 minutes and you have your Affidavit of eligibility to marry notarized from the Consulate. Take this letter and go to your CDO office to file for marriage. Just remember, in Nepal, the marriage application will remain for a mandatory 15 days before they give you the certificate. Plan ahead. Good luck!	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2/6/2013 1:04
Asia: South	Address problems: Kathmandu Nepal	Hello and Namaste, It has been a while since we went through this process, but I remember my husband's Packet 3 got lost in the mail in Kathmandu. Not sure if the process is the same now (probably), but after your NOA2, the petition goes to NVC and they send it on to the US Consulate in KTM. The US Consulate then sends out Packet 3 to the Nepali fiance(e), which contains the forms that the Nepali fiance(e) needs to fill out, including a visa application. I am the USC (well, we both are now, but then it was me). I followed our timeline and so I knew when the petition left the NVC on its way to Kathmandu. When Packet 3 didn't arrive at my fiance's house within a few weeks, he went to the Consulate and they gave him a new Packet 3. Apparently the first one they sent out to his mailing address got lost in the mail. He even found out it went to his VDC headquarters, but they apparently tossed it. As you know, anything addressed to anywhere other than a GPO post box is at high risk of being lost. Anyhow, when he had finished all the paperwork, he hand-carried it back to the Consulate and they told him to come back the next day for an interview! You will probably not experience that kind of speed, but I don't think the wait is long. Now that there is online tracking of case status, you may find it easier to figure out when your petition leaves NVC and approximately when you should get Packet 3. Keep in mind that once it leaves NVC, it is under the purvue of the Department of State (another agency that does NOT offer online case status, as far as I know). My story is just a long way of telling you that you need to track your case as best you can, and may need to pick up and deliver your paperwork at the Consulate in Kathmandu to make sure nothing gets lost. Good luck and Subhakamana! Maya Namaste! Thank you for the nice explanation. I was previously going for K1, but..... we got married along the way so now I switched over to CR1. The problem with Kathmandu mail still a valid issue for us so I will email the consulate to see if I can go pick it up instead (WHEN it arrives). Happy to see you are finished with the process (long time ago, if I may add). I hope the Consular Officers will be nice in the interview I am the beneficiary. Cheers!	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2/18/2013 4:51
Asia: South	Address problems: Kathmandu Nepal	Hello/Namaste, On the I-129F I've listed my home address as the address of the physical building I'm living in. However we never get any mail at this address because our post delivery service is not too reliable. Most of the mail I get is at a GPO for my office. I am worried that when my NOA2 comes and the NVC sends me a package to my home address, it will get lost in the mail and lead to delays in our already long (perceived) wait. Its only been a month since I applied, but judging from comments and statistics, I can expect another 5 months before I get my NOA2. Has anyone else been in a similar situation or can dispense advice for mine? Thank you. Greatly appreciated.	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	11/10/2012 21:41
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	how many of you filed at NBC got their NOA2, in the estimated approvals dates predicted by VJ?	PD Jan 30 2013, still waiting for NOA2. My field office is Washington, which seems to be SWAMPED	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-06-10 20:14:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Washington D.C. transfers?	Welp! I was really hoping for a 3 month approval from NBC and another three till interview. I'm almost at my 90 day mark (70 days). Not sure how we're gonna go through another 90 days of this. kmg617, where did you check processing times for DC office and how can you conclude that 2/3 cases processed were I130s?	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-04-11 07:40:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Washington D.C. transfers?	Jan 30 PD here. Not confirmed if case at the Fairfax office but thats where it would be if it were transferred. Our office is a little packed compared to the other field offices so I expect things would take a while http://dashboard.usc...=26&charttype=1 If they're approving on an average of 650 applications per month, and their workload is 6000 applications at that time, then it would take a whopping 10.5 months to complete I really hope thats not the case and that my interpretation is wrong! Edited by Kaale and Dalli, 10 April 2013 - 12:02 PM.	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-04-10 11:58:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	6 to 12 months for NOA2 from Washington DC office...	I waited NOA2 for 19 months..got RFE on the 17th month..Seeing petition got approved in a month or or even to the normal processing times is very distressing. It really takes a lot of patience..Just hang on there..you are still in the normal processing time.. I'm glad that you're now done with the process. 19 months IS a lot of time. However, it should be noted your case went to Vermont and not WashDC for processing, which is what this thread is about.	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-06-22 21:19:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Approved!!!!!! SEPT 2012 FILER	Congratulations!!	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-07-01 06:50:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Washington DC field office	Thanks a lot for sharing the info. I don't know why can't we see any approval from August-September though, may be none of the approved files are on VJ.   That could be possible on top of members not actively updating their profiles.	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-07-04 22:07:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Washington DC field office	Thanks for all the calculations done. Did you go for your infopass? What information did you get there?   Hello. My wife came back from INFOPASS. They confirmed the file is there and they're working on October.	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-07-02 01:08:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Washington DC field office	And also, just a very very basic estimation on how long we might have to wait (based on information from the USCIS dashboard).    My mathematical assumption is that given the number of completions we are seeing at the field office we can estimate the number of months it will take to complete a certain workload (which is number of pending apps).   For example, lets take a look at August 2012.   Number of pending: 2351 Number new receipts: 385     So total apps in office in August: 2351+385 = 2736.   Number of completions for Aug: 485.   Basically if we assume that in one month the WashDC field office completes 485 forms, how long would they take to complete 2736?   That's gonna be 2736/485 = 5.6 months. This is IF your case hit the office in August, and IF they processed applications on a first come first serve basis. I'm not saying they dont, but there is no evidence that they absolutely stick to that rule.   We do know that post-August all petitions were sent to NBC and that stand-alone I130s were sent off to field offices. So we can see the the incline of pending application increase its slope. The completions remain around the same rate (so the office did not add any adjudicators to balance increase in workload). We also see an increase in new receipts as demarcated by the blue area.    The most recent data is for April 2013. So my estimation of how long April 2013 Filers will have to wait is:   (6475+1286)/584 = 13 months for NOA2.   Before you jump on me please consider that 13 months is not a very good estimate. There are lots of assumptions made. The biggest one is that Wash field office is going to process EVERY case that is pending. If you see, even well before August 2012, there is a big gap between pending and completions. That has been a steady trend as far back as the data goes. I dont know if they process it all, but I'm just assuming they do, although it could very well be they dont.   I guess the good news is that the office is at least processing applications and sending out completions on an average of 500/month. We on VJ are just a subset of that number as not everyone who applies for CR1 joins VJ and updates his timeline.    So lets stay hopeful and be prepared to wait a bit.	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-07-01 07:39:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Washington DC field office	I guess we do have at least one approved from our office which shows that our office is at least working. (it looks like an expedite though).    Here's a list of all people who have indicated they filed at Washington.   Really hoping to hear more approvals. ESP anyone from August, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec.	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-07-01 06:56:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Washington DC field office	hehehehe....that's on my signature, it's May 2, 2013.   It seems like you've already been through a lot (k1s). I hope for both our sakes DC will be a little forgiving and churn out those approvals!	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-06-28 21:45:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Washington DC field office	Sorry but what is PD? Priority date. It's on your receipt. (I'm assuming you've mailed out your application already?)	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-06-26 08:40:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Washington DC field office	Hmmm...our petition is currently with the NBC, so will they approve it or forward to the Washington office? I'm really not clear with that process. By the way, thanks for creating the thread :-) What's your PD? You have the option of writing to USCIS customer service with your receipt number and they will tell you where your file is. Standalone I130s are usually sent out to the field offices.	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-06-25 23:45:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Washington DC field office	We are couple days till the 5 month mark. My wife is going for INFOPASS nex week. Also have contacted my congressman. Will update here accordingly	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-06-25 21:15:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Washington DC field office	Following the footsteps of the Chicago thread I would like to invite everyone who's field office happens to be Washington (Fairfax) to take this poll so we can get an idea of how fast our office is moving.     In the case you are an approval please add a comment here so we can see your timeline.    If you don't know where your field office is, you can find that out by clicking here and scrolling down to 'Local Office Selector'.    Here is an older thread where we have been discussing progress.   Thank you.         Edited by Kaale and Dalli, 25 June 2013 - 10:09 AM.	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-06-25 10:07:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	approved! just before independence day!	Ssingh when was INFOPASS and how long after INFOPASS did u get approved?	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-07-04 21:41:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	approved! just before independence day!	Congrats!	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-07-04 01:40:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Infopass did it help your I-130 Application move faster	hi, what was the reason for such delay?   He's not CR1.   F2A - spouse is LPR not citizen.  Edited by Kaale and Dalli, 16 July 2013 - 03:30 AM.	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-07-16 03:30:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	washington local office	I had an info pass this morning and they told me that they process the month of October 2012 .slower than slow   That's what they told my wife on her late June infopass.   Time to get the vodka out.	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-07-22 21:48:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	I130 Approved:)	That's awesome! Congrats!!	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-08-02 18:29:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Is 7 months past normal processing time.?	Jan 31st filer here. We have had an info pass and now gonna schedule another one.    Still no idea why its taking so long.	Kaale and Dalli	Male	Nepal	2013-08-03 09:15:00