My success with a K1 visa.

[mary73 0]

I met my fiance then through the internet in September 04, then met in person in October 04, we both thought we were ment for eachother and he came back to the United States, he filled the K1 visa papers and our journey began. He only needed a couple of things from me, information about me and my parents, my birth certificate and a letter stating how we met and that we wanted to be together and some pictures of us that we had met in person.

He didn't hire a lawyer, he had a friend who was an immigration lawyer and she told him that he could do it alone, just to read all the paperwork he needed to file and complete. So, he printed all the forms from the uscis.gov webpage and filled all of it out, send it by certified mail and got his receipt of all the forms that were received, this was in December 2004, we were processed at the Nebraska center and it took a little while, until finally a notification of aproval came along around the end of March and they said they would be sending a packet to me, but actually because of mail not being reliable in my country, they sent it to him, this was in May, this is the famous fiance packet, that had some forms that said the info I had to gather and then when I had all of this, to go to the nearest consulate which was across the country all the way north from where I lived and do an interview, because this was so far from where I lived, we decided I would quit my job and go to the interview and once the k1 visa was granted we would cross the border where we would catch a plane to Denver.

Needless to say all the process is nerve recking, from the moment we were waiting for the aproval notice to come in the mail to the mystery of what they would ask of me for the interview to what the interview would be like.

I flew to Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua where the consulate was and he met me there, we run into a big surprise all our carefully planned trip was surprised by the consulate being closed and we had to stay in the hotel for a week until the following monday to go for the interview, on friday we woke up super early to go to one of the clinics authorized by the Consulate to do my medical examination, I was so scared cause I didn't know what to expect, they asked for all the papers that the immigration office sent, from the letter they sent us to the passport to the medical request, etc. Everything they say they need, TAKE ALL THE INFO YOU GET IN THE MAIL BECAUSE THEY WILL ASK FOR IT. I spent a long day there, a long line of people were being examine by the doctors, they asked questions from have you had sex, how many partners have you had etc. I never thought they would ask for my urine to do a test, I had made sure I peed all so I didn't have a problem during the exam and surprise they wanted my urine, I had none in me, I asked for a glass of water and they didn't even want to give me a damn glass of water... I told the lady how can I give you a urine sample if I am empty, so she finally allowed me to go get my fiance and ask for a glass of water, fortunately he brought a water bottle with him, then the lady wanted me to automatically pee, I said wait a minute it takes at least a half and hour to do so, and they she send someone with me to the bathroom to hear me pee, I couldn't do it, I am not used to be policed to pee, so anyway, finally she allowed me to pee in her private bathroom and so I did... then they asked me to return later that day to pick up my results, when they gave them to me they were sealed and you aren't supposed to open them, the consulate guys are the ones who have to open them.

On the following Monday, we got up, went to the consulate and got in, stood in line like anybody else, no preference, all the same, we got in, we went to a big room where they would call people and they called the two of us, the opened the documents that they had requested of me and him and we presented them, they said nothing, just that the passport photos were not good, to go accross the street to get them taken properly so they stamped a piece of a paper and my fiance and I went to get the pictures, then we came back in and gave the guy the pictures, then we were told to go to another room, where we waited until they called us, we went inside and a guy was standing on the other side of the glass he made us swear that we would tell the truth, he asked me a couple of questions in spanish then he asked him some questions and then he said ok. you can come pick up your visa in a while we just have to run some backround checks and you will be issued your visa, I felt like fainting, it was such a tense moment from the moment we got to the city and it was all closed till the moment they said yes, here is your visa, my fiance and I picked up the visa, we went back to the hotel, he called the cab driver that had brought him across the border and like a movie, he let my fiance use his cellphone to call and make reservations on the flight to fly to Denver, he was able to get two seats in the same flight for the next half and hour, I then had to go across the border and had to stand in line where this unfriendly guy took his sweet time checking the manila envelope that the consulate said give this to the customs officer when you cross the border, DON't open it, so I did inside was all my file, all the pictures all and the guy issued a little paper form saying I had 3 months to get married or else had to leave the country, so THAT is the real visa, not the one issued on the consulate is the I-14 I think it's called, then we promptly flew to Denver and we got married 2 weeks after this took place.

We then filled more paperwork, the Ajustment of Status and the Work permit all summed up like 500 dollars, then I waited and they sent a paper saying I had to present myself to do the fingerprinting and biometrics and also had to provide more information more documents and again the affidavit of support that my fiance had to present to prove he could support me in the country, and they requested I got my shorts, they sent me to a specific authorized clinic that did this, not just any clinic, it took a long time for them to send me the work permit, that is not a visa, it is just a document that proves that you have a case pending at immigration and you can work in the meantime, so it was June 13 when I got the visa, I filled for the papers July 3 for Ajustment of status, and the work permit arrived around October, I had a job waiting for me since May... and it was still waiting, for me I had the fingerprint and biometrics scheduled in Denver around September I think, then after I got the fingerprint thing done, they send me a request for an interview and again I took a bunch of papers proving I was living with him and that our marriage was real, my marriage certificate, we were asked to go to a different location in Denver, we brought all the pictures of us together and more papers so basicly they wanted to make sure we were married and together and see if they needed any other documentation from us, not much needed, since we had provided all they they requested, I had no criminal history never done nothing illegal so I was clean, the interview took 10 min. they made copies of the photos and told me your green card will arrive in a couple of months because I have to request the other file we have on you, since when you enter the country you filed your visa and paperwork with your maiden name and the fiance visa process is fairly new they send your file somewhere else, so now that you have taken your husbands last name I just have to put them together and then I will send you greencard. So during all this time, you cannot travel outside the country without filling for a permit which they call parol to be able to leave the country while all the process is taking place and they give you the greencard, so it costs money to ask for this permit, so I chose not to leave the country, I couldn't travel for aprox. 8 months outside the U.S. but I had a job so it wasn't like I could say hey I got a job and now I need to take a vacation, after all they waiting for me for about 6 months. I remember her saying The work permit is for your scrap book since with the greencard you can travel abroad and work it is however a conditional permanent residence, for 2 years, after this period you need to file to "lift the conditions sending your shared income taxes and all the evidence to say you are together and you will then get your 10 year green card and once you are married together for 3 years you can file for citizenship.

So now go and enjoy your life together, that was it. Needless to say it was a JOURNEY I can say that is hard to wait and do all of what they ask for but as long as you provide them with all the info they request you have nothing to fear. Yes it is a long process, yes, you are asked to file a lot of paperwork, yes it costs money but YES it is worth it. I am happy got a job, married and living the American Dream.

Hope you too get to live the dream...

[aussiewench 9]

Great write up and thank you for sharing. Can you copy and paste this into the 'Embassy/USCIS Reviews' tab at the top right of this page under the relevant Embassy so it is there for others in the future.

Congratulations on a successfull journey and AOS

Lorelle