biggish data

I-129F Sent to Wrong Service Center!

I used a visa agency in Californina to review my I-129F and supporting documents and instructed them to send it after making sure all was in order. Today I received the NOA1 and it came from the California service center instead of Nebraska (I live in Minnesota).

I'm more than a little upset - anyone know what sort of delays (if any) will this cause? Also, California is running 20-30 days behind Nebraska which could make it worse. I sent an email to the agency asking for an explanation, but no reply yet (not likely until after Christmas).

JeffK

Male

Philippines

2006-12-24 01:13:00

Where do we get my fiancee's birth certificate translated?

QUOTE (Dan + Gemvita @ May 3 2008, 11:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (Jeff/In-In @ May 2 2008, 02:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

UNITED STATES NON IMMIGRANT VISA PROCESSING DOES NOT REQUIRE TRANSLATIONS FOR DOCUMENTS IN INDONESIAN LANGUAGE.

ACCORDING TO THE LIST OF TRANSLATORS IT ALSO STATES THE ABOVE INFORMATION. DID YOUR WIFE'S INDONESIAN BIRTH CERTIFICATE NEED TO BE TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH?

Technically K-1 is non-immigrant, but it is processed by the immigrant visa unit. The checklist asks for all documents to be translated.

I really want to say thanks again for your kind assistance. I have read conflicting comments and I believe that I will just have her get her birth certificate translated by certified translator.

God bless you, I wish you all the best!!

Jeff/In-In

Male

Indonesia

2008-05-03 22:33:00

Where do we get my fiancee's birth certificate translated?

QUOTE (Jeff/In-In @ May 2 2008, 01:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

How do we have my fiancee's Indonesian birth certificate translated to English and legalized?

Terimakasih, I really appreciate the help and I wasn't sure if my fiancee could do it herself. She is fluent in English and or course her native Indonesian language.

God bless you both!!

Jeff/In-In

Male

Indonesia

2008-05-03 22:30:00

Where do we get my fiancee's birth certificate translated?

Jeff/In-In

Male

Indonesia

2008-05-02 02:30:00

Where do we get my fiancee's birth certificate translated?

How do we have my fiancee's Indonesian birth certificate translated to English and legalized?

Jeff/In-In

Male

Indonesia

2008-05-02 01:04:00

K-1 fiancee-How long it's valid

QUOTE (payxibka @ Dec 28 2008, 08:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (Jeff/In-In @ Dec 28 2008, 08:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My fiancee's K-1 visa expires April 15, 2009 and I will bring her into the U.S. April 2nd. Are there any concerns with entering two weeks prior to her visa expiring? This has been planned so that she will continue working through early March and then our departure back to Minnesota during nicer weather hopefully.

I would appreciate any help or information we can obtain now just to be perfectly sure that we won't have any issues at our POE. Will the U.S. border patrol wonder why she has waited this long to use her visa even though we planned it this way?

she can arrive on the day it expires and there will be no concern.... If there was a concern then they would say, "Please enter prior to TWO WEEKS before expiration"....

Thanks for you quick response! I am aware that it expires 6 months from the day she was approved, but I just wanted another experienced opinion. I hope you have a wonder and safe and Happy New Year!!
God Bless you and yours!

Jeff & In-In

Jeff/In-In

Male

Indonesia

2008-12-28 21:49:00

K-1 fiancee-How long it's valid

Jeff/In-In

Male

Indonesia

2008-12-28 21:41:00

Wrote in wrong embassy on the I-129F

USCIS won't notice your error but NVC will... They will send it to Rio.... not to worry

THANK YOU!

kelli316

Female

Brazil

2010-03-09 17:35:00

Wrote in wrong embassy on the I-129F

I recently sent in my K1 Visa application (I-129F / G-325A / supporting evidence). Problem is, I wrote that my fiance would be doing his interview at the US embassy in São Paulo, Brazil and it has now come to my attention that they do not process K1 visa applications/ conduct K1 interviews at the embassy in São Paulo. I do not want our case to get delayed because it is sent to the wrong embassy. I'm thinking he will have to do his interview in Rio de Janeiro. Will the USCIS California Service Center notice this mistake and automatically send it to Rio instead? Since I sent it in so recently, I am still waiting for my NOA1. I was thinking maybe I should wait to receive the NOA1 before I call or write in about the mistake...that way I can give them our case number so they could easily look it up and correct my mistake.

Has anyone made a similar mistake?? Any advice for me??

Thanks!

Kelli

kelli316

Female

Brazil

2010-03-09 17:20:00

Interview documents stuck in customs!!!

Thanks for all the advice!!

I sent a new package of paperwork through fedex with all the copies and proof (receipts from usps) of having tried to mail the first package.

We got really lucky and BOTH packages ended up arriving on Friday-- the last possible day he was able to receive them before leaving for his interview on a flight to Rio!

I appreciate everyone's help through this whole process.

He has his interview tomorrow morning.

I'm praying everything goes well and he gets the visa without any problems.

Thanks again!

kelli316

Female

Brazil

2010-06-14 14:44:00

Interview documents stuck in customs!!!

Hey everyone.

I'm freaking out because my fiance has his interview at the embassy in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday (June 15) and the paperwork I sent him awhile ago is STUCK in customs in São Paulo. Brazil doesn't send mail on Saturdays or Sundays and he leaves on a flight early Monday morning headed for Rio, so really the last day for him to receive the paperwork is Friday. I sent it Express Mail International and it was supposed to take 3-5 days. When I sent it, we had 19 days until the interview... not much time, I realize, but they only gave us less than a months notice of our interview date. It took me awhile to get the paperwork together and organized since I wasn't sure exactly what they wanted until we got the interview letter. I had to do all of the paperwork myself since the forms are all in English and my fiance doesn't speak English.

Anyways...We've been calling calling calling customs, post offices, talking to supervisors, managers, bosses, etc.... nobody can seem to get through to anyone in Brazil to convey the URGENCY of the package. They don't seem to care. They just keep saying we just have to wait our turn for it to process through customs like everybody else.

Does anyone out there no of ANYTHING we can do?

I have recreated the whole package I sent him and I'm going to try to Fedex it tomorrow...they seem to think they can get it there by Friday. (although I have my doubts if it has to go through this same customs process)

I also scanned everything and I can send it to him electronically.... But then nothing will be original...and it seems highly important to have original documents/signatures.

All the originals are in the package I sent...so I only have copies.

PLEASE HELP! WHAT DO I DO??!?!!?!??!?

kelli316

Female

Brazil

2010-06-08 17:02:00

Question regarding I 129F, question 16

Hello everyone. Let me say right off the bat, this site has been exceptionally helpful. I am just starting the K1 process and so far all the paper work seems pretty straight forward. My only issue (and it may be a stupid one) is question # 16 on the I 129F states:

If your fiancé(e)'s native alphabet uses other than Roman letters, write his or her name and address abroad in the native alphabet.

My fiancee's name and address both contain an Ä/ä. Not roman, I filled it in (haven't mailed anything yet) and I also filled in the rest of the page using the correct spelling. Is that going to be any sort of problem? Maybe I'm just neurotic.

Thanks again for the incredible resource you folks provide.

neil685

Male

Finland

2009-01-23 21:32:00

Thanks all for the replies. I think I will omit the letter or at very least drop all points to financial support or emergency one way return ticket. She will be packing her a copy of her lease, most recent utilities, bank statements to show proper ties (employment letter is not possible) and of coarse the NOA1. She is already well aware to only answer what is asked. I have little doubt that all will go smoothly but like every part of this process it is a little nerve racking because it is all based on one's opinion. Thanks again folks.

neil685

Male

Finland

2009-04-01 20:42:00

Thanks for the reply, Bobby. Regarding the letter, any thoughts? She is a little nervous and I just wanted to lend my voice to the conversation as much for her as it is for the officer.

neil685

Male

Finland

2009-04-01 11:33:00

Yes she will have a return ticket. Again this is still rough. I am trying to state that if approval comes before her return date I will be purchasing an additional ticket to get her home immediately. Just in case the official is some how aware of the process I wanted to show that we are prepared for an unexpected early approval. I figure at this point showing knowledge of the process is key.

neil685

Male

Finland

2009-04-01 11:13:00

If she is not to mention the engagement, then what should she be saying? I really don't want to encourage her to lie as the situation is stressful enough already. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks.

neil685

Male

Finland

2009-04-01 10:54:00

Thanks for the reply.

I understand that they are not necessarily the most understanding group of people. But i believe that her telling them that she is on vacation or visiting friends will be even more suspicious. She has made multiple trips here in the past, each time has been more and more difficult. Last time she stated that she was in a relationship in secondary interrogation. I also know that the can pull up the k1 at the POE. That is why I want to send this to her stating that we are aware of the situation and handling it appropriately. Do to their track record of relative incompetence, I just don't want them to think that we are trying to circumvent the legal process. This is not something i want her to approach the kiosk with but to be used if she is indeed pulled into secondary as a show of good faith/intentions.

neil685

Male

Finland

2009-04-01 10:42:00

My fiance is visiting in 11 days. She will be staying for just over a month and a half (purchasing a wedding dress and whatnot). We have received our NOA1, of which she will obviously be bringing a copy. I was wondering if I should email her a scanned/signed letter for the border official to claim financial responsibility and to support her claim that we know what the hell where doing to avoid her being turned away at the border. My letter goes as follows (rough draft):

To whom it may concern,

I am writing this letter as documentary proof that I, Neil xxxx will be taking full financial responsibility of Salli xxxx for the duration of her trip (4/11/09 - 6/3/09) to Minneapolis, MN. As we are making wedding plans, we are fully aware that we cannot proceed with the actual wedding until her K1 visa is approved. We are also aware that if our I-129F petition is approved before her stay is completed she must return home immediately to proceed with the next phase of the K1 process (medical exam, police certificate, interview, etc.). If we are approved before her intended return to Helsinki, I will be purchasing her a one way ticket home.

Sincerely,

Neil xxxx

Good idea or worthless?

neil685

Male

Finland

2009-04-01 09:41:00

Yes, i could be confused. When i submitted the application to the CA service center the processing time was 6 months.
I've been tracking the status on the website and it's in the 2nd status (initial review). The first status was "acceptance". I've called about it once a month ago and the lady said everything was on target and i needed to wait.
on the website, the last activity was 8/27/09 - the lady i talked to said that my case was assigned a "person" at that time.

Does this help? I'm very nervous that it's not moving as it should.

ronpete

Male

2009-10-26 19:21:00

I apologize in advance if this question has been asked a lot before. I honestly searched the forum.
We filed in May 21st of this year and have only seen the case touched once on 8/27/2009. The 6 month CA processing times would bring us up to November 21st. There have been no requests for evidence - or any communication whatsoever.
First question - Is this normal?
Second question - Assuming we get an interview date between now and Nov. 21st, (and everything goes without a hitch) what is the "average" time between that date and getting the Visa approved?

At the beginning of this process i was foolish enough to believe that the 6 month CA processing time would be the amount of time it would take to get my fiancée here. DOH!

Thank you!
Ron

ronpete

Male

2009-10-26 18:33:00

you can tell every time it's touched by monitoring your case on the USCIS website, you can get email or even TXT notification and follow it along.
https://egov.uscis.g.../jsps/login.jsp
doesn't help if you're not in the US, however.

ronpete

Male

2009-10-27 17:03:00

QUOTE (Adrian+Mike @ Oct 26 2009, 06:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (ronpete @ Oct 26 2009, 04:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ron, i dont know what to tell you my fiance and i were with the Cali center and we sent our petition on the 18th of august and was approved the 23rd of oct.. call and find out whats going on with it.. my fiance says that it will take 2 to 3 months after your NOA2 approval..
adrian

Maybe I'm not using the terminology correctly. The application was accepted at the office on May 21st, and has been in "Initial Review" this entire time. With one "touch" on 8/27/2009 -

ronpete

Male

2009-10-26 18:47:00

ronpete

Male

2009-10-26 18:33:00

Post decision activity

Sorry if this post is long and rambling.. im very nervous and excited!
My I-129F was accepted by the California office on May 25th. I set up my account on the USCIS website and checked it regularly.

Absolutely nothing happened to it until after it passed the 5 month processing time, at which point i called the office and opened an incident. 3 days later i received an email. It jumped to the "Post Decision Activity"

Im my initial packet i did not include the I-134. Though i included many income and employment records through my recent divorce decree, i can't imagine they would forgo a form.. will i be asked for it later?

I realize that my case was sent to the NVC in NH, then it goes to the Romanian consulate.

**My question... What should i and my fiance expect going forward? Will they rubber stamp the visa application at the consulate? Will I be requested for more forms?
She has a copy of the packet and all correspondence (care package customs receipts, western union receipts and phone records) since then.. will she need that? And is there anything else that i should be aware of?

Again, sorry for the ramblings.

ronpete

Male

2009-11-06 15:58:00

Grrr Just Frustrated

Now I am worried. Great. The pic I sent for Darren was not 2x2, but met all other specifications. I suppose only time will tell. If we get a RFE because of a photo then I will be gutted.

My I-129F was just rec'd by the cali service center on 3/2, and after reading this forum I realized my fiance's pictures were definitely not 2x2 either.... let's both hope that neither of us gets an RFE for it!! Ack!!

Edited by davidandsarah, 04 March 2010 - 10:22 PM.

davidandsarah

Female

United Kingdom

2010-03-04 22:21:00

Affidavit of Support- going back to school, help!

Hi All-

I see several posts regarding the affidavit of support, however none seem to apply to my situation.

I currently meet the income requirements for the affidavit of support without issue. However... I was just accepted to attend grad school this fall. We recently submitted our I-129F recently and are obviously still waiting.

I know he needs my income stuff for the interview- do you think we can bank on having the interview by July-ish...before I quit my job/start school? (He'll be interviewing at the London consulate.) Say best case scenario we're able to have his interview completed before I start graduate school (and before I give my 2 weeks notice to work)- will they follow up to see if I am still earning the required amount after the interview? If I get financial aid/scholarships/grants, can those count as a part of my income? What about a graduate assistantship?

I know I can ask my parents to also complete affidavits of support, but I'd strongly prefer not to. I'd probably go to school part time or defer for a year before asking my parents to do that.

Any thoughts would be extremely helpful!
Thank you!!!

davidandsarah

Female

United Kingdom

2010-03-06 12:25:00

Clarification

I just wanted to chime in and say my fiance (UK citizen) had to obtain a police certificate from Singapore recently. It was somewhat expensive (not sure what he paid, just remember he wasn't pleased) but he received the certificate within 6 weeks of mailing his forms. Not sure if that's helpful or not!

davidandsarah

Female

United Kingdom

2010-10-09 21:32:00

K-1 Finance Visa: Clarifications Needed!

Thank you all for your answers. :thumbs:

I apologize for the long time before reply, but we had to acquire some official documents before we could begin to prepare the paperwork again

I have some follow-up questions:

1) If I am indicating that the current address of parents is unknown, do I literally put "unknown" ? should it be "not available", are they picky about what word you use?

2) There are periods where her employment was very short and/or under the table at times. She was considering putting those periods as "Unemployed" rather than listing them, as they would be very hard to verify. What are your thoughts on this?

3) The police clearance -- is that needed with the initial submission, or at the interview? How does she go about requesting that? Can it be done remotely? I imagine She would have more than one place to request it from. :unsure:

4) Divorce papers. Her decree absolute has an ink stamp on it that says "oxford city council". There is no judge's signature (or even a place for one) as I've seen other people indicate might be necessary. Do I have a problem or is that stamp sufficient?

saturnus

Male

United Kingdom

2011-03-06 13:52:00

K-1 Finance Visa: Clarifications Needed!

Greetings all,

After reading much of the material on this website and forums I have some questions that I am unsure of:

1. In the last 5 years, my finance has lived (with the exception of a few months in the begining) in the UK. The last three of these at least was in the same city in England. She is a polish citizen. Will she be able to do everything through offices in England or will they force her to back to Poland for anything? (she already has passport and is working on birth certificate)

2. My finance works for a contracting agency. With a contracting agency, should you be using the address of the agency or the address of the location you were contracted to work at? I am worried about it being rejected because its not the physical address she works, or vise versa. She has never actually been to the contracting agencies office, all her paperwork was handled at the location she works at.

3. Parents: My fiance is not on good terms with her parents and does not know their whereabouts. How should that section of the G-325A be filled out?

3. Past addresses: My fiance lived at more than 5 addresses over the last 5 years, and did not legally change her address for many of them except for that of employment purposes. (ie paycheck). How should these be filled out? Will filling in the actual address bring a red flag because she might not have been on record with the city?

4. Birth Certificates:
Hers: Is her certificate required? Do they only need the certified translated copy? and does that have to be the real certificate or a copy?

Mine: Minnesota uses the short form. I have a passport. Will I be safe copying the birth certificate and full passport? Do they need copies of the birth certificate or the real thing? (ie: will I get the real thing back?)

6. Evidence of the relationship:

I have copies of my tickets (or at least some of them, there were 4 stubs. 2 planes each way) and itineraries, bus tickets to her city, etc... but I stayed at her residence and not at a hotel. Will my passport stamps work a well?

I have 3 or 4 digital photos of us that came out alright: Can I print them out and sign the back or do i need to do more to 'prove' they were during that time period? Maybe I need to print them using a photo kiosk that dates them?

I have a VOIP phone, I could print records of calls to her phone (digitally, I do not receive paper copies) but her phones are pre-pay anonymous phones so I imagine that wont be worth anything?

Her brother witnessed my presence at her residence, would any kind of signed voucher from him improve things?

Thanks in advance for your advice on this.

-E

saturnus

Male

United Kingdom

2011-01-02 03:29:00

G-325A & Letter of Intent questions

Well, here's the best answer I can give you. You fill the G-325A according to a specific application, which in thisa case is the I-129F. Here are the I-129F instructions: http://www.uscis.gov...i-129finstr.pdf

Step 1. 2. talks about if extra space is needed. Item 6. A. talks about the G-325A and not having to repeat info on it that was already listed on the I-129F.

As far as if there's not enough space you can do something like abbreviate or 'See Attachment' or both. There's no clear reference about that.

On the title of the attachment you can say, G-325A Attachment for <Fiance First> <Fiance Last> A# None

Question X
Part Y:

Good luck!

I'm a little confused on exactly how that should be written.

"G-325A Attachment for Date and Place of Marriage and Date and Place of Termination of Marriage A# None"

What is the "A# None", is that the alien registration #?

In this case I don't think there would be "Part Y" as there is no header for that question, so it would simply be...

Question: Date and Place of Marriage
<answer in full>

Question: Date and Place of Termination of Marriage
<answer in full>

Correct?

saturnus

Male

United Kingdom

2011-05-08 14:32:00

G-325A & Letter of Intent questions

Thank for the information. I will put it to good use.

Some additional questions:

I am also wondering about the Date and Place of Marriage and Date and Place of Termination of Marriage fields. Is that just the date and the country, or do they expect more than that? How detailed does it need to be?

There is not enough space to put a full address, and if we need to expand it onto another (properly titled) peice of paper, what do we put on the main G-325A form?

saturnus

Male

United Kingdom

2011-05-08 13:18:00

G-325A & Letter of Intent questions

G-325A

1. Some areas of the form are too small to fit the information. For example, my finance is Polish and the length of her birth city is too long to fit into the field. Her middle name is also long and difficult to fit into the field. How does she properly provide that information?

I see in examples that you can attach a sheet with "Form G325A, Q: Employment last give years" as the title . Can this be done for other parts of the form as well where there is not enough space to fit? We are afraid of having to write so small that they will RFE because it cannot be read.

2. Some fields ask for the address of previous marriage/divorce but do not give enough room to give the full address. Are they only looking for the county it was performed in?

Letter of Intent

1. I believe this is needed for the initial packet of information I send in, but the example template from this site talks about it being written for the interview itself.

1a. Should there be two letters, one to the embassy here and another to the embassy where she lives?

saturnus

Male

United Kingdom

2011-05-07 14:41:00