Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Well here it goes!	Awesome! Many best wishes for a speedy process!	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-04-20 14:30:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	question 18 on I129f	We wrote a brief, two paragraph statement that included: when and how our relationship started, and the dates/places we saw each other in person since that point. The dates we mentioned in this answer corresponded directly to the pictures, boarding passes, etc etc we included as evidence that we had met in the past two years.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-04-22 13:51:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Do I still send to Texas?	You have to send it to Texas, who will then send it off to California (or maybe, wonder of wonders, begin to process them again--what can I say, I'm an optimist! ). Sorry!	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-01-29 13:12:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Engagement Ring Receipt	I personally don't think the ring reciept is necessary -- wearing the ring itself is more important, methinks! I took the receipt with me to the visa interview and wasn't asked for it.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-04-18 00:00:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Fuzzness & KarenCee	Thsi day has been a long time coming, and I am so happy for the both of you! Many best wishes for a smooth and successful interview!!!	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-04 11:05:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	When can I move?	The K-1 visa is only good for entry BEFORE you get married, so go ahead and move your belongings You can move your belongings (used personal effects) duty free at the time of your entry into the US or after your entry. Your shipper will need a copy of your I-94, Your visa and a CBP Form 3299. If you try to move your belongings before your entry on the K1, your goods are subject to duty. So the only opportunity I'll have to move is when I actually activate that K1 Visa because once I activate it I can't come back to Canada....correct? Thanks so much!! I had the vast majority of my belongings brought to me by movers almost a year after I moved to the US. Any experienced cross-border mover will direct you to the correct customs forms to use, as well as what paperwork they will require. I remember having to photocopy all of the pages in my passport, amongst other stuff. You can have someone else move your stuff over for you after you arrive... EIther friends, family, or a mover... Really??? I'd rather do that! I don't want have to move EVERYTHING in one day. What kind of documentation are they going to need when customs questions them??	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-10 13:30:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	RFE	Sorry to hear that, but at least you know that you are being processed and once you know what they want if you get it seen to asap and sent back, you will find yourselves on the go again, good luck Amen to that! Focus on the positive -- they've actually looked at your case! Best wishes for a quick approval after it's been taken care of!	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-10 21:31:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Does this seem legit?	We'll just pronounce it Noah...LOL don't go stealing it now heheh that's awesome! even for a Wings fan!	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-11 20:04:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Does this seem legit?	Don't worry Cassie, that baby's getting FRAMED when this is all over. I might name my first born NOA2 it meant that much to me! erm, ok.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-11 19:49:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Does this seem legit?	Thanks - trust me I shred all receipts/statements, etc. I'm fanatical about that stuff and this case number is more important to me than anything in the world. The person didn't say if they'd called NSC and if the check had been cashed etc so I'm not going to give out my info. I feel really bad if I could have helped but you have to be careful, don't you? And this was someone listed as a newbie who I'd never seen on the boards before so don't hate me everyone for saying no! Please? Just don't shred your NOA2, you'll need it for the AOS later on!!!!! (I know you mean you shred financial stuff, but just making sure. ) And I wouldn't have shared that personal information either.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-11 19:35:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	NOA 2 approved!! but...	Congratulations!	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-12 11:27:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	After K1-Visa Is Issued	You have 6 months from the day your visa is issued to activate it (use it) at the point of entry to the US.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-13 13:59:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	INTERVIEW RESCHEDULED!!!	excellent! Best wishes on a successful interview!	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-15 14:32:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	now am even more confused.. USCIS told me after NOA2 it will be sent direct to embassy!?	That's interesting. People on VJ have reported the NVC has never confirmed their petition and suddenly the Beneficiary in the foreign country get packet 3 or some kind of notice or both get a notice the petition's at the embassy. Because for K-1 petitions, NVC just kinda skims on through (there have been some exceptions to this, but this is generally the case). When we were waiting for our petition to make its way through to the embassy, we were told to wait at least 2 weeks from our NOA2 date before bugging NVC. For kicks, we called on day 11, and were told "it's arrived, and being sent out today to Montreal". If we had waited until the 2 weeks or so, we would have had package 3 in hand by then, before even knowing it had already went through NVC. I think possibly, even though the SC probably doesn't have a clue if they're the helpless desk because they're reading from a script they're provided and have absolutely no insight into the process, some do get sent or could get sent to the embassy directly. you are correct, the USCIS 1-800 number is staffed by a sub-contracted call centre, whose employees are reading off a screen, and are trained up to a point. But no, the petitions are sent to NVC by the district centres, and are then separated into consulate piles, or "we have to deal with them" piles (like the I-130 applicants, for example). Seriously ... I called last night after reading someone with our exact NOA2 date called and they were in the system. Why aren't we???? because your petition is one of thousands, my dear.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-19 13:20:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Proof of engagement	I took cards and letters of congratulations on our engagement to our interview.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-17 00:05:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Lawyer's response to K-1 questions	2)If you are asked your intent, come on in and have your normal stay and Dean should return to the UK before the expiration of the waiver. While here, file the fiancé visa petition. Once it is approved, Dean can apply for the fiancé visa at the US Consulate in the UK, come back to the US and you can get married within 90 days. Does this make sense to anyone? What makes sense to me is that this attorney doesn't know very damn much about the K-1 process. Since when can you apply for the fiance visa at the US consulate in the UK? Don't take advice from the uninformed. edited to add: Nevermind! LOL Edited by Cassie, 19 May 2006 - 12:01 PM.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-19 11:55:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	What does a NOA2 look like?	Congratulations to both of you.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-19 22:42:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	is it a must to change the visiting rights for the kid to holiday rights?	goldie, I understand this from your post - you've got an agreement with your child's father, worked out during the divorce procedings. Now you want to change the agreement, in fact you may need to change the agreement in order to bring your child to the USA with you. Sounds like you need to enter into some negotiations with your ex-. You may need a family lawyer to help you with the negtiations, perhaps the same lawyer who helped you with the divorce. The guy at "the office" can't help you, or predict the outcome. He can only speculate and record the change when the negotiations have determined what changes there will be. The US government can't help you either. They won't help you to negotiate a new deal with your ex, nor will they help you to break Swiss law. They may issue your child a visa, but that won't necessarily mean that you can take your child out of Switzerland under the current arrangement. Yodrak am a bit worried, if i have to change officialy the weekly visiting rights for the father of my child to longer holiday rights as its recommended? or is it enough if i talk with the father of the kid and see what we can do, if he anyway is intrested in it? at the office where they deal with this changments, they told me, that it might be a possibility that MYSELF i have to pay for all the costs that the father can take his child for holiday to swiss later on. !!! even if they say in the divorce papers, that the father has to take all the costs to visit or take the kid into holiday! they told me, its becouse its me who want to leave and go far away, so its on me to pay all the costs!! but, how could i do this? to pay for the airfare for my ex to come to usa, then pay 2 fligth back for them, then pay again to let the ex go home??? my daughter is just 4 years old. and can not travel allone... she has no contact with the father, he see her only when he feel to see her... but, i know for sure, if i have to sign such a agreement, that i have to pay all costs, only to put me in a mess, he will come...to pick the daughter.. and here we dont even talk what to do if the child DOESNT WANT to go... i dont know what the law in switzelrand says... but, i know, i will not sign such a agreement.. what if i cant pay?? i am not allowed to work at least 1 year... and, even then, its just too expensive.. anyway, my doughter has no contact anyway with the father, and i guess he will not border anyway, even if we are gone.. but, DO I NEED THIS AGREEMENT for usa??? thanks a million times.. the guy today from the office confused me just too much... what Yodrak said! plus: have you filed for a K-2 visa for your child yet? Don't you have to have the child's father's permission to do that as well? (someone who has filed K-2 needs to answer/cofirm this one for me )	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-18 13:46:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	that was for nothing	as hard as it is, you must have patience. it's not even been 30 days since your noa1. expecting a noa2 that quickly knowing this new law is buggering things up is only setting yourself up for frustration. i had a 130+ day wait for my noa2 so i know how frustrating it is. this process is slow and stressful ....we should all probably start buying stock in tums and rolaids. take care. k I'm with you this one. In my humble opinion, calling senators/representatives of congress/elected officials will not do you any good at this point. Is the current processing time for VSC 30 days past the date of your NOA1? If it is, then by all means, call who you can. If it isn't, step away from the telephone! With the introduction of the IMBRA law into the procedures, people are going to have to realize that there is going to be a wait until the kinks in the process get worked out -- even in superspeedy Vermont.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-24 10:45:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	To call or not to call	I personally wouldn't worry too much about not getting a NOA1 yet -- you know that your cheque has cleared the bank, so they definitely have your petition there.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-29 09:43:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	How long?	To answer the OP's original question: our K-1 took 5 months flat from dropping the petition in the mail to me stepping foot in the United States. Factors that affected our case: --Texas was processing their own K-1 petitions, and doing it farily quickly --We had no RFE's --Montreal wasn't dealing with DCF at that point, so was still rolling merrily along --IMBRA was still a gleam in someone's eye at that point.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-29 16:39:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	DECLARATION OF MEETING DRAFT	Your letter is missing a key ingredient -- people have been RFE'ed for not including a bit about how/where/when you first started your relationship (obviously for you it was online?). And I am with the others, you may want to cut down on the flowery bits. Also, since you mentioned meeting some of his family, a picture of that meeting (if you have it) would be an excellent thing to include with your application.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-05-02 11:20:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Change of Address	That is exactly what we did (Yodrak's suggestion). I moved in between receiving the NOA1 and NOA2. We waited until we knew the petition was on its way to the Consulate, and then Jerry emailed them with my change of address, etc. My package 3 got to me with no problems.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-06-01 10:45:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 visa confusion	Ummm .... my divorce is final this month. (Been separated for 3, or is it 4?, years now.) Do I have an 'oops' to anticipate? lol Nope, just as long as you are free to marry when you submit the I-129f petition. You have to include a copy of your divorce decree, so no filing before the divorce is final. My husband's divorce was finalized a couple of months before we were engaged, and we had no problems with our petition because of it.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-06-11 22:47:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 visa confusion	Here's my two cents (as someone who was in your shoes ): one: You are not eligible for DCF in Canada, since your USC fiance does not currently reside in Canada and is not considered a permanent resident in Canada, so scratch that possibility off the list. two: I personally feel that you can do the filing on your own, no lawyer required, with some planning and research beforehand. VisaJourney is a great resource, as well as the USCIS website. If you feel that you have circumstances that are above and beyond a straightforward case, by all means look into retaining a lawyer--just make sure that he/she is very familiar with the process. three: are there possibilities of your fiance coming to see you in Canada during the process? You aren't the only one who could travel? fourth: Welcome to VJ! This is a great place, full of info and people willing to help you out and support you throughout the process. Be sure to check out the Canadian section in the Regional Forums -- we have lots of Canuck-specific information there. My humble advice before you start? Don't let this visa thing stress you out too much, it's really easy to get swallowed up in it, especially while you are waiting for stuff to happen. many best wishes to you both	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-06-11 15:48:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	ACCO Fasteners	I think we used a paper clip.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-06-19 10:58:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	I THINK I MESSED UP ON MY SUPPLEMENT FORMS: NEED YOUR OPINIONS	More then likely you will be ok having only submitted the one copy of the supplement. Let us know if it is otherwise but I honestly think all will be honky dory. It should be OK I think. I remember reading somewhere (I think the I-129f instructions page) that you didn't even have to fill out all the info on the G-325, that you only needed to sign it, since most of the info is already on the I-129f (we all fill it out just in case ofcourse). If you submitted one copy as an attachment to the G-325, lets hope they use the same aproach and allow it and not give you an RFE. But ofcourse this is the USCIS.....you never know!! WIsh you the best If that (the bolded section) is on the VJ guides somewhere, we need to remove it, since that's bad advice to give. There is quite a bit of info asked on the G-325s that isn't asked anywhere else. The original G-325 forms (we actually used one of these) are four different coloured sheets interspersed with carbon paper. When received back at USCIS, each sheet has a different department it goes to (if you look closely on the bottom of each sheet on the downloadable forms, you'll see that they are subtly different). In this case, you'd need 4 supplement sheets, one for each department. Now with the advent of the downloadable forms, I am not sure if this is still a huge deal. If they have a problem, I am sure they'll RFE you for them. Let us know for future reference!	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-06-27 12:49:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Please, Help! Urgent!	I entered on a one-way ticket and was fine as well.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-07-04 18:15:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	anyone touched today?	Since I didn't get touched today either, fiance called USCIS. They said "your case is being processed, estimated time, 60 days". ARGH!!!! Didn't they say it'd take less than the processing time in our NOA1? Mine says 30 in that one. Thats a canned answer, you could be approved tomorrow Aye, take the processing estimates they tell you with a grain of salt. They tell you 60 days for a couple of reasons: one, so people would stop calling them every day; two, so people wouldn't be calling them all upset when it was taking longer than what they were initially being told; and three, so you can be pleasantly surprised when it take shorter than 60 days.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-07-06 12:33:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	LET'S CELEBRATE! I found the answer to our question about TOUCHING haha	Yep, they will only send you an email or update the message on your online status when they are doing something significant with your case. At any other time when you see dates change on your online status this can be for any number of reasons, as Jen said. Some of them will lead to something significant, some will just be eg be being moved from one pile to another. Many get their approvals etc without ever seeing any changes on their online status or receiving emails. Others get a multitude of emails etc. Sometimes they update...other times they dont. Yep. I take the whole website thing with a grain of salt while in the waiting process. Our online account never got activated properly until the day we were approved, and we never received any emails ever, even through the AOS process. The only time it was useful for us was when the message changed indicating that our green card was on its way. Other than that it was a complete waste of time for us.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-07-06 12:00:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Tougher time the less amount of time you've known each other?	I've seen some hints around the forum about people having a harder time getting a I-129f approval for knowing each other a shorter amount of time. Craig and I have a very legitimate relationship and have been to see one another 5 times (at least 8-10 by the time the interview comes around), but alas, we only met online in the beginning of February. And met in person in April. And were engaged in June. A relatively short amount of time compared to many couples on here. Does anyone think this is going to cause a problem or has experienced a problem with this? We have very solid proof of both meeting in the past 2 years as well as an ongoing relationship. But that won't help much if they are biased because we haven't even known each other a year. here's our timeline at the beginning of our courtship: met online end of Jan 2004 met in person first two weeks of April 2004 met in person again mid May 2004, engaged May 23, and started filling out the K-1 paperwork 2 days later sent in visa papers June 2004 so, remarkably similar to your timeline! During my visa interview, the CO did ask "so you were engaged the second time you met in person?" I stumbled over some sort of answer, and she followed up with "Have you met each others' families yet?" I said "Oh yeah definitely" and started reaching into my bag to get the pictures to prove that not only had we met each other's families, but our parents had the chance to meet each other for a weekend as well. I didn't get a chance to do that, since she just replied "Ok" and moved on to something else. Personally, I wouldn't be all that worried, but be prepared for some questioning just in case. It sounds like you have ample evidence required.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-07-25 08:29:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Wow, holy cow...	Yeah, NVC is usually a blip on the screen for K-1s, now onto the fun part -- waiting for the visa interview!	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-07-25 08:34:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Sent in proof of ongoing relationship with petition?	Above and beyond what was required (evidence of meeting in last two years),I think Jerry added a couple of pages of phone records that specifically listed calls back and forth between us, and that's it. If you go searching back through the archived threads (either here on the current VJ or on the previous VJ website), you will see many spirited debates about the merits of whether or not to include evidence of the relationship. Some had a very streamlined petition, others went with the "more is better" approach. I personally suggest paying close attention to the thoughts from members Yodrak and Andy.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-07-25 12:11:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Texas Service Center	Sorry if this is a dumb question but Ive been away the last few weeks (in the States getting engaged actually - hooray!) but why are all the applications that are being sent to Texas being forwarded on to California? We just sent ours off 2 days ago so I guess its time I start getting up to date with this.... This actually is not a new thing -- petitions from Texas have been transferred to California for at least a year now? Something like that. Texas has been notorious for their slowdowns for years -- with the exception of about a 6-12 month burst of activity about 2 years ago (right about the time we sent in our K-1 petition). The last time Texas slowed down, California began taking on the case load to free up the backlog.....and they are still doing it to this day. To the OP -- concentrate on preparing for the future and try not to obsess too much about the visa process -- you'll turn yourself into knots!	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-07-26 11:35:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Service Center transfers	TSC hasn't been processing K-1 visas (for an example) for at least a year now?? Maybe even longer. CSC took over the slack for them.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-08-04 12:04:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	NEW FLASH!!!	Congratulations to you both!	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-08-10 00:48:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	no touches	Couldn't tell you if we ever got touched, since our online account didn't work for months. I wouldn't stress out too much about it	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-08-26 01:47:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Formal call for immigration reform...	I've been debating whether or not to join this discussion, and I've decided to keep my mouth shut, other than to say -- Kirsten, I appreciate your enthusiasm and willingness to try and change things. At the same time, you may do well to carefully consider what immigration veterans such as meauxna have to say about the process, without casually dismissing them as "without will for change" or "passive". Good luck with your efforts.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-08-31 00:08:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Help please	We sent off our first package to Nabraska about 2-3 weeks ago. They have cashed cheque and we have recieved notice of receipt but nothing else.. Is this the norm? Yes. You have now entered a period known as hurry up and wait. Keep an eye on processing dates and be patient.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-09-04 17:35:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Getting Nervous	It's only been two days, I'd save my stress for Friday when you can do something about it.	Cassie	Female	Canada	2006-09-10 13:39:00