ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresMadly in Love..Please Help
The odds of approval are dependant on you being able to prove to USCIS that you qualify for the benefit you seek.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2006-03-04 11:19:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresIs this possible?? Approved already?
Congrats on the quick approval.

Ours was approved within a week by VSC as well, so it does happen. My wife didn't believe me when I sent her the email. She was so sure it was just another receipt notice.

Hopefully your petition will have a fast turnaround at NVC and be on its way to the embassy soon.

Congrats.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2006-11-27 19:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresHas anyone ever had any success filing an expidited fiance visa case?


I think our case may have been expedited, but not because of any specific request we made.

Your case wasn't expedited if you never requested it. But VSC is fast and you were clearly very lucky!!!


It may not have been expedited at VSC, but I'm pretty sure that it was expedited in Manila. We were told by the embassy in November 2004 that the interview would be scheduled for February 2005 at the earliest. Normally the embassy sets an interview date about a month ahead. In our case, one week after we visited the embassy to inquire, they scheduled the interview with less than a week's notice. My wife actually had to reschedule the interview because the notice didn't arrive in time. Even so, they were able to reschedule the interview 5 days after the one she missed.

The thing that really made me wonder is that the embassy sent me a personal email to let me know that they had approved her visa. How often does that happen?

Edited by jsnearline, 16 November 2006 - 01:15 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2006-11-16 13:14:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresHas anyone ever had any success filing an expidited fiance visa case?
I think our case may have been expedited, but not because of any specific request we made. I received I129F approval from VSC one week after they received the petition. It made it through NVC and was on its way to Manila just two and a half weeks after I filed. Either VSC and NVC were all caught up that month, or someone thought we had everything in order? I guess I'll never know.

My wife's embassy interview was scheduled two months after Manila received the approved petition, a full two months ahead of when they originally told us it would be. I emailed the embassy asking when to expect the interview and it was scheduled two weeks after they replied to my inquiry.

All in all, it only took us two and a half months from the time I sent the petition to the time my fiancee (now my wife) received her visa. THe only cases I've seen move faster are military expedites.

Our luck didn't extend to AOS. We had to wait 11 months for approval.

So the answer is yes - expedites do happen, but it seems to be quite rare.

Edited by jsnearline, 15 November 2006 - 08:59 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2006-11-15 20:58:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresnon-binding religious wedding allowed?
My wife and I had talked about having a ceremony in the Philippines, but decided it wasn't worth the risk. I was able to work things out with my parish to complete the marriage prep program and have a church wedding here within the 90 day time limit of the K1 visa. That was good enough to satisfy her family that we were starting off right.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2006-11-28 19:10:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresLonely Daddy...Unmarried..Clueless!
I'd say you're looking at a five year wait at least. Sorry it isn't better than that.

Edited by jsnearline, 02 December 2006 - 10:17 AM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2006-12-02 10:14:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresNot seeing each other's effect on interview decision?
After my K1 petition was approved, I made a trip to Manila to see my fiancee. Sure I thought it might help our case, but more than that, we just really missed each other. I had the Affidavit of Support notarized at the US Embassy while I was there. My fiancee ended up having her interview three weeks later. If we'd known it would have been so soon, I think I would have done it anyway, just because it was so good to see each other again. It made our last month of being apart more bearable.

I don't think you have to do it, but it sure can't hurt. I wouldn't break the bank doing it. Still sometimes you can get good deals to Paris this time of year.

Edited by jsnearline, 03 December 2006 - 07:09 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2006-12-03 19:05:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresis the beneficiary's birth certificate should be included at the k1 packet?
You'll need copies of the beneficiary's BC for the K1 interview and for the AOS application, so it's good to have copies on hand.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2006-12-10 19:10:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresA NEW CARD
Does the email reference a case type or receipt number. If so, check to see if it matches your AOS receipt number. It sounds like you may have been approved for the green card without interview.

P.S. You might have gotten more responses if you had posted this in the AOS forum.

Edited by jsnearline, 19 December 2006 - 07:58 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2006-12-19 19:56:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresbeginner's question
Our case went through NVC within a week. I don't know if that's typical or not though.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2006-12-26 18:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresIf petitioner is on welfare
I know she was mad, but using ALL CAPS is a big turnoff when making a decision whether or not to read a posting. Just my two cents...
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2006-12-27 16:05:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresIf petitioner is on welfare
Why do some people insist on using ALL CAPS in their posts? It just makes it less likely that their post will be read.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2006-12-27 09:44:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresIf petitioner is on welfare
Some embassies won't accept a cosponsor for a K1 applicant, so I'd suggest the OP do some research on this first.

The minimum income required by the Affidavit of Support is quite generous towards the sponsor. I could never support my wife if I was only making the minimum income required by the form. That said, when my fiancee arrived, I owed over $12,000 on my credit cards. I tried talking my fiancee into waiting until I had paid down my debt a bit first. She insisted on coming as soon as she could. Her rationale was that I'd be spending less money because I wouldn't have to travel to see her and that with two incomes, we'd be able to take on my debt much faster. Two years after she got here, that $12,000 debt has been eliminated and we now have close to $20,000 in savings. Much to my surprise, getting married turned out to be the smartest financial decision I ever made.

I think it works best when both individuals each have the other's best interest in mind when reaching a joint decision about when they're financially able to marry.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2006-12-26 13:57:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresa place to get married
I'm sure there are cases where people have come here, gotten married, and gone home to wait for a visa, but my guess would be that they're the exception.

If the OP was already here in the US, my answer would be different because someone here on a B1 can adjust status so long as they can prove they did not have intent to immigrate at the time they entered.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-03 17:50:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresa place to get married

There's nothing to stop the OP marrying in the US, if they decide to go for a spouse visa rather than a fiance one, so long as they go home to complete the rest of the process afterwards.


That's the key, but it's not what the OP asked in the original post. They asked if they can marry on the B1 and stay here while their spouse petitions them. In theory, they could get married here legally and return home to wait for their visa, but I think it'd be a tough sell to the inspecting officer, unless they were from a country part of the visa waiver program perhaps. Can anyone cite any examples of people who have come here to marry and then returned to their home country for visa processing? My guess would be that in most cases, if they're here and they marry, they don't leave.

My point is that applying for the K1, since the OP isn't in the US now, a - saves them them the trouble of trying to get into the US to marry on the B1 and b - ensures they can stay with their spouse in the US once they marry. Besides, they'll have a shorter wait in Moscow for a fiance visa than they would if they came back and applied for an IR1.

Edited by jsnearline, 03 January 2007 - 04:37 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-03 16:35:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresa place to get married
It's not illegal to marry on a tourist visa if you are already here. If I read the OP's posting right, they're not here yet. It is not legal to use a tourist visa to enter the country with intent to immigrate.

Even though the B1 was issued before the OP decided to marry, they must still show that they do not have intnet to immigrate at the POE each time they seek entry to the US.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-03 16:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresa place to get married
The question was:

"Can we marry in the US while i'm there and apply for[/b] K-1 fiance visa there being on tourist visa? Is it legal?"

How is that not immigrant intent? It would be different if the OP had asked about getting married here and then going back home to apply for a K3 or IR1, but that is not what they asked. They are asking if it is legal to come here on a B1, marry, and then apply for another visa that allows them to stay in the US after marriage. If they were already here on the B1, then there might be a legal way to do it assuming there was no immigrant intent. My answer was given my understanding that the OP is not yet in the US, there is no legal way for them to adjust from a B1.

I still think in the OP's case, a K1 is the best way to go. It ensures their process is legal and once approved, means they can stay in the US while they adjust after marriage.

Edited by jsnearline, 03 January 2007 - 02:56 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-03 14:52:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresa place to get married
Since it's clear from your post that you already have immigrant intent, you should not use your B1 visa to get married in the US if you are not already here. Assuming you told the truth at the port of entry that your purpose of travel is to get married to a US Citizen, ICE would deny you entry and send you back to Moscow because you cannot enter the US on a B1 with the immigrant intent. Any attempt to hide your true immigrant intent from the immigration officer would be considered immigration fraud.

I highly recommend staying where you are and having your fiance petition you for a K1 visa.

Edited by jsnearline, 03 January 2007 - 01:27 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-03 13:25:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresReligious Ceremony in Mexico
A friend of mine knows someone who went to Mexico to pick up their fiancee and have a ceremony there. When they tried to enter the US afterwards, ICE found some evidence of the ceremony in their luggage and denied her entry saying her K1 was no longer valid. You have to be very careful about that kind of thing.

My wife is a Catholic Filipina. She originally wanted the ceremony in the Philippines, but we were able to work things out with my parish to have a Catholic wedding here in the US within the 90 days allowed by her K1. It was a tight schedule - started marriage prep one week after she got here, but we're glad we did it the way we did. We went back to Manila to celebrate with her family once she got her green card.

Edited by jsnearline, 06 January 2007 - 11:03 AM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-06 11:01:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresmeeting requirement
I'm still unclear whether he ever used his previous tourist visa. The OP said it's expired, but I don't see any info on whether or not he used it. If he did, that would help him, but the mere fact he was able to get one before is a good sign, so long as his circumstances haven't changed since then.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-07 12:32:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresmeeting requirement
Ok, getting back to trying to offer the OP some contstructive advice... Can anyone either verify or shoot some holes in my assertion posted previously that it is easier for someone who previously had a tourist visa to get a new than for someone who never had one before? It seems to me that if the guy the OP wants to meet was able to show enough intent to return home that he got a tourist visa previously, then he has a good chance of being able to get a new tourist visa.

Edited by jsnearline, 07 January 2007 - 11:40 AM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-07 11:39:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresmeeting requirement

he had a tourist visa, but it expired. so he needs a new one. is this too hard to get, even if he can proove all kinds of ties of work and school and bank accounts and such there?


If he had a tourist visa previously, that increases the odds that he may be able to get another one, provided that he never overstayed when he was in the US, because it shows that he came here and went home again.

I'd say the chances are better that he could get another tourist visa than you getting a waiver for the K1 meeting requirement. Since the meeting requirment for the K1 does not require you to go there (he can come here to meet the requirement) it is almost impossible to get a waiver.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-06 21:59:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresstatement of intent

I didn't see where a letter of intent was required.


It's right in the I-129F instructions under section 7 What Documents Do You Need to Prove That You Can Legally Marry?:

B. Provide original statements from you and your fiancé(e) whom you plan to marry within 90 days of his or her admission


Edited by jsnearline, 07 January 2007 - 09:54 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-07 21:53:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresstatement of intent
Send the original. Same goes for the G325A form. My fiancee used FedEx to get her statement of intent and G325A to me. It only took a two days to get them and it only cost about $25.

Edited by jsnearline, 06 January 2007 - 10:55 AM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-06 10:54:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresK1 visa in Guam: I am at the begining. I want to get started right
According to the I-129F instructions...

If you live in Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii or Nevada, mail this petition to:

USCIS California Service Center
P.O. Box 10130
Laguna Niguel,
CA 92607-1013


jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-10 16:54:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresPremium Processing?

Premium Processing Service provides faster processing of certain employment-based petitions and applications. Specifically, USCIS provides 15 calendar day processing to those who choose to use this service or USCIS will refund the Premium Processing fee and the relating case will continue to receive faster processing.


http://www.uscis.gov...00045f3d6a1RCRD

I believe "employment-based" is the key phrase here. A K1 petition is not employment-based.

Edited by jsnearline, 11 January 2007 - 12:25 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-11 12:23:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresFiancee Visa Debt Problems???
When I got married, I had over $10,000 of credit card debt. It did not cause me any problems with the K1 or AOS for my wife. It's now paid off and we have a good balance in our savings.

That said, I agree with Yodrak - financial issues can put a big strain on a marriage and often lead to divorce. I think being open and honest with your fiancee about this is more important than any potential issues you might face with USCIS. I talked to my wife about my situation when we started talking about getting engaged. I didn't want to burden her with my debt and I told her I was willing to wait until it was paid off. She said she would rather come as soon as she could. When she arrived, she knew what she was getting into, so there were no surprises.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-17 11:12:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresInviting Guests from Fiancee's Country to Wedding
Several factors come into play. Age and marital status are big ones. Before we got engaged, my wife was denied a tourist visa to come to the US for her aunt's wedding. This despite the fact that my wife owned a business and had considerable family ties to the Philippines, being the eldest in her family. The officer told her that she was a very attractive young woman and so he thought it quite possible that some nice American guy would fall for her while she was here. I thought it was a rather chauvenistic reason for a denial, but apparently the Philippines has a bad reputation for people abusing tourist visas. My wife was more accepting of the denial than I was. She ended up coming over 8 months later on a K1.

My mother-in-law on the other hand had a visa previously and didn't overstay, so she's more likely to be able to get another one.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-19 17:08:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresIs Guam a US POE?
The fact that you're going to be with her makes a big difference... You didn't mention that in your original post. The way you phrased it made it sound like she was coming on her own, which was why I recommended keeping the stopovers to a minimum. I wasn't commenting on whether or not I thought Guam was fast and easy as a POE, but rather the flight routing.

I'd be curious how going via Guam and Honolulu to LA ends up working out for you. My wife and I might consider that route if my parents ever decide they want to go with us to the Philippines to meet my wife's family. We'd probably spend a night or two at each stopover to break up the flights for them a bit.

Best of luck.

Edited by jsnearline, 22 January 2007 - 05:10 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-22 17:09:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresIs Guam a US POE?
You might consider Northwest MNL-NRT-LAX or Cathay Pacific to MNL_HKG-LAX. Or better yet, Philippine Airlines has nonstop flights from MNL to LAX. Why not make it as easy as possible on your fiancee?

Edited by jsnearline, 22 January 2007 - 01:48 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-22 13:46:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresChange of address between fiancee arrival and aos :help:
Go onto the USCIS website and file an online AR-11 Change of Address.

https://egov.immigra...i/go?action=coa

Your fiance should already have an A-number,so you should be able to complete the form with no problem.

Edited by jsnearline, 22 January 2007 - 06:09 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-22 18:09:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresTop 10 why we do what we do for our Love:))))
You might get more response if you post this in the Off Topic area.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-22 21:17:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresPlease pray for me
The 125% of poverty guidelines requirement is there to protect potential immigrants and the government from situations where a petitioner can't afford to support anyone. The guidelines are really quite generous towards a potential sponsor in giving them the benefit of the doubt. In the area I live, I would not be able to support my wife if my income was the minimum required.

Getting married is a big financial responsibility and financial problems are a major cause of divorce in this country. Take the time you need to do what you have to do so you can start off your marriage on a good legal and financial foundation. Your marriage will be better for it.

Edited by jsnearline, 23 January 2007 - 05:37 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-23 17:36:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresMarried to Overstay Deportation?
I don't think anyone on VJ in their right mind is going to advise you to bring your fiancee here on a tourist visa with the intent to overstay. That would be encouraging you to break the law and that's against the terms and conditions we signed up to when we joined VJ.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-22 21:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresCeremonial wedding
We arranged with my parish to have a Catholic wedding here in DC within the 90 days of the K1. I emailed my fiancee a PDF of the confirmation letter from the parish showing our wedding date. That was enough to convince her family that their daughter was going to start her marriage off right with a church wedding, even if it wasn't going to happen in the Philippines. We went back to the Philippines once she got her green card so we could celebrate with her family.

It's best not to take chances. If the family is dead set on a Catholic wedding there, then ditch the K1, get married, and apply for a K3. If you give your fiancee and her family the choice, I think they'll see things the way my fiiancee and her family did and agree to wait on the wedding until she's in the US. Personally, I like the idea of a blessing ceremony of some kind.

Keep in mind that you are starting a process that will always be on the record. Her green card or citizenship can be revoked at any time down the line if at any point USCIS uncovers any evidence that leads them to believe you committed any kind of fraud. I'd save yourself the trouble and do everything by the book.

Edited by jsnearline, 27 January 2007 - 09:16 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-27 21:15:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresPlease i need info...extreme hardship, grant or deny?
If he isn't going to come visit you first, then tell him not to waste his money on the I-129F, because he might as well be pouring it down the drain. USCIS won't approve it.

If he won't go there and you still want to pursue him, then you'll have to find a country he will go to that you can get a visa for and meet him there. In my humble opinion though, having him get some meds from his doctor would be much cheaper than for both of you to buy plane tickets to meet somewhere neither of you have been to before.

Edited by jsnearline, 31 January 2007 - 08:37 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-01-31 20:36:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresFiance is now my wife, but how travel?
Yes. She will travel using her green card and foreign passport until such time as she becomes a US Citizen and can apply for a US Passport.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-02-06 21:42:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresFiancee visa... wants to go home

How about a rule saying that anyone entering the united states needs say 5000 us dollars before a visa is granted . That is the way it is done in canada. If you desire to move to canada you need 10,000 to enter the country.


Sounds like a good idea to me. The bottom line is that a potential immigrant should possess sufficient funds to buy a ticket home if they decide they want or need to. My understanding is that the Affidavit of Support for a K1 is just a promise to provide support and that it's not legally enforceable, unlike the I-864 for a green card holder.

Roundtrip tickets aren't always more expensive. In many cases, they're actually cheaper than a one way ticket.

Edited by jsnearline, 05 March 2007 - 04:09 PM.

jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-03-05 16:08:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresFiancee visa... wants to go home
I don't think the OP gave enough information in their post and I think it is rather one-sided. Still this raises some interesting hypothetical questions.

How does the requirement to keep a fiancee from becoming a public charge becomes a requirement to foot the bill for a ticket home for her after just two weeks? One can barely get over jet lag coming from that side of the world in just two weeks.

What if the guy just can't afford the cosf of a one way ticket to for his soon to Manila for his soon to be ex fiancee right now after just having shelled out all this money on the petition, visa fees, and the ticket over here? After all the Affidavit of Support doesn't require you to be even middle class to sponsor someone. It doesn't even require you to have a savings account.

If you've just spent $1000+ to fly your fiancee here, doesn't your fiancee have an obligation to at least make a reasonable effort at making things work? She made a big investment to come here too. Would someone who truly loves her let her throw it all away after just a couple weeks?

If she went to the CFO seminar like she was required to, she should be aware of what her options are. My wife went to that session before coming here and said they do a pretty good job of scaring the class particpants about everything that can go wrong and what they can do about it.

Perhaps a roundtrip ticket should be required for anyone entering on a K1 with the return date being 90 days after the date of entry. That would guarantee they could go home at the end of the 90 days if things didn't go as planned.
jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2007-03-05 13:45:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresFiancee is pregnant
I'm not sure why the petition was approved so fast. Do they ever approve them within a week of receipt?

As for the visa itself, I called and emailed the embassy and even paid them a personal visit to have my Affidavit of Support notarized there. I never asked them to expedite - just asked about the status. After my visit to the embassy, they scheduled an interview appointment so fast that my fiancee missed the interview because she didn't get the notice in time. They rescheduled it five days later.

What was really strange was that the embassy sent me a personal email to inform me when they issued the visa. They must have really wanted me off their back.


jsnearlineNot TellingPhilippines2009-05-12 11:35:00