four month extension

[kashi1019 0]

So my UK fiance and I received our I-129F approval in August. The NOA2 says it is valid from August 24-December 23rd. I have heard on this board and in various other places that you can get a 4 month extension on this. My fiance called the US Embassy in London on Monday and the person he spoke with told him that that 4 month validity period is irrelevent and we actually have 12 months to complete the rest of the forms, checklist, interview, and medical for the k1. I was not confident with this response because I feel like the NOA2 has a validity stated for a reason. I do not want to just not do anything and have our case considered abandoned, so I had him call back on Tuesday. He spoke with a different person who first told him that you have to do it within the time frame stated on the NOA2 then she put him on hold, went and talked with someone, and came back and told him the same thing about the 12 months. I dont know what to think?

Does anyone know anything about this? How to get the 4 month extension? If you have to fill something out, call someone specifically, or can indeed wait 12 months?

I'm stressing out. Please help!

[Boiler 45,693]

Why do you want an extension?

I understand it is up to the Consulate, they vary.

[Lisa and Ian 7]

So my UK fiance and I received our I-129F approval in August. The NOA2 says it is valid from August 24-December 23rd. I have heard on this board and in various other places that you can get a 4 month extension on this. My fiance called the US Embassy in London on Monday and the person he spoke with told him that that 4 month validity period is irrelevent and we actually have 12 months to complete the rest of the forms, checklist, interview, and medical for the k1. I was not confident with this response because I feel like the NOA2 has a validity stated for a reason. I do not want to just not do anything and have our case considered abandoned, so I had him call back on Tuesday. He spoke with a different person who first told him that you have to do it within the time frame stated on the NOA2 then she put him on hold, went and talked with someone, and came back and told him the same thing about the 12 months. I dont know what to think?

Does anyone know anything about this? How to get the 4 month extension? If you have to fill something out, call someone specifically, or can indeed wait 12 months?

I'm stressing out. Please help!

I'm not sure why you want an extension, either, but I hope you're aware that even if you received your visa tomorrow, you'd have a 6-month window to enter the US, then 90 days afterward to get married.

If the issue is a delay of some sort with paperwork, or something else, and you feel you need help determining what to do next, then just let us know.

[kashi1019 0]

We want an extension because our wedding is July 30,2010 and we want my fiance to come over for one last visit in April to help with last minute wedding stuff/we are looking for a house to buy. If we turn everything in now and get the interview and get approved, he cannot enter the us in april to visit and then leave. He is a teacher and needs to finish out the school year (for financial reasons) which ends mid July, so he cannot come over for good until then.

Looking back now, we shouldn't have started the K-1 process so early but we were really unsure of how long it would take.

[Lisa and Ian 7]

We want an extension because our wedding is July 30,2010 and we want my fiance to come over for one last visit in April to help with last minute wedding stuff/we are looking for a house to buy. If we turn everything in now and get the interview and get approved, he cannot enter the us in april to visit and then leave. He is a teacher and needs to finish out the school year (for financial reasons) which ends mid July, so he cannot come over for good until then.

Looking back now, we shouldn't have started the K-1 process so early but we were really unsure of how long it would take.

Someone in our K-1 group (April CSC Filers) is working with a consulate in China. They filed P3, ran into an issue preventing her from leaving the country at the moment, and emailed the consulate asking for a delay with assigning an interview. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...p;#entry3400319

London may be different. Hopefully, someone who might have done this in London will be along shortly to confirm what they told you is true.

[Nik+Heather 121]

I would do a couple of things:

1. On the phone, ask to formally request an extension of the Petition Approval, and insist that you receive confirmation. Ask them if email or snail mail is preferred. If email, they will give you a code. If snail mail, you will need to send a letter.

2. Send in packet 3 as soon as you get back to the UK after the trip in April. They do some extra checks at some point on your entries/exits/bans, so things will probably go more smoothly if you travel before sending in packet 3. On the checklist, make sure you put your wedding and planned travel dates. If you send it in in April, you should get a June interview, and visa by July, with a couple weeks of wiggle room. If you want the visa earlier than that, consider moving this last trip to earlier in the year.

3. Get your medical late in the spring, or wait until you know the interview and get it just before so that you have a hope of it still being within it's year of validity when you AOS. If you do it now, it might expire, and then you'll need a new one.

[kashi1019 0]

I would do a couple of things:

1. On the phone, ask to formally request an extension of the Petition Approval, and insist that you receive confirmation. Ask them if email or snail mail is preferred. If email, they will give you a code. If snail mail, you will need to send a letter.

2. Send in packet 3 as soon as you get back to the UK after the trip in April. They do some extra checks at some point on your entries/exits/bans, so things will probably go more smoothly if you travel before sending in packet 3. On the checklist, make sure you put your wedding and planned travel dates. If you send it in in April, you should get a June interview, and visa by July, with a couple weeks of wiggle room. If you want the visa earlier than that, consider moving this last trip to earlier in the year.

3. Get your medical late in the spring, or wait until you know the interview and get it just before so that you have a hope of it still being within it's year of validity when you AOS. If you do it now, it might expire, and then you'll need a new one.

What do you think about the possibility of sending in all the forms and checklist and requesting an interview in May?

I would do a couple of things:

1. On the phone, ask to formally request an extension of the Petition Approval, and insist that you receive confirmation. Ask them if email or snail mail is preferred. If email, they will give you a code. If snail mail, you will need to send a letter.

2. Send in packet 3 as soon as you get back to the UK after the trip in April. They do some extra checks at some point on your entries/exits/bans, so things will probably go more smoothly if you travel before sending in packet 3. On the checklist, make sure you put your wedding and planned travel dates. If you send it in in April, you should get a June interview, and visa by July, with a couple weeks of wiggle room. If you want the visa earlier than that, consider moving this last trip to earlier in the year.

3. Get your medical late in the spring, or wait until you know the interview and get it just before so that you have a hope of it still being within it's year of validity when you AOS. If you do it now, it might expire, and then you'll need a new one.

Because I guess I am afraid of waiting until April to sending everything in and not getting an interview by July and missing the wedding.........

[Justine+David 218]

Your medical is good for 12 months and you only need to file for AOS by the expiration date so assuming you file before October 31st 2010, you can get your medical exam done at any time.

From what I've read on other people's experiences on this, all you need to do is let them know while sending in all your documents. You can send them in now if you like (if you're in the system). KnightandMagpie sent in forms one at a time over a period of a few months just to let them know that they weren't abandoning the visa. When you send in your checklist you can request an interview date within a time frame. Why don't you send in some of your documents now and then request an April interview when you send in your checklist?

The only thing extra you'll need is a notarized letter of intent to marry (updated) from the USC, although many people aren't asked this at the interview, it is still requested by the USE if you are past your initial NOA2 expiration date.

My fiance and myself plan to have the interview in February/March because he is coming over in January for a visit and our wedding isn't until September.

[kashi1019 0]

Your medical is good for 12 months and you only need to file for AOS by the expiration date so assuming you file before October 31st 2010, you can get your medical exam done at any time.

From what I've read on other people's experiences on this, all you need to do is let them know while sending in all your documents. You can send them in now if you like (if you're in the system). KnightandMagpie sent in forms one at a time over a period of a few months just to let them know that they weren't abandoning the visa. When you send in your checklist you can request an interview date within a time frame. Why don't you send in some of your documents now and then request an April interview when you send in your checklist?

The only thing extra you'll need is a notarized letter of intent to marry (updated) from the USC, although many people aren't asked this at the interview, it is still requested by the USE if you are past your initial NOA2 expiration date.

My fiance and myself plan to have the interview in February/March because he is coming over in January for a visit and our wedding isn't until September.

Justine+David: Are you going to ask for an interview for February/March? When would you suggest that we turn in our checklist/letter asking for a specific month for our interview?

[Justine+David 218]

Yes, we're asking for an interview in Feb/March and will probably send our P3 stuff in mid-November (that is if we ever get in the system, almost two weeks now! grr)

I don't have any suggestions on when to send the stuff, but I would PM KnightandMagie since they've gone through this before and/or do a search on the forums. Let us know if you hear anything new.

[Nik+Heather 121]

The reason I suggested sending in the checklist after the trip is that taking the trip while they are processing a visa application can muck up the works. They will be checking on your previous entries and exits, and you don't want to add to that record after they've already checked it. Traveling to the US in the same time frame of the Packet 3 is generally not recommended for this reason.

Nik sent packet 3 back at the end of April, and had an interview in early June. London is an average of 60 days (that's consulate received to interview, so less for packet 3 sent to interview), so I can see this timing working, especially if you take that time to make sure every t is crossed and every i dotted.

[Justine+David 218]

^^ thanks for the info; David will be traveling to the US in early February. We'll have to perhaps adjust our plans for the checklist accordingly

[kashi1019 0]

The reason I suggested sending in the checklist after the trip is that taking the trip while they are processing a visa application can muck up the works. They will be checking on your previous entries and exits, and you don't want to add to that record after they've already checked it. Traveling to the US in the same time frame of the Packet 3 is generally not recommended for this reason.

Nik sent packet 3 back at the end of April, and had an interview in early June. London is an average of 60 days (that's consulate received to interview, so less for packet 3 sent to interview), so I can see this timing working, especially if you take that time to make sure every t is crossed and every i dotted.

So I guess what we are going to do is work on getting the forms filled out and turned in (at least some of them) before our I129F expires December 23rd and attach a letter saying we do wish to extend our our approval for another four months. I will email this request to the consulate as well.

Do I have to call the extortion line and get the code in order to email the embassy this? Does anyone know? If so what is the extortion line phone number? I really do not understand what the extortion line is.

Then either send in the checklist sometime in February/March requesting an interview for May or wait and send in the checklist mid April (after my fiance's trip to the US) and hope that we get an interview in time for him to be here for the wedding July 30th.

How does this sound??

[kashi1019 0]

Also when you call the embassy to get the code for emailing is that what you tell them, just that you are wanting a code to be able to email them?

[Nik+Heather 121]

The reason I suggested sending in the checklist after the trip is that taking the trip while they are processing a visa application can muck up the works. They will be checking on your previous entries and exits, and you don't want to add to that record after they've already checked it. Traveling to the US in the same time frame of the Packet 3 is generally not recommended for this reason.

Nik sent packet 3 back at the end of April, and had an interview in early June. London is an average of 60 days (that's consulate received to interview, so less for packet 3 sent to interview), so I can see this timing working, especially if you take that time to make sure every t is crossed and every i dotted.

So I guess what we are going to do is work on getting the forms filled out and turned in (at least some of them) before our I129F expires December 23rd and attach a letter saying we do wish to extend our our approval for another four months. I will email this request to the consulate as well.

Do I have to call the extortion line and get the code in order to email the embassy this? Does anyone know? If so what is the extortion line phone number? I really do not understand what the extortion line is.

Then either send in the checklist sometime in February/March requesting an interview for May or wait and send in the checklist mid April (after my fiance's trip to the US) and hope that we get an interview in time for him to be here for the wedding July 30th.

How does this sound??

That sounds like a good plan.

The "extortion line" is the phone number listed under the embassy info page (link at the top of this page) and we call it that because it's over a pound per minute to talk to someone who really can't be all that helpful. When you call, tell them that you want to make sure they extend your petition. They will probably say "oh, we do that automatically" and then you get all apologetic, but insist that with all the other paperwork that says it expires, you'd really feel better if you had it in writing, or at least an email -- you know, just in case.

Good luck.