K-1 Approved! An FYI report

[iLoveAPolishGirl 0]

My fiancee was APPROVED for K-1 today!!!! Yea!!

Since we went through many things that are common questions here, I hope some here may find our story interesting and informative

MULTIPLE VISITS WHILE WAITING FOR I-129F APPROVAL

First, my fiancee visited the US *4x* this year on a B-2 visa (Poland is NOT a visa-wavier (VWP) country, so different rules apply than for other parts of europe.)

Each visit, without exception, she was granted 6 months max stay (see our timeline below) although she neither requested it and never stayed that long (almost in the last visit tho )

The last two visits were AFTER I submitted the I-124F petition, so YES, you CAN have your fiance(e) visit while your petition is in processing ... the border officer had NO information on his computer to indicate that a petition was in the works. NO related questions were asked. When asked the purpose of the visit, my fiancee simply stated "holiday", nothing more. On the last visit she was warned about visiting too frequently and told not to come again for a while, but he let her in anyway

USING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR I-134

I was laid off in June (just before my fiancee's 4th trip) ... which was great! we had a wonderful time all summer and fall However, I was worried about submitting the affidavit of support and did not have a co-sponsor

However, I simply did this: I took my final wage statement to get my gross pay for the year and caculated my total unemployment benefit payments thru Dec 31 and put the total as my "annual income", along with a note explaining this calculation at the bottom of the form. I attached the wage statement, an employment letter, my unemployment benefits letter and my last year's 1040 tax form.

My fiancee was approved with out question or comment on this

DELAYING THE INTERVIEW

Our original interview was scheduled for Sept, however, we decided to extend my fiancee's vacation here for a while more This was not a problem. I made up a "request to extend approval" letter (http://www.visajourney.com/examples/extend-approval.doc) and sent it to the embassy. We rescheduled the interview for Dec 1 with no problem. We could have extended it longer if we wanted... we didn't tho

Hmm, not sure what else... we made a photo album with LOTS of pics of us, along with 20 randomly selected pages from about 10,000 pages of SKYPE transcripts for proof of relationship, included letters (one from each of us) confirming intent to marry ASAP.

She will be flying back here on Dec 30 (she wanted to spend one last christmas with mum ) Then we shall be married

If anyone has any specific questions relative to our experience, I'd love to help

Best of luck with your visa jouney!!!

dvc

[iLoveAPolishGirl 0]

Oh! yes, one more thing....

On my I-134 Affidavit of Support, I included a total of my bank accounts ... which came to less then 1/2 of the minimum 3x poverty income ... but I could not get a letter from the bank as described in the form instructions (particularly the total deposits for the year... they could not run that report.) So I just included a copy of my most recent bank statement and a statement from the beginning of the year. Apparently that was acceptable, as no questions or concerns were raised.

dvc

Edited December 2, 2009 by iLoveAPolishGirl

[Road 2 Peace Arch 0]

USING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR I-134

I was laid off in June (just before my fiancee's 4th trip) ... which was great! we had a wonderful time all summer and fall However, I was worried about submitting the affidavit of support and did not have a co-sponsor

However, I simply did this: I took my final wage statement to get my gross pay for the year and caculated my total unemployment benefit payments thru Dec 31 and put the total as my "annual income", along with a note explaining this calculation at the bottom of the form. I attached the wage statement, an employment letter, my unemployment benefits letter and my last year's 1040 tax form.

My fiancee was approved with out question or comment on this

You're the first person I've heard that's used his unemployment benefits + income recieved prior to a layoff to get past the I-134 review at the Embassy/Consulate! However, I'm a little confused about your "Employment Letter". If you're unemployed, what "Employment Letter" are you using? Or, have you recently been hired again?

[rebeccajo 14]

Interesting thread.

Moving it to Consular Forums where I think the heart of the discussion will lie.

[rebeccajo 14]

Oh! yes, one more thing....

On my I-134 Affidavit of Support, I included a total of my bank accounts ... which came to less then 1/2 of the minimum 3x poverty income ... but I could not get a letter from the bank as described in the form instructions (particularly the total deposits for the year... they could not run that report.) So I just included a copy of my most recent bank statement and a statement from the beginning of the year. Apparently that was acceptable, as no questions or concerns were raised.

dvc

I'm having a bit of trouble discerning how much cash you were able to show the CO, but it sounds to me like you are talking about around $25K?

If that's the case, this probably contributed greatly to an approval whilst drawing UI benefits.

Edited December 3, 2009 by rebeccajo

[iLoveAPolishGirl 0]

The employment letter I had gotten from my previous employer prior to getting laid off.

The total bank amount was $30K

dvc

[rebeccajo 14]

The employment letter I had gotten from my previous employer prior to getting laid off.

The total bank amount was $30K

dvc

Ah - thanks. From the way you worded it I was coming up with around 25K (translating your math literally).

Would you be of the opinion that your savings played a part in your success?

It's an interesting report. Thanks for sharing it.

[Road 2 Peace Arch 0]

The employment letter I had gotten from my previous employer prior to getting laid off.

The total bank amount was $30K

dvc

Ah - thanks. From the way you worded it I was coming up with around 25K (translating your math literally).

Would you be of the opinion that your savings played a part in your success?

It's an interesting report. Thanks for sharing it.

It's still interesting that they accepted UI benefits which gives hope to the many here on the forum who find themselves unemployed during the process. The I-864 form and, AOS package its submitted with, may be more strict or problematic but I hope not. Several of us are in the same boat.

I PM'd "iLovePolishGirl" to gain some better insight so I hope he responds.

[iLoveAPolishGirl 0]

I have no idea what thinking the CO might have had... all I know is there were no questions to my fiancee regarding finances Unfortunately I did not make it to the interview

The I-864 form and, AOS package its submitted with, may be more strict or problematic

Yes, I expect it will be... hopefully I'll have a job soon

From the way you worded it I was coming up with around 25K

... ahh, perhaps I should have said ~1/2 of required ?

dvc

[iLoveAPolishGirl 0]

Well, tried editing my response but it didn't work, so....

Perhaps I should also add that my wage income for first half of the year was a significant multiple of the minimum poverty income ... and ... even my unemployment benefits alone, if recievied for an entire year, would be greater than poverty limit.

dvc

[Seb928s 2]

Did they ask for much of proof of on going relationship? We only have phone bills and pictures of us as she doesn't have the internet so we don't use that form. I have like 3-4 months of phone text messages and calls invoices that I sent to her. Hopefully that will be no problem. I have no problem meeting the minimum income level as I have past that mark earlier in the year. She was denined twice this year for an B-2 Visa so she could visit me here. Hopefully the K-1 Visa, they will grant her that. January 6th is her interview date. Can't wait to that day so we can both be less stressful.