ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
Asia: East and PacificIn the process
Hey there. Well, i've been around and about the forum just getting information and such and have to tell ya'll I appreciate everything more than words can describe. It's odd not having really even 'talked' to any of ya'll, but the information you've provided has been priceless for both my fiance and myself.

Thank ya'll for everything. :-)
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-05-07 00:29:00
Asia: East and PacificLAND DOWNUNDER
I have a question regarding the effects of IMBRA on applications. From what I understood, it is to protect women, therefore the U.S citizen is getting a background check. Well, my better-half in Australia is male...so I have to have a background check to make sure i won't slap him around when he gets here?
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-05-26 00:03:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionAffadavit of Support
As a matter of fact, i'm in the same situation. I graduate with my bachelor's in nursing in July and already have job offers...but haven't made diddily the past few years (been living on student loans). According to my lawyer, he said for us to get a co-sponsor (my fiance's cousin graciously volunteered, God love him).

It's iffy since you do now make above the poverty line, but they are requesting the past three years income returns. It definitely couldnt' hurt to get a co-sponsor. Feel free to email me if you want info on our lawyer. He went through the exact same thing you are (he and his wife went through K-1 and were new grads) and is fantastic.

take care, j.
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-05-05 19:56:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresNewbie from Down Under

Not exactly sure as we have not really studied that option.
A good site to start would be http://www.immi.gov.au/

I would think it is relatively quick and easy judging by the 2 weeks it took to get a study visa here in Australia for my fiancee. Even a work permit was done within 30 minutes at a Dept of Immigration office.

We did not use a lawyer for student visa and did all of it ourselves. Infact, if memory serves me correct, you can apply for a student visa and possibly even immigrant visa online.

Hope this helps,

Ben.



How about the background check deal? Any idea how long that takes or if it can be sped up? While it's a slim to none chance he'll be here in time for my graduation, we may be able to make it if we don't have to wait five weeks.
you're help is priceless. thank you!
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-05-05 20:08:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresNewbie from Down Under

Ok, we have bitten the bullett and submitted I-129F to Vermont CSC. :D
Package received today aftermailing from Melbourne AUSTRALIA.

Both of us reside in Australia as my fiancee is on a study visa.

Happy to answer any questions from aussies filing in USA.

Ben.



Hey there,
My fiance is from Sydney and we are currently in that horrid 'waiting period' after sending our package off to the California Service Center. Fortunately, we have a great lawyer who has helped us out (and has been through the process himself with his wife).
Here's my concern...my fiance and I are planning on staying in the states for awhile, but eventually returning to Australia. Any information on how to go about fililng our marriage there? Thanks, J.
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-05-05 18:16:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresWhat if we do this?
I spoke to my lawyer (who is as livid and flabbergasted as the rest of us) and he said getting the background check isn't a bad idea to do now. My father did them for years for the government and he said to just go to your local police station, fill out a form and it'll cost a minimal fee to mail in. Results should be mailed as a certified copy of the background check within a week or two.

Here's the kicker. The IMBRA deal includes a letter from the petitioner stating that they can release your background information to the beneficiary (especially if there is something in there that is questionable such as domestic abuse, sexual offenders, etc.). Therefore, perhaps a letter (that is notarized, making it legal) that the USCIS can reveal your background information to the beneficiary.

It can't hurt to do it...and if anything, at least we'll all have our background checks done by the time they do send out the new form.
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-05-26 14:58:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresCSC said another 45 days
I must just be in the twilight zone. I've called my congressman and the service center customer service line, and both has denied any knowledge of applications being on hold right now.
I know they are holding applications; i know interviews have been cancelled...but i'm getting six types of stonewalled.
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-05-30 17:00:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresFBI report question!
Is it an FBI background check or can you have it done at a local police station. A background check can be done at your local police station for minimal cost. And it doesn't take long, at all. I know that is what is required even when people are applying to take their BAR exam to be a lawyer (nooooo...i'm not a lawyer...that info comes from my lawyer).

If you want to be proactive, go ahead and get that certified background check at a police station. They will mail you a certified copy of it and you'll have it on file.
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-06-01 15:11:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresLawyers
I have to admit, if I had any other lawyer who wasn't as invested (or who didn't understand the frustration of the process), then I may have regretted it.
Fortunately, our lawyer is very inexpensive compared to the rest of the ones I researched, so it made it all the more worth while.
I was just wondering about everyone, especially in dealing with processes after my fiance arrives here. It seems a bit mind boggling.
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-06-02 00:20:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresLawyers
I was curious as to how many of ya'll have retained lawyers and how many haven't. For those who have, do you find they've been helpful in this entire process?

Personally, I have been grateful for mine, as he and his wife went through this process and he seems more empathatic than most...and with my schedule (i'm about to graduate from nursing school and am doing my internship from 7pm to 7am all week, along with going to classes and working) I definitley needed it.

This forum has been so wonderful and informative, I was wondering if, for those who have lawyers, would you do it differently after having learned so much from this forum?
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-06-01 16:43:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresI'm nervous
Oddly enough, I have second hand experience with this...not just with visa, but I watched a friend's aunt cause major trouble in her life...for NO reason.
Her solution: she got a restraining order. First she filed a complaint of harrassment (the recording on the answering machine would be great)...then she filed for a restraining order. Didn't cost her much and it solved so many problems. If her aunt ever started trouble, she would just present the restraining order to whomever was contacted by her aunt, and that solved it all.
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-06-01 15:06:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresPlease tell me this is approval.
Well, they sent me the RFE, no address changes on my end, it was sent overnight a week ago...the thing is, we are literally right at the 120 day mark for processing. Of course, the service center is closed now. Go figure.
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-07-18 19:58:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresPlease tell me this is approval.
I was about to go to work, had just emailed my fiance, and got this from the USCIS:

"Current Status:

On July 18, 2006, the document we made based on the approval or registration of
this case was mailed directly to the person to whom issued.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status
results listed above, or if you have not received a decision or advice from
USCIS within the projected processing time frame*, please contact the National
Customer Service Center. "

oh please tell me it's an approval...because I really need to jump up and down and scream and stuff now.
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-07-18 19:38:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresI'm in shock...and loving it
Here it is...4 months and 22 days later...and we have been approved. I sat staring at my computer screen for a good twenty minutes...not believing what I was reading. I was scared to get my hopes up, for fear that another axe would fall, telling me that it wasn't REALLY an approval...just some sick joke on the part of some sadistic government employees.

But, it's real. (yeah, i still had to call and verify it...can't be to sure)

Now, I have spent nearly five months in the agonizing limbo, in which most of us have all been lingering. For someone who knows the initial process by heart...who has the CSC phone numbers memorized...I have no idea what is going on as of now. How long is it before Sydney gets everything?

And I read, at some point, there are forms that my fiance does NOT need to sign until in front of someone at the consulate.

While I realize I have to jump back into the system and learn more...I'm thrilled to do it (well, especially since I just graduated from college two weeks ago...I actually have the time to learn everything again).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all. I can't explain how much it's meant to me to know that I wasn't alone in thinking I'd lost my mind during these past five months. :-)

Over and out,
Jourdan
ladygatsbyFemaleAustralia2006-08-18 14:12:00