Hi, does anyone know about optional form 171? On my husbands paper that had his interview date it said to fill it out the attached optional form 171 but guess what?? It doesnt have it attached! Sorry im getting a lil frustrated. I paid the lawyer who helped with our filing extra to help with embassy..stupid me, I should i have just donated to y'all cause you have been helping me more. Lawyer said "Still don't know what form 171 is. I researched it and still can't find anything. I guess I wouldn't worry about it.What other questions do you have?" I should have said "yes, one question, how do i get my money back!?" I told her Im not going to waste another year for assuming I shouldnt bring a form since its not attached. I just want to know what it is and if I should bring it. Does anyone have? can u scan for us or direct us to it? PLEASE

Form OF 171 Instructions for Interview
is just a form that shows you what to bring for interview, it is not something you fill out so dont worry about it. Good Luck

Hi Efia, thx for ur PM, i just sent you reply. the optional 171 form is a sheet of instruction. please kindly get beck to me thru PM and will get you copy of it.

Stay blessed In the Lord

Oh thank you for the help! Afen I sent you email.

I can't believe your lawyer said that. No one on here has ever said they had a good experience with their lawyer. What's up with them? They make so much money to do so little in this process. They really just fill out paperwork. That sounds like secretarial work to me.

Me either. My husband said we should file the papers ourselves. But I was clueless as to the whole process and was afraid to mess up. My husband thinks things are more simple than they really are and he was putting too much confidence in me. thankfully I didnt pay her too much. Compared to others she was cheap, now i know why. Hopefully we will only go through this once.

HI EFIA, THANKS FOR YOUR E-MAIL. I TRY TO ATTACH IT BUT IS NOT ATTACHING THRU MY E-MAIL. I ATTACHED IT HERE FOR YOU. HAVE BLESSED DAY

Thank you efenaba! It seems you got all current information but my husband looks like he got old forms and is missing a lot. I dont know what to think.

You are not alone Efia! Same form, same confusion with my fiance. He was also missing forms that were said to be in the packet. Who knows!!!???

Its weird though, cause some get it all and very professionally. I guess the staff at embassy are not all on the safe page. Thank God we have each other for support and information.

I'm frustrated to tears right now. My husband does have form 171 but we couldnt initially tell because he seems to have a bad copy of it with the "optional form 171" cut in half and the page is off center. Also its wording is different. Afen yours looks all neat and professional but my husbands is sloppy and even has one word that looks whited out and hand written. yours says to "read carefully DS 156 & DS 156K" form. Fill this form..." My husband's says "Please read carefully the attached "Application for immigrant visa and alien registration" (Sworn Statement, Optional Form 230 Part 2. Fill This form out completely..." When I told my husband he probably has an outdated one and we should be concerned he just thinks we should just accept what they give us and bring what the forms ask after all it has the embassy stamp on it. I am in tears cause I am the one worried that we are getting a packet that was put together wrong and we will be unprepared and delayed at interview, but my husband says im worried too much. Am I? I know how our government works. Its a great country but embassy workers are very busy and they are not going to give us a break because we didnt bring a certain form that another embassy worker forget to put in packet. No one wants to have to clean up someone elses mess or mistake.

On his second page even the enclosers are different. His says 1. Optional for 230 Part 2, Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration (Sworn Statement. 2. Instructions for Medical Examination 3. Supplimental Information Letter. 4 Irs Form 9003, Additional Questions to be Completed by all applicants for Permanent Residence in the United States.

Contacting embassy is not an option since they dont help and my lawyer is useless it seems. Ok, maybe Im just stressed, maybe you guys can let me know if I am making a big about this.

Efia, it looks like your husband got the instructions for getting a CR-1/IR-1 visa and not the K-3 visa.

From the US DOS for CR-1/IR-1 visa:



From the US DOS for K-3 visa:



I would suggest that you call the embassy ASAP and make sure you are clear what visa you are applying for.

oh man! ok, thanks Zee im just reluctant to call cause I am afraid I wont get helped and then feel completely hopeless. Who do I ask for? How do I address the situation without implying they might have screwed up?

When you call make sure you speak to someone in the Consular Section (they only take calls between 3 and 4pm Ghana time). If no one picks up or you get voicemail tell the operator and they will redirect you somewhere else. When you talk to someone explain the situation for them. Use the US DOS info that I posted here to ask them what kind of visa your husband is applying for because the info your husband has is different from what DOS says. Just ell them you just want some clarification.

Let me know if I can be of any other help to you.

Good luck!!!

Thanks zee! I will do that monday.

Hey, Zee what website can i find that info and us dos means us department of state? showing my ignorance, i know.

Yes, Department of State

Here is the link: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/immigrant...types_1315.html

Zee I am a lil confused. It looks like the I-130 I filed is the same as a IR1 or CR1. We also filed a k3. So which is the one we should be preparing for at the embassy? Does the embassy ask for both or they have a specific one they choose?

The embassy interview is for the first one that went through their system (even if they are approved at the same time). Sometimes when you file both the I-130 and I-129f together one goes through quicker than the other. If the I-130 goes faster then you interview for CR-1/IR-1. If the I-129F goes faster then you interview for K-3.

Any idea which one went first?

no, but i will find out when I call. his stuff says a k3 was filed on his behalf. so is that it? does it really matter? I mean is one better than the other? I wonder if because of the mix up can we get an earlier date. The time of interview would be so much better just 2 weeks early because I work in a loan office and it gets busy toward the end of and begining of month and my boss is paranoid and worried I wont be back in time during the busy time....dealing with money we can make a lot of mistakes if we are alone and hurried. but even if I have to stay 21 days , 2 weeks earlier gives us a good cushion to work with so we wont have to have her be alone during that time.

The CR-1/IR-1 is a better visa becuase you don't need to file for AOS and he gets the greencard a few weeks after entering the US.

If the paperwork says he is applying for a K-3 then they probably gave him the wrong packet. But just make sure about that when you call. Sometimes the embassies will schedule different interview times for the different visas so it is possible that they have the CR-1/IR-1 paperwork at the embassy as well.

But, if you had applied for a CR-1/IR-1 visa you should have filled out a I-864 and paid an Immigrant Visa (IV) bill to NVC. Did you do any of that?

Hmm. Honestly with all the paperwork the lawyer had me fill out...Im not sure, but I dont think so. Thats really dumb isnt it. Well, at least Im figuring it out now. I will definately call embassy monday, though. Thanks zee