ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
Europe & Eurasia (except the UK and Russia)Passport worries at German POE?
Hi. My wife's a German citizen and GC holder who's had her name changed in Germany, but hasn't applied for a new passport. Do you guys know if she'll have issues with entering Germany, or what the law is concerning updating your passport after a name change? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2010-10-09 21:41:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNOA's via Email?
QUOTE (Stinky Monkey @ Nov 1 2008, 10:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (stephanos180 @ Nov 1 2008, 03:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (Stinky Monkey @ Nov 1 2008, 09:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
you can also get your number off the back of the cashed cheque we registered with USCIS before we received our paper noa1

good luck with your journey


Really? What exactly does it say on the check?



Well in the States you can view your cashed cheque on line, and on the back of the cheque they write your number so you can regisiter on the USCIS site before you receive the paper copy of your NOA1


Yeah, my bank's got that service, but I'm wondering if it says, "Finacée's A#" or something. My mom works at my bank, you see, and it's supposed to be a surprise. Thank you.
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-01 10:12:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNOA's via Email?
QUOTE (Stinky Monkey @ Nov 1 2008, 09:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
you can also get your number off the back of the cashed cheque we registered with USCIS before we received our paper noa1

good luck with your journey


Really? What exactly does it say on the check?

QUOTE (Old Dominion @ Nov 1 2008, 09:26 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (stephanos180 @ Nov 1 2008, 10:10 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Hi, I'm a newbie here, having been reading the forums here for the past month, and having sent my I-129F packet two weeks ago. I'm just wondering -- if you provide your e-mail address, do they send you the NOA's via e-mail? Thanks.

Once you get your paper NOA, you can sign up on the USCIS website to receive e-mails that tell you of any action they take. But you need the A# which is on the NOA to do so.


Thanks a lot.
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-01 10:07:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNOA's via Email?
Hi, I'm a newbie here, having been reading the forums here for the past month, and having sent my I-129F packet two weeks ago. I'm just wondering -- if you provide your e-mail address, do they send you the NOA's via e-mail? Thanks.
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-01 09:10:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsRFE's Evident on USCIS Case Status Online?
I used my US address for the I-129F petition, but I'm in Germany, and - therefore - not getting my notices. The check cashed today and now I'm tracking my case online through the number on the back. My question is, "If I get an RFE, will it appear on their website?" Does everything they send in paper appear electronically online?
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-06 16:23:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsWhat is a touch?
QUOTE (ThaitoUSA @ Nov 15 2008, 05:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE
I've registered and I see "Last Updated: 11/05/2008," but on another screen it says, "On November 3, 2008


Yes, you have been touched. That is precisely how you check for a touch. Every time the update date changes, it indicates a touch.

QUOTE
what is a touch?


USCIS uses barcodes on every petition's folder to track petitions in their system. As estadia said, the touch likely indicates when you were added into the system. Every time your file is physically moved, it's touched. You may notice one or two more touches over the next week, as your petition finds its way into a stack somewhere, waiting to be adjudicated.

It is unlikely you will see any more touches for the next four months as the petitions before yours are adjudicated. Some people will receive the NOA2 without ever seeing another touch (update) on the website, while for others it's common around four months from filing to see a few days worth of touches and then either an RFE (Request for Evidence), which means you had forgotten something, made a mistake, or need to send something else OR an NOA2. I'd say most people are praying those final touches (pun) are the adjudication just before receiving NOA2.

Does that adequately answer your question?


-- more than adequately. Thanks a million and good luck to you.
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-16 05:24:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsWhat is a touch?
Sorry for the newbie question, but how does one know if he has been "touched"? I've registered and I see "Last Updated: 11/05/2008," but on another screen it says, "On November 3, 2008, we received this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)." Have I been touched? Thanks again, everybody.

PS: I know it's too early to get excited about, if it I have been touched, but I just wanted to know how to recognize the things.
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-15 11:45:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNovember 2008
QUOTE (jpcanon @ Nov 21 2008, 04:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Any new info from anyone that filed in November thru California? Cashed checks, NOA1 news, touches.....

Joe


Here's one more! Greetings and good luck to us, November CSC filers!
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-21 16:50:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresPutting Future Address of G-325a and I-129F
Okay, here's my situation: I need to file as quickly as possible so that my fiancé can have her K-1 visa around June to verify to a school she's applying to that she can establish domicile in the U.S. (that she does not need a student visa). The only problem is that I'm going to be moving back to the U.S. from Germany in December, and I've heard that changing address is a huge hassle with the USCIS and therefore have written the following:

MEMO TO USCIS EMPLOYEE

"I will be outside of my home address until December 10, 2008, but have listed it as my present address on the G-325a and I-129F forms for the purpose of it being the mailing address. I figured that - based on your processing times - I’d be in the U.S. by the time you got a hold of it anyway. I do not mean to conceal anything, and have attached a copy of my reservation with United Airlines for the sake of proof. Thank you very much."

Experts, lawyers, employees of the USCIS, please tell me: will this work? If not, what do I do? Thanks a million.
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-10-17 06:38:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresChanging Names
I've pretty much got every question imaginable about changing names after marriage: Does the marriage certificate show that a name was changed? Do you indicate on a marriage license which person's taking the other's name? Why does the K-1 visa timeline say to get a SSN and then go back and change your name after you've married? Why not just go once -- after? About the I-485, your fiancée should use her NEW name, if applicable, right? If you could tell me about your experience or send some resources my way, that'd be great. Thanks for everything, and good luck to everyone on their journey.
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-11 08:14:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresConsidering the Congressman Route
QUOTE (payxibka @ Nov 21 2008, 05:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (stephanos180 @ Nov 21 2008, 04:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (Maggie724 @ Nov 21 2008, 05:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I know of women who have tried to get their fiances/husbands here fast because they are pregnant, and even that hasn't worked except where there was some serious and documented complication. Can she wait til summer or fall, or is it start spring or forget school?


You know, I don't know about other colleges, but all the ones she's interested in in So. Cal. only accept freshman for the fall. The only objections we'd have to her taking a year off are that she'd be 21 as a freshman (she's the average age in her graduating class: 19) and keeping her productive for the year. Thanks for the pregnant-people insight, though.


my SIL was a 48 year old freshman.... not really a stigma anymore....


You're kidding! wow.gif I'll be sure to let my fiancée know when she gets home! Did she go to a school where that was common? Anyway, thanks for your input. Do you think colleges discriminate based on age, or at least some? Isn't there a federal law against that?
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-21 18:05:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresConsidering the Congressman Route
QUOTE (pushbrk @ Nov 21 2008, 05:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (stephanos180 @ Nov 21 2008, 02:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (pushbrk @ Nov 21 2008, 05:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (stephanos180 @ Nov 21 2008, 02:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (pushbrk @ Nov 21 2008, 04:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (stephanos180 @ Nov 21 2008, 01:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (KimandRuss @ Nov 21 2008, 04:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
The only people i've seen expedited here have been USC with severe illness (2x's) and members of the US military deployed or with deployment orders (several). I do believe there was also one where the beneficiary was in harms way in her own Country... but I think that was a fluke.

However, i've seen MANY try and fail. Sorry.


I appreciate your frankness. Just out of curiosity, is it USCIS or the congressman who decides whether the circumstances warrant getting expedited?


USCIS decides. Please try to understand that if there were a shortcut, everybody would take it, so it wouldn't be shortcut anymore. You'll just need to work within the system.


Everyone would clamor for the opportunity to pay thousands of dollars in tuition?

Anyway, thanks for the reality check. I suppose the only thing left to do is wait or forge some kind of emergency situation. I appreciate all your posts.


You're asking about expediting a fiance visa case, so tuition has nothing to do with it. Forging an emergency is a good way to get your loved one banned from the US for life. No, sir! You really ARE going to have to work within the system. Grow up!


First, the tuition has everything to do with it, considering your argument (that everyone would pursue the shortcut should I get expedited, if my reading comprehension serves me).

Second, are you so afraid that I won't work within the system? What if I didn't? What would that mean to you?

And last -- Forgive me for not using emoticons to express my joking about the forging of an emergency. However, should I forge one, I'll be careful not to get caught wink.gif

Thanks for your concern.

As for everyone else who posted, I really DO appreciate your frankness and references to the USCIS website. I don't know where I'd be without VJ.com


Your not proposing expediting a student visa. You are proposing expediting a fiance(e) visa. As such, if there were a "shortcut" to a fiance(e) visa, everybody seeking a fiance(e) visa would be using that shortcut.

"What's it to me?" you ask. Policing people who break the law takes valuable time away from adjudicating legitimate cases for my friends here on VJ. Grow up!

FYI, you'll want to check out the sponsorship requirements for a K1 visa. No money, no honey as they say.


Sir, you're not understanding my reasoning: Even if I did get expedited (which I never claimed I'd attempt), who would enroll his fiancée in college at the cost of thousands of dollars to get her here sooner?

About the policing, I'll remind you that I was jo•king. I want to entertain your suggestions, though... assume for a moment that I did need policing. A guy earlier posted that these cases are decided at the director's discretion, "FYI." Did you honestly think they'd pull Joe up out of the adjudicator's pool to review my request to get expedited?

Believe me when I say that money from this summer on won't be a problem. Before we drop this, though, I'll ask again: Why do you care? Instead of repeating "Grow up" like a plush doll, why don't you take some of your own advice and stop bickering with teenagers on the internet? I consider myself introspective enough to recognize that this could still be expected of me, but what's wrong with you? Why don't you grow up?

I am now done with you, sir; I do not consider this discourse with you worth continuing.

I wish you a merry holiday season and a years' worth of chill pills.
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-21 18:01:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresConsidering the Congressman Route
QUOTE (Maggie724 @ Nov 21 2008, 05:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I know of women who have tried to get their fiances/husbands here fast because they are pregnant, and even that hasn't worked except where there was some serious and documented complication. Can she wait til summer or fall, or is it start spring or forget school?


You know, I don't know about other colleges, but all the ones she's interested in in So. Cal. only accept freshman for the fall. The only objections we'd have to her taking a year off are that she'd be 21 as a freshman (she's the average age in her graduating class: 19) and keeping her productive for the year. Thanks for the pregnant-people insight, though.
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-21 17:44:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresConsidering the Congressman Route
QUOTE (Karin und Otto @ Nov 21 2008, 05:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (stephanos180 @ Nov 21 2008, 04:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
As for everyone else who posted, I really DO appreciate your frankness and references to the USCIS website. I don't know where I'd be without VJ.com
Hang in there... we've either been where you are, or are there with you (and it doesn't hurt to ask a question)... good.gif


Hello, Karin und Otto (I'm not quite sure which of you it is!). I noticed that you replied to another question I had previously posted. Thanks for that. I'll see you around, I suppose. Alles Gute!
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-21 17:40:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresConsidering the Congressman Route
QUOTE (pushbrk @ Nov 21 2008, 05:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (stephanos180 @ Nov 21 2008, 02:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (pushbrk @ Nov 21 2008, 04:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (stephanos180 @ Nov 21 2008, 01:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (KimandRuss @ Nov 21 2008, 04:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
The only people i've seen expedited here have been USC with severe illness (2x's) and members of the US military deployed or with deployment orders (several). I do believe there was also one where the beneficiary was in harms way in her own Country... but I think that was a fluke.

However, i've seen MANY try and fail. Sorry.


I appreciate your frankness. Just out of curiosity, is it USCIS or the congressman who decides whether the circumstances warrant getting expedited?


USCIS decides. Please try to understand that if there were a shortcut, everybody would take it, so it wouldn't be shortcut anymore. You'll just need to work within the system.


Everyone would clamor for the opportunity to pay thousands of dollars in tuition?

Anyway, thanks for the reality check. I suppose the only thing left to do is wait or forge some kind of emergency situation. I appreciate all your posts.


You're asking about expediting a fiance visa case, so tuition has nothing to do with it. Forging an emergency is a good way to get your loved one banned from the US for life. No, sir! You really ARE going to have to work within the system. Grow up!


First, the tuition has everything to do with it, considering your argument (that everyone would pursue the shortcut should I get expedited, if my reading comprehension serves me).

Second, are you so afraid that I won't work within the system? What if I didn't? What would that mean to you?

And last -- Forgive me for not using emoticons to express my joking about the forging of an emergency. However, should I forge one, I'll be careful not to get caught wink.gif

Thanks for your concern.

As for everyone else who posted, I really DO appreciate your frankness and references to the USCIS website. I don't know where I'd be without VJ.com
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-21 17:31:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresConsidering the Congressman Route
QUOTE (pushbrk @ Nov 21 2008, 04:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (stephanos180 @ Nov 21 2008, 01:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (KimandRuss @ Nov 21 2008, 04:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
The only people i've seen expedited here have been USC with severe illness (2x's) and members of the US military deployed or with deployment orders (several). I do believe there was also one where the beneficiary was in harms way in her own Country... but I think that was a fluke.

However, i've seen MANY try and fail. Sorry.


I appreciate your frankness. Just out of curiosity, is it USCIS or the congressman who decides whether the circumstances warrant getting expedited?


USCIS decides. Please try to understand that if there were a shortcut, everybody would take it, so it wouldn't be shortcut anymore. You'll just need to work within the system.


Everyone would clamor for the opportunity to pay thousands of dollars in tuition?

Anyway, thanks for the reality check. I suppose the only thing left to do is wait or forge some kind of emergency situation. I appreciate all your posts.
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-21 17:09:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresConsidering the Congressman Route
QUOTE (KimandRuss @ Nov 21 2008, 04:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
The only people i've seen expedited here have been USC with severe illness (2x's) and members of the US military deployed or with deployment orders (several). I do believe there was also one where the beneficiary was in harms way in her own Country... but I think that was a fluke.

However, i've seen MANY try and fail. Sorry.


I appreciate your frankness. Just out of curiosity, is it USCIS or the congressman who decides whether the circumstances warrant getting expedited?
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-21 16:43:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresConsidering the Congressman Route
QUOTE (payxibka @ Nov 21 2008, 04:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I would think it is not remotely close to being considered an emergent situation


I'll take that as a "No."

Second attempt: What I'm looking for is someone who's tried this route and been successful with not-so-"emergent" circumstances. Anyone?
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-21 16:31:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresConsidering the Congressman Route
Here's the deal: my girlfriend's graduating from German high school next year and we're sending out her college apps in the next few weeks. Based on what one of the schools has told us, she needs to have a visa in-hand if she doesn't need a student visa by around April/May-ish. "Why not get her the student visa?" you ask. Turns out we need to prove that she has enough funds to last her the year... $14,000 (money neither of us has).

My concern: Having an NOA1 of early November, April/May is cutting it a little close. Should I try the Congressman route? Would I even qualify? Who has done this successfully?

Thanks.
sigmanigmaMaleGermany2008-11-21 16:21:00