Strange, I know, but if I start the K-1 process, when can I slow it down if I need to?

[Moriah 0]

I have visited Tanzania five times since December 2006 and briefly met Martin during my third trip in 2008. We became good friends when I returned to Dar es Salaam in January 2009 to work with an NGO and we starting dating in March 2009. I returned home for the latter six months of 2009 and then went back to Tanzania again for the first six months of 2010. I am now home in the USA.

Martin applied for a non-immigrant/tourist visa and was denied in April because he couldn't produce enough evidence that he would return to Tanzania. Obviously not the outcome we wanted, but on paper I can understand their decision. He doesn't own any property or even have a bank account in Tanzania. He has a bank account now, but I fear there will never be enough money in the account to show proof of return.

I feel as though that leaves us with the fiance visa as our only option and we are ready to take that step, but I know how important it is that I have my finances in order before he comes to the USA since I'll have to support both of us for a while. Since I just returned from Tanzania myself and have spent the better half of the last 3 years there, my finances are not quite what they could be. I am very lucky to have gotten my old job back at a local architecture firm, but they've only promised me 3 months of work. While I'm fairly confident things are going well enough at the firm that they'll be able to continue to keep me on staff, I can't bank on it (no pun intended).

I understand that once the K-1 fiance visa is authorized, that the person has 6 months in which to enter the USA. I also understand that the typical K-1 process can around 5 months. So I want to start the K-1 process in case it takes a long time, but at the same time I want to know if there are any steps along the way in the process in which I can kill time if I need more time to preparation for Martin's arrival? If I file the I-129F and it gets approved, how can I extend the 4 months of time Martin is given to gather all the information to present to the Tanzanian Embassy?

Any advice would be most appreciated!

Thanks,

Moriah

[Amyyduck 20]

How much time are you thinking you'll need? If you filed the I-129F today, as an extremely conservative and rough estimate lets say it took 3 months for your NOA2,and lets estimate another month or so to go from USCIS to NVC to your embassy. (I'm not saying these numbers are accurate, this is just a hypothetical situation) Thats 4 months already, then you mentioned that he'll be given 4 months to collect all the paperwork he'll need to send in to the embassy. I'm don't know how you came up with this number or whether its accurate but I'll take you at your word and for the purposes of this hypothetical situation, assume that it is. So assuming he waits until the end of those 4 months to send in his stuff, we're now 8 months in from the initial filing. It'll take them at least around a month to get his paperwork, process it, and then issue an interview date. Your interview date would likely be around a month or more out from that time. We're now at 10 months from filing. Lets assume that his visa gets approved at the interview, you have 6 months to wait until he enters the US. From that time you then have another 30 days to get married. That's a potential 19 months from your original filing date to the wedding date.

Are you saying you'll need MORE time than that? If so, your best course of action would likely be to delay filing.

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

I have visited Tanzania five times since December 2006 and briefly met Martin during my third trip in 2008. We became good friends when I returned to Dar es Salaam in January 2009 to work with an NGO and we starting dating in March 2009. I returned home for the latter six months of 2009 and then went back to Tanzania again for the first six months of 2010. I am now home in the USA.

Martin applied for a non-immigrant/tourist visa and was denied in April because he couldn't produce enough evidence that he would return to Tanzania. Obviously not the outcome we wanted, but on paper I can understand their decision. He doesn't own any property or even have a bank account in Tanzania. He has a bank account now, but I fear there will never be enough money in the account to show proof of return.

I feel as though that leaves us with the fiance visa as our only option and we are ready to take that step, but I know how important it is that I have my finances in order before he comes to the USA since I'll have to support both of us for a while. Since I just returned from Tanzania myself and have spent the better half of the last 3 years there, my finances are not quite what they could be. I am very lucky to have gotten my old job back at a local architecture firm, but they've only promised me 3 months of work. While I'm fairly confident things are going well enough at the firm that they'll be able to continue to keep me on staff, I can't bank on it (no pun intended).

I understand that once the K-1 fiance visa is authorized, that the person has 6 months in which to enter the USA. I also understand that the typical K-1 process can around 5 months. So I want to start the K-1 process in case it takes a long time, but at the same time I want to know if there are any steps along the way in the process in which I can kill time if I need more time to preparation for Martin's arrival? If I file the I-129F and it gets approved, how can I extend the 4 months of time Martin is given to gather all the information to present to the Tanzanian Embassy?

Any advice would be most appreciated!

Thanks,

Moriah

Most, but not all consulates, will allow 4 month extensions of the approved petition up to 12 months. Email the consulate and ask their policy on this.

[Nik+Heather 122]

Agree with Gary, the place to draw out the process after filing is to drag your feet at the embassy stage. Take your time (Or rather, your fiance should take his time) replying to the invitation to apply for the visa. Also, you can contact the embassy and just touch base with them to let them know that you aren't abandoning the petition, etc.

Your finances will be looked at two times, once at the embassy interview for the non-immigrant visa, and once again after marriage during the AOS.

Also, if you have anyone you feel you could ask, you could look for a cosponsor to help you out. As above, there are two times when a financial sponsor is required. The real binding agreement, which goes even beyond divorce! is during the AOS phase, which you could draw out a further 9 months (6 months to use visa, 3 months to get married) from the already delayed visa approval.

[Aztec&Taino 144]

I have visited Tanzania five times since December 2006 and briefly met Martin during my third trip in 2008. We became good friends when I returned to Dar es Salaam in January 2009 to work with an NGO and we starting dating in March 2009. I returned home for the latter six months of 2009 and then went back to Tanzania again for the first six months of 2010. I am now home in the USA.

Martin applied for a non-immigrant/tourist visa and was denied in April because he couldn't produce enough evidence that he would return to Tanzania. Obviously not the outcome we wanted, but on paper I can understand their decision. He doesn't own any property or even have a bank account in Tanzania. He has a bank account now, but I fear there will never be enough money in the account to show proof of return.

I feel as though that leaves us with the fiance visa as our only option and we are ready to take that step, but I know how important it is that I have my finances in order before he comes to the USA since I'll have to support both of us for a while. Since I just returned from Tanzania myself and have spent the better half of the last 3 years there, my finances are not quite what they could be. I am very lucky to have gotten my old job back at a local architecture firm, but they've only promised me 3 months of work. While I'm fairly confident things are going well enough at the firm that they'll be able to continue to keep me on staff, I can't bank on it (no pun intended).

I understand that once the K-1 fiance visa is authorized, that the person has 6 months in which to enter the USA. I also understand that the typical K-1 process can around 5 months. So I want to start the K-1 process in case it takes a long time, but at the same time I want to know if there are any steps along the way in the process in which I can kill time if I need more time to preparation for Martin's arrival? If I file the I-129F and it gets approved, how can I extend the 4 months of time Martin is given to gather all the information to present to the Tanzanian Embassy?

Any advice would be most appreciated!

Thanks,

Moriah

The timeline that you describe is an ideal scenario. More than likely, your petition will not be approved that quickly. I do not know about Tanzania, but Nigeria is quite slower than that and has a consulate famous for its rate of denials and difficulty. It is interesting to see a post that asks if the process can take a little bit longer than it will because most of us here are quite ready for our cases to speed up! If you are unsure and want to wait until you have a more certain job and economic future, you could delay sending your petition.

Best wishes!