Got my K1 visa today

[bluebulb 3]

I shall try to recount the entire process mostly to share my own experience so others can use it as a reference. (I will assume people know the specific details of the forms and documents required and so I will only mention my experience in broad strokes, except where relevant.)

I've known my fiancee for about 8 years now. We were dating in college and we decided to get married soon after. Unfortunately after I finished my studies, I couldn't get a H1 visa. I was on work permit for one year and I had to get back to India in the summer of 2008. We got engaged in Dec 2008 in a ceremony in India. She couldn't be there but her parents and most of her family was there along with mine. We applied for a K1 visa right after that, in Jan 2009. In mid-June 2009 our petition was accepted and we were asked to proceed with the next stage. That required me to gather a bunch of documents and forms.

One particular form I had trouble with was the Police Clearance Certificate, both from the Police Station and the Passport Office. The reason is that by this time it had been about an year since I moved to India and I had lived in two cities - Pune from Summer 2008 to Jan 2009 and then Chandigarh from then till June 2009. But my parents live in Hyderabad, which is where I spent most of my life before heading to the US for my studies. (Also my passport was issued in Chennai where I was doing my Bachelors and when that expired, I got a replacement in Houston, USA! You can see where this could lead to chaos!) So when I contacted the police station in Chandigarh for a PCC, they said that they needed certain address proofs which I couldn't produce since I hadn't been there for long. They suggested I try in Hyderabad since I could produce address proof there. So I went to Hyderabad and there they said that since I wasn't living in Hyderabad at that moment, I couldn't get a PCC there either. At this point I was really frustrated. I contacted the embassy in Delhi and they were very helpful. They said that since I was living in the US till 2008, I could get a clearance from the FBI there.

OK, so that sounded good and I contacted the FBI. They said that I needed (among other trivial items) a set of fingerprints taken at a police station. This should be simple enough I thought. I did a circuit of the police stations again. They bounced me from one police station to another and then to the courthouse and back again. All these government servants were wary of signing on any piece of paper without authorization. I sympathized with them but I needed the job done. Finally I managed to secure an interview with the Superintendent of Police in the city and he finally gave the authorization. It worked quite well from that point on, all the dominoes fell (for a while) and I got my fingerprints attested. I sent them to the FBI and got my certificate too. I was (I thought) all set for my interview.

[bluebulb 3]

I should mention at this point again that the embassy was quite helpful in all this process. It was very hard to get hold of them but once I did, between them and the VFS, they had all the answers to my questions.

So yeah I contacted them to set my interview up and they set up the interview for Oct 15th. The interview was relatively easy. The interviewer asked me -

How long have you known each other? What's her favorite icecream? Why don't you want a wedding ceremony in India? (Her parents live in the US so that was easy to answer.) What does she do? Where does she live? What do you do? How long have you been in the US? Where do your parents live? It was very straightforward because we had a lot of history. He asked for pics and I had plenty, he skimmed through all of them but barely looked at them. He explained that everything was good but they'd have to give a 221g because they needed two more documents. One was the original of a statement of support from her (Since she's still a student we didn't get one from her, only from her father who can actually support me. The interviewer said that it didn't matter even if she didn't have a job, they just need the form.) The other was a PCC from the passport office. I explained that I couldn't get a PCC and that's why I got the FBI clearance. They said that that took care of the police station PCC, now they want the passport office PCC which shouldn't be a problem since the certificate is from the national office and it shouldn't matter where I have lived. They were quite wrong about that it didn't matter where I lived but I didn't say anything.

I went back to Hyderabad and started the PCC process. It wasn't easy and I wish I could say I didn't have to bribe anyone. But almost 45 days after applying we got the PCC as well. I sent it to the Delhi embassy and less than a week after I gave the documents to the VFS office, I had my visa in my hand!

The visa is stamped in the passport and I also got a packet that says "DO NOT OPEN". This will be opened at immigration in the US.

That was my epic struggle to get the visa. Please contact me if you have any questions or if you need any clarifications on my process. I'd be more than happy to help. I certainly haven't had the hardest struggle of all the stories I've read, but then again, it wasn't a straightforward process either. All I can offer to those that are haven't had an easy path is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. All the best.

[Sugarcane6321 0]

I should mention at this point again that the embassy was quite helpful in all this process. It was very hard to get hold of them but once I did, between them and the VFS, they had all the answers to my questions.

So yeah I contacted them to set my interview up and they set up the interview for Oct 15th. The interview was relatively easy. The interviewer asked me -

How long have you known each other? What's her favorite icecream? Why don't you want a wedding ceremony in India? (Her parents live in the US so that was easy to answer.) What does she do? Where does she live? What do you do? How long have you been in the US? Where do your parents live? It was very straightforward because we had a lot of history. He asked for pics and I had plenty, he skimmed through all of them but barely looked at them. He explained that everything was good but they'd have to give a 221g because they needed two more documents. One was the original of a statement of support from her (Since she's still a student we didn't get one from her, only from her father who can actually support me. The interviewer said that it didn't matter even if she didn't have a job, they just need the form.) The other was a PCC from the passport office. I explained that I couldn't get a PCC and that's why I got the FBI clearance. They said that that took care of the police station PCC, now they want the passport office PCC which shouldn't be a problem since the certificate is from the national office and it shouldn't matter where I have lived. They were quite wrong about that it didn't matter where I lived but I didn't say anything.

I went back to Hyderabad and started the PCC process. It wasn't easy and I wish I could say I didn't have to bribe anyone. But almost 45 days after applying we got the PCC as well. I sent it to the Delhi embassy and less than a week after I gave the documents to the VFS office, I had my visa in my hand!

The visa is stamped in the passport and I also got a packet that says "DO NOT OPEN". This will be opened at immigration in the US.

That was my epic struggle to get the visa. Please contact me if you have any questions or if you need any clarifications on my process. I'd be more than happy to help. I certainly haven't had the hardest struggle of all the stories I've read, but then again, it wasn't a straightforward process either. All I can offer to those that are haven't had an easy path is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. All the best.

Congratulations on getting your Visa and the upcoming reunion. My fiance also just got his on the 17th and we will be reunited in less than one week!

As far as the Embassy goes, I didn't have too much luck with them at all. Out of four emails I sent them they responded to one. They actually did better with my fiance though.

I can't believe the PCC process took 45 days. Zahid had his in one weeks time. Anyways, I am glad everything worked out for you!

[Amir Hirani 0]

MAN YOUR A LIFE SAVER.. my fiance has her interview on jan 5th and we just found out today she needs a pcc from Gujarat and those people are morons i sent her there last month to the passport office and they said no we dont give you anything you have to get it from the police department india is so bad with these legal things... and your right about the people at the us embassy i got woken up by 2 am about this issue i called and they gave me all the proper answers...hopefully she gets her pcc by the end of the month the wedding is in march lolz again thanks man that makes her and me feel alot better knowing that what they told us isnt false

[bluebulb 3]

Hey dude, I hope I didn't convey the wrong idea. You DO need to get the PCC from the passport office as well as from the police station. That is TWO PCCs. In my case I could get them to waive the police station PCC requirement because I was in the US for a long time. So they asked me to get an FBI clearance. Otherwise I'd still need the police station PCC. And further, I had to get the other PCC through the passport office.

As a side note, the passport office goes through the local police station to issue the passport office PCC.

I hope you get the docs in time for the visa interview. But like in my case, even if the PCC doesn't come in time, you can get the 221(g) and then the visa after that. Good luck with everything.

I am just trying to clarify, in case you misunderstood anything.