To: All VJ members going through the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.


I am posting this thread because I have had to explain this process many times so by putting it here it should help everyone. The best of luck to your fiancée and you.

You could look at my timeline and get an idea. Remember no two K-1 fiancée visa petitions are exactly the same.

After your petition leaves your service center (CSC/TSC, NVC, VSC) it goes to NVC and it might take about two weeks. From NVC it goes to the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá this usually takes about four or five days.

There are short-cuts that you can take once the petition gets to Bogotá. But the first thing you do is to call NVC every couple of days to a week. Make sure you speak with a customer service representative and not the automated system, K-1’s stay less than two weeks and they do not put them in the system. When you call NVC, get your case number and ask them when they will sent the petition out. Once you know that date, call back on that date and make sure that they sent it out. Then you track the package through www.dhl.com. I will give you the instruction later.

Once the petition gets to the Embassy you or your fiancée faxes and sends by courier (Servientrega); a copy of your fiancées passport, OF-169, DS-2001 and DS-230 part 1. If the Embassy gets these documents before the cut-off date (varies from month to month 16th to the 20th) then you get the interview the following month. If not by the cut-off date you get the interview the month after that.

After the NOA2 every thing moves fast so you need to make sure your fiancée and you get all the documents, paperwork, and all other stuff ready and send it to her.

Good luck,

Peter Miami

I'm a member of the Colombian club and my K-1 129F petetion is at the embassy.
yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Please add us to the Colombia Club my Johanna has her appt on 3/17/06. On her first interview she got a not very nice CO that wanted to know why she would want to marry someone who was divorced and sent her away for a RFE for information she had with her. I hope the 2nd interview goes Better.


Thanks
Robert

Another member reporting to the club, wishing the best to everyone in this adventure!


Mel37

Boston05,

Here are the instructions I told you about!

Regards,

Peter Miami

Hi Ron,

Here are the short-cuts, I told you about!

Regards,

Peter Miami

Hi Tom,

Here are the short-cuts, I told you about!

Regards,

Peter Miami

Bogota

Hi Craig,

You got my e-mail? Did you call the telephone number? What did they say?

Peter Miami

The embassy in Bogota received my petition on February 20, 2006. Apparently they sent the package on february 22, 2006.
and we never received the package #3 I went to Colombia to spend time with my wife from February23 to March 1st. And We never received nothingggggg. I already faxed and sent thru Servientrega the DS-230 part 1, and DS-2001 along with
my wife passport copy, I called the embassy and the told me that I had to send the DS-156.
Could somebody tell me was is really in that package #3.
Thanks
And Good luck to everyone!

AngelyLuzmy

Hi Angely,

Please fill out your timeline so that we can help you and it will help others as well. I have a actual packet 3 & 4 that the U.S. Embassy sends to fiancé(e) in Colombia. If you want them send me a private message (PM) with your e-mail address with some room in the inbox because each packet is about 3 to 4 MB. The packets are in Adobe Acrobat .pdf file.

The documents and paperwork that come in packet 3 are;

Letter from U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia
Instructions (2 pages)
OF-169
Instructions on what you need for the K-1 petition (2 pages)
DS-230 part 1 (2 pages)
DS-156 (2 pages)
DS-156K
Instructions for I-134 and back-ups
I-134
Privacy Act

Read my other threads on this section for short-cuts, how to track package though DHL from NVC and other advice.

Good luck,

Peter Miami

Hi Parth,

Here are the short-cuts, I told you about! They work for Colombia and some other countries, I do not know if it works for India but you could try.

Good luck,

Peter Miami

hi!!!

Should this same process be executed with K-3 non-immigrant visa petitions?

My timeline below...

James

Hello Colombia Club! I have a question... about how long does it take for packet 3 to be received after the embassy gets the paperwork from NVC? I keep reading that it costs $15 to call the embassy, so I don't plan on doing that just to check on the status. Our paperwork arrived at the embassy on 3/24 (per DHL).

Thanks, -Zed

We have our interview on April 6. It took 5 days from the date the embassy received our packet until the day my fiance' received Packet 3 in Armenia, Colombia. We faxed and couriered it back the same day we received it and Packet 4 received in another 7 days although we found out our interview date after 3 days calling NVC. Here's our info that may help you. Best of luck to you--it will go well!!

K-1 Visa

Event Date
Service Center : California Service Center
Consulate : Bogota, Colombia
I-129F Sent : 2005-10-31
I-129F NOA1 : 2005-11-03
I-129F RFE(s) :
RFE Reply(s) :
I-129F NOA2 : 2006-01-31
NVC Received : 2006-02-13
NVC Left : 2006-02-16
Consulate Received : 2006-02-23
Packet 3 Received : 2006-02-28
Packet 3 Sent : 2006-02-28
Packet 4 Received : 2006-03-07
Interview Date : 2006-04-06 Submit Review
Visa Received :
US Entry : 2006-04-08
Marriage :
Comments :
Processing
Estimates/Stats : Your I-129f was approved in 92 days.

Your interview took 157 days from filing.

Lucero got the packet 3 in about a week. She was in Bogota.

To all my Colombia Club buddies I'm heading to Colombia to attend my fiance's visa interview. Booking the tickets for my flight has been one of the worst airline experiences of all times. But I'm going Full details at 11...see you soon

Please tell me you aren't booking flights for your fiance after the interview. This is a really bad idea! pay a little extra and wait until you have the visa

zed it will take a few days to received package 3...

Ok, Monday will be 10 days since they received the NVC package in Bogota, and my fiancee still hasn't received packet 3. Should I start worrying yet...?

No

First of all, congratulations to Colombia Club members Robert and Mamba!!!!!!

Secondly, I called the embassy in Bogota yesterday and they said they sent out packet 3 on 3/28 but Olga still hasn't received it yet. It seems like most of the rest of you got yours fairly quickly. They told me to wait and call back next week if she doesn't have it by then. I'm starting to get worried though that it got lost.

And good luck today to Big Tex!

I just found this thread tonight and I see where there are posts about shortcuts and information, but I don't read any text and don't see any links... Am I missing something?

You should fill your timeline out better. We don't have a clue where you are in the process.
You want to be careful with these shortcuts. They can blow up in your face if you don't have a connect in Bogota. The best you can do with them is saving a couple of weeks and you add some risk. It is possible to get an interview scheduled without a letter that will get you in the embassy.

Hi Joe!

How is everything going with your AOS?

We send hugs... everything is going good... especially now that the weather is finally getting better!

Silvia (and Seth)

Once again they are jerking us around but we really don't care.
Poor Lucero still doen't have EAD or anything else but we really don't care. She is the most incredible woman I have ever met. I lay awake at night thinking about how much I love her!!!

Colombia Club, today is 13 days since the embassy sent packet 3 and my Olguita still doesn't have it. I'm going to call Wednesday to request they send another, but is there anything I can do to help ensure it gets to her? Will they send it by courier if I request it? Help!

Hey Peter thanks for the info, i followed you on the poorbut happy board as well. I spoke to you a bit on the board i remember you where asking about a Turco when you where renting that house in Armania. Anything i am finally pulling the trigger been with my girl for nearly 3 years now so just hoping you can help me out a bit or anyone else for that matter having experience with Colombia. Here is where im at now.

Ok i thank everyone on this board for all there help. Ok signing the check now for 170 bucks writing the check out to Department of Homeland Security (correct?) i live in florida and mailing my package to the following address

USCIS TSC
PO BOX 850965
Mesquit, TX
75185-0965 (Correct?)

I have a cover letter which i got from this site.
I-129f signed by me and completed by me
G325a from me and fiance signed by both of us all 4 pages
I attched passport photes to each of our g325
Copies of my birth certificate
Copies of my Divore Decree
Letter of intent from both of us
Photos of both of us to show proof of relationship
Letter on how we met and stuff like that (1 page)
Copies of her and mine passport showing we been in the same countries at the same time she if from colombia and we where living together in Indonesia for almost 1 year so i think that is kind of proof we have been together.
engagement ring receipt

And thats it i checked all my forms at least 10 times so i think thats it.

Before i send it off if i left anything out please let me know

Thanks
JOe


also on my passport info it shows we spent a lot of time together in ecuador during the past year and a half. Unfortunately i dont have any plane tickets or receipts things of that nature.

Does anyone here in the Club know the cutoff date to have your interview scheduled for the next month? The stupid packet 3 got lost in the mail and I'm afraid we won't have our stuff turned in in time to get a May interview. Thanks.

hi!!! the cutoff time is around the twenty of each month...

I agree!

Peter, it is nice to see you are together already. Great news. I have been a bit disconnected from visajourney but I still read through these threads.

Let me know if you need any help with AOS stuff.

We had created a colombian club also in AOS portion so see you there.

Joe/ Silvia,

Nice to "see" you again. How are things?

Andres & Paola

It is great to see you here. Lucero and I are doing great. We are having a hassle with the EAD and CPR but nothing like the visa. At least we can fight this together. We could not understand why this was taking so long until we found out that our office was in New Orleans and it got wiped out in Katrina. The office for this area used to be Jacksonville but, evidently, it changed just before the storm.
I am not complaining though. I get to kiss her every morning. It is pretty incredible.

Hey, what's up Colombia Club. Just wanted to let you know that Olga has her interview next week (May 24th) and I'll try to get her to write a review afterwards.

My novia had her interview today and the K-1 visa was approved. She said that the whole thing was very easy and that the people there were very pleasant with her. A few comments:

I had sent her English-version documents already filled out (the papers from the embassy said that they can be in either English or Spanish). Well today they told her that turning in the English version would slow things down, so they gave her documents in Spanish to fill out.

About an hour after turning in all her documents they called her up to talk to the consul. Olga said that she was a gringa and that her Spanish wasn't very good. The lady made a joke, which put Olga at ease. She then asked the following questions:

How did you meet?
When was the last time you saw your novio?
How many times have you seen him?
Why do you want to get married? (I'm sure LisaD and TracyTN think this was a very good question!)
Where does he live?
What does your family think about you leaving for the US?
When did he buy his house? (she didn't know the answer and the lady said that was ok)
Do you have any friends/relatives in the US and where do they live?

Those are all the questions I can remember her telling me. She then asked Olga if she had any proof of the relationship with her and Olga told her what she had. She said the lady looked through about half of it (we had lots of pictures, my phone bills, flight itineraries, etc.) and then told her she was approved. She arrived this morning a little before 7am and was done at 11am. She's supposed to go back tomorrow at 4pm (as has been previously documented here on VJ) to pick up the paperwork.

Congratulations. It's good to see those rumors about the Colombian consulate are untrue.

Hi All,

I am back and better than ever. I just got married on Saturday, May 27, 2006. You can see the wedding pictures at www.peterandleidy.weddings.com. I have been away from VJ since Johanna got to Miami but now I am back. I am putting together the AOS package; I will probably send it out Monday or Tuesday. The next part begins now.

It is nice to hear from all the Colombian Club and VJ members. Congratulations to all how have moved on to the next step in the process.

Regards,

Peter Miami

Hi zed2283,

Please read what I wrote on the first page on this thread. Here is a part of the thread;

"Once the petition gets to the Embassy you or your fiancée faxes and sends by courier (Servientrega); a copy of your fiancées passport, OF-169, DS-2001 and DS-230 part 1. If the Embassy gets these documents before the cut-off date (varies from month to month 16th to the 20th) then you get the interview the following month. If not by the cut-off date you get the interview the month after that."

It is not the 20th of the month!

Good luck,

Peter Miami

Hi Andres,

Thank you very much and I will definitely need your help. I am putting together the I-485 package and I plan on sending it out today or tomorrow. Say “Hi” to Paola and I hope you guys are having a great time. Johanna and I are in heaven.

Thanks for the 411 on the Colombian Club in the AOS Section; I did not know that existed.

Regards,

Peter Miami

i need to know how to get tourist visa for my wife's mother who is from barranquilla?????? How do i get started????

Hi Andres and Paola,

All of us at the “Colombian Club” want to show our support and wish you guys good luck with your AOS interview today. “Knock then Dead”.

Let us know as soon as you can.

Good luck,

Peter Miami

Hi Rebelinmotion,

I can not help you with this issue because I have not done it. Hopefully someone here can help you but if not go to the “General Family Based Immigration Topics” Section and under that section you go to “Brining family members of US Citizen to America” Section. You will probably get more assistance there.

Good luck,

Peter Miami

Hey Peter, that web address just goes to the main page. What do we do after that??

-Zed

Hi Zed,

Once you get to the website www.peterandleidy.weddings.com you could go the different sections on the left side “Welcome”, “Our Story”, “Event Details”, etc, etc. You could go into each section and read about us the wedding and other details.

To look at our wedding pictures you go to “Photo Albums”. After you get there, their are two options;
1. Become a member of www.kodakgallary.com.
2. Send me your e-mail address and I will forward you an e-mail that permits you to see them.

You can send me your e-mail address by private message (PM) or to my e-mail address. The address is spacemanx@hotmail.com. And to think I have to do it all again, when Johanna and I travel to Colombia to re-do it in a Catholic Church and for her family.

Regards,

Peter Miami

Sacto and Jerry,

Read this thread I wrote it has a lot of detail information and short-cuts.

Good luck,

Peter Miami

Hi Jerry,

Read this thread.

Peter Miami

Read this.

Peter Miami