Processing time of K-1 Visa

[KhanKhan 0]

Hello Everyone,

I found this forum on google and it gave me a feeling that I could certainly find help over here. I am going to apply for my K-1 visa but I need guidance. I am from Pakistan and my fiancee is a US citizen and we met on internet. We have been together for 7 years now. We have met this year in Dubai. Now its time that we should start living together and therefore, I planned to apply for K-1 Visa.

As per my study over internet my fiancee has to file a petition for me with USCIC and then interviews will be conducted. According to my study the whole process takes 3 months to get the visa. But after reading posts of different members over here I came to know that it takes a long time. Someone, mentioned that he got his visa after 28 months and someone is still waiting after 13months. I am confused and trying to sort out that if the maximum time is 3 months then why are they taking so long? Kindly clear that to me.

I also wanted to ask that should I hire a lawyer for myself to process my case or shall I do it on my own. I have the guides for the procedure of applying and list of required documents. I think I should hire a lawyer because being the expert he would be able to guide me in right direction. But again I need some suggestion that who could bt the right people to help me in the whole process. Someone suggested Holmes & Lolly (www.fianceevisas.com). Do you think they are reliable people?

Regards,

Khan.

[Ju&Ja 1]

Hello Everyone,

I found this forum on google and it gave me a feeling that I could certainly find help over here. I am going to apply for my K-1 visa but I need guidance. I am from Pakistan and my fiancee is a US citizen and we met on internet. We have been together for 7 years now. We have met this year in Dubai. Now its time that we should start living together and therefore, I planned to apply for K-1 Visa.

As per my study over internet my fiancee has to file a petition for me with USCIC and then interviews will be conducted. According to my study the whole process takes 3 months to get the visa. But after reading posts of different members over here I came to know that it takes a long time. Someone, mentioned that he got his visa after 28 months and someone is still waiting after 13months. I am confused and trying to sort out that if the maximum time is 3 months then why are they taking so long? Kindly clear that to me.

I also wanted to ask that should I hire a lawyer for myself to process my case or shall I do it on my own. I have the guides for the procedure of applying and list of required documents. I think I should hire a lawyer because being the expert he would be able to guide me in right direction. But again I need some suggestion that who could bt the right people to help me in the whole process. Someone suggested Holmes & Lolly (www.fianceevisas.com). Do you think they are reliable people?

Regards,

Khan.

Hey and welcome here !

For a K-1 visa you have different steps.

The first one is for your fiancée to fill and send documents to the USCIS. You will have to wait 4-5 months for the immigration to approve your case.

The second step is after the approval, the USCIS send your folder to the NVC (National Visa center), it takes around 1 week.

Then the NVC will send your folder to the US embassy in the non US citizen country, so for you in Pakistan, it will takes around 1 week.

And then you (non US citizen) will receive different packet that you will have to fill and send back.

And then the interview for you at the embassy of your country. The last step (from the day your embassy receive your folder to the day of your interview) takes from 1 month to 3, it depends of the embassy, you should check the embassy informations on this website.

So a K1 visa is minimum 6 months. It can takes 1 year for some people, but I think that the most average time is 7 months.

[Laura+Tom 2]

Also, you may or may not be put in some kind of Administrative Processing after the interview. That can add on more months.

Edited December 28, 2008 by Laura+Tom

[SunDrop 59]

Also, you may or may not be put in some kind of Administrative Processing after the interview. That can add on more months.

As a Pakistani male, you have to expect AP to take quite some time. If you look in the immigration timelines link above, you can narrow down the search to match the USCIS processing centre (according to your fiancee's state of residence at the time of filing) and your embassy (Islamabad) and get an idea of the amount of time that it's taken previous applicants for a K1 visa.

Unfortunately, expect it to take a lot longer because of your gender and origin.

[Waheed and Kris 0]

Going through the initial processing at the USCIS and the NVC is fairly the same for everyone. But any visa for a Pakistani guy is going to take longer than most. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSING. Almost every guy from Pakistan will go through AP after the interview at the embassy. A few are very lucky and only have to endure a month or two. Some have had to endure a year or more. The average is about 5 to 6 months of AP after the interview.

peace

~kris

[Laura+Tom 2]

Also, you may or may not be put in some kind of Administrative Processing after the interview. That can add on more months.

As a Pakistani male, you have to expect AP to take quite some time. If you look in the immigration timelines link above, you can narrow down the search to match the USCIS processing centre (according to your fiancee's state of residence at the time of filing) and your embassy (Islamabad) and get an idea of the amount of time that it's taken previous applicants for a K1 visa.

Unfortunately, expect it to take a lot longer because of your gender and origin.

Yeah I figured that. I had read it somewhere but couldn't remember which thread so I didn't want to say he would definately be put on AP.

[KhanKhan 0]

Thank you so much for your prompt response. I understand when you say that it takes a little longer for Pakistani male.

I am still waiting for the answer of the second part of my question. Should I or should i not hire any lawyer/consultant? I can see that many applicants are on this forum so I would appreciate it if you can tell me your personal experience that did you apply for the visa on your own or you hired some professionals to prepare the case for u?

My fiancee might visit me in a couple of months so wht do you suggest that should we get married and then I apply for visa after marrige or shall I apply for K-1 Fiance visa now? Which one do you think will take less time and will be better for me?

Thank you.

[Waheed and Kris 0]

Our experience::

We did everything ourselves. You can use the guides here on VJ to help with all the paperwork and such. There are examples forms to follow as well. And if you have any questions, there are plenty of people here that have some experience with it and are willing to help you out. I have not run into many people on this forum that felt they were any better off by hiring an attorney.

peace

~kris

[KhanKhan 0]

Our experience::

We did everything ourselves. You can use the guides here on VJ to help with all the paperwork and such. There are examples forms to follow as well. And if you have any questions, there are plenty of people here that have some experience with it and are willing to help you out. I have not run into many people on this forum that felt they were any better off by hiring an attorney.

peace

~kris

Thank you Kris. I think I agree with you because I can see so many quick replies and this forum could be really helpful. I thought abt hiring an attorney because I dont have much information about Immigration procedure. I will certainly need the help of you guys throughout my visa journey.

[Laura+Tom 2]

Thank you so much for your prompt response. I understand when you say that it takes a little longer for Pakistani male.

I am still waiting for the answer of the second part of my question. Should I or should i not hire any lawyer/consultant? I can see that many applicants are on this forum so I would appreciate it if you can tell me your personal experience that did you apply for the visa on your own or you hired some professionals to prepare the case for u?

My fiancee might visit me in a couple of months so wht do you suggest that should we get married and then I apply for visa after marrige or shall I apply for K-1 Fiance visa now? Which one do you think will take less time and will be better for me?

Thank you.

With the K1 your fiancee can start appying now. She is the USC so she will be the petitioner and you will be the beneficiary.

Visit this page to see which visa is best for you http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=compare

[KhanKhan 0]

Thank you so much for your prompt response. I understand when you say that it takes a little longer for Pakistani male.

I am still waiting for the answer of the second part of my question. Should I or should i not hire any lawyer/consultant? I can see that many applicants are on this forum so I would appreciate it if you can tell me your personal experience that did you apply for the visa on your own or you hired some professionals to prepare the case for u?

My fiancee might visit me in a couple of months so wht do you suggest that should we get married and then I apply for visa after marrige or shall I apply for K-1 Fiance visa now? Which one do you think will take less time and will be better for me?

Thank you.

With the K1 your fiancee can start appying now. She is the USC so she will be the petitioner and you will be the beneficiary.

Visit this page to see which visa is best for you http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=compare

After reading that page I personally feel K-1 will be better for me because I have in a couple of places that it usually takes less time than K-3. As per my knowledge the Fee for K-1 visa is 450USD. Does that cover all the expenses or will there be any additional charges during the whole process of application?

[Laura+Tom 2]

The filing fee for the I-129F is $455

Then theres the fee at the interview which is $131 (+delivery of the passport with visa if you can't collect it)

Then there's the cost of police certificates, any other documents you may need to provide, mailing items, US size passport photos, medical exam, any vaccinations you have to have, travel to and from the interview and medical etc etc. There may be more depending on what you need to provide.

Your embassy website should be able to provide costs.

And then there are the fees for when you adjust status in the US.

Edited December 28, 2008 by Laura+Tom

[KhanKhan 0]

Thank you Laura/Tom.

I have another question ( I know I am asking a lot of questions but dont have any other option ) My question is regarding Annual Income of my fiance. She works part time and love to stay home for the rest of the time. Now her annual income doesnt meet the requirements of USCIS. I get a handsome salary plus I also work as Freelancer and outsource various kind of projects( BPO/KPO/Websites/Softwares) to companies in Pakistan, India, Philipines, UK and U.S. Now will that help or I will need some other sponsor in US as well. I have my Uncle and Aunty in NY, who are ready to help me if I may need another sponsor.

[RadzNSteve 0]

We did the K-1 filing ourself so cant tell you about hiring a lawyer, but I can say we had no problems on our own. I can tell you using a lawyer does not speed things up, it still goes at the same pace. If your luck you could get K-1 Noa2 in 3 months but dont expext that, more realistic is to look at 4 to 6 months and yes your correct some have taken much much longer. Good Luck to you on how every you and your fiance decide to file.

[Venus123 1]

I am from India and my fiance is from NY. we will be applying for K-1 visa soon. I want to know when should be the letter of intent to be submitted? will it be from my fiance side or from my side? and we are engaged since Aug,2011 should we mention about our engagement in the petition or keep it a secret so they don't consider our engagement as marriage? will our engagement proves make our case strong or weak?