ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedureswhat to take to the airport?
At the airport, you need to have handy access to the passport-with-visa, and the do-not-open packet (which is surrendered at Immigration). You'll have been told to be ready to present the chest x-ray, but they probably won't care. That's all you need for an airport PoE.

The most important thing at an airport PoE is to ensure, before leaving the customs area, that you have an I-94 form stapled into your passport, and that ALL of the information on it is 100% correct. Triple check the spelling of your name, and anything else written on it. Correcting it later is a pain in the rear.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-07-04 23:35:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresAfter the I-129F and K-1
If you get rejected at the airport, you would have to start again.

But that would be very unusual. The officers at the airport can only reject you based on information or events that were not documented or known by either USCIS or the consulate at the time of visa issuance. Realistically, it virtually never happens. And when it does happen, the vast majority of the time it's because the intending K-1 entrant turned out to be inadmissible for some reason having nothing to do with the visa, like carrying drugs or smuggling counterfeits or something.

Admitting to being married at PoE (to the USC petitioner or anyone else!) would trigger a denial at PoE, because you would no longer qualify for a fiance visa. Having been arrested between visa issuance and PoE would most likely trigger a denial at PoE as well, as would admitting to drug use between visa issuance and PoE. Other than that, you [the intending K-1 entrant] would basically have to admit to, or be be in the process of committing some kind of crime at the PoE, to trigger a denial at the PoE.

But as I said, it would be very, very unusual. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Edited by HeatDeath, 17 July 2011 - 10:49 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-07-17 22:45:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresK1 application process: I have a few questions please!
As the UK citizen, your finances are completely irrelevant to the K-1 process. They care about the US citizen's financial situation, not yours. The K-1 applicant can't use their income or assets to help the USC meet the sponsorship requirements, even if they want to.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-07-22 15:44:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresblue slipped two weeks after interview

:unsure:

Not sure where you get 2 years?


I'm probably misremembering it from a previous post I saw about a similar denial in Jamaica. Your numbers are much better substantiated and much more likely correct than mine.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-07-26 14:08:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresblue slipped two weeks after interview
Unfortunately, the Jamaica consulate takes cannabis use very very seriously. If his drug use was less than 2 years ago, that's basically an automatic denial, sadly. It won't affect your approval, but he will virtually certainly be denied.

He can try again in 2 years.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-07-26 12:47:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresI-129F USCIS Acceptance Confirmation Received, But question...
Regarding the name, you are correct. Her legal name is "anglo", and should therefore be written "anglo" on the form. The "native alphabet" field is intended primarily for applicants from countries whose legal system uses a different alphabet, and for whom the anglicization of the name you put in the "Name" field is not actually their legal name in their country of citizenship. As you surmised, this does not apply to her. If her legal name is perfectly represented in English in the primary name field, no "native alphabet" supplementation is necessary.

Regarding the G-325, as long as her original signature is on the form, and all of the information is true and correct and legible, it's fine. USCIS have no way of knowing the address was added after the signature, and since the signer is OK with the addition, it's all good anyways. A mixture of handwriting and computer printing is generally acceptable to USCIS, unless the form generates a bar code from the fields, and the G-325 does not.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-07-28 11:19:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresWhy did our approved petition go straight to consulate
The normal procedure with spousal visa applications is, the NVC does a whole bunch of processing on your approved petition. With a fiance visa petition, the NVC basically just slap it in a folder with a case number on it and pass it straight on to the appropriate consulate in the beneficiary's home country. If they didn't send the petitioner letter telling you what they were doing, you'd never even know they had it - it's all behind the scenes. When the local consulate receives the petition from NVC, they will send the beneficiary a visa application packet.

I guess they've streamlined the process a little. If USCIS can generate their own A numbers without having to mail stuff to NVC, it may save a couple of weeks. It took us 3 weeks for our approved I-129F to get through NVC to Vancouver in January 2009.

If you don't get a Packet 3 in a few weeks, follow up with NVC and/or the consulate. But it sounds like everything is going reasonably normal. Congratulations!

Edited by HeatDeath, 28 July 2011 - 04:11 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-07-28 16:06:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresTimeline from Interview to Visa Approval?
Additional processing is rare for Canadians. When I interviewed at Vancouver in 2009, I was able to pick mine up the next day. I understand that that is much rarer now, but from what I understand, they're pretty fast. You should have it within a week or two, I would think.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-07-28 11:22:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresCanceled passport after k-1 visa
A student visa is multiple entry, and generally good for several years, so if the visa is still valid it might still be good if it is in an expired passport, but even at that, it probably needs to be accompanied with a current passport. I don't know if it would still be good if it is in a canceled (as opposed to passively expired) passport. I suspect it might not be.

Either way, a K-1 visa is single use, and I don't think the consulate will even put it in a passport that is going to expire before the K-1's expiration date, so I would think it even that much less likely that it's validity would survive the cancellation of the containing passport.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-08-01 12:40:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresCanceled passport after k-1 visa
Mexico will cancel your current passport before giving you a new one, as they say.
That would be bad, because cancelling a passport cancels everything in it, including your K-1 visa.
So no, you can't show up at the US border with a current, empty Mexican passport, and a canceled Mexican passport with an unused K-1 in it. It would not be fine. You would not be allowed in.

Canada has a mechanism where Canadians in the US can renew their passports by mail. I would be somewhat surprised if Mexico doesn't have some method of renewing a Mexican passport without having to leave the US. Call the Mexican consulate nearest to your future American home. They'll be able to tell you what the process is, or point you to the right Mexican government website.

Alternatively, ask or search in the Mexican sub-forum here. I'm sure this has been discussed there dozens of times, just as the analogous problem has in the Canadian sub-forum.

Edited by HeatDeath, 31 July 2011 - 12:27 AM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-07-31 00:25:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresPetitioner at Interview - Vancouver Consulate
My interview was about 2 years ago, but they were letting petitioners at least up to the waiting room.

Edited by HeatDeath, 01 August 2011 - 12:54 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-08-01 12:54:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresUS Passport style photos

The standard of 2 x 2 is equivelent to the 51 mm x 51 mm offered in most countries and US immigrations and the consulate will take either size. 51 mm is .2 of a mm larger than 2 inches. we're talking a hair. Just get a standard passport sized photo as is offered in the photo shops in your country and it will work.

Passport Canada wants 50mm x 70mm, with the face between 31 and 36 mm from top to bottom, with a reasonable gap between the top of the head and the top edge of the paper. WAY different framing from the US specs. It took the Walgreen's clerk 3 tries to take the photo framed so there was enough space around my head to size it with the Canadian profile in the computer, whereas with US-spec'd photos they can do this in their sleep. :D
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-08-03 10:35:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresUS Passport style photos
I recently had an analogous problem - trying to get Canadian-spec passport photos in the US.

Walgreen's photo kiosk computers have sizing profiles for a large number of different countries [Ireland might be in there, I don't know], so they can [probably] frame the photos properly and get the head the right size, but they can only cut to 2"x2", and Canada needs a different size. The kiosk prints out the two photos separately, side-by-side on a single piece of photo paper, and they have a little die-cutter that automatically cuts them out properly for American specs [but not, obviously, for any other country's specifications].

So I brought the specs to the store, had them take the photos and size them properly, went over the specs with a fine-toothed comb with them to make sure everything else was good, but left them uncut. Then I later cut the photos myself on a paper cutter at work, to get them to the right size.

That worked. The photos were accepted by Canada and I have my new passport. Someone else in the Canadian forum had said that was the first time they had heard of Walgreens photos being accepted by Passport Canada, but I suspect most of the others were sending in 2"x2" photos, which is contrary to Canada's spec.

If Walgreen's have the Ireland spec in their kiosk, you should be able to do the same thing - just bring a printout of the Ireland specs with you and make very sure the photos are perfect in every other way before you leave.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-08-03 09:34:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresWould a Cruise Wedding violate our Visa?
I addressed this earlier. When a flight is anywhere between Hawaii and the continental US, the closest airports are ALL on US territory. There are literally no islands between Hawaii and the US, and both Mexico and Canada are farther away than the US airports on the west coast. Diverting to Canada or Mexico would involve flying hundreds of miles farther. Admittedly it is possible for a Hawaii flight to divert Canada or Mexico [as in, it doesn't violate the laws of physics], but it's a minuscule probability within the already tiny probability of having to divert in the first place.

Hawaii is a safe destination for K-1 entrants to go for a honeymoon, as long as you fly there and stay within 12 miles of the shore. If anything goes wrong with an airplane diversion, buy yourself a lottery ticket [and one for me too :)] because you've already beaten the odds. :D

Edited by HeatDeath, 09 August 2011 - 01:13 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-08-09 13:11:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresWould a Cruise Wedding violate our Visa?
BTW, I am not a marine lawyer, but it looks from the first several images in this google search:

http://www.google.co...iw=1433&bih=986

that the US claims (as an EEZ - Exclusive Economic Zone) a roughly 500 km radius around the Hawaiian archipelago, If this is the definition of "international waters" that constitutes leaving the US, it would be very difficult to accidentally enter international waters.

Except that according to the map here [ http://en.wikipedia....e_Economic_Zone ], "International Waters" start 12 nautical miles out. So you might want to make sure any cruises you take stay within sight of land (which you would want to do anyways, IMHO - the ocean is freakin' boring once you can't see land anymore :) ).
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-08-09 11:22:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresWould a Cruise Wedding violate our Visa?
When you're flying to Alaska from the lower 48, the threat of diversion to Canada is a real (though remote) risk. A flight to or from Alaska that develops mechanical problems will almost certainly divert to Canada, and then a K-1 entrant is in significant trouble.

Hawaii is much safer, OTOH. A flight between SF, LA, or SEATAC and Hawaii does not go anywhere near any other countries. Look at a map of the Pacific. Ain't nothin' twixt Hawaii and North America except a whole lot of blue. :D Even Mexico, because of how it curves eastward, is way out of the way for a flight in trouble.

I stand by what I wrote earlier - Hawaii is a very safe destination for K-1 entrants to honeymoon at, as long as they are careful not to leave US waters while they're there. Many many K-1 entrants on this board have honeymooned in Hawaii, and I have never heard of a single CBP-related complication occurring. The CBP-related risk that exists with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (especially the USVI!) just isn't an issue in Hawaii.

Just make sure a Hawaiian cruise starts on US territory and stays close to the islands, and have fun!
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-08-09 11:06:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresWould a Cruise Wedding violate our Visa?
Caution: taking a cruise from the mainland to Hawaii is still crossing international waters, and therefore may count as "leaving the US" from an immigration point of view. A cruise that starts from Hawaii, and ends in Hawaii, and never leaves US waters would be acceptable, but you have to be quite careful.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-08-08 13:07:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresWould a Cruise Wedding violate our Visa?
Hawaii isn't risky, because it is a full state. Flights to and from Hawaii are domestic flights - you never go through a PoE and you don't interact with CBP at all. The only slight risk is if a TSA officer, while looking in your passport to confirm your identity, gets confused by the visa and I-94 and calls an immigration officer over, and even that is not a problem, since the immigration officer will be able to tell (assuming the I-94 isn't expired) that you are in the country perfectly normally.

Puerto Rico, OTOH, is somewhat more risky. Because it is not a full state, and because it is so easy to get there by boat from other Caribbean countries, passengers returning from Puerto Rico usually do have to go through the Customs and Immigration PoE at the airport when they get back to the mainland US. In that situation a K-1 entrant may be asked to prove they did not leave the US while in Puerto Rico. Not usually a problem, the vast majority of the time, but somewhat more stressful, with a small element of risk.

[Hawaii is way nicer than Puerto Rico, by all accounts, anyways.]

Edited by HeatDeath, 08 August 2011 - 10:55 AM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-08-08 10:52:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresClothing for Interview
Dress in a way that makes you feel competent, prepared, and confident.

Most people here, by virtue of simply taking the process seriously, will tend towards, as was said above, "job-interview" level dress, but in their review, they report other applicants at all levels of dress.

There is probably no strong direct correlation between dress levels and success, but there is a definite correlation between confidence level and success, and another definite correlation between confidence level and dress. If you're more confident you'll feel better about the whole thing, regardless of any other factor. So dress as to promote your own confidence.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-08-18 13:59:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresTaxes owed to the government
I wouldn't think so. Neither USCIS (who approve the initial petition and send it to the consulate) nor the US State Department (who issue the actual visa) receive any information relating to the beneficiary's non-US taxes at any point in this process [unless you go out of your way to tell them, which I wouldn't recommend, not that they'll ask - they're really not interested in that area at all]. So I am quite reasonably certain this will have no impact at all on the approval of the visa.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that after a person arrives in the US on a K-1 visa, there is a period of 3-4 months where they cannot work, and getting a job can take a few more months on top of that. Your fiance should have the savings in place to be able to continue to make these minimum payments for up to 9-10 months if necessary while waiting for employment authorization and, subsequently, looking for work. If somehow, the consular officer does find out about the Canadian tax situation and asks about it, having these preparations in place will satisfy them that everything is well in hand and will make sure it is not an issue for getting your visa.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-09-16 11:10:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresPlanning K1 Filing in Advance
Whether or not and to what extent the US petitioner is allowed to be at the interview depends on the consulate. At Vancouver in 2009, the USC petitioners were being allowed up to the waiting room with the beneficiary. They may or may not have been allowed up to the interview booths proper - I don't recall.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-09-20 10:46:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresDS-230-Needed for a K-1 Visa or not?
The US Consulate in Vancouver, Canada, in April 2009, made me fill out Part 1 of the DS-230, all of the DS-156, and a DS-156K, for my K-1 visa application.

Part 1 of the DS-230 is just the personal information section. I don't recall if the DS-156's personal information section duplicates it [it may, at least partially], but come to think of it, I'm pretty sure the DS-160 (which I didn't have to do) does duplicate the DS-230 Part 1.

So if you did a DS-160, they probably won't make you do a DS-230 Part 1. They need to get your personal info down somewhere, but I'm pretty sure that at least some consulates are using the DS-160 for the personal info for K-1 applicants. It has the advantage of being an electronic online form, so they don't have to reenter everything themselves.

Edited by HeatDeath, 20 September 2011 - 10:42 AM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-09-20 10:39:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresWhat is in the packet you get at the interview ?

Hi All

I have read over and over about this sealed packet which I WILL NOT OPEN...lol... BUT what I haven't found was ...Do we get to keep the contents after the POE officer inspects them? If our medical report is in there, is that the same report we have to use for AOS?
Sigh yet more questions.... :bonk: :help:
thanks for your answers.
Terri

No, you do not get to keep the contents. They get sent directly to your local USCIS office, where they form your permanent immigration file.
Yes, your immigration medical report is in there. No, you don't need a copy of it for AOS.

I should clarify that one, based on an interesting experience I had and some history from people's experiences here.

After my K1 Consulate interview in Vancouver in April 2009, the clerk who gave me my passport-with-visa and sealed envelope said to me "The sealed envelope has 3 copies of your medical. Ask the officer at the PoE for one of them."

The envelope was sealed, so obviously I didn't open it. Two months later, at PoE, I quoted the clerk from the consulate and asked for one of the copies of my medical. The officer (who was very gruff) asked why I needed it. I said, tentatively, that I thought I needed it for AoS. He shrugged and gave it to me. So I did end up with a copy of my medical.

I have since found out from people here that this is very unusual, and that the vast majority of CBP officers won't give you anything from that packet even if you tell them G-d Himself said you should get it. :) Either way, this clearly didn't cause any problems, since my AOS was approved in less than 90 days with no interview.

And no, you don't need your full medical report for AOS. As long as you have your vaccination information, which the immigration medical clinic should have given you in a separate, NON-sealed envelope, a civil surgeon in the US can copy (you'll hear the word "transcribe") that on to a Form I-693 for a nominal fee (no more than $30-$50), and you're good to go. The I-693 is sealed by the civil surgeon in an envelope and you include that sealed envelope in your AOS packet. Some people don't even get an I-693 and still do fine.

Where some people have run into problems is: apparently under some circumstances the full medical report, which is in your sealed packet and is supposed to get sent, with the rest of those papers, to your local USCIS office, can get separated from your file. Then when USCIS goes to adjudicate your AOS, they can't find the medical report and issue a RFE for it. At that point your option is to use the immigration liaison of your congressmen or senator to fight it, which often works, or to take the path of least resistance and drop another couple hundred dollars for a new physical from a local civil surgeon in the US.

But it's very rare that this happens - and I think they've mostly fixed whatever problem in their processes that was causing lost medicals. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-11-15 21:45:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSCARS! I NEED THOUGHTS PLEASE!
Using a treatment to calm or minimize the scars is perfectly fine, mind you. That's no problem, and is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. But the doctor will still be able to tell they were there, and will ask about them. When you are asked about the scars, you absolutely MUST answer completely scrupulously honestly about what they are and how you got them. Any attempt to lie about, misrepresent, or minimize them will be the kiss of death to your immigration plans.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-11-26 11:53:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSCARS! I NEED THOUGHTS PLEASE!
Definitely do NOT try to hide the scars or lie about them - the doctor will see right through you and that will be a MUCH bigger obstacle to approval than the scars could ever be. Lying to or hiding stuff from immigration is the WORST thing you can do!

You will definitely have to get a psychiatric evaluation done to prove you are no longer a threat to yourself or others. In the worst possible case, I think, the psychiatrist may want to delay your approval several months to observe you enough to be able to sign off that you are functional, stable, and healthy.

That's the worst case scenario. Lots of people with previous suicide attempts have been approved once a psychiatrist saw that they were no longer a threat to themselves or others. It just may take some extra time. Stay strong and think like a bulldozer - no force in the universe can stop you if you stay calm, steady, and determined.

God bless!

Edited by HeatDeath, 26 November 2011 - 11:49 AM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-11-26 11:49:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresRE-enter
A K-1 visa is a single use visa. Once you enter the US with it, you generally cannot reenter the US with it if you leave.

Some people have apparently gotten their consulate to revalidate the visa for another use if the 90 days have not yet expired, but that, I believe, was a very rare special exception.

If you have entered the US on a K-1 visa, the normal process is to not leave the US for any reason without having an AP document or a green card in your hand.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-11-30 21:27:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresk-1 interview
+1 above; Manitoba K-1 applicants interview in Vancouver as well.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-12-03 13:01:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresk-1 interview
Ok. According to your timeline your I-129F has been approved. So you should probably have received your NOA2 approval notice from USCIS.

Within a week or two after you get your I-129F NOA2, you should receive a letter from the National visa Center (NVC) where they tell you that they have received your petition and are forwarding it the appropriate consulate (which for you, as a K-1 applicant living in Western Canada, will definitely be Vancouver). This letter will also have a consulate case number that starts with "VAC".

A week or two after you get that letter, if you have not received a package from the Vancouver consulate with instructions for applying for your actual visa, email the Vancouver consulate at "VancouverK@state.gov" and ask what you need to be doing. They will probably tell you to download some forms and checklists and instructions from their website.

I'm not even sure how you got an appointment at the Woking medical clinic without a consulate case number.

Edited by HeatDeath, 01 December 2011 - 02:01 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-12-01 14:00:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresk-1 interview
If you live in Vancouver and are applying for a K-1 visa, you will have your interview at the US Consulate in Vancouver - no options.

As for when, you would need to contact them to schedule it.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-11-30 23:16:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresmarried before entering on K-1
My brother married a Muslim girl in Canada. They had to get a nikah before there was any possibility of them moving in together. They didn't get a western, official "wedding" at city hall until months later. My brother downplayed significance of the nikah to my (white, middle class) parents, describing it as more of an engagement contract, but both of us, and her family, know that they were fully married in her parent's eyes the instant the nikah was signed, or she'd never have been allowed (or even wanted, in all likelihood) to move in with him.

In a country like Canada, the nikah is a religious artifact of no official significance (in most jurisdictions) unless it's backed up by a secular marriage certificate. In a Muslim country, OTOH, the nikah IS the marriage certificate, and is every bit as legally binding as any western marriage certificate. The US consulates in Muslim countries understand and respect this, hence the problems the OP is having.

Edited by HeatDeath, 09 August 2011 - 02:58 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-08-09 14:57:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresmarried before entering on K-1
[Standard Material Misrepresentation Speech, Variant 2a: Marrying before PoE on a K-1]

If she gets a K-1, and tries to enter the US on it, she will be asked by the CBP officers if she is legally free to marry. If she cannot give them a confident, sincere, honest "I am not married, and am therefore free to marry", they will cancel her K-1 visa and send her right back home.

Worse, if she says she is free to marry, but the CBP officers find a nikah in her baggage, they will banhammer [I love that word! :)] her for material misrepresentation and slap a multi-year-to-life ban on reentering the US on her, on top of refusing her entry!

Even if she sneaks through successfully, during AOS she will need to send a marriage certifcate or nikah and her I-94 to USCIS to get her GC. If the marriage certificate or nikah is from outside the US, and/or it predates her I-9,4 she will [again!] get denied AOS and sent home with a multi-year-to-life ban.

And even if she sneaks through AOS somehow, she will be vulnerable, for at least the next decade, and quite possibly the rest of her life, to USCIS turning up the misrepresentation, revoking her citizenship if she has received it by then, and sending her home with a multi-year-to-life ban. [Are you seeing the pattern here?]

Material misrepresentation is like a cancer in your immigration file. Even if you get away with it at the moment, it can flare up years later and destroy all the progress you've made to that point - even US citizenship! [You can lie to yourself, if you want. You can even lie to her family, if feel you have to. But lying to the US government about immigration will buy you nothing but a world of worry and hurt!]

Edited by HeatDeath, 09 August 2011 - 01:41 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-08-09 13:38:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresmarried before entering on K-1
In an officially Muslim country, under shariah, a nikah is a fully legal, fully binding marriage certificate. Period, full-stop, end-of-story. If it's filled out and signed, the couple is married, and the US consulate will see it that way, regardless of whether the local government has been informed or not.

I wonder if it would be possible to do a ceremonial marriage, followed by a ceremonial divorce (without telling her parents, obviously) prior to PoE. She could then honestly tell the PoE she is not married, and you two could do another nikah and courthouse legal wedding in the US.

This is just brainstorming though. I sincerely doubt any devout Muslim woman would ever willingly undergo a secret ceremonial divorce and later remarriage.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-08-09 11:51:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresInterview tomorrow
You don't have to volunteer any information they don't ask for, but you must completely answer every question they ask, and every word that comes out of your mouth must be utterly, scrupulously, impeccably, unassailably true.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-12-18 20:13:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Proceduresk1 interview
This sounds like something they may need to fix on their end. Fortunately, Vancouver, unlike some consulates, are really good about answering emails promptly. If you send an email to VancouverK@state.gov, they should be able to fix you up.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-12-20 21:36:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures11/2/2011 NOA1 date... Would 7/7/2012 be safe as a wedding date?
My I-129F NOA1 was late October 2008, for a planned wedding in early September 2009. That ended up being plenty of time, at least for going through the Vancouver, Canada consulate, which was known to be pretty snappy at the time.

We know we took a risk booking the venue and photographer and putting money down, but that was somewhat mitigated by the 11 month timeline, and especially by the discounts we were able to get by booking 2009 dates before January 1, 2009.

YMMV.

Edited by HeatDeath, 28 December 2011 - 08:21 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-12-28 20:20:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresTravelling to US state - Hawaii
Flights between Hawaii and the mainland US are domestic flights - you will not have to pass through US Customs or Immigration, and you will definitely not be considered to have left the country.
Many K-1 entrants on this board have honeymooned in Hawaii with no problems whatsoever, even without a marriage certificate.
Honeymooning in Hawaii is a very safe travel option for a K-1 entrant, and it would be highly unusual for you to have any issues with Immigration as a result.

I am assuming that what you mean when you say "my K-1 expires" is that your I-94 expires on February 5th. Your K-1 visa is single-use and became void the moment you entered the US, and its expiry date is completely irrelevant.
The worst case scenario would be that your airplane had technical problems and was diverted to a country other than the US. This is not a problem with Hawaii flights because, at all points between the mainland US and Hawaii, the nearest airport is in the US.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2012-01-03 18:23:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresK-1 to CR-1 Need Help
CR-1s are about $1000 cheaper, because you don't have to do the AOS process to get an EAD and a GC. But they generally take several months longer to process, so the time from initial petition to being-in-the-US-and-allowed-to-work is pretty much the same. The biggest difference is that with a K-1, you move to the US and marry 2/3 - 3/4 of the way through that processing time, whereas with a CR-1 the entire wait occurs after you marry, and you are separated the entire time.

If they are most of the way through processing your I-129F (an RFE means the wait for adjudication is over - it's on an adjudicator's desk and will be approved shortly after the RFE issue is resolved to their satisfaction), the longest piece of the separation is already behind you. Marrying and restarting now will cost you several months additional separation.

One other issue to take into consideration is where you two live. K-1 applicants living west of the Manitoba-Ontario border interview in Vancouver. All other family visa applicants, including all CR-1 applicants, interview in Montreal. This may complicate or simplify her interview arrangements, depending.

Having gotten this far, I would recommend against marrying and starting over with an I-130 now. But you have to weigh the extra delay and lower cost against the interview logistics and ability to work immediately upon entry. If you choose the CR-1 route (which I wouldn't, in your shoes), you can cancel the I-129f by simply writing a letter to the USCIS service center that is processing it, notifying them that you wish to withdraw it.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2012-01-04 00:38:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSo... my passport is about to expire

Thanks all, I'm going to go ahead and get a replacement passport now and keep the old, so 2x valid passports. When in doubt....

Clarification: It won't actually be 2 valid passports. The passport office will cancel the old one - you can only have one valid passport per country at any given time. They will send you a brand new, valid passport, and your old passport, which will be canceled and not at all valid by itself.

Apparently, as in the experience of the person I mentioned above, cancelling a passport does not cancel still-valid visas in that passport. I guess.
But that doesn't apply to you, since your K-1 visa became void once you entered the US with it anyways.

Also, do follow the advice above and make a complete colour photocopy of all pages (including the blank ones) and the covers of your passport before you send it in. You never know when that might come in handy.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2012-01-07 14:24:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSo... my passport is about to expire
If the UK passport office's processes are anything like Canada's, they'll have a mechanism for you to renew your passport by mail. They'll have you send in the application, and your old passport, and payment. Then they mail you back the new passport.

What you are hoping is that they have an option (a checkbox on the form) that will enable you to request that they send your old passport back with the new one. I did this when I renewed my passport last summer. They sent back the old one with two holes punched in it, stamped "Canceled."

I did this because I wanted my old passport with the used K-1 visa back for sentimental purposes. If I hadn't cared to get it back it would have made no difference: once you get your AOS approved, no one will ever want to see the used K-1 visa ever again, except you.

Another poster here had to renew her passport, and her old passport contained a still-valid Nigerian visa she was still going to use. She made sure she got the old passport back, showed both at the Nigerian PoE, and had no problems. If that worked for her, then the canceled passport will work for whatever you still need it for after you get the new one, as long you request that the passport office return it to you [assuming they do that, but I'd be very surprised if they don't].
HeatDeathMaleCanada2012-01-04 00:21:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresMontreal K-1 Requirement I-864?
The US consulates in Canada can most certainly issue K-1 visas. I got one. Where the confusion may arise is the division of roles between the two consulates that offer family-based visas - Vancouver and Montreal. Vancouver's visa unit can issue fiance visas to Canadian citizens who reside west of Ontario. Montreal's visa unit provides fiance visas for Canadian citizens living in Ontario or eastward. Additionally, Montreal's visa section is also the only US consulate in Canada that provides spousal visas. So anyone in Canada getting a spousal visa will interview in Montreal. Canadian K-1 visa applicants will interview in either Vancouver or Montreal, depending on where in Canada they live.

Regarding affidavits of support:

The I-134 is the affidavit of support required for non-immigrant visas. The I-864 is the affidavit of support required for immigrant visas. The I-864 is a much stronger (legally speaking) document, makes greater demands on the petitioner, and is much more enforceable than an I-134. It has more "teeth", so to speak.

The I-134 and I-864 both have lists of evidence and documents they need. The I-864 requires almost everything the I-134 does, plus several additional documents.

The advice I received when I was preparing for my K-1 consulate interview was to bring in everything the I-134 required (obviously), PLUS all of the additional material an I-864 would require.

The reason being that the K-1 fiance visa is an odd hybrid between a non-immigrant visa and an immigrant visa. It is a non-immigrant visa that allows immigrant intent. Consequently, some consular officers may feel more comfortable issuing the visa if they can see that the financial requirements for an immigrant visa are also being unambiguously met. Since officer's discretion is a non-trivial part of getting a visa approval, it behooves us to make sure the consular officer feels as comfortable as possible.

Edited by HeatDeath, 08 January 2012 - 04:15 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2012-01-08 16:15:00