Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	Exactly what service center sent you NOA1? I would definitely fire that lawyer, they're apparently worthless! You really should have waited this process out to make solid wedding plans like paying anyone, but I guess you don't need me to tell you that. Our I-129F was sent to the National Benefits Center aka, Missouri Service Center. The only thing on the NOA1 that would indicate where it is being sent from is the beginning of our receipt number: msc. I wish I could have picked up on that when I first received it, but how was I to know? However, when I would go into the USCIS website and look at the status, it did indicate there that my petition was at the Missouri Service Center. Yes, I am kicking my self in the rear daily asking myself "WHY did I not pick up on that?" I was naive I realize. I'm trying to not beat myself up too much over this...it was not MY responsitbility to catch this.....(it just goes back to all the "what if's" I keep asking myself). As for waiting to make plans for a wedding. Yes, I agree, we shouldn't have made solid plans. However, neither Darryl nor myself had ever gone through anything like this...we relied on our lawyer's expertise and to guide us...that is why we hired him. He should have NEVER led us to believe that an April wedding should be no problem since we had filed back in June the previous year. I will check out that link....thank you!	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-02-02 21:36:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	By the way, it's not hard to google a sentence from that firm description and figure out who these morons are. I think you should start a "evil immigration lawyer" thread and post the name so other people don't use them . . . . I did think of that when I was posting directly from their website. But I figured so what...I'm trying to be a little bit diplomatic and omitting names, however if anyone is able to figure out who the inadequate lawyer is....well, so be it!	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-02-02 21:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	::MY UPDATE:: Right now we are in the process of writing letters and making phone calls trying to get everything 'wedding' cancelled or undone. I know that some of you suggested that I don't cancel just yet or I don't sell off anything already purchased because we could still have a nice wedding at a later date. I have to say...all this has left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. We have talked about this and decided we just want our small simple wedding whenever he gets to come over (and who knows when that will be) and nothing more except the joy of starting our life together. The thought of having to replan this entire thing over is just too much. I don't think my heart or sanity could handle it. We also need to start contacting friends and family to tell them the planned wedding is off...I dread that. Once again today, not a phone call or any attempt to contact us from the lawyer's office. I personally think they are a bunch of weasels. Not even an introduction from our so-called new lawyer to say, "hey, I've reviewed the file and this is what my plan of action is....blah blah blah". Once again, Darryl is going to write to them to pull any information from them at all. I wish they had the balls to stand up and do the right thing and at least show a little compassion, not to mention to let us know what is going on!. Our initial plan is to wait it out to make certain our application is at the proper center before we fire and continue from there. This has been an exhausting week. Thank heaven it is Friday!!!!	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-02-02 20:20:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	::MY UPDATE:: Right now we are in the process of writing letters and making phone calls trying to get everything 'wedding' cancelled or undone. I know that some of you suggested that I don't cancel just yet or I don't sell off anything already purchased because we could still have a nice wedding at a later date. I have to say...all this has left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. We have talked about this and decided we just want our small simple wedding whenever he gets to come over (and who knows when that will be) and nothing more except the joy of starting our life together. The thought of having to replan this entire thing over is just too much. I don't think my heart or sanity could handle it. We also need to start contacting friends and family to tell them the planned wedding is off...I dread that. Once again today, not a phone call or any attempt to contact us from the lawyer's office. I personally think they are a bunch of weasels. Not even an introduction from our so-called new lawyer to say, "hey, I've reviewed the file and this is what my plan of action is....blah blah blah". Once again, Darryl is going to write to them to pull any information from them at all. I wish they had the balls to stand up and do the right thing and at least show a little compassion, not to mention to let us know what is going on!. Our initial plan is to wait it out to make certain our application is at the proper center before we fire and continue from there. This has been an exhausting week. Thank heaven it is Friday!!!! *nevermind* ???	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-02-02 20:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	Disagree. Again, tons of evidence that people can and do visit during the petition process. Even when admitting outright that they are visiting a USC fiance or spouse. What country does this firm specialize in? I do not know what country they specialize in, but here is a snippet taken directly from this law firms webpage. First page at the very top under the title "Who We Are". The __________ Immigration Law Group, LLC practices exclusively in the field of Federal Immigration & Naturalization law. Our offices are located in the Kansas City metropolitan area, but we represent businesses and clients located throughout the United States. We practice in all aspects of immigration law including Employment and Family Based Immigration, Asylum, Removal Proceedings, and Appeals. We represent several prominent businesses in the Kansas City area, and our attorneys bring a combined experience in this field of over 20 years. Our attorneys are members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (www.aila.org) and we take great pains to stay current in this rapidly changing area of law. Gotta love that last line...what horse sh**!!! I also see that it has been worded "do not usually recommend" visiting, but you recall him telling you it was illegal. Remember I said to be careful about what he said vs what you heard. Doesn't really matter who is right or wrong, but a good example of how things can easily get mixed up. Keep in mind that the person writing this email is not the same person that told us that Darryl could not enter into the USA once we applied for the K-1 visa. He did not say the word 'illegal' persay. But we (and I have double checked with Darryl to make sure he remembers this the same as I) without a doubt, are sure this is what our lawyer told us, on a couple different occasions. He said if we tried to risk it and Darryl came anyway and he was caught, we would not be given the K-1. Of course, we were not going to risk such a thing. Why is he not confused by Darryl's B-2, or properly aware of it? If a VWP country person holds a B, it's for a good reason. It would indicate to me that D is not eligible to use the VWP, but he's going to rabbit on about it here in the next para. Our lawyer was fully aware that Darryl had a B-2 visa and that he chose to go that route rather than risk non-entry into the USA because of DUI under the VWP. Now whether our lawyer actually paid attention to Darryl when he was telling him this, who knows. But obviously the person writing this email does not know about Darryl's situation. Could be because he didn't even review our file before writing this email, could be because it is not even in our file...I just don't know. I would not count on anything at this point, especially any sort of competence coming from that law firm. I wanted to also add that Darryl no longer has a B-2 visa. He let it expire October 2006 simply because he was told he could not use it anymore since we applied for the K-1. Now it makes me wonder, can he reapply for the B-2 with this K-1 pending? Or could he try using the VWP with the DUI on his record (albeit almost 20 years ago)? Would they look down on someone trying to enter on the VWP after letting his B-2 visa expire? Well, just more questions I need to look into... Just some fact checking/feedback for you. Always Appreciated!!!!!!	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-02-02 19:42:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	I DONT WANT TO GIVE YOU ANOTHER THING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT BUT ITS SOMETHING THAT YOU MIGHT GET INPUT ON. I DONT KNOW THE ANSWER. YOUR PAPERWORK WAS BEGUN IN JUNE 2006. ARE ANY OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE 129F EXPIRED. SUCH AS PASSPORT PHOTOS. I didn't realize that these forms or a passport photo expired. Does anyone have any info on this? In the meantime, I will start googling....	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-02-01 19:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	Second, his suggestion of the 'non legal wedding'...if USCIS has any whiff of that - legal or no - they will more than likely deny you the fiance visa. For this guy to recommend that to you is putting you guys at great risk of an even longer process. I laughed when he said, "Legally, that should be acceptable as long as you returned to your home country by the end of your 90 day period of stay on the visa waiver program." Yeah - LEGALLY, he's right. What he doesn't seem to grasp is that USCIS may view that very differently, and not give two hoots about splitting legal hairs. Maybe I'm over reacting, but I would be very afraid for you guys to do that. This is exactly the type of response that I figured we would get, I was quite surprised at his suggestion as well. Darryl and I have no plans of trying this because we certainly do not want to risk any further complications. BTW...thanks for all of your advice....the checks in the mail!	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-02-01 19:11:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	I wanted to update everyone on how Darryl and I have decided to proceed so far and what has been done. And hopefully in turn receive a few more suggestions. I can't tell you how helpful everyone has been for us. After much discussion, Darryl and I thought that our lawyer definitely needed to be held accountable. If nothing else, to prevent this happening to another couple. I do not wish these feelings I have had and this stress level on anyone. We decided to request our case be handled by a more competent attorney at the same lawfirm. I realize that our lawyer was already familiar with our case (at least he pretends to be) but I honestly do not think I could stomach having to deal with him any further. We plan on asking for compensation for all of our expenses we have lost in this matter (fees paid to him and money lost from the wedding) and we also plan on reporting him to the Missouri State Board. These actions will be taken at a future date. We are feeling a little overwhelmed with everything on our plate right now, we are just taking one thing at a time. The first thing we have done is Darryl sent a letter to the head of the law firm. We have also received a response from him last night. This is mainly what I wanted to update about and get a little feedback. We were not happy with the response. He spent half of the long email defending our lawyer and also made some suggestions that I found a little worrysome as I have been advised on this site NOT to do what he has suggested. That is to get married, but not file to make it legal, then he has to go back to Australia to await his interview. I hesitated to post the letters on here, but I am finding that will be much easier than to try and relay all that was said in both emails. I will remove the names and I do hope to get a little more feedback on this...thank you in advance. I wish to draw your attention to ________________ email below. Kym and I wish to express our extreme disappointment in __________ utter incompetence. Kym and I attended your offices in June '06 meeting with ___________ after some initial contact from me by email from Sydney NSW Australia. We employed your company's services and _____________ as our Lawyer to assist in the process needed for me to succesfully immigrate to USA under a K-1 visa application. We decided to employ the services of an Immigration Lawyer to make the whole process smooth and professional causing minimal stress on our part as we weren't familiar with the process at all and were naive to the details, forms and protocol needed. We made a completely normal assumption that a company that advertises itself as an 'Immigration Law Group' would handle the whole process a lot more efficiently than us trying to struggle through the process on our own. We had no qualms about the cost. Two weeks after completing all the paper work and gathering the necessary documents required, Kym contacted ____________ as her Mother had drawn her attention to a new form needed to be completed for Immigration (IMBRA). Kym was confident that lawyers need to keep up with this sort of thing and was sure that things would be fine as this new form was 'in force' a week or so before we filed, but there is no harm in checking. She found out that the new form hadn't been done and steps were then taken to rectify the situation. It made us ask the question at the time (to ourselves) - how long would the application have gone before anything was acted upon by ___________? During our interview with ___________ he advised that I not even try to visit Kym again (during the K-1 visa process) as the 'boarder patrol' (I think that is the correct term - we call them customs officers) may make the assumption that we are trying to circumvent the process and enter the country and get married - if they view my actions this way I would be sent back to Australia and with that against my name I would have no chance of having our K-1 visa approved. We have since learnt that this gem of advice is incorrect - as long as I present 'ties' with Australia. ie: employment paper work, bank statements, housing ownership confirmation etc. there would be no problem at all - simply a man visiting his fiancé. Some time later: We advised _____________ that we were in the process of trying to arrange a wedding. As neither of us had been married before in our lives (even though we are both 40) we wanted to have quite an elaborate wedding and we both (through long distance phone calls and emails) began the exciting (sometimes daunting, sometimes stressful) process, setting a date of 21st April 2007. I contacted _____________ by phone and advised him of this and asked his thoughts - was it safe enough given our situation? He said that April 21st would not be a problem - everything should be fine by then. He didn't give guarantees but assured me that by then - no problem. Since then Kym has been doing research via the internet finding out small snippets of information. e.g.: there is a site that gives more accurate up dates for processing times. (The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ) site, all she had to do was sign up and she had access to it when ever she wanted - this follows our case profile etc. ______________ made no reference to this at all even after attempts from us to gather some idea of updates given that the date of our intended nuptials was getting closer and closer. ___________ said things like ' no news as yet - I will contact you when I get anything substantive on the case'. Simply one sentence (if we were lucky - two sentence answers). In my emails to him I explained that we have a healthy respect for the process and understand that necessary security checks etc have to be done. My last email to __________ generated this response: '.....So it is moving forward at enough pace to make me believe that you should be seeing an approval notice in the next couple of weeks..." This was more than two weeks ago. Now, given that information Kym decided that she would try to find out the next part of the process . During this process Kym found out that there is actually a place you can call to gain some insight on our file and that they are actually nice, friendly and co-operative people. That is how she got to know that the file was lodged at the wrong place ! How does that happen ? Wouldn't it come to light way back on July 17th 2006 when the receipt was given ? Within his email back to Kym he says: "I picked up your file and looked at the address where the I-129f was sent, and it was mailed directly to the Missouri Service Center, which is the location where K-3 and K-4 visas are filed. Your case should have been filed with the Nebraska Service Center instead." Why wouldn't he 'pick up' our file before now ? Why does it take more than 7 months before he reviews anything on our file ? Why were we told wrong information about me attempting re-entry into USA ? Why were we told wrong information about information updates? Why do we get the feeling that its like pulling teeth to get any information from __________ ? Why does it take Kym to advise him of anything new? - he is the Lawyer, not Kym. Another part of his email says: "This doesn't happen that often, but the CIS does change where they want things filed without notice from time to time." I ask you, has the Missouri Service Center ever been the correct office for processing K-1 visas ? I have been told that it never has. He then states: "In those instances we have seen them reject or transfer the cases immediately, not wait for months with the case still pending." I can only gather that his meaning here is that the incorrect Govt. department should have fixed his mistake before this and that they are to blame for the time delay. I don't think that __________ realizes what he has done to us. He has wrecked our hopes and dreams of a wonderful wedding with all our friends and family, as now it is certain that the April 21st date has no chance. Not to mention our out of pocket expenses that will inevitably be wasted due to being forced to cancel the wedding: reception site, photographers, and many items already purchased, the wedding dress etc.... Mr __________, both Kym and I formally request that our file be transferred to some else - we do not want to deal with __________ anymore. We have lost all confidence in him. I also put it to you that incompetence of this scale reflects very poorly on your company and its reputation. Without a doubt had our file been lodged correctly Kym and I would be together by now and arranging the final details for our wedding, instead you have a very intense person writing this email to you and my fiancé in constant tears since early Monday morning. We ask that you redirect our file to someone that does know what they are doing and has some communication skills that gives his/her clients the feeling of confidence and the knowledge needed to do such a process. In addition can our file be reviewed for accuracy as we have no confidence that further delay won't be experienced simply due to errors on our application. We also ask the following questions: What can be done to expedite the transfer of our file from the wrong office to the right one? (I do note that __________ has attempted to answer this - but what has actually been done? ) Once that is done, what can be done to explain to the Immigration people the details of this file and that we now potentially have to wait double the time to process a simple K-1 visa ? After reviewing our file I would like you to advise me of what can be done about Kym and I paying $684 to your firm for nothing ( $500 retainer, $170 filing fee, $14 CL fee) ? Many other things come to mind to describe how we are feeling at the moment but being totally insulting doesn't help. I eagerly await your reply, Darryl *** & Kymberly *** Darryl, __________ and I had talked about your case before your email and I was familiar with what happened. I too am sorry for the mistake and delays. __________ is a very good and competent immigration attorney with many years of experience. He is well known in the immigration lawyer community and this mistake is the rare exception, but I understand your frustration and at your request have asked another immigration attorney in our office, __________, to work on the case. We contacted the attorney liaison with the National Benefits Center (NBC) and he told us that the problem of filing K-1's in Missouri was the most common problem he sees at the service center and that he believed it was because the initial instructions from the immigration service were very unclear in this area. At the time we filed the case, the NBC was still newly created and almost all of the family related immigration cases that were previously filed at the NSC and other regional centers were being transferred to the NBC, and I'm not sure it was so clear at that time which was the proper service center to file in. There was a lot of confusion among the public and the immigration bar about which cases should be filed in which center. K-1's and K-3's are filed on the same form (I-129F), yet one goes to NBC and one to NSC. It doesn't surprise me that this has been a common mistake. Last year all of the service centers changed their filing requirements to initiate a new program of "bi-specialization" where cases were filed in certain offices according to the type of filing, rather than the geographic area of the persons involved. I point this out not so much as an excuse but as an explanation of how it could happen, and continues to happen among the public and immigration attorneys. It is surprising to me that a receipt was generated from the filing and that the case was not either rejected or forwarded to the NSC, which is the CIS standard practice on filing errors. The fact that a receipt was issued typically indicates to us that the case is properly filed. In fact, there is nothing on the receipt itself that would indicate that it was not properly filed. The liaison says that the K-1's filed at NBC are not being rejected (as we would have expected), but are being forwarded to the NSC. Usually a notice is sent out that the case has been transferred, but he says there is not always a notice and that is why it is difficult to determine whether it is still at NBC or has already been transferred to NSC. I'm trying to find out more information about this. The liaison attorney, who is a friend of mine, said he would try to follow up on the case with the NBC, and I have sent him the necessary details. We have also sent a letter to the NBC requesting the transfer, although I expect that it has either already been done, or will be done automatically before they process the letter. It is also possible that the NBC will adjudicate the case itself since they have done that on other kinds of applications filed with them that should have been filed elsewhere, but I think that is unlikely. Nevertheless, it is a serious problem and I don't have a good solution that we can be confident will be timely for your wedding plans. The CIS will not expedite these kinds of cases and it won't likely be approved in time for you to get the visa. Even if we had the approval today, I?m not sure you could get the visa in time because the consulates have been very delayed due to new requirements for completion of security checks before the interviews are scheduled. We've considered several options, none of which are very positive. We considered filing a new K-1 now, but I don't think it will be processed any quicker than the one that is already in the system. It is true that we do not usually recommend persons enter the U.S. as visitors if they have a fiancé. If they are aware you are engaged, the immigration service will deny entry as a visitor virtually 100% of the time. I would not expect a B-2 visa to be issued for someone who is engaged to someone in the U.S. But technically you should be able to enter as a visitor as long as you can demonstrate that you will return home and not stay and apply to adjust status to permanent residence. We attempted a visitor entry for someone who was still waiting for their K-3 to be processed and they were given a very bad time by the immigration service, but eventually allowed in as a visitor. If you come in as a visitor and then get legally married and attempt to stay, the CIS would consider that a fraud and would likely require a waiver at the adjustment interview, which may not be approved. I don?t recommend for you to try that. My thought, however, is that perhaps you could enter as a visitor on the visa waiver program without a visa, have your wedding ceremony and then return within the 90 day visa waiver period to continue to process the K-1 visa when it is ready. You aren't eligible for a K-1 if you are legally married, so I?m suggesting you have the ceremony, but wait until you return again to the U.S. with your K-1 visa to finalize the legal marriage procedure (filing with the court clerk, etc.). Then you still should be eligible for the K-1 because you are not yet legally married when you finally process the K-1 visa. Legally, that should be acceptable as long as you returned to your home country by the end of your 90 day period of stay on the visa waiver program. The question is whether you would have a problem getting in on the visa waiver program. It's possible that you will not be questioned about it, but if you are, you can?t make false statements to the immigration officials as this could result in a bar to the U.S. We could write a letter for you to show, if necessary, to the immigration official upon entry indicating that you were only entering for a limited visit and would return to complete processing of your K-1, etc. I can't guarantee that it will work, but you may decide that it is worth a try given your wedding arrangements. I know that this isn?t ideal and doesn?t fit with your expectations or plans, but it is the only suggestion I can think of that will still keep you on your present wedding schedule. Let me know if you want to try this. Otherwise, we will try our best to push the K-1 through, but as I said, I?m not confident this will happen in time for your present wedding plans. Again, I?m sorry for the problem and we will try to fix it, but there are limits on what we can do. I?ll let you know if we find out anything further from liaison with the NBC. I apologize for the very long post. Given the limited amount of time I have, I found this to be the easiest way. Let me also say that it angers me even more that no one from that lawfirm has been courteous enough to actually pick up the phone to give me a call...even to apologize verbally or say hey...here is where we stand now. We have received 2 emails and both has been after we contacted them first. (Although I do realize written communication is best for documenting). Thanks, Kym	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-02-01 15:15:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	Kym - how did you find this attorney? And if he practices as part of a firm/group that calls itself the "immigration law group" then, yes, he is holding himself out as having expertise in the area. And Meauxna - this attorney is NOT worth keeping around if he really is as negligent as the picture Kym paints here. Kym you have an absolute right to every scrap of information in your file at the office - if you gave any evidence to the lawyer to hold, etc - get your file back, send your letter to the managing partner, then call the partner to explain, sweetly, that you are prepared to rain hellfire and brimestone on his/her entire practice and in the meantime, you are demanding immediate reassignment of your case to someone more competent while you contemplate your options for further action. Alternatively, find a good malpractice attorney and just go with it from there. I always love your advice...thank you. Would you believe he was recommended to us? I have a friend that knows a lady in her office that used this attorney. Kind of a friend of a friend type thing. I didn't do any research on him because I thought Darryl was originally meeting with him ONLY to get what our options were, advice if you will. But Darryl had already planned on asking me to marry him and wanted to talk to a lawyer about it when he got here...before asking me! I knew nothing of that at first. His first impression was ok because Darryl left there feeling pleased with him, he then went straight to my parents to get their blessing and then took me out that night and proposed. Darryl and I met in... gosh, I think either 2000 or 2001 and yet this was still a shock to me! I knew this was a huge decision for Darryl as he has a lot of ties to Australia. We were happy as clams and thrilled to get the process started as soon as possible. Little did we know we were entering into a nightmare. Now, this lawyer does specialize in immigration, I am pretty sure. However, he did tell Darryl at one point along the way (long after we had hired him) that he normally does not handle these type of cases...K-1 visas. I think he said he usually handles already married couples and one spouse is being deported for one reason or another...some issues as that. However, I do not feel that should excuse him, he knowly took our case and if he were not competent enough to handle it, he should have never taken our money and agreed to represent us. End of story.	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-30 19:52:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	I dont know how much time he has spent in the US to date We got hit by IMBRA ( recalled petitons and waiting for new I-129F to be generated)just after we applied. I think Darryl has spent a minimal amount of time in the United States. At least it sure seems that way to me. From November '05 to June '06, he was here 3 different times and approx. 3 weeks each visit. His visits were right around 3 months apart. We also got hit with IMBRA. I have a funny little story about IMBRA to further explain how incompetent our lawyer is...as if I really need to explain that any further. Darryl and I met with our lawyer on June 13, 2006 to do all the necessary paperwork to file for the K-1 visa. He couldn't file right away because I still needed to get a copy of my birth certificate, which I had to him about a week after. A couple weeks after we met with our lawyer, my Mom called me at work wanting me to read an article in the newspaper. It was regarding immigration and she didn't know if it would pertain to me. It was regarding this new IMBRA law. When I read what new questions needed to be answered I realized that we had not answered these questions when we met with him on the 13. I then called our lawyers office to question this and they informed me that this had JUST been put into effect and they planned on contacting me anytime for this additional info. They faxed over my answers, I signed, faxed it back and followed up by mailing the original. I didn't receive my NOA1 until July 17, 2006. Almost a month later! I am allowing an extra week for the receipt of my birth certificate, but that should have been the ONLY thing to hold up processing. It sure makes me wonder if I would have never contacted them if they really would have called me to get this additional information, or would my paperwork have been so-called filed without it. I should have realized something was fishy with him then. But I honestly just didn't know any better. I guess I needed to be hit upside the head with a ton of bricks before opening my eyes!	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-30 15:50:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	If this guy does not hold himself out to be an immigration specialist or someone at least familiar with immigration law and procedure, he should have advised Kym of such or he should be disciplined. If he does say he's an expert or specialist, then his negligence is even more glaring and he should be disciplined. Regardless of his level of expertise - he messed up big time and should be held accountable. Period. I completely agree with you, he should be held accountable!!! As for him claiming to be an immigration specialist....I assume he does claim this. I am trying to leave out names (at this early in the stage at least) but the name of the lawfirm he practices at is: The ______________ Immigration Law Group. The blank being the last name of the attorney in charge. To me that says that eveyone at the firm specializes in immigration, wouldn't you agree?	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-30 12:01:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	But if it was just a simple and single DUI, it does not rise to the level of a CIMT... and therefore would not require a waiver of inaadmissibility for a visa to be issued.. Darryl rec'd a simple DUI, nothing more. So perhaps this is one subject working in our favor. I hope you are correct about the waiver, one less thing to worry about would be nice.	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-30 11:53:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	I have found my way to The Office of The Chief Disciplinary Counsel for the state of Missouri. I think I am headed in the right direction. I am currently in the process of reading all the information I can get from this site and there is a form to download to fill out to submit a complaint. Something Darryl and I will be doing as soon as we gather all of our information for evidence. Including our "projected damages". In the meantime, Darryl is in the process of writing an email/letter to the head of our lawyer's firm, outlining our complaints, the mental and physical stress and monetary damages. We are not mentioning compensation at this point. Once we have finalized this letter, we will then start making our list of all the expenses. And proceed from there. I found this post to be very helpful and I thank you for that. Kym	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-30 11:49:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	Becca, Thank you for the nice welcome. I had a look at your pics! A very beautiful bride. I truly wish I had never planned a big wedding, if I had it all to do over, I would do many many things differently. But I did get caught up in the moment. One thing led to another and another and we kept adding and adding. I am still looking forward to a nice honeymoon one day. Just to get away and finally get to relax a little with the man I love. Knowing that we have finally made it...that will be lovely! *big heavy sigh* So here is just one more thing to add to the list. No, our lawyer did not inform us that we will need to file waiver to have his convictions forgiven. This is the first I have heard of this. Something I will start looking into right away. Lordy, when will this stop. In addition, we have absolutely no intentions of keeping him as our lawyer. Thank you so much for the additional info....very much appreciated! Kym	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-30 07:23:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	I woke up this morning at 3:30 am, I had a feeling I would not be able to sleep very well. But I will say what few hours of sleep that I did get, has certainly done my head some good. I felt as if everything was spinning out of control the entire day yesterday, it was crazy. My mind seems to be a little more clear (not so much brain mush right now...but just give me to the end of the day again), I'm still so very angry and the sadness is settling in once again. I really don't know how to describe what all I am feeling. I just can't believe all the stress I was already going through before all this happened because I was checking the USCIS website at least 5-6 times a day for any change whats so ever, waiting, waiting and praying. The many many many hours we (myself, Darryl and my family) put into planning the perfect wedding. The many tears I had already cried once November arrived and no word, then December, then January....I felt like I was on a rollercoaster and this was a daily feeling. I could just go on and on and then to find out that not only had I been going through most of these emotions for no reason what so ever, my lawyer has ruined my entire wedding. BTW, eventhough Darryl and I are both 40, this will be both of ours first marriage, I like to think we were waiting on one another. Since we had never been married before, we wanted it extra special and perfect. At this point, I can not even fathom going back to planning a big wedding. My heart is no longer in it...I just want him here with me and I want all this over with so we can put it behind us and start our life together. I'm sure these next few days will still be chaotic for us. We have a lot of decisions to make and are limited on our time we have to talk to one another because of our time difference and our jobs. So we have to take things one at a time when we will be able. The first thing on the list is deciding on how to deal with this no good, piece of sh** lawyer of ours. I'm sure this will turn into a longer process than expected, but I want compensation and he WILL be reported. We then have to make decisions and start taking actions to cancel our wedding. I guess we will explain our unique situation to all the venders we have left deposits with in hope that they will take sympathy and refund the deposit. Although all of them already know I am still waiting on Darryl to come over, each contract states that the deposit is non-refundable. This money lost will be just the beginning of compensation. Darryl balances me out well. I am the one that gets super stressed over things and frantic. Darryl on the other hand is the voice of reason and very calm. Although I do say he is super angry over this one and feels the exact same way as I do. But he assures me that we will get through this and one day soon our life will make sense. I can't wait for that day, it just feels like it will NEVER get there. I want to thank everyone once again for all your help! My life seems to be turned upside down right now, but I am so very grateful that I found this site and was able to get all the help I have gotten thus far. If only I had found this site earlier. I'm having a lot of "if only's" lately. If only I had found this site, if only I had called the customer service center earlier, if only we had filed this on our own and never hired a lawyer. If only if only if only....I would have my beautiful April 21 wedding...something I have been waiting my whole life on and now will never happen. Every girl wants a beautiful wedding once in their lifetime, right? It doesn't really matter if you are 23 or 40, it's still a nice dream. Ok, let me stop before I get all emotional...once again. lol Kym	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-30 05:29:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	He very well could have a VWP, I don't think he does but I would not guarantee anything right now. Not even my own name. Each time he visits, he always gets a letter from his work, brings evidence of his house, bank accounts, family etc (all the stuff needed, just in case). That part would not be a problem at all. The Visa Waiver Program isn't something you 'have', it just means that people from participant countries are allowed (if they meet certain conditions, like not having previous overstays in the US, etc etc etc) to enter the US for up to 90 days without any visa at all, instead of having to apply for a tourist visa. They don't need to apply for anything, they just book a plane ticket, turn up, fill in a form during the flight (which is something they'd have to do anyway if they had a visa) and are admitted for up to 90 days when they get to the States. Not the top of your priorities right now, but have a read about it here on the Consulate's website when you get the chance... your fiance should be able to enter the US without a visa (if, like I say, he meets all the criteria such as no overstays in the past, etc) - there is nothing legally stopping him from doing this, he just needs to bring plenty of proof of ties to home, as he's been doing in the past, and be able to convince the immigration officer at the POE that he intends to return to Australia within 90 days rather than immigrate to the US on that visit! Good luck with it all... and keep us posted - I will be looking out for, and keeping my fingers crossed for, good news from you!! ps... re: the waste-of-space lawyer... that's the attitude! they must not get away with it! Ok..here it is in a nutshell and I'm sure when Darryl reads this he will wonder why I am giving out his personal info...lol. As you say you must meet criteria to use the VWP program. I know I was saying it wrong before, but again, my brain is mush right now. About 20 years ago, back in his young and stupid days, Darryl received a DUI, giving him a criminal record. Eventhough it was said this would probably not cause any problems at this time, it was suggested that he get the visa as to not risk being turned away when going through customs. He didn't want to take any chances and is pretty thourough and organized, he had every paper possibly needed in order to get through those gates. That is why he has a visa.	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-29 23:22:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	As for not paying him enough, we agreed to make 3 installments. We have only made one installment and it was a little over 600.00. The next installment was due when he was approved and then again once he came over and needed to file for a green card. I honestly don't know what the average pay for this type of immigration work goes for from lawyers. I was being sarcastic with my 'not paying him enough' comment. He doesn't deserve a dime. In fact, that's too steep a charge for his 'services'. I'm surprised he got a visa for his visits. Are you sure he just didn't use the VWP and you thought he had an actual visa? Guess its neither here nor there now. At any rate, he shouldn't have any problems visiting again - though he should bring that evidence of ties to home just in case...! See I didn't even catch you were being sarcastic, I usually am not this slow, I swear..lol. I tell you though, my brain is mush right about now. This entire day has been consumed with one big effin mess! He very well could have a VWP, I don't think he does but I would not guarantee anything right now. Not even my own name. Each time he visits, he always gets a letter from his work, brings evidence of his house, bank accounts, family etc (all the stuff needed, just in case). That part would not be a problem at all.	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-29 22:43:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	Darryl does not have a VWP, he has a holiday visa. He has been over here 3 times. In November of 2005, March of 2006 and again in June of 2006. That was his last visit. A VWP is NOT A VISA. It stands for 'visa waiver program'. Certain countries are a part of the visa waiver program, which means they can enter on their passports for 90 days. http://travel.state....thout_1990.html If he's been over 3 times, I'm surprised he doesn't know about the VWP. Or maybe I'm just confused. I think you need a few more answers before deciding on a definite course of action. I don't have great confidence that this 'lawyer' can somehow now miraculously extricate your case from where its currently buried, but I also suppose I'd give it a little time. Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if they'd sent the petition back to your 'lawyer' who then proceeded to put it in the bottom of a huge stack of papers. Personally, I'd be a bit careful having a 'fake' wedding and then going through the K1 process. If they got wind of the 'fake' wedding at the consular interview for the K1, you could have real problems. I'd be more inclined to have a true wedding, and then go for the spousal visa instead. You're not confused. Long story here but he did have to get an actual visa. He was able to visit on 90 day periods...at least we thought he was...as I see now, he could have continued visiting.	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-29 22:29:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	Your fiance can absolutely visit you. Just be sure he brings ties to his home with him at POE (bank statements, employer letter, mortgage statement or letter from landlord, etc). This idiot lawyer has made enough mistakes - the last thing you need is to not even be able to have your fiance visit in the meantime. Too bad this 'lawyer' was too useless to even have known about direct consular filing (which WAS an option for you back in June, but I don't think is an option any longer). I agree with meauxna's statement about beginning a list of economic damages this idiot has (and will) cause you, alongside his huge, legal shortcomings (i.e list everything he got WRONG). All he had to do was read the damn form instructions (or, god forbid, a freaking web page). Tell him to get on the damn web - or were you not paying him enough? You should be outraged - you have every right to be. He ought to be ashamed, and at the very least, reported by you to the state bar for flat out incompetance. You should also be refunded immediately of any monies you paid him (IMHO). No worries there, we will definitely be reporting this guy and I will except every cent refunded to us we have put into this mess. His payment and all monies we will be out. As for not paying him enough, we agreed to make 3 installments. We have only made one installment and it was a little over 600.00. The next installment was due when he was approved and then again once he came over and needed to file for a green card. I honestly don't know what the average pay for this type of immigration work goes for from lawyers.	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-29 22:22:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	I want to make certain that .......Darryl can enter this country without his K-1 visa approval and there would be no repercussions? Kym A K1 visa will not be 'denied' because of someone attempting to enter on a valid visa or the VWP. There is always the possiblity of a turnback on attempted entry. Those on the VWP are more likely to be turned around if they have visited frequently and if the last visit was recent. Should a turnback occur, depending on what is stamped (if anything) in the passport, the visa would at most be delayed because of further investigation into the incident. Your lawyer is misinformed. Highly. This entire day is completely blowing my mind. I just can not believe I am reading this...that we have been so misinformed once again from our lawyer. This has been a huge sticking point for us. Darryl does not have a VWP, he has a holiday visa. He has been over here 3 times. In November of 2005, March of 2006 and again in June of 2006. That was his last visit. I will look into this further in the morning. Heck, I would have looked into this further a long time ago if I even had an incling that could be untrue. I guess in all actuality, we could have a 'fake' wedding and reception as planned on April 21, then he go back to Australia and we have our real ceremony when he is approved and comes over? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh...I feel so mentally drained! Kym I will take any and all info on this matter anyone is willing to offer.	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-29 22:15:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	Can anyone please verify if this is true or is this one more thing that we have been mislead on??? Categorically untrue (but be careful if that is what he actually told you or how you interpreted it). You got a *very* raw deal from this guy and I'm afraid if it were me, I'd be in his face a bit more. At least he is telling you right about the private contact info--lawyers do have special access to the Service Centers. Next time you have him on the horn, ask him what he is going to do to expedite your petition. I guess he never heard of Direct Consular Filing and how you could have (in June) had an Immigrant Visa in a day, in Australia.... Start a list of your economic damages. And learn one lesson at least from this: stay on top of your case! Look around here for the instructions on getting email notifications from USCIS. And don't ever let anything go this long without hearing from CIS unless you have checked out other actual users' experiences with the same type of application and office. I have already set up to receive email notifications from USCIS, I did this long ago. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I have been continously active in following our case trying to get all the info I possibly could. I just didn't know of anyone else to ask that had gone through the same experience (I only learned of this website through google this past weekend). The only site I knew to follow that seemed worthwhile was the USCIS website and the processing dates. It had not passed our date (it is actually on our date now) and it never should that anything had been updated. Our lawyer informed us some time ago that there was not anyway of monitoring where our case was at in the process. He didn't even tell us there was a USCIS website. Something I found very easily shortly thereafter. We have contacted him and I have complained all along to my fiance my disatisfaction with the lawyer because of lack of information from him. I even contacted another lawyer located in Georgia at one point trying to get some information. He had a very informative website and decided to try talking to him. This lawyer was so kind and spent 20 minutes on the phone with me trying to give me assurance that we should be approved soon if everything was done properly. Of course we assumed it had. My point is, I rec'd more information from a lawyer that was talking to me for free and knew we had another lawyer than we ever thought about getting from our own. As for me possibly misinterpreting him telling us that Darryl could not come back into the USA until he was approved. No way. I am absolutely, without a doubt this is what he told us. We even questioned this at a later date because I felt like I was loosing my mind and to be able for us to spend a little time together we thought would help out with the long long wait. He informed us that Darryl would be taking a HUGE risk, because if they 'caught' him it could certainly jepordize his approval. He suggested that perhaps we meet in another country to be able to visit one another. Something we have certainly been considering. He did say that they do this because they fear that the person would come into the country, get married and not leave. So your response was "Categorically untrue"...can you please expand on this. I want to make certain that you are saying Darryl can enter this country without his K-1 visa approval and there would be no repercussions? Kym	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-29 21:52:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	I am so sorry you are having such an experience. One suggestion, before you go through with selling off things on ebay, hold on to the dress and accessories; even if you are not able to have your dream wedding in April, you can still wear your dress for a small ceremony when your fiance is able to arrive here. You may also wish to have a large 'reception' or special ceremony at a later date - maybe on your first anniversary - and you can wear it then for your family and friends. I hadn't planned on wearing a wedding dress because I knew our ceremony was going to be very small in front of a judge. Still, I found the perfect dress purely by accident - I wasn't even looking - and bought it. I wore it and it helped to make that small ceremony even more special. So, hang on to things like that for now until you have a better idea of what and when things will happen. Good luck in finding your answers soon and getting your NOA2 and your K-1 visa quickly. How awful!! You have my sympathy. I wanted to let you know about one strategy a couple I know used. Their fiance visa took way longer than the average timeline, and didn't come in time for their wedding date. He came, they had the wedding, but they didn't sign the mariage certificate. He then had to leave and go back to his home country. When the visa came through and he was able to come back, they went back to the person that had married them and signed. So their LEGAL mariage date is not that of their wedding. But emotionally, spritually, etc, they got married on their wedding date and that's what they celebrate as their anniversary. Hi, Your post has raised yet another question for me. We were told by my idiot lawyer that once we have filed for a K-1 visa his holiday visa is no longer good. In other words, since we filed for the K-1, he absolutely can not set foot into the USA until he is approved. Darryl was visiting me quite often before this and now we have not seen one another since June, that alone has even been stressful. Can anyone please verify if this is true or is this one more thing that we have been mislead on??? Thanks again and again and again.... Kym	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-29 21:08:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	oops - BAD LINK! I meant www.calbar.ca.gov Call and report the #######! And every jurisdiction has a similar oversight body that can discipline lawyers who mess things up. If your lawyer was negligent, you should at least see about getting your fees and other costs back. Thank you for your suggestions. However, let me clear a couple things up. In my first post I stated that my petition had been filed with the California Service Center, I guess I only assumed this because I knew that is where it should have been filed, because I had read that the Nebraska cases were all being transferred to California. When I contacted the USCIS I then found out that it was filed with the National Benefits Center and remains there. Now why it was not returned or forwarded on to the correct Service Center is beyond me but the fact remains my lawyer should not have messed it up in the first place. I live in Missouri and my attorney is also located in Missouri. My head has absolutely been spinning today. I tried contacting my lawyer a couple times by phone and he never returned my call. I then emailed him and I did get a response to my email, this was his response: Kimberly & Darryl: First – as to your calls – I have had a lot of clients in my office today, and still have two more appointments before I leave. I just have had a full day of appointments. I picked up your file and looked at the address where the I-129f was sent, and it was mailed directly to the Missouri Service Center, which is the location where K-3 and K-4 visas are filed. Your case should have been filed with the Nebraska Service Center instead. Today we have sent a letter overnight requesting to have it forwarded to the Nebraska Service Center, with a request that it be done immediately. Furthermore, we are contacting the MSC liaison right now in an attempt to get the transfer done as quickly as possible. The liaison is an attorney that works closely with the service center in resolving issues. We will do everything we can to get this case transferred as quickly as possible. Typically, when something is filed in the wrong location, it is either rejected outright or transferred immediately to the proper location. This doesn’t happen that often, but the CIS does change where they want things filed without notice from time to time. In those instances we have seen them reject or transfer the cases immediately, not wait for months with the case still pending. Having said that, our office is responsible for filing all of our cases in the correct location, to the best of our knowledge at the time of filing. All I can do at this point is to offer you my sincere apologies and make sure we do everything we can to assist in getting the case transferred as quickly as possible. A couple of things makes me irate about this email. He picked up my case today and saw it was filed in the wrong place. Darryl and I have contacted him several time via phone and email with very valid concerns. We have not been nuisance but knew something was not right with our case. He ALWAYS brushed us off with the advice to be more patient, it will be anytime now. We have been hearing that for months. If at anytime we would have taken us seriously and picked up our file, he could have caught this months ago. The next thing is where he states that CIS does change where they want things filed without notice from time to time. That is BS...The National Benefits Center is not even one of the Service Centers. At no time (at least since we have filed) were the K-1 visas to be filed at this location. He is just trying to cover his ###. Lastly, all he can offer us is his sincere apologies. That is not good enough. He has ruined our wedding, we will be out quite a lot of money not to mention the money we have already paid him for absolutely nothing. This is a matter that my fiance and I will be discussing a lot more and decide our actions we want to take. He is trying to get this transferred as soon as possible to the Nebraska Service Center, but what about when it gets there. We then have to go through all the waiting once again to get our NOA2. I am VERY confident that if our lawyer had not screwed this up we would not have any problems have a beautiful, loving April 21 wedding. And I am a pretty forgiving person, everyone makes mistakes, right? But what really gets my goat is the fact that he has treated us as idiots this entire time, he would not give us his respect to actually listen to our concerns and take us seriously. I have been dissatisfied with his uncaring way for a long time but I kept telling myself that it is out of his hands, we just need to keep waiting for the NOA2. I'm so upset and mad I could scream. Thanks for listening and sorry about the rant! Kym	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-29 20:28:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	Good luck! There a ton of Aussie/American couples in the Regional Forums (Asia...Australia). Come on in and chat with us! They can help answer your questions as well! This is a live chat forum? I have tried finding this but have not had any luck. Can you help direct me there?	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-29 14:26:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	I have taken everyone's advice and immediately began making phone calls. I am somewhat devasted by my findings, but it is certainly better than the "not knowing". At least now I know that we need to start cancelling all the many wedding plans we have already completed. Come find out my dumba** (can I say that on here) of a lawyer filed my I-129F petition at the National Benefits Center, which is where my paperwork still remains. We are applying for a K-1 visa since we are not yet married and in order to file at the National Benefits Center, you would need to be applying for a K-3/K-4 visa. Ours should have been filed at the Nebraska Service Center. I then contacted my lawyer's office and they insisted that I was misinformed and the National Benefits Center indeed is the correct place to file my petition. For me not to worry. I even told them that on the USCIS website if you go into the processing dates for the National Benefits Center, it lists the I-129F petition for the K-3/K-4 visas only. No where does it list a K-1 visa. Once again, they assured me that it was filed correctly but she would have my lawyer return my call as soon as he is available. I was speaking to an assistant and I am still waiting on his phone call, although at this point, I have been so emotional over this, I'm not so sure I could compose myself well enough right now to speak to him. Since I already had very little faith in my lawyer anyway, I then decided to call the NCSC back just to double check the original info I was given. Sure enough, I spoke to someone different and given the exact some info. He even looked into my case a little further. I then filed a claim with them to have my case transfered to the Nebraska Service Center where it should have been sent in the first place. I have no idea how long this will take. I now get to start all over! I have a claim number and if I do not hear anything from them within 45 days, I am to check back. I have not yet spoken to my fiance about any of this because of our time differences, he's been asleep. I'm sure he is going to be just as disappointed and devasted as I have been. My suggestion to him is going to be for us to cancel everything and not reschedule the "big" wedding plans. When he finally does get to come to the USA, have a very small ceremony and call it a day. (Take a great honeymoon though)! I have a beautiful wedding dress and veil, decorations, bridesmaid dress, flowergirl dresses, not to mention our deposits with venders, etc etc etc. Sell what I can on ebay and what I can't, take the loss. I think I am about drained dry of tears and my feelings are now beginning to turn to anger. I'm sure this will pass soon and I just need a few stressfree days...sometime soon would be nice. Thanks again to everyone. Although this has turned into a very chaotic day for me, at least now I know! Kym	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-29 14:19:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	First of all I wanted to thank everyone for their response. I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to ask questions and actually get some answers and suggestions on how to proceed. We (my fiance and myself) have felt in the dark for months now, not knowing what to do. We honestly did not know what we were doing when we first started this whole process, I thought our only option was to hire an immigration lawyer to get the ball rolling. A decision in which we have both been very disappointed. I have tried calling the Customer Service number listed on the USCIS website several times and I only receive a recording telling me the same information that is on their website. Can anyone help me out with a number to reach an actual person and not a recording? I am ready to start trying to contact someone asap, thanks to the advice I have rec'd. One of you also suggested that I call the NVC, can you please tell me what that is and how I can get in touch with them? Many thanks in advance, Kym & Darryl Your time line is similar to ours at CSC. You should have received your NOA2 between Sept and Oct. Start calling today. The touch in Oct may have been when it was forwarded to the NVC then the Embassy in Australia. Call the USCIS, the NVC and the AMEMBASSY in Australia. Ken & Maria I am new to this site, found it out of desperation...trying to find answers to some of my questions. I am a US citizen and my fiance is coming over from Australia. We filed our petition back in June, 06 and our first notice date was on July 17, 2006. (Ours is at the California Service Center) We were assured by our immigration lawyer that we should have all this taken care of in no more than 6 months and he would be here in the states with me. So with that information, we thought an April wedding would be perfect. We have planned for a pretty big wedding on April 21, 2007. Yet, we have heard nothing! I have not received the second notice and once we do, we will still need to wait on everything to be done in Australia. Paperwork, interview, etc. I check the USCIS site daily for some updated info. The last 'touch' date shows Oct. 2006. I have read several timelines on this site from different members and it sure doesn't seem that any of the others have taken this long. Can anyone tell me if this timing seems a bit abnormal (we can not seem to get any info out of our lawyer, either)? Has anyone else had to wait this long? My biggest fear is that I will be standing at the altar without a groom. We have talked about rescheduling our wedding plans but we will loose a lot of money from venders with deposits and so much work will be lost. (Or if we just move the date back with all of our venders, they are so booked up now, it would be the end of 2007 or even 2008) I do feel we are close since the date for the I-129F on the USCIS site is July 17 (our date). But even if we are notified and things are sent to the American Embassy in Sydney in the next couple of weeks, I still don't know if we will have enough time to get him here by April. This has been the most stressful thing ever. If anyone has any suggestions for me, words of wisdom, or comments, I would love to hear from you. Thank you, Kym First of all I wanted to thank everyone for their response. I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to ask questions and actually get some answers and suggestions on how to proceed. We (my fiance and myself) have felt in the dark for months now, not knowing what to do. We honestly did not know what we were doing when we first started this whole process, I thought our only option was to hire an immigration lawyer to get the ball rolling. A decision in which we have both been very disappointed. I have tried calling the Customer Service number listed on the USCIS website several times and I only receive a recording telling me the same information that is on their website. Can anyone help me out with a number to reach an actual person and not a recording? I am ready to start trying to contact someone asap, thanks to the advice I have rec'd. One of you also suggested that I call the NVC, can you please tell me what that is and how I can get in touch with them? Many thanks in advance, Kym & Darryl	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-29 11:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	A newbie with timing concerns!	I am new to this site, found it out of desperation...trying to find answers to some of my questions. I am a US citizen and my fiance is coming over from Australia. We filed our petition back in June, 06 and our first notice date was on July 17, 2006. (Ours is at the California Service Center) We were assured by our immigration lawyer that we should have all this taken care of in no more than 6 months and he would be here in the states with me. So with that information, we thought an April wedding would be perfect. We have planned for a pretty big wedding on April 21, 2007. Yet, we have heard nothing! I have not received the second notice and once we do, we will still need to wait on everything to be done in Australia. Paperwork, interview, etc. I check the USCIS site daily for some updated info. The last 'touch' date shows Oct. 2006. I have read several timelines on this site from different members and it sure doesn't seem that any of the others have taken this long. Can anyone tell me if this timing seems a bit abnormal (we can not seem to get any info out of our lawyer, either)? Has anyone else had to wait this long? My biggest fear is that I will be standing at the altar without a groom. We have talked about rescheduling our wedding plans but we will loose a lot of money from venders with deposits and so much work will be lost. (Or if we just move the date back with all of our venders, they are so booked up now, it would be the end of 2007 or even 2008) I do feel we are close since the date for the I-129F on the USCIS site is July 17 (our date). But even if we are notified and things are sent to the American Embassy in Sydney in the next couple of weeks, I still don't know if we will have enough time to get him here by April. This has been the most stressful thing ever. If anyone has any suggestions for me, words of wisdom, or comments, I would love to hear from you. Thank you, Kym	Kym	Female	Australia	2007-01-29 08:19:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Smells like an RFE for us?	We just got our I-129F mailed and Mae's already a worrywart. We filled up our G325A and I-129F forms together during my second visit. We thought we got everything in order only to find out that some were mispelled. I used a correction fluid to cover the errors and then handwritten the correct information. Do you think we're going to receive RFE in the coming days because of those small corrections? Alhtough we signed the forms where our signatures were needed, we didn't sign the corrections to prove that we're the one who corrected it and not someone else. Kindly advice me so that I could tell my Mae to stop getting herself worried sick. Thank you guys! David	David-and-Mae	Female	Philippines	2006-12-09 05:41:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Thank God!	It's indeed a wonderful feeling. Actually, we felt mixed emotions. The excitement, getting worried that we missed something and anxious to receive our NOA1 and make it up to the finish line of this journey. Mae's starting to get so worried - she's having sleepless nights, mind you. She kept asking me if I got everything right. I'm positive that we're in good shape because she did a helluva job in keeping our packet organized. I remember, there were nights that I would be awakened with a small light coming from our night lamp and there she was, at 2:00 in the morning, reading and checking everything. We hope and pray that all our hardworks, efforts and frustrations in getting everything ready will pay off. The sooner, the better! Thank you guys for sharing the joy with us! David and Mae Edited by DavidandMae, 09 December 2006 - 06:01 AM.	David-and-Mae	Female	Philippines	2006-12-09 05:57:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Thank God!	After 5 months of working and gathering everything, our I-129F was mailed today... Thank God! I've read from other posts that if your service center is NSC, your case will be forwarded to CSC. I'm just wondering, how soon I will receive the NOA1 and what's written on it? Sorry, I guess I'm just too excited.	David-and-Mae	Female	Philippines	2006-12-08 03:19:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Typos happen...	Instead of writing NE for US state, we wrote "Ne" and my fiancee wanted it to be changed to NE, so we just handwritten it. Instead of Springfield, I typed Springfiled so we corrected it again by handwriting. We never mispelled names though... just these small typos. We mailed our paperwork last Dec. 7 and until now, we haven't heard from them, not even the return receipt from the UPS store. Is it normal? Based from other timelines, most of the time, it takes less than or at least a week to hear from them. As for ours, it's been more than a week and still nothing. Help, I'm having a heart attack from being a worrywart!	David-and-Mae	Female	Philippines	2006-12-16 04:04:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Typos happen...	We have the same problem. When we were printing all the filled-up forms, we were so sure that we got everything right. When we double checked it, some were mispelled so we use correction fluid to cover it and then handwritten the correct details. We didn't sign the correction we made as a proof that we're the one who corrected it and not somebody else, though we signed and each and every page of the forms where our signature's needed. Do you think there will be problems? Now I'm starting to get worried again...	David-and-Mae	Female	Philippines	2006-12-15 06:46:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	NOA 1 received	The first set of worries are over! Finally saw that the check cleared the bank, so I went and got a copy of the check so that I would have a receipt number. Low and behold when I got home, there it was in black and white. Now we get to sit and wait for the RFE's. What a pleasant process to endure. Congratulations !! Good luck for your next journey. Our paperwork was mailed to NSC last Dec. 7 and until now we still haven't heard from them. Is it supposed to be this long before we could receive our NOA1? We're getting impatient to think that it's only been 13 days prior to mailing our case. I must agree now that waiting part is the hardest thing to deal with.	David-and-Mae	Female	Philippines	2006-12-20 06:28:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Christmas Present for us-wooohooo!	Congrats on getting started Register here to check your status online: https://egov.immigra...id=dOZu1gfpiw-6 Notice date is the actual NOA1 date. Good luck with your journey We finally got our NOA1 in the mail today. It has a receipt number of WAC-07-051-XXXXX so I pressume this is our case number that we will need to use in checking the status of our case at USCIS website? It has a recieved date of Dec. 8, 2006 and a notice date of Dec. 14, 2006. I assume that the date of our NOA1 is the latter one, am I right? Anyway, it's indeed a wonderful feeling when we got our NOA1 and my fiancee's so thrilled when I told her the news. She's been praying for this and hoping that we'll have it before Christmas and it's the best present that we could both have. We're sooooooooooooooooo happy right now! It's time to join the club! P.S. Can anyone tell me how I can check my status at USCIS website ? Thanks! David and Mae Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I already created an online account at USCIS. I just found out that they updated our case last Dec. 16, 2006. Does this mean we've been "TOUCHED" on this date? Boy, I guess I will need to check my main every once in a great while for further touches, LOL.	David-and-Mae	Female	Philippines	2006-12-20 23:08:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Christmas Present for us-wooohooo!	We finally got our NOA1 in the mail today. It has a receipt number of WAC-07-051-XXXXX so I pressume this is our case number that we will need to use in checking the status of our case at USCIS website? It has a recieved date of Dec. 8, 2006 and a notice date of Dec. 14, 2006. I assume that the date of our NOA1 is the latter one, am I right? Anyway, it's indeed a wonderful feeling when we got our NOA1 and my fiancee's so thrilled when I told her the news. She's been praying for this and hoping that we'll have it before Christmas and it's the best present that we could both have. We're sooooooooooooooooo happy right now! It's time to join the club! P.S. Can anyone tell me how I can check my status at USCIS website ? Thanks! David and Mae	David-and-Mae	Female	Philippines	2006-12-20 22:48:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	The Journey Begins...	Congratulations! Now you know how we've felt when we submitted our own paperwork... Wait till you get the NOA1, it's going to be a mixed emotions... Good luck on your journey and to all of us!	David-and-Mae	Female	Philippines	2006-12-22 05:56:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Evidence of ongoing relationship- letters, e-mails, etc.	We did include copies of our email to each other for the last 9 months prior to filing of our 129F. It's not necessary but we were told that overdoing our paperwork won't hurt. We even included the letters provided by the dating site where we met just so we could support our statement that we met thru IMB. We didn't talk about nonsense in our letters, mostly about our day to day activities and such. Those letters - if ever they will read them - will show them that even though we've been together for quite some time, we still get to know and learn about each other more. But we made it sure that we included letters with no suspicious topics, no "too personal" discussion and the likes, just I love yous and miss yous so that we don't have to black them out. Aside from these copies of email, we also included receipts of our money transfers, 10 or so photographs together, telephone bills, snail mails, travel reciepts, itineraries, boarding passes, stamped passport pages, and hotel accomodations and hotel receipts. I know that even though we included a lot it doesn't mean we're not going to receive RFE, but like they said, overdoing it won't hurt. I HOPE THEY'RE RIGHT THOUGH, LOL	David-and-Mae	Female	Philippines	2006-12-28 21:44:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Mail directly to CSC	We thought about doing the same thing but we wanted to make sure that we're following the procedures... But it's ok... it didn't take long for our case to get to CSC	David-and-Mae	Female	Philippines	2007-01-03 23:41:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	I-129f question 19 marrage broker??imbra law	My fiancee and I met thru Cherry Blossoms. He paid for the membership but I didn't pay anything. He wrote a letter to CB and asked them if they're considered as marriage broker and they denied it. But since it says: "that charges fees for providing dating, matrimonial, matchmaking services" we said "YES" on that particular question. We're not sure if it's going to cause some delays but hopefully it won't. We're not worried about the background checking because my guy didn't get involved in anything illegal or crimes in the past. Don't regret it that you admitted that you met your girl online because it's better to be honest in dealing with the immigration because it's your lifelong happiness on the line. Goodluck on your journey! GOODLUCK TO ALL OF US! Mae	David-and-Mae	Female	Philippines	2007-01-04 05:47:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Interview date -	I know exactly how it feels and indeed, it's really hard being far away from the one you love. There will be times that you'd consider trading everything you have in this world just to be with your honey. Just hang in there for the time to be happy will come. You're one step closer and you've been through a lot already. You're not alone and everyone here needs to go through the same situation. Make yourself busy to make the wait bearable and you'll see, in the end, it's worth all the wait. Hang in there (the most used phrase here) and you'll pass this through. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US! Mae	David-and-Mae	Female	Philippines	2007-01-04 06:51:00