ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
IMBRA Special TopicsI-129F Intent to Deny, please help!
Okay, I just got off the phone with the California Service Center. The person I talked to had to go ask several other people to get an answer about my case so I don't know how dependable her information is, but she said that it looks like the reason for the Intent to Deny is that they never closed the case for my previous K1 petition. I had been in contact with the consulate regarding that case and had asked for it to be cancelled and the petition withdrawn, which they replied that it would be. I never received official notice of that by mail. I was told to mail a copy of that email with my response, which will hopefully be sufficient.

It also appears that the two year filing restriction does NOT affect K3, as evident in this document:
http://www.uscis.gov...IMBRA072106.pdf
MirageMaleRussia2007-04-23 15:28:00
IMBRA Special TopicsI-129F Intent to Deny, please help!

Ok, then perhaps you do indeed need to file the waiver. I would call them and ask this question specifically and then do as they tell you ASAP. Throw in a copy of the marriage certificate too.


Oh man, everything I had read at the time (this was in Sept. '06) indicated that the 2 year restriction didn't apply to K3 visas! Can somebody absolutely confirm that the restriction does apply? I am on hold with the USCIS right now and I'm sure they'll be able to tell me too.

Has anybody else had success with the waiver, and how much additional time did it take?

And by the way, thanks so much for your help and information everybody!

Edited by Mirage, 23 April 2007 - 02:47 PM.

MirageMaleRussia2007-04-23 14:47:00
IMBRA Special TopicsI-129F Intent to Deny, please help!

I think you need to respond indicating this is a K3 petition. Include the same proof of filing the I-130 and proof of marriage. You did include those with your original I-129F, right? You might also want to call USCIS and discuss this with them. Get their input on how to proceed. It sure does look like they mistook your petition for a K1. Do you you have any idea why that might be? Here are some possible reasons.

1. You sent it to the service center instead of the Chicago PO Box.
2. You failed to include evidence of filing I-130 and evidence of marriage.
3. You didn't file an I-130.


I did include the I-130 reciept notice with the I-129F, and mailed it to the Chicago PO box. I have a receipt notice from that office, and then 2 weeks later received a transfer notice because they sent it to the California service center. I did not, however, include a copy of the marriage certificate with the I-129F, only with the I-130.
MirageMaleRussia2007-04-23 13:40:00
IMBRA Special TopicsI-129F Intent to Deny, please help!

Your attorney seems worthless. K3 must result from an approved I-129F. What precisely does your notice say and in what fashion are you requested to respond?


I think that the USCIS mistook the petition for a K1... here is what the notice says:

Page 1 is a blue I-797E, Notice of Action. It says, "Return this blue processing coversheet on top of your response to the intent to deny. Note, you are given until April 27, 2007 in which to submit the requested information to the address at the bottom of this notice."

Page 2 is the actual notice:

NOTICE OF INTENT TO DENY

This notice is in reference to the Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancee that was filed by the petitioner persuant to section 101(a)(15)(K) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended.. etc, etc.

USCIS intends to deny this petition persuant to 8 C.F.R.103.2(B)(1), which states in pertinent part:

An applicant or petitioner must etablish eligibility for a requested benefet, etc. etc..

(IMPORTANT PART, paraphrased):

As of March 6, 2006, a petitioner must meet requirements of IMBRA which imposes limitations on the number of I-129F K-1 petitions a petitioner may file or has had approved without seeking a waiver of those limitations. Records indicate that petitioner has filed or had approved more than the number of K1 petitions without being required to submit a waiver.

Since the petitioner has had a K1 petition approved within the last 2 years, the petitioner must apply for a waiver.
Based upon the reasons above, the petitioner must submit additional information, evidence, or arguments to support the petition and in opposition to this denial. Failure to respond will result in the denial of the petition.


Do I just need to respond that this is a K3 and is not subject to those limitations? Do I need to make an argument to request a waiver? I am freaking out and I don't really know what to do.
MirageMaleRussia2007-04-23 13:26:00
IMBRA Special TopicsI-129F Intent to Deny, please help!
Hello, my wife and I are in the process of obtaining a K3 visa. We were married in December, filed I-130 (receipt Jan. 2), then filed I-129F (receipt Jan. 16).

I filed for a K1 in 2005 for my ex-girlfriend who was from Brazil, but her visa was denied because she had overstayed her tourist visa for one year. Because of this, I have a previous K1 approval within 2 years (yay for IMBRA :angry: ).

Last week I received a notice of intent to deny the I-129F because of the previous approval, but I was under the impression that this did not affect K3 petitions! I contacted an attorney and was told that this is normal, and the K3 will be issued via the I-130, but I didn't think this was correct. I thought the I-130 was the full immigrant visa and the I-129F is the K3 which we should still be eligible for.

I have 4 days left (April 27) to give the USCIS a response. Any hlep would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance
MirageMaleRussia2007-04-23 12:55:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusGetting married in Russia
I married my wife in her city of Rostov-on-Don in one trip of 14 days. The information on the embassy site seems to apply more to people who are already in Russia and need to do everything there instead of preparing some stuff in the US. Here's what we did:

1) I prepared an affidavit in the US before my trip with the same information as the "Marriage Letter" and had it notarized.
2) I went to my state's (Nevada) records office at the capital to do a records search to show that there is no record of me being married in the state.
3) I took both these documents to the Nevada Seceretary of State to get Apostille stamps.
4) Before my trip, I emailed copies of these documents to my fiancee so she could have translations prepared in advance. She got these translations and had them notarized.
5) I came to Rostov and registered my visa
6) We went to the central Palace of Weddings, presented the documents and got an approval stamp to take to the Palace of Weddings in her district.
7) To avoid the 30 day waiting period, we prepared a statement that my visa was good only for 14 days and gave them a copy of my visa and plane tickets. They scheduled our wedding for the day before I left.

That's it! It seemed like a lot at the time while we were trying to figure it all out, but if we knew exactly what to do ahead of time it would have been prety simple.

Feel free to ask about any of the specifics.

Edit: I imagine if I had been married and needed a copy of the divorce decree, I would have just got that from my county records office, taken it with the other documents to the Seceretary of State to get an Apostille, and brought that along with the other two documents. The "Marriage Letter" is still required.

Edited by Mirage, 12 August 2007 - 03:46 AM.

MirageMaleRussia2007-08-12 03:43:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusAny documents given at the end of interview?
Woo hoo! My wife picked up her visa from the central DHL office this morning and everything is in order! Her flight home is from Moscow on the 14th and she'll be back in my arms! Bring on the borshch! :joy:
MirageMaleRussia2007-08-12 02:30:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusAny documents given at the end of interview?
I just got the news from my wife that her K3 visa was approved! :content: But she said she was so excited at the end that everything seemed like a blur and she wasn't given any receipt or document about her visa. She does have her copy of the DHL airbill, but that's it. Is it normal in Moscow to not be given anything else?

Thanks!
MirageMaleRussia2007-08-08 03:04:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusEvidence for K1 Interview!
Hi Iya,

For my wife's K3 interview (I know yours is K1, but as far as evidence of a real relationship they want to see the same things) she brought the following things:
  • Pictures of us together from both my trips to Russia
  • Transaction history of my calling card account for the time since we met (1 year). I don't think this counted because it didn't show the actual phone numbers called
  • Copies of my cell phone bills which showed records of incoming and outgoing SMS messages. We texed each other about 10 times per day each for the last year, so we had 60 pages of records even in a tiny font ;)
  • Greeting cards which I had given her
  • Most of our emails for the past year
  • Emails to and from my other family members (mom, dad, aunt, grandparents)
  • A copy of our wedding invitation for our upcoming ceremony in the US and pictures of her dress
That's really about it. The consular officer didn't even ask to see the phone records or emails. He had a copy of my affidavit that I submitted with my I-129f that told the story of how we met, and he mostly just asked her about how we met and made sure the story was the same. He picked out a few of our pictures and asked her to talk about them. He also looked at our wedding invitation.

I hope this helps and my wife and I wish you the best of luck!!
MirageMaleRussia2007-08-12 13:57:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusI got approved today for K1!Finally!
CONGRATULATIONS IYA!!!

I know you had been so nervous like my wife was before the interview... but see how it turned out to be easy? Good luck with everything in your future!
MirageMaleRussia2007-08-17 19:37:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresUSCIS says case is still pending, but interview already scheduled!
Hello,

I read about people who had not received their NOA2s from their I-129Fs so I assumed the same had happened to me, but after a couple phone calls it sounds like my case is unique!

The USCIS status page still says my case is pending, but the NVC received the approval, forwarded it to the consulate, and my wife's interview is already scheduled. I called the USCIS because I wanted to have a copy of the NOA2 in hand, but they are confused and unable to help because my case in the system still shows "pending". The only suggestion from their call center is to write a letter to the California Service Center and ask what happened.

Has this happened to anybody else and is there anything to worry about?

Thanks very much!
MirageMaleRussia2007-06-21 18:21:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionPreparing for interview in Moscow
I appreciate your response Novotul, and I hope everything works out great for you! I guess your wife's interview should probably be in the last week of August or first week of September.

I do hope though that somebody might have more insight into what can trigger additional administrative or security processing. I had not heard of this before, and we already have our plane tickets and have a wedding ceremony planned in the US on Sept. 8. Every timeline I have looked at with a Russian fiancee or spouse has had their visa in hand within a week of the interview, and same for every case my wife has looked at on a similar Russian website. I just really hope we do not get caught up in that.

Thanks
MirageMaleRussia2007-07-04 16:56:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionPreparing for interview in Moscow
Hello everybody,

My wife has her K3 interview in Moscow on August 8! We are collecting and preparing the final documents and are anxiously awaiting the date.

The biggest concern I have is that her I-129F was filed in her maiden name, then she renewed her passport and took my last name. The consulate told me that the only thing we need to make sure of is to get her police certificate in both names, and use her new name on all the visa application forms. I have heard that in some cases there can be a delay of a few weeks after the interview before receiving the visa for additional security processing or something like that. Does anybody know what can trigger this delay, and is her name change something that might do it? I plan to come to Moscow when she has her interview and we plan to fly home together one week later. Under normal circumstances, this should be fine, but I am concerned about any possible delays. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks very much!
MirageMaleRussia2007-07-03 16:43:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionMy wife's K3 interview in Moscow is just a few hours away!
:dance: WE ARE APPROVED!!!!! :dance:

I only spoke with my wife briefly because she was heading into the metro on her way back to the hotel so I don't have all the details yet. But she did say that the interviewer was incredibly nice and never acted suspicious or sneaky or anything with his questioning. The only hiccup was that her most recent employer was a cruise line based in Moscow so that's their address, but she never actually lived or worked in Moscow. He asked why she didn't get a police record from Moscow so she explained the situation and he went to ask somebody else and came back and said it was okay! My wife told him that she already had a plane ticket for the 14th and he said she should definitely have her passport back with the visa before then!

I'll get more details later and post a full review of the interview, but from what I heard so far it was very painless and the interviewer was very friendly.

My only question is that I read that people are usually given some slip or receipt at the end of the interview that indicates the outcome, but she wasn't given anything. She does have the DHL shipping receipt for how they will send her passport back, though. Is it normal in Moscow to not receive any document at the end?
MirageMaleRussia2007-08-08 02:35:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionMy wife's K3 interview in Moscow is just a few hours away!
8am Moscow time August 8th! We are both confident that the interview will go well, as we have all the required documents as well as ample evidence of our relationship.

The only remaining concern is something I mentioned last month -- she renewed her passport with her married name, but all the paperwork for the I-129f was in her maiden name, so she's showing up with a different surname than the one they expect. I hope this doesn't cause them to run another background check and delay issuance of the visa, especially since we are having another wedding ceremony in the US on Sep. 8 and plane tickets are reserved for next week!

So here's to good thoughts and may everything please go smoothly!
MirageMaleRussia2007-08-07 20:22:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresSurname, interview, and travel questions
Hello everybody! After 6 months and a few bumps in the road, my wife finally has her K3 interview scheduled for August 8th in Moscow! I have a few questions about the final steps that I hope some people can help with.

First of all, our surname is Wilson, but in the Cyrillic alphabet there is no transliteration to "W", so in my wife's international passport her surname is transliterated as "Uilson". The embassy told me that all her documents and visa application have to reflect this spelling. Does anybody know if something can be done when she arrives in the US to fix her name? The Russian embassy probably won't do anything since there is technically no "W" in the alphabet. I hope it will be possible to obtain her driver's license and other US documents in the correct name. It wouldn't be very nice for my wife to be stuck having her last name mispelled forever!

I plan to travel to Moscow for my wife's intervew and travel back home with her. In Moscow you have to give them a pre-paid DHL airbill to have the passport returned after the interview. Normally this only takes a few days. I have heard that in some rare cases the embassy perfoms some additional "security" processing or something which can delay getting the visa for a few weeks. Does anyboy know what can trigger this to happen or how common it is? I am planning our return trip for one week after the interview.

Finally, not such an important question but something of interest... we will be arriving in San Francisco and as I recall there are seperate lines at passport control depending on your status. I think the lines are New Immigrants, US Citizens, and Visitors/Permanent Residents. On a K3, which is the appropriate line? And can I go in the same line with her even though I'm a citizen?

Thanks for the help!
MirageMaleRussia2007-06-17 00:25:00