Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Question about translations	Hi,    Does the evidence of meeting and things like that require translations? Like for instance bus tickets, rent contracts and hotel reservations. We have a bunch of them in spanish and most of the content of a whole contract or a hotel reservation looks pretty useless to me so I was wondering if it's necessary to translate the whole things or just some parts or nothing at all? Maybe just an explanation of the paper is enough? And also, can I translate or do I need to hire a translator?    Thanks for the answers   If a document is in a foreign language, yes, translate it before sending it off to USCIS. You don't need a certified translator, and can definitely do it yourself providing that you are competent in the language. See: http://www.visajourn...nt/translations   For evidence of meeting, hotel reservations are not considered strong evidence as you can reserve a hotel but not appear on the day. Stronger evidence are things like passport stamps, credit card billing statements that show transactions in your fiance's country/city, etc.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-03-16 21:38:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Applicant age restriction?	There's no upper age limit for the K1. The 21 years of age limit is for K2s, i.e. unmarried children of K1 visa holders. That may be what your friend was referring to.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-03-19 00:46:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Pettioning for has debts	the foreign beneficiary's debt will not be a hindrance to obtaining the US visa. i don't know if canada has any sort of exit controls for those with debt, so will leave that for someone else to answer.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-02-22 07:02:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	How to make the visa take LONGER?	Funny how a simple question on how to delay the issuance of a visa can turn into the Spanish Inquisition...VJ these days...   (Also, OP, don't be discouraged...Indonesian is actually one of the languages with comparably few phonemes...most of my students were American, Australian or European and had no issues...I have some study materials if it will help, but I am sure your fiance will be your greatest resource.)	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-03-20 04:55:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	How to make the visa take LONGER?	IN 95% of cases?.   I would highly advise AGAINST postponing your visa process. K1 must be used within 60 days of issue date...then 90 days begin upon arriving to US airport. The embassy will highly frown upon your "wishy-washy" tactics. Indonesian is quite difficult to learn and I would be highly impressed if you gathered even the most rudimentary grasp (especially phonation) within 6 months. What is the REAL reason you would like to delay?   The K1 visa is generally valid for 6 months from the date of the medical, not 60 days.   Bahasa Indonesia is actually recognised as one of the easier languages for English-speaking individuals to pick up because it uses the English alphabet (post spelling reform), the grammar is not particularly complex, doesn't have gendered forms, etc. I taught Bahasa Indonesia to foreign exchange students who were in Singapore for a semester (6 months to be exact) and had lots of success getting them to be fluent in the language at the end of the term.   Lisa: I think it is a good idea that you want to spend time in your fiance's country and learn more about his language and culture, and you are lucky that you have the means to do so. Your NOA2 is valid for up to a year, in increments of 4 months (i.e. your interview should be before Feb 19 2015). Generally the embassy will renew the NOA2 automatically if there is a delay on their end, e.g. backlog of cases leading to a long wait for an interview date.   If you want to delay the interview, you can write them a letter/email stating that you and your fiance still wish to pursue the K1 visa but you will be traveling in your fiance's country until xx date, therefore you would like to request an extension of the expiry date on your NOA2 and will return the necessary documents on xxx date. Or something along those lines. Don't say that you want to postpone the wedding because that makes it seem like you aren't sure about it. During your fiance's interview, it will be seen positively that you spent that much time in person with him. Bonus points for spending extended time with his family as well. Also, if you time it all right, you will be able to attend the interview with him. Edited by kitthekat, 20 March 2014 - 02:24 AM.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-03-20 02:23:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Asking about dates of forms for I-129 Package!	it is perfectly fine that your various forms will have different dates on them, as long as they are not spaced too far apart. for example, something that is dated 6 months ago will raise questions as to whether the information is still current. 1 month, in my opinion, is not a big deal and shouldn't be a problem.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-03-26 02:28:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Asking about dates of forms for I-129 Package!	Yes, that is fine. 1 month is not too large a gap between signing and sending it in.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-03-26 00:00:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	i-134 notarized?	It is not necessary. From the I-134 instructions:   "...it is not necessary to sign Form I-134 before a notary, nor to have your signature notarized after you sign it."    http://www.uscis.gov.../i-134instr.pdf	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-03-27 00:40:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Re issued a K-1 visa?	See this thread, in particular, Merrytooth's posts: http://www.visajourn...mergency-on-k1/	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-02-04 09:56:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	How long do you have to respond to an RFE?	Like you, I did not come across the instructions till later and when I did it said that "unless otherwise specified, it does not need to be an original and that photocopies are accepted". I do not think I "got lucky" the adjudicators go by the book I believe and that was by the book. The reason why he did not send the original over was because there was a bunch of mail delays all over the state I live in (due to endless blizzard weather) which would've made it take forever to get here and we wanted to get things rolling faster.   In your previous threads, you mentioned that your fiance was not able to send an original over as first he did not have access to a printer, and then he did not own/could not buy a pen so that he could simply handwrite the letter. Now it is because of mail delays? Ok.    Regardless of all that, it is not helpful to go around saying that a copy is acceptable because a number of people have gotten RFEs for not submitting an original signature on the letter of intent to marry. If copies are accepted "by the book", then why do so many people receive RFEs for them? You personally got lucky that your adjudicator accepted the copy. A different adjudicator may not have been so lenient. You didn't mention that your fiance also got the letter notarized, which may have helped your case.   One VJ member had a chance to ask a USCIS adjudicator some questions. See his answer on faxed/email signatures:   Fiancee intent letter? Signed or unsigned? Signed. What about a faxed or emailed signature? When I was adjudicating, if I could see a signature, I accepted it, but many adjusicators will not. Signed is better.   From: http://www.visajourn...on-information/	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-06 10:37:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Delaying Packet 3 and Interview	Hi bigjohn7502, really appreciate your reply! Yes I'm from Singapore. Originally our plan was to leave this August 2014 (same as your timing), but my job promised that I will be transferred to San Francisco branch if I serve 1 year with them (which ends next May 2015). I am unsure if I'm making the right decision, was given advise from people (who never petition for K1 before) to ensure job security before going to the States as the market is really bad. Should I re-prioritize things on my side to get everything worked out?   If your plan is to leave is end May/early June 2015, then, yes, the earliest you should have your medical is December 2014. You should get your fiance to email the IV unit in Singapore to explain the change in plans/timing and ask if they are able to hold off processing till December 2014 so that they don't take it to mean there has been no action/response from either of you and send back the petition to USCIS.   As to whether you should reprioritize things, nobody can answer that except you. Personally, I would *love* to have a job offer on hand already, but unless it is written in black and white and contractual, then a verbal promise may or may not pan out. Don't forget that with a K1, you won't be able to work until you have your EAD in hand. Usually that means about 2-3 months of downtime - is your company willing to work around that?   From: http://www.state.gov...ation/87391.pdf 9 FAM 41.81 N6.2 Validity of a K-1 Petition (CT:VISA-1547; 09-27-2010) An approved K-1 visa petition is valid for a period of four months from the date of USCIS action and may be revalidated by the consular officer any number of times for additional periods of four months from the date of revalidation, provided the officer concludes that the petitioner and the beneficiary remain legally free to marry and continue to intend to marry each other within 90 days after the beneficiary's admission into the United States. However, the longer the period of time since the filing of the petition, the more the consular officer must be concerned about the intentions of the couple, particularly the intentions of the petitioner in the United States. If the officer is not convinced that the U.S. citizen petitioner continues to intend to marry the beneficiary, including instances where no action has been taken on the application for a year, the petition should be returned to the approving office of USCIS with an explanatory memorandum. (See 9 FAM 41.81 PN7 for revalidation procedure.)	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-07 20:41:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	minimum requirement for support?	they want you to list your income before taxes are taken out, i.e. gross income.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-08 20:27:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	When should I receive an RFE??	i understand that i was comparing my brothers time line which is identical to mine, he was approved Noa2 and i was just wondering if i should have "more then likely" received an rfe by now   No two timelines are going to be completely identical. Are you expecting an RFE? According to CSC's average processing times, it can take up to 5 months to get either an approval or an RFE.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-09 18:57:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Can i stop using an attorney?	You can terminate your lawyer's services anytime. If you feel comfortable handling the paperwork yourself and your case is pretty straightforward, then you should have no problem going forward without a lawyer.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-09 23:23:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Visa Status Online - ISSUED	Hi kitthekat, After i replied to you the last, i received an SMS asking me to collect it. I now have it hehe thanks a lot!!!!   Great, congrats!	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-10 05:12:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Visa Status Online - ISSUED	Hi kithekat... Yes i did register with Aramex.. Where do i choose the mailing option or pick up..is it with aramex? The thing is...i forgot which option i had because my interview was March 5..then was asked for few docs and only completed last march 21. Latest update was yesterday so i really forgotten already :-(   Yes, you would have selected an option when registering with Aramex. If you can't remember which option you selected, contact Aramex through one of the methods here: http://www.ustraveld...sporttrack.html I found it easiest to call them using the 800 number.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-09 20:30:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Visa Status Online - ISSUED	Did you register with Aramex? Did you select 'home delivery' or 'pickup' as your delivery method?	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-09 19:36:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	RFE NEED QUICK RELIABLE HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!	since you have already responded to the rfe, there is no guarantee that anything you send in now will be matched up with your case file. as jay-kay said, there are three possible outcomes:   1. they notice the missing page and send out another rfe 2. they notice the missing page and deny the petition 3. they don't notice the missing page and approve the petition   any one of the three could happen, depending on how lenient/detailed the adjudicator is. you can certainly try mailing in the complete set now, but again, there is no guarantee that it will be seen by the guy looking over your rfe.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-21 18:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	income proof	Hey guys , our interview is coming soon . We hope that you guys can give us some advises No one has agree to be our co sponsor but I have a job offer in the Us plus my last year foreigner income was greater than the porverty limit. My new job is also my old job few years ago. Plus , an employment letter from the new job. Is that help? We are both young and well educated . Thanks guys   Hi - I saw you have a few threads on this, and Jay-Kay has replied to you in this one: http://www.visajourn...stion-for-i-134   As she said, a job offer is not likely to be enough for the affidavit of support without a co-sponsor. If you can't get one, your fiance will likely receive a 221(g) form requesting evidence that she will not become a public charge once she is in the US. She will have one year to provide this evidence before the petition expires. Since you also mentioned in another thread that your job starts just a few days after the interview, perhaps you could return to the US ahead of your fiance, and generate a bit more supporting evidence once the job has actually started (e.g. new letter from your employer, first month's paycheck) to be submitted after the interview. This will also help with proving your intent to re-establish domicile in the US.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-23 12:12:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	income proof	It says sponsors household size. its only me . Do I include the beneficiary in this? Thank you for responding   yes, the minimum household size is 2 (the sponsor and the beneficiary). if you have any minor children or people you claim on your taxes, regardless of where they live, that will count towards your household size as well. if you don't have any of those, then it will just be 2.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-23 11:55:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	income proof	I just wanted to say that Kit did a great job fielding the several different questions in this one thread.   aw that is high praise coming from the affidavit of support guru. thanks, kay.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-23 01:28:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	income proof	Hello Kitthekat, Thank you very much for your response. My fiancées sister and her sisters husband will be helping to sponsor her. At first I wasn't sure if they could do it being they are not my family but thanks for clearing that up.   the I-134 only allows for one co-sponsor per intending immigrant. so either your fiance's sister or her sister's husband will submit the form. their income has to qualify for their household size (the co-sponsor, their spouse, any minor child, anyone they claim on their taxes, and the intending immigrant). you will also have to submit an I-134 as her primary sponsor, even if your income does not qualify on its own.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-22 20:44:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	income proof	Hello! my question is about the affidavit of support. I am on social security disability. will this be accepted as income to support my fiancé? It also says that I need statements from my employer or if I am self employed . How do I proceed with this??     yes, you can use your disability as income for the affidavit of support but you will need to include documentation that shows how much you receive. if it is below 125% of the poverty guidelines (link), then you will need a co-sponsor.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-22 20:40:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	income proof	I also have a question--since someone already posted a thread on the affidavit, I might as well!   I am not self-employed, I am a PhD candidate and I teach/research at my university. I make a bit more than the 125% guideline for 2 people, so I know I'll make the cut off for the k1 100% requirement and the AOS 125% one. My question is concerning what evidence to include: do I absolutely need a bank statement? I rather not. Thus far, I chose to include:   1. Tax Wage Transcripts 2013, 2012 (not a copy of the return itself, but the IRS stamped print off of my income) 2. W2s from the University 2013, 2012 3. Letter from my employer stating I did earn that much the past two years, and that I am earning the same amount this year (I won't be teaching, but I won a dissertation research fellowship that pays me the same salary---instead of teaching, I'm paid to write and conduct research. I've included the fellowship award letter in addition to the employer letter). The employer letter also states that after my fellowship year, I will be eligible to renew my teaching contract for two to three years (obviously as a graduate student I will be done with my program and on the job market for tenure-track positions and administrative positions too).   Will this suffice? Or do I really need a copy from my bank of how much money I've received the last year? And will the fact that I am on fellowship the following year (still being paid full salary) make a difference?   Thanks so much!   What you have is fine. From the K1 guide for London: http://www.visajourn...uide/?p=6741198   London will accept any proof on an I-134 that clearly shows income. Some ways besides a tax return/transcript are employer letter, pay stubs, pension letter, or banks statements showing direct deposits. Pick two. You don?t need to prove income five different ways. If you have a new job or earn more income since your tax return, then an employer letter and recent pay stubs are a better choice than a weak tax return. This one has to be sent the old-fashioned way with a ?wet? signature on it. Copies of the form aren't accepted, but your proof of income can be scans or photocopies.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-22 20:34:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	income proof	Hello everyone I have a basic question for the affidavit of support what are the requirements for who can sponor? Do they have to be family members only or can they be non familymembers of me. Some things I read on line says it doesn't matter but I want to be sure   any US citizen or LPR can be a co-sponsor. some consulates will more readily accept a joint sponsor who is closely related than one who is not. you will have to look up your consulate requirements to see how lenient they are with co-sponsors.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-22 20:29:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	letter of intent to marry	Thanks for the reply guys, gonna go w/o an address to avoid the possible confusion. Do all the forms need to be signed in ink or can I email her the form. After she sign them, just scan and email back to me?   there have been cases on VJ where people have been asked to re-submit the letter of intent to marry because they did not have an original 'wet' signature. some submitted scanned/faxed copies and were approved. it really depends on the leniency of the person looking over your petition and whether you want to take the chance. personally, i would email her the letter, have her print it off, sign in ink and mail/fedex/dhl it to you to avoid any potential delays.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-04-29 20:25:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Are foreign fiances receiving a copy of the DHS background check?	You request a waiver if you have a Domestic Violence conviction.   not quite. if the petitioner has not filed for two or more beneficiaries in the past (multiple filer) then no waiver is required.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-05-02 04:30:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Change of address	Hello all,    I am wondering when can I (beneficiary) change my address since I am moving to a different place. Our application has just been approved and we have received an email notification but not the hard copy yet.    Thank you.    Looking at your timeline, you have just received your NOA2. You can notify the NVC of the change in your foreign address when getting your new case number over the phone. Once you have your case number, you can also send an email to the IV unit in the US embassy in Singapore (singaporecon@state.gov) to let them know your case is in transit from the NVC and to send packet 3 to your new address.	kitthekat	Female	Singapore	2014-05-16 12:39:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Algeria, how to get police certificate???	Keep in mind they are only good for 90 days, so make sure you get it close to interview time. You will also need to translate it to English. You will need both the original and the translated copy.   Best of luck!	MedRoni	Female	Algeria	2013-09-04 19:51:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	I just got a RFE	Lawyers can be so helpful like that lol...   We had a lawyer and similar issue, we had a letter of intent; but it did not state we would be married within 90 days of me entering the country, just that we intended to be married. Needles to say, we continued the process without our lawyer after the rfe; found vj and became knowledgeable . We received our noa2 a week after uscis received our documents- not necessarily a standard, just our experience. Wait until you receive your rfe notice, as you don't know for sure what the rfe is yet; otherwise you?ll drive yourself crazy!   Good luck!	cee-gee	Female	Canada	2014-02-07 16:43:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	British Fiance needs to find a Notary where does he look?	RFE says its required to be notarized..   ???   That doesn't make any sense.   You should call USCIS to confirm.	cee-gee	Female	Canada	2014-02-11 17:54:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K1 approved, entering the US to another state then the state of the patitioner	It won't be an issue at all; you can travel throughout the US. Have a great bachelorette party!	cee-gee	Female	Canada	2014-02-28 13:12:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Visiting in two weeks - Help with Preparing for Border, Please :D	I agree with the above posts, just be honest. I visited my then bf every other weekend during the i129f process, so you should be fine. I do have one bit of advice to add though, I wouldn't offer any information unless asked. Just keep it simple.   Cheers!	cee-gee	Female	Canada	2014-02-28 13:57:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K1 Denied :(	Please hire the lawyer !!!   I'm really sorry for this !!   Keep us updates and good luck for both of you   BE STRONG !!!!	Blossomman999	Male	Thailand	2014-02-10 20:16:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	I need help DS2001 K1visa	Does anyone have format or any detail how to write it ?     Please help me...	Blossomman999	Male	Thailand	2014-02-25 08:08:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	DS-160 early?	Oh,It's very interesting that Japan doesn't have P4,Are you kidding me?!!!   P4 which is an Appointment date of Interview  that the US embassy will send it to the applicants by Email only !!   Actually,After NVC assigned your case number,they should to sent the Letter to the petitioner in the US,but my bf didn't received it.(There is no problem because many couples didn't get it too but their visa approved )   If you received,you can use that anyway...           Edited by Blossomman999, 15 March 2014 - 08:49 AM.	Blossomman999	Male	Thailand	2014-03-15 08:44:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	DS-160 early?	I got Packet 3, and I've booked an appointment at the clinic. The clinic asked for some kind of proof with the NVC case number on it - after going through the documents I have, I don't actually have one. I'm wondering what I should take as proof   Normally,we will not book an appointment until we get P4 (Date of interview) in Thailand   Many women here went to checked medical Examination after we received P4 from the Embassy,then when we go to check,we just show P4 with Case number to the doctor and we bring the result when we have to get interview,there is no problem about this..     Good luck !!!	Blossomman999	Male	Thailand	2014-03-15 05:13:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	DS-160 early?	Did you have your medical in Japan? Mind if I ask where you went?   I'm so sorry sir,I think you can speak Japanese   I'm from Thailand and working for Japanese company as Japanese Interpreter.   Anyway,I did my medical in Thailand because I live here and I'm Thai.   Ohh,Please read the instruction of P3 that  where is the hospital in Japan that the US embassy will expect...   Good luck !!!	Blossomman999	Male	Thailand	2014-03-14 05:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	DS-160 early?	Hi blossomman999,   I might have my interview on 25th of march wish u all the good luck as well!!!   hahahahaha     Thank you !!!!	Blossomman999	Male	Thailand	2014-03-10 22:05:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	DS-160 early?	You better fill out now. For me,After my status shown me "Ready",I suddenly sent P3 to the Embassy with not waiting the Letter from the Embassy !!!   ?????????? Edited by Blossomman999, 10 March 2014 - 06:01 AM.	Blossomman999	Male	Thailand	2014-03-10 06:00:00