ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
Mexico, Latin & South Americameet up
hi there. i'm american, my wife is from Peru. She's been here 9 months now. We're looking to do a meet up if anyones interested. Anyone in Connecticut or Rhode Island??
Craig DMalePeru2010-11-20 21:10:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsK1 VISA approved.
congratulations
Craig DMalePeru2009-04-12 14:48:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsJust got Married

can i ask where did she get her wedding dress???its so perfect.

it's from david's bridal in warwick, RI. They have locations all over. Thanks for the congrats guys.
Craig DMalePeru2010-04-27 21:42:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsJust got Married
married Saturday! Check out the pics on my profile.
Craig DMalePeru2010-04-27 07:46:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresJust filed today..
assuming i am able to get that letter from my fiancee before they send a RFE, how long would this delay things?

I also realized that the passport sized photo I provided is not within 30 days. In fact, it is the same photo on the inside of my passport, which was issued a couple of years ago. Hopefully they do not ding me for that too.
Craig DMalePeru2009-04-01 12:29:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresJust filed today..
Good evening all. My name is Craig. I'm new to the forums.

Just to bring everyone up to speed - I met my fiancee (Ibeth) in August 2005 in Peru. I went back to see her in May 2006. We saw each other again in May 2008. We then went on vacation together to the Dominican Republic in November 2008, and Costa Rica in January 2009. I took my parents to Peru and proposed in March 2009.

While I was down there, I had her sign the G-325A. Up until tonight, I knew nothing about these forums. I did this at the counsel of the woman that was helping me at the "International Institute", a non-profit organization that helps immigrants and their families.

Anywho, I submitted the I-129 packet today. I brought in 50 pictures (she only selected about 10 to actually send in). I included a record of phone card purchases back to 2006, as well as a list of several hundred emails. Everything appears to be in line with what I've read in the guides except for one thing:

She didn't have me sign any Fiance letter of intent. I did include a letter explaining how we met, and detailing each time that we have met up. It did not however say anywhere "WE PLAN TO MARRY" in such strict terms, as I didn't realize that it was necessary at all and was in fact writing more to explain how we met.

Several questions:
Do you think it matters that this "letter of intent" was not present, although I did include a letter that stated I hoped my trip to Peru with the family was only the first of many. Perhaps they can infer that we "PLAN TO MARRY" on the basis of my fiancee visa application.

Secondly, do you think it was a mistake to go through an organization? I wasn't aware that such a website as this existed, that spelled everything out so explicitly. Will it slow the process down (much) ? The woman today informed me that the next thing that would happen would be I'd receive a receipt. I imagine this is the receipt I use to login to their website and track my applications progress.....

Well, for what it's worth I'll create my own timeline here... I was looking at the timeline charts and it said it was derived from users timelines, so if I have to do something to make mine count please let me know what it is.

Thanks for any input.

8/25/2005 - met my fiancee
03/11/2009 - proposed
03/31/2009 - submitted i-129 application, through a 3rd party....hoping it wasn't a mistake.
Craig DMalePeru2009-03-31 20:54:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresJust a word of advice!
QUOTE (msu17 @ Jun 11 2009, 10:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
That is so true. Expect for something to go wrong and delay you getting a work permit. I don't know how anyone can plan on sitting around not driving, working, anything for at least 3 months! UGH! At least my husband could drive and I could be home a lot, so it wasn't too bad for us. If your spouse will be working a lot, expect to be VERY bored and make plans to find something to do.



How long is it before we can go back to her country (Peru) to visit her family? She has never been away from home for more than a week. Someone mentioned we may be able to go back during the 90 window we have to get married, others have said no. If not, can we go after our marriage ?
Craig DMalePeru2009-06-15 11:33:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresWhen can we return to her home country?
QUOTE (*Laura* @ Jun 15 2009, 12:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
The K1 visa is valid for ONE entry. If she leaves in that period she can't return on that visa.

After you get married you can apply for AOS and AP, once the AP is approved and received (if approved before the AOS) she'd be permitted to leave the country, but not before that. If you don't get the AP then only after she receives her GC.


No clue what that means.
Craig DMalePeru2009-06-15 11:49:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresWhen can we return to her home country?
Sorry if this has been asked already, I tried search but was not successful:

How long is it before we can go back to her country (Peru) to visit her family? She has never been away from home for more than a week, so its going to be tough for her to be away from her family , thus wants to return to visit ASAP. Someone mentioned we may be able to go back during the 90 window we have to get married, others have said no. If not, can we go after our marriage ?
Craig DMalePeru2009-06-15 11:44:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresWrinkle in the marriage law? Please explain.
Thanks for all of your inputs.

Again, I understood when signing up for the K1 visa that we were to be legally married here. I did not know whether having a religious ceremony was in violation of that, so I asked. Isn't that the point of these forums? Sorry for evidently angering some of you.


Thanks to everyone.

My conclusion is that even though its technically "legal", I think its best not to get into the gray areas with the decision makers. I'll just have her come here, do the civil ceremony, and hopefully the AS or GC will come through quickly allowing us to go back and do the religious ceremony in Peru.
Craig DMalePeru2009-08-12 19:49:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresWrinkle in the marriage law? Please explain.
So, my fiancee and I filed for the i-129f. According to the timelines, it should be adjudicated around early September. Thats fine and good. We understand that we must be married within 90 days of her arrival here.

However, she is very close to her family and it just tears her apart to get married here without them. Like most South Americans, they are Catholic. They typically have one "religious" ceremony, getting married in the eyes of God. Additionally, they'll have the civil ceremony, being married in the eyes of the law.

Our question is can I go down there and get married to her in the Catholic church, understanding that we cannot be "legally" married when she arrives into the USA. Then, at some point within the 90 days of her arrival, we can do the civil ceremony here in the USA and fulfill the obligation.

Thanks in advance everyone.
Craig DMalePeru2009-08-11 21:29:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresReceived NOA2 but I have a question...
nevermind i figured out what the nvc was by reading the flowchart. the other questions still apply however. thanks.
Craig DMalePeru2009-08-18 19:36:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresReceived NOA2 but I have a question...
Hi everyone. I received the Noa2 today. It says approved. However, within the document it says " The above petition has been approved, and forwarded to the listed consulate."

However, I don't see any consulate listed on the document.

Another question:
It has the "valid from" dates in the upper right: 08/13/2009 to 12/13/2009. Just to be sure, this is the date by which we must do the interview at the embassy, right?

Thanks for any help.

Oh, one more thing. In the timeline it says NVC Received and NVC left. What do those mean ?

Edited by Craig D, 18 August 2009 - 07:28 PM.

Craig DMalePeru2009-08-18 19:27:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresI-129F NVC Sent
Hi all,
I got the NOA2 from the VSC and then a few days letter got the letter saying the NVC had received the packet and were in the process of shipping it onto Peru.

I see on the timeline that there is a section for putting the NVC Received and NVC Sent date. Obviously the date of the letter they sent me is the NVC Received date. How do I find the NVC sent date ??

THanks in advance for your help.
Craig DMalePeru2009-09-08 14:44:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresK1 approved. However...
Hi everyone,
You were all very helpful in getting the K-1 approved (had the interview Sep 28th in Lima, went through without a hitch.
She could get on a plane tomorrow and come here if she wanted.
However, we're waiting for her to come until after Christmas. She wants to spend that last Christmas with them.

She has vacation from her job November 15-30.

Here's our question. Would it be possible to file for a tourist visa to come here Nov 15-30, even though she already has a k-1 visa approved and sitting in her passport?

Anybody with any tips or knowledge would be appreciated.

Thanks again!

Craig
Craig DMalePeru2009-11-08 22:59:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresNeeded Forms
So we've got the approved k-1 visa , fiancee coming in April. Any forms that she needs apart from whats in that envelope they told her not to open until she arrived ?

She's specifically wondering if she needs to have her birth certificate translated.


Thanks.
Craig DMalePeru2010-01-20 18:38:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresB2 waiver denial
So her parents have decided to leave the 11 yr old with her Grandparents while they try to attend the wedding. We think her Dad could easily get the visa, but they are also considering both applying at once. It would be horrible for the both of them to get denied knowing alone her Dad probably could have gotten it. Any ideas????
Craig DMalePeru2010-04-06 10:55:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresB2 waiver denial
Here's the letter I'm writing to my congressman. What do you think?

Greetings Mr. Courtney,

I write to seek your help. My name is Craig Diederich. I live in New London now; I have lived in the area since I got out of the Army in 2005 and attended Uconn from 2005-2008. I currently serve in the Air Force National Guard at Bradley and work for the New London, CT Social Security Office. We look forward to seeing you when we have the opening of the new office in April.

I met my fiancee on a trip to Peru in 2005 between semesters. We spent as much time together as possible over the ensuing 5 years and finally she entered the United States on 02/17/2010, completely legally and fully documented.

According to the rules of the K-1 visa, we have to be married within 90 days of her arrival, or approximately May 17th. We set a wedding date of April 24th.

The family of my fiancee, like many Latin American families, is extremely close knit. She is having some difficulty adjusting to life here without them, but is managing with my help. Soon she will enroll in the university and proceed to become a productive United States resident.

We were hoping and praying her parents might come to the United States to attend the wedding. Being a government employee myself, I know there are lots of complex rules that dictate any decision - in this case who can, and cannot, receive a visa into the United States. And although I put lots of efforts into attempting to read as much policy as I could find, the visa was still denied for her parents.

Ybeth's parents are your typical family with what would be considered traditional "American" values, although they obviously are not from America. Her father has worked for the police force since 1979 and has only a short time until retirement. Her mother is a former journalist who now devotes her time to the one remaining child in the house, 11 year old Diego. Ybeth also has an older brother who is serving in the military. As a family, they are well entrenched in Peru. They own their own residence as well as several plots of land elsewhere in the country. They have no reason to leave, especially with her father so close to retirement. While many visa applicants come to the United States for the maximum and often beyond the maximum time allowed for the visa, Ybeth's parents wished only to stay 4 to 5 days, as Diego could not miss many days of school.

The visa was denied. I'm imagining it was because they have the 11 year old Diego that they included on their visa request. Surely it would be much easier if perhaps, only her father came to the wedding. However Mr. Gutierrez would not leave his wife and child behind like that.

Besides, I'm only guessing at the reason behind the denial. The staff at the embassy is very vague when they issue a denial, and at least in this case, did not let her parents speak hardly at all. I understand it is a very difficult job and certainly the country wants to err on the side of caution rather than tragically letting a social charge, or worse, evil-doers into the country.

Now utterly depressed, my fiancee says she cannot marry me here without her family, as they are so important to her. She is on the verge of going back to Peru, after all we have fought for to legally get her here. Like I said, as a fellow govt employee, I understand there are rules and procedures that must be followed. I often times at work and forced to make decisions at work that affect peoples lives but those working in the embassy certainly trounce my efforts. In this case, because the individual working the window may simply have had a bad day, or a misunderstanding on our part of the rules, my life is going to be taking a very drastic change here. I enjoy serving my country as both a military member and a civilian. I hope that perhaps you might look into this and see if there is some way to help. It would be immensely appreciated.

Craig W Diederich
Craig DMalePeru2010-04-05 14:17:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresB2 waiver denial
Upon refusing the nonimmigrant visa,
the consular officer shall retain the original of each document upon
which the refusal was based, as well as each document indicating a
possible ground of ineligibility, and should return all other
supporting documents supplied by the applicant.

I did find the above paragraph online.... and the embassy did keep a document of her little brothers. Maybe that had something to do with it. What if they refiled and didn't include him?
Craig DMalePeru2010-04-05 12:12:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresB2 waiver denial
My fiancée got here February 17th. We have the wedding planned for April 24th. She's 24, i'm 27 - shes from Peru.

We had hoped to bring her parents and little brother here to attend the wedding. Because her dad works and her little brother is still in school, they were only planning on staying 4-5 days at the most.

They brought all sorts of documentation to the embassy interview -- documents showing that her dad has worked for the police since 1979, his earnings, documentation of his time off and that he is 1 year away from retirement. They brought evidence of her brother's permission to miss classes for those dates. Her mom doesn't really work, just does some tutoring work on the side.

They own their apartment as well as a bunch of land elsewhere in Peru. Her Mom's parents own a lot more land. All of this was brought.
The person at the window was not helpful and instead just glanced at the form and said nope, don't qualify. She didn't even give them the chance to talk. They just wanted to come here for their daughters wedding.

The worst part about it is they were telling the truth. I work for the US Govt here, and he works for the Peru Govt as a police officer. I did send the I-134 affidavit of support, even though I realize that doesn't have much weight in a b2 visa case anyway.

So now my fiancee is heartbroken, we made these big wedding plans (not to mention spent lots of money) and now she's saying shes not even sure she can bring herself to get married if her family isn't there.

What the hell do we do? Is writing a congressman any sort of realistic idea? Please help!
Craig DMalePeru2010-04-05 12:03:00