K-1 Beneficiary on "Working Holiday" visa (country of residence different from citizenship)

[catnipyosh 1]

My fiancée is a Japanese citizen, on a 1-year "working holiday" visa in Canada, for whom I just filed a I-129F.

She has a little over 6 months left on her "working holiday" visa, after which point she will have to leave Canada. Judging by the processing times I've seen on the site, it often takes 6 months or more to go from filing the I-129F to actually getting the visa in hand. On the I-129F, her current residence is listed as Vancouver Canada, and in the cover letter I requested that her visa interview be conducted at the Vancouver consulate, but any ideas what USCIS will do if the approval of the I-129F approval comes close to the expiry of her visa?

For what it's worth, I noted in the cover letter that she is in Canada on a working holiday, noted the date when her visa expires, and included a copy of her Canadian visa in the application packet.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

[Inky 1,110]

K-1 is taking around 6 months just to be approved by USCIS, its likely that she will be leaving Canada already by the time she has an interview. She also may need a Canadian police certificate since she is living there and working there for more than 6 months.

[catnipyosh 1]

Yes, it looks like she'll definitely need a Canadian police certificate -- fortunately, it looks like it's not so onerous to get one.

My bigger question is what, as a practical matter, will happen if the I-129F is approved close to the date when she will have to leave Canada -- where will the NVC send the packet on to?

On the VisaPro website, I found the following:

The Consulate in Vancouver processes fiancé(e) cases for citizens of Canada, or aliens who are permanent residents. Individuals in Canada on student and/or employment authorization are considered on a case-by-case basis. Such individuals must be authorized to remain in Canada for a continuous minimum period of six months (from the time the approved petition is received at the Consulate). Applicants must also be residing in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon or the Northwest Territories. All other applicants in Canada are processed at the U.S. Consulate in Montreal.

Say we're lucky and her I-129F is approved by USCIS in 5 months -- by the time it got to the consulate, she'd only have a month or so to get her visa. My biggest worry is that USCIS will decide she won't have enough time to get her visa while in Canada, and refuse to send the petition onto the Vancouver or Montreal consulate. But since she doesn't have a permanent residence in Japan or anywhere else, they will refuse to send it to Japan as well...