Timing

[CassandraHaydar 0]

Hi everyone... you all look friendly and knowledgeable so I thought I would bounce this off of you.

My fiance and I are living in South Korea. I am an English Teacher here. We submitted our K1 and it was received 11/27/07. The USCIS processing time leads me to believe I should be hearing about the next step sometime early May. However, after watching these times, I notice they post about two weeks late even though the date is listed around the middle of the month.

Our issue is mainly that my contract is up at the end of June. I have told my boss I want to extend my contract for a month. She has booked someone to take my place after that time. I've heard this process take as little as 6 months and as much as 1.5 years. What do you think the chances are that we might be all set to go by the end of July?

Also, does the country of the fiance matter?

When do you actually need your passport? He is having a hard time getting a new passport from Iraq.

Since we are doing this in South Korea, I am hoping the second step (interview) will actually happen in the 4-5 weeks they are telling me. What exactly IS the next step?

Thanks,

Cassandra

[Zee Bee 61]

Hi everyone... you all look friendly and knowledgeable so I thought I would bounce this off of you.

My fiance and I are living in South Korea. I am an English Teacher here. We submitted our K1 and it was received 11/27/07. The USCIS processing time leads me to believe I should be hearing about the next step sometime early May. However, after watching these times, I notice they post about two weeks late even though the date is listed around the middle of the month.

Our issue is mainly that my contract is up at the end of June. I have told my boss I want to extend my contract for a month. She has booked someone to take my place after that time. I've heard this process take as little as 6 months and as much as 1.5 years. What do you think the chances are that we might be all set to go by the end of July? This will depend on when you get approved. The VJ timelines just give you an estimate based on what people on this website have put in their timelines. Sometimes it does take longer than the posted 6 months to get approval. After that, it is going to depend on how quickly the consulate in South Korea works.

Also, does the country of the fiance matter? It is highly likely that your fiance is going to go through more security checks because he is from a Middle Eastern country. This process can add a few weeks or months to the whole process before he is issued a visa.

When do you actually need your passport? He is having a hard time getting a new passport from Iraq. He will need the passport at least for the interview. In some cases, a passport is needed for the medical exam. You may have to ask the consulate about this.

Since we are doing this in South Korea, I am hoping the second step (interview) will actually happen in the 4-5 weeks they are telling me. What exactly IS the next step? Once you get approved the petition goes to NVC (National Visa Center) and then it is forwarded to the embassy. They will send your fiance a packet 3 with information on forms to fill out/medical exam info/police certificates (he needs one from every country he has lived in for 6 months or more since the age of 16) and other info. He will also get an interview appointment letter (either at the same time he gets the packet 3 or after). You may want to look into the police certificates now because some can take a month or more to get.

Thanks,

Cassandra

[SnowyTater 0]

Hey Cass...trying to understand all of your questions and where you're at in the process and everything.

I strongly advise that you don't make any really tight plans around projected dates for your processing. The time can really take anywhere as little as THREE months, some I've seen, up to years...it shouldn't take years unless something goes terribly wrong, but it's happened. Just don't get in a situation where you or your fiance are stuck in S. Korea and need to be somewhere else.

You'll get the NOA1 probably in another couple weeks if you haven't already yet - all of that you can check online and don't have to do anything for. "Awhile" after that, anywhere from a couple more weeks to months and months, you'll get the NOA2. You don't have to do anything during all this time, but you can't really predict what's going to happen. You might have RFE's (request for more information) you'll have to deal with, but that also shouldn't be a problem to do from S. Korea.

If your fiance doesn't want to go to his interview until at least July, just sit on the packet 3 for a little bit when you receive it. Or go ahead and send packet 3 in but hang onto the checklist. Once he's sent that in they schedule an interview. I think you could probably put in a written request that you would like the interview to be after a certain date, but maybe no guarantees there. Your NOA2 is good for 4 months but they tell you to send packet 3 back to them asap...

The country he's from shouldn't matter from the US adjudicators standpoint, but it'll make a difference in what he has to do for his embassy. Check the regional subforums since those guys will know more specific information for you.

And as far as I know, he'll only need his passport when he's ready to fly to enter the US.

Your steps are:

Petition I-129F

NOA1

NOA2

Packet 3 sent out, send it back in

Checklist: must get your medical, police report, etc. (your fiance probably will have to be back in Iraq for this)

Send in, interview scheduled

Interview

Visa (if all goes well)

Good luck.

[pushbrk 12,106]

Also, does the country of the fiance matter?

When do you actually need your passport? He is having a hard time getting a new passport from Iraq.

If your fiance is a Citizen of Iraq, expect additional security checks after the interview. These can take weeks or months, so hope for the best and be prepared for less.

He'll need a passport in hand for the interview. This is absolute. The visa goes in the passport and the passport is needed to travel across a border.

[SnowyTater 0]

ZeeNusah hadn't posted when I was writing this. If there are any contradicting answers refer to ZeeNusah's, they know more what they're talking about than me

[CassandraHaydar 0]

Also, does the country of the fiance matter? It is highly likely that your fiance is going to go through more security checks because he is from a Middle Eastern country. This process can add a few weeks or months to the whole process before he is issued a visa.

What kind of security checks?

Since we are doing this in South Korea, I am hoping the second step (interview) will actually happen in the 4-5 weeks they are telling me. What exactly IS the next step? Once you get approved the petition goes to NVC (National Visa Center) and then it is forwarded to the embassy. They will send your fiance a packet 3 with information on forms to fill out/medical exam info/police certificates (he needs one from every country he has lived in for 6 months or more since the age of 16) and other info. He will also get an interview appointment letter (either at the same time he gets the packet 3 or after). You may want to look into the police certificates now because some can take a month or more to get.

Since my lawyer is getting the paperwork, I'm not really sure of where I am in the time line. All I know is I am waiting for USCIS to process. We've already got the police records from Iraq and Korea. Right now we are waiting on a new passport.

Can I go with him to the interview? What kind of questions are asked?

[Zee Bee 61]

Also, does the country of the fiance matter? It is highly likely that your fiance is going to go through more security checks because he is from a Middle Eastern country. This process can add a few weeks or months to the whole process before he is issued a visa.

What kind of security checks?

Background security checks and namechacks. They are performed on all beneficiaries, but since your fiance is from a Middle Eastern country they will do more extensive checks. Especially if he has a name that is common and comes up as a hit in the FBI or other database, it can delay the visa by a long period of time.

Since we are doing this in South Korea, I am hoping the second step (interview) will actually happen in the 4-5 weeks they are telling me. What exactly IS the next step? Once you get approved the petition goes to NVC (National Visa Center) and then it is forwarded to the embassy. They will send your fiance a packet 3 with information on forms to fill out/medical exam info/police certificates (he needs one from every country he has lived in for 6 months or more since the age of 16) and other info. He will also get an interview appointment letter (either at the same time he gets the packet 3 or after). You may want to look into the police certificates now because some can take a month or more to get.

Since my lawyer is getting the paperwork, I'm not really sure of where I am in the time line. All I know is I am waiting for USCIS to process. We've already got the police records from Iraq and Korea. Right now we are waiting on a new passport.

Can I go with him to the interview? What kind of questions are asked?

Since you filed at the end of November, you should be getting a response by the end of May (when your 6 months is up). Like I said before, sometimes it can take longer, other times shorter.

In some countries you can go with him to the interview, in other countries you cannot. I would suggest asking in the regional forum about this.

They will ask all kinds of questions about your relationship, communication, family, etc. Take a look here for embassy reviews: http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/

ZeeNusah hadn't posted when I was writing this. If there are any contradicting answers refer to ZeeNusah's, they know more what they're talking about than me

I think we agree on everything But, from the way I read it, she wants to get the visa before she leaves S. Korea in July, so they need to do everything as quickly as possible.

[S and S 12]

I wish you luck in your process, but I have a friend who did a fiance visa that lived in Iraq and interviewed in Jordan. It took nearly a year to get her to the United States (though part of that was due to the fact USCIS lost some of her paperwork and it added months to the process).

If you were to get married it would be a lot easier because USCIS has been approving Iraqi cases in less than a month. His being married to you would also qualify him to apply for refugee which gives him more benifits and could get him to the US faster. Also, he must have the G series passport to get his visa. They do not accept any other passport from Iraq. I know because my husband has been waiting months on his new passport and hasn't got it yet and the embassy says it could be more months of waiting.

I hope things go smoothly for you and if you have any more questions just let me know.