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K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

whoooo hoo finally!! That is fantastic!! Welcome to the USA, Tierce? (can't remember who is who :P) Best wishes to you both on your upcoming marriage. :)


You're correct, she's the one who moved. We touched down on 3/13 around 8:20pm Pacific Time in Vegas, although we actually had POE in Boston the day before. We're recovering from the travel before we schedule our civil wedding and everything else.

Right now, she's sleeping with our dogs snuggled against her, and pretty soon I'll be headed back to get another nap. Long trip was long.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-03-15 12:47:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
Interview: Success.
POE: Boston. Success.
Location: Las Vegas area. Arrived at 8:20pm Pacific Time.

In the next few days, legally getting married and then applying for AOS.

Ugh, it's been a long and tiring effort.

BrockUK, man, that's so horrible to hear - that's worse than my ex-girlfriend who screwed me over. I hope your life gets better, man - put her out of your mind, seal her away, and find someone who deserves your effort and affection.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-03-14 03:52:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
We have our approval!

Finally. So very very tired of this. But now we can go back to Lisbon and chill out until we get the visa in the mail.

In other news, Paris is impressively cold.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-02-28 12:13:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
And this is the Portuguese half of the pair. Spent the day in a flurry of activity to get this arranged so that the day and a half before we fly to France goes smoothly. I have everything prepared for the interview, and I'm rather frantically trying not to be nervous. We arrive in Paris just before midnight, have the interview at 1 pm the next day, spend the rest of the day there, and fly back in the afternoon of the 1st. Then the last steps of the wait begin, but these are the very final hours we are spending apart from each other. This is it--it's almost done!
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-02-24 19:56:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
This afternoon, I fly out to go visit my lady and join her at her interviewp; then, we hope, we'll fly back together.

Congratsulations, Vicomi!

Good luck, SweetDelish!
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-02-24 11:41:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

Finally! Our NOA 2 was approved just yesterday. There were no problems with our application yet we had to wait an unbearable 283 days for NOA2. I was on the verge of leaving this country too. It had been promise after promise that our application would be completed and they'd keep making us wait 30 days and then 60 days and so forth. Finally, there is some closure and progress. The worst part was they'd never give a reason or answer any of our questions as to why it was so delayed. I'm very happy that our application was finally approved, but the whole process has left me quite bitter. Let's hope that the application from here on out will go much smoother.

Thank you everyone for all of your kind words of support this whole time.


Finally! And here I thought the way they kept screwing up on the mailing address with us was bad! Glad to hear things are finally moving forward for you.
(I'm betting it was sitting on someone's desk under a coffee cup or something and they kept insisting it wasn't there, until they finally discovered it, went 'Oh. Oops.' and stamped it approved. But I might be a bit cynical from the way they repeatedly screwed up mailing things to me for my application.)
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-02-16 15:14:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
Here's my Valentine's Day gift for my fiancee.

Posted Image
Posted Image

One side reads 'In Love' when the two halves are fitted together, while the other has one half silver with black inlay vines, and the other has silver vines surrounded by black inlay. They're both trackable geocoins, too, which made her squee with glee.

She got me a set of dice specially carved from this rich purple wood, which is pretty amazing stuff, even if it's on the pricey side.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-02-15 10:23:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

Had my interview today....APPPROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED!!!!!!!! :dance:


Congratulations!
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-02-08 21:11:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

I don't mean the flight will be forgotten, i mean.. the long and tedious (sometimes frustrating) wait you've had. ha...

your boss sounds great.


Having my boss rooting for me may well be the weirdest experience I've had in my life, and my life often reads like an excerpt from the Big Book of Weird Tales. I don't know /why/ she likes me, except perhaps that I don't bother to harass her or the supervisor about anything.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-02-07 18:37:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

the final countdown begins! A rough road for you, but one that will be forgotten very soon.


Oh, I don't think I've ever forgotten any plane flight I've ever been on. >.>
The fact of me being there should count extra because of all the planes involved. >_< 22h total travel time to Lisbon, with an 8-hour layover in Frankfurt, then a couple days later we fly to Paris.

On the plus side, my boss is apparently rooting for me and handling everything she can on the work end to keep the stress there as minimal as possible.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-02-05 21:09:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
Omer1, congratulations.


Flight to join my fiancee has been booked. I fly out of Las Vegas at 16:55 local time on 02/24, and land at 23:05 Lisbon time on the 25th.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-02-02 04:06:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

Just sit tight Omer. I called DOS and thy said we were in AP but I had my bis the next day.

Congrats on all the recent progress! We are all getting there.

Last day in work today. Very bittersweet! This time next week I'll be with my love for good :-)


Congratulations, AnnaLouise. Glad to see we're all slowly making progress down this road.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-01-27 17:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
And it looks like our interview date is February 28, so now we have that and I can start planning to fly there.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-01-26 03:06:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

I had the same problem, but I went and told the HR/Payroll Secretary the situation, and she typed the letter.


The HR person at work is the one who made me go to that stupid site. Fortunately, there's also a printout from the employee website that I also pulled, plus my tax transcripts from the prior four years, and a pile of my printed-out paystubs, and property value assessments.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-01-25 22:24:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
Getting verification of my employment and income is a bloody nuisance, since the company I work for uses "The Work Number". Still, whether or not it's needed for a given embassy, it's not something that it hurts to have. Making sure Tierce has a copy via the mail in addition to the copy I intend to take with me when I fly there, just in case there's anything problematic.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-01-21 17:31:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

haha funny joke about the guy being a bridesmaid and the woman being a groosman, unless yall are doing it backwards on purpose?? B-)


We're not overly big on traditional social roles. ;)
Plus, well, one of my goals in life is to make things more surreal and mentally challenging for everyone.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-01-11 18:51:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
We're waiting until she's here before we start making any real plans - but we do seem to be planning to have one of her male friends as a bridesmaid and the girl who initially introduced us as a groomsman.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-01-10 20:53:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

Thanks! I'm sure it will be. As long as the deed is done and we get that certificate all will be good. It's just that his mom is so excited that he's finally getting married, I want everything to be what she expects. I really wanted to go to the courthouse and have a BBQ after. No such luck!

I'll be sure to come back and post how it all went.


Our plan is to get a courthouse wedding ASAP, but then to hold a ceremony later on when we've had plenty of time to plan it.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-01-09 21:39:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

hmmm packet 3 to the US citizen isn't unusual, that happened in our case, however by email, snail mail is a bit stranger, but never mind, its there, and you shouldn't see anything as odd in your case :lol: just keep chasing the White rabbit. so has she gone home yet??


We parted ways again - for the last time, we hope - as of roughly 10:00 this morning.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-01-08 21:57:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

My visa arrived!!!!

I don't know what the lady at DOScwas talking about as it was issued on New Year's Eve! Relieved!!!


Awesome! Congratulations to you.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-01-05 00:40:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

Thank you sweetdelish! I appreciate that. I hope it all gets fixed soon. It sucks but why can you do. *sigh*


Nothing legal, unfortunately.

Next Tuesday, my fiancee is flying back to Portugal with the copy of Packet 3 that landed here (seriously, ####### is this?), so hopefully within a month or so I'll be flying there to join her so we can go to her interview together - and, hopefully, fly back together for good.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2013-01-03 16:55:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
^_^
Tess is here for the holidays!
It'd be better if it was for good, but we'll take what we can get.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-12-20 06:35:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
What the...

They sent Packet 3 to me? That's it, I'm convinced these people don't know how addresses and mail systems work.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-12-17 19:16:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

Just an update. My fiancee waited for me to get back from work and we beleive we got to the bottom of this.

Before we called USCIS I called the NVC to see if they have out case. They do not. Therefore, USCIS must still have it.

My faincee then called them, spoke to another agent who said they will be sending the NOA2 notification next week. As you can probably understand our frustrastion and lies, we did not beleive any of this, so we asked the agent if we can speak to the supervisor.

After 15min of waiting, we finally got hold of a supervisior. Very nice and articulate person. This is what they had to say about our case:

  • The reason why we having misleading information from other agents is because they have been outsourcing their workload and thus a line of miscommuncation has occured with our case, which he did apologise for.
  • Our case was delayed because they needed to have some police background checks on my fiancee (long story short, both parents in prison and now adopted)
  • Should get the NOA2 around end of December or beginning of January. If not then call back around 3rd January.
  • They charge my fiancee $170 not because of resending my packet 3 letter, because the agents thought she wanted a copy of the police check (?!?!?!). She will be given a full refund.
  • The WAC/EAC number the agent gave us was incorrect. Should be getting another copy of our NOA1 soon.

Well, at least this story kinda makes sense. Not the good news we were expecting, but hey at least we know where we stand if this story doesn't turn out to be yet another lie. So just have to continue playing the waiting game.

In other news got some more bad news. The chemothrapy fluid in her brain has not gone down enough for the doctors to aloow her to fly over. My family are giving me the emotional blackmail of spending the last xmas with my family (and my sister is gonna give birth to another child on Christmas Day), so really torn on flying over there. I think I will in the end, they have to realise that I have my responsbilities now. She is my family too. Besides I have not seen her for 7 months now, and she will probably need surgery to remove this fluid.


*headshake* This is just _insane_ the way they keep jerking you guys around. Good luck, man!
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-12-10 15:55:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
So, she says there's no sign of Packet 3 yet; she's emailed the Paris embassy about it (again, I believe). Whether or not she gets it soon, she's got her plane tickets for visiting for the holidays booked - a week from next Tuesday, she'll be here for just under three weeks. Entirely too short a time - and something we might not have to do, if the USCIS had been able to get their act together and send things promptly to the correct address in the first place.

Still - soon enough, I hope.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-12-08 22:29:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
Unless Tierce has gotten it and didn't let me know, we're still waiting on P3. Sigh. Friggin' Paris!
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-12-07 18:28:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

I hope that it just means that all the May files are being processed, on someones desk. it can't be too far away.

well I'm here, in Hawaii now. POE was fairly smooth, except Hawaii requires your x-rays at POE, so I had to get escorted to my bag and bring it back up again, luckily I had it in my front pocket, although I've realised just this second that my immunisation worksheet was in the envelope. gahhhhh!!! that seriously sucks. Hopefully I can get it back somehow.

anyway, small things. my fiance was very excited, I came out into the pick up area at the airport and he had a big sign saying, 'welcome home Shannon' and he had the NZ flag and USA flag on it too. so cute! we went and picked up some lunch and headed home, he showed me a photo slide he made to music of the two of us and he had bought a bottle of champagne too. so fantastic experience. all the waiting forgotten in an instant.

once you get to your loved one, or they get to you, its all worth it. I hope everyone makes it soon.


Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image

Congratulations on making it there!
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-12-06 19:07:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

I am going crazy here!!! I have not heard yet from USCIS!!!! I filed May 16th got my NoA1 may 22nd and now I check USCIS website and it says they are working on May 28th!! That means I am outside normal processing time. I "thought" I filed a service request about a week ago and was expecting a reply with in 15 days only to be surprised today when I call again that they can't find that service request!!! So they have to do a new one and the 15 days will start all over again!! I honestly lost my nerves when I was speaking to the lady. I got my congressman involved and sent them an inquiry she told me they should inquire on my behalf sometime this week and by law, USCIS is supposed to respond by 10 days!!! But I am not sure if she inquired yet. I am going crazy over here. I am just sooooooooo worried. My fiance and I are cousins. Would that cause a delay? It's normal though in the middle east to get married to your cousin. Also, we'll be getting married in Fl. where they allow cousin marriages. I am sooo worried and just going crazy and really depressed now :(


Take a couple deep breaths. Don't worry - it'll get there, probably soon. More than likely your case is just on the desk of someone lagging behind on their filing for some reason or another.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-12-05 20:05:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

Wow thats alot of advice thank you. How do I go about in contacting the NVC? I wil try and call the London Embassay today and see if they have heard of my name!

Thank you again, just waiting until Friday to see if any mail comes through and see if they are lying again lol!


Here's the page with their contact information; use the phone, they're slower than the service centers at responding to emails.
http://www.visajourn...nal_Visa_Center

AnnaLouise, congratulations!
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-12-05 17:45:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

I feel you :( Did you try calling?? I called today and they finally let me put in a service request. They told me they should be replying back to me by Dec. 15th..The waiting game is not over yet!!!


Honestly, the huge gaps in response time makes me suspect they're underfunded and understaffed. As frustrating as it is, and as useful as it would be if they'd join the modern age properly, I suspect they're probably really low on the budget lists - after all, they don't really contribute to any intelligence agencies or the department of defense, and those are the cash cow agencies that get the funding. :/
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-11-30 18:41:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

"Packet 3" arrived! An envelope with a single page :hehe: I think I expected something more substantial/bigger/dramatic... I s'pose sumthing that looked like, you know... PACKET THREE!! Anyway, I'm pleased, nonetheless. Now waiting for police certificates... :whistle: :whistle:


I'm glad to hear that, since it means we might be seeing ours soon. >.>
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-11-29 16:22:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

=))) We got our Approval today!! I was dancing like a fool when I got the text! =)) yyeeaaaaaaa

Posted Image Congratulations!

Still waiting too. Everday I come home (holding my breath) expecting to see something from the consulate but nothing... :( The waiting game continues :unsure:


Believe me, we feel your pain - all this waiting could be made so much easier if the communication between the USCIS, NVC, and embassies was just modernized!

Edited by Kassil&Tierce, 29 November 2012 - 07:27 AM.

Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-11-29 07:26:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
This is the other half of Kassil&Tierce, the Portuguese petitioner.

Still nothing from the Paris embassy. Checking my mail every day in expectant glee--but soon!

It just feels like a lot of dithering and twiddling our thumbs. We (I at least) don't want to make plans for my Christmas visit to the States yet, since it would be better to have an idea of the timeline we're looking at. We'll probably end up mailing the Applicant Readiness letter from the States before I fly back here, to minimize the wait. My to-do list is ready, now I need actual knowledge of when things are due.

While the Paris bit was an unexpected and rather unpleasant surprise (I live in walking distance of the US embassy here! Come on! K1 visas keep falling in that annoying immigrant/non-immigrant loop, grr), looking at it from a new angle can make the experience fun. I expect I'll be a ball of nerves come interview day, and Kassil doesn't like the Parisians, but the city is stunning. Getting to show him around and be, as I put it in FB, a pair of "slightly deranged lovebirds" in the City of Light (omg Paris want) should be an amazing time. And then we get to go home and finally be together.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-11-28 09:22:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
Congratulations!
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-11-26 16:28:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

eyay! thats great! so its almost like there will be very little time apart from here on out. Have you checked to see how far out Paris is scheduling interviews (by using the VJ timelines)?

ETA: I just had a look anyway, looks like they schedule fairly quickly, about 3-4 weeks out, once packet 3 is received. so thats good news!


Yeah, we're hoping to minimize our time apart once she has her materials. I'm not looking forward to the plane trips, but I'll suffer them for the sake of this.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-11-25 22:41:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
Well, we now have our rough plan - once she has the packets, she'll be coming here for the holidays. We'll go to Lisbon to sort out what she's bringing home with her, afterwards, and then to Paris to attend to the interview, and then home for good as soon as we have the visa.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-11-25 21:02:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
Disneyland, hah!
I'll survive - she and I will do some geocaching while we're there waiting for them to deliver the visa. The part that's genuinely frustrating is that they say it'll take 7-10 working days to deliver it, and they'll only deliver it within France. That'll eat up most of my paid time off by itself; if I want to hang around Portugal with her, it'll end up with unpaid time off. Bleh.

Edited by Kassil&Tierce, 24 November 2012 - 07:30 PM.

Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-11-24 19:28:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers

Why Paris?


My goodness!!! After all the palava with your address now this.... !!!! It seems your patience is being tested to the nth degree, for sure.



Paris apparently handles a larger area than just France. Why, I dunno, since it really doesn't seem like it'd be that hard to have the capability at each embassy. I suppose there weren't enough Portuguese I-129Fs and I-130s for them to decide it was justified, even if the simple justification is "These people have been waiting for months now, let's not slow things down on them even further." The most frustrating part is that this is making me choose between being at the interview with my fiancee and a vow I swore to never go back to Paris. She wins out, but my aggravation and disgust at the process forcing me to go /there/ to bring my fiancee home from Portugal is huge.

Still - one way or another, we'll get through this mess, too, and she'll be able to come home for good.
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-11-24 08:20:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
Congratulations, omer1.

In other news, it looks like my petition is being sent to Paris instead of Lisbon. We were hoping this was going to be easy, but apparently we have to deal with one of my least-favorite cities in the world. (I've been there. It was not a pleasant stay. Looks like I'll have to break my vow to never return...)
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-11-23 23:35:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsMay 2012 Filers
According to the NVC, my petition was forwarded to the embassy in Portugal on the 13th, and they gave me our case number.

Congratulations to everyone (particularly SweetDelish!) and good luck to AnnaLouise!
Kassil&TierceMalePortugal2012-11-19 20:29:00