My K1 nightmare

[Inky 1,111]

I hope you're right. Well, he has to send them some paperwork to update some stuff on the file, would it help if we sent some photos we took in dublin? We look more like a couple than soldiers standing at attention in the dublin photos.

I'll pass on the advice to contact immigration liaison and let you know how it goes :-) Thanks for the advice.

I would bring thos photos to the interview and see if they want them/give them to the interviewer instead of trying to send them without an RFE for photos. They usually look at photos as secondary evidence anyways. The passport stamps and stuff are more what they want to see/proof that one of you had actually traveled and the pictures are just a helper.

[shazj1 2]

I would bring thos photos to the interview and see if they want them/give them to the interviewer instead of trying to send them without an RFE for photos. They usually look at photos as secondary evidence anyways. The passport stamps and stuff are more what they want to see/proof that one of you had actually traveled and the pictures are just a helper.

ahh i see..I read somewhere about primary/secondary evidence but I wasn't sure where to look on VJ for a list of which one is which. I guess for now we'll let them decide on what they have. There are some days I feel confident and there are some days I want to send them DNA samples of evidence that we have met..it's just so difficult to know what to do at this stage apart from waiting to see what happens.

[Channah&Aaron 51]

; I didn't know that some Americans can be that hassled when they return to their own country

[A&F 0]

My fiance lives in the UK and I've been visiting him once every 2-3 months. I never had a problem coming back though. Nothing more than the routine questions like "who were you visiting" "for how long were you away" etc. If he's being searched my guess is that it is for reasons that are independent of the K1 process like his name or something else like that...

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Just as an additional bit of information - when your fiance calls the Information number for USCIS he is not actually speaking to the immigration department or an immigration officer. He is speaking to a low wage Call Center employee who has a script of answers for general questions in front of them. They are notorious for providing wrong information repeatedly - so much so that they are better known as the 'Misinformation line". One of their standard answers - I am sure it is on their script - is to say 'call back in 30 days' or even 'call back in 90 days'. They have no access to real information, certainly no more than your fiance does on line himself. They can, if they think it is a situation that they can't address through their scripted responses, forward a call to an actual immigration officer - but they are very reluctant to do so, especially when it relates to a waiting period for an approval.

So, reassure your fiance that the flaw is because the Call Center is not a reliable source of information. Hopefully, he will be receiving approval of the I-129f very soon and the two of you can get busy on the next stage of the process. Most of the waiting is while the service centers process huge volumes of applications for a wide variety of different visa types - not just for K-1s. Once they get to your paperwork, though, things should move much more quickly. Fortunately, London is not one of the slower Consulates so you shouldn't experience too many more delays after this.

Edited February 17, 2011 by Kathryn41

[jlisakay 2]

My Fiancee had a call from Liasion as they sent her a email that was wrong and he said he was going to see what he could do we are Auf filers as well at CSC though hope you hear soon as we are can't wait to see my darling again

[TBoneTX 47,502]

General note: It's careless and misleading to talk about contacting one's "state senator." People here could end up contacting a senator in their State Legislature. It's more precise to recommend "contacting your U.S. Senator or the Congressional Representative for your U.S. House district."

Also, to add to Kathryn's excellent advice above: You can cut off the Call Center goon in mid-script and request to be escalated to an Immigration Officer. The goon will object, but insist. The goons are required to escalate your call when you request it.

[Inky 1,111]

ahh i see..I read somewhere about primary/secondary evidence but I wasn't sure where to look on VJ for a list of which one is which. I guess for now we'll let them decide on what they have. There are some days I feel confident and there are some days I want to send them DNA samples of evidence that we have met..it's just so difficult to know what to do at this stage apart from waiting to see what happens.

I felt the same way too when we were waiting for K-1, bouts of nervousness and a few freak out moments over thinking "did I forget to sign something?"

You will get through it just keep holding on! Have him see what the liaison can do for you guys, i'm sure you will hear something soon.

[JustJanis 2]

; I didn't know that some Americans can be that hassled when they return to their own country

I got hassled coming back into Canada after a New Years visit with my fiancee and friends in Seattle. They took my phone and iPod and scanned through messages and pictures and went through my carry-on... until they asked what my fiancee did for a living and when they found out his level of US gov't security clearance I was good to go. It was kinda scary but would have been worst if it happened going into the US. I'm off to see him in Japan tomorrow so hopefully because I'm not going through the US I won't have any issues.

I just don't understand, we (K1 filers) are doing things by the book with our mountains of paperwork and waiting and the financial obligations and still they think we are going to toss that all away and stay in the US illegally? You'd think the K1 petition/NOA1 paper would be like a pass.... just sayin'

Wishing us ALL a speedy process.

[kutakendra 3]

Mine must look like a criminal, as well. Was denied at O'hare. Guess his Yorkshire accent and blue eyes were a big tip-off that said "terrorist." I've taken to going there or we meet in the Bahamas, as he can fly direct and stay away from US. You can go on Kayak.com and fly around places.

Good luck.

Soon.

[shazj1 2]

; I didn't know that some Americans can be that hassled when they return to their own country

Neither did we until it happened. He has signed up on VJ so he'll be posting more about it on here.

My fiance lives in the UK and I've been visiting him once every 2-3 months. I never had a problem coming back though. Nothing more than the routine questions like "who were you visiting" "for how long were you away" etc. If he's being searched my guess is that it is for reasons that are independent of the K1 process like his name or something else like that...

I am really not sure about their reasoning to be honest or why he got stopped..

Just as an additional bit of information - when your fiance calls the Information number for USCIS he is not actually speaking to the immigration department or an immigration officer. He is speaking to a low wage Call Center employee who has a script of answers for general questions in front of them. They are notorious for providing wrong information repeatedly - so much so that they are better known as the 'Misinformation line". One of their standard answers - I am sure it is on their script - is to say 'call back in 30 days' or even 'call back in 90 days'. They have no access to real information, certainly no more than your fiance does on line himself. They can, if they think it is a situation that they can't address through their scripted responses, forward a call to an actual immigration officer - but they are very reluctant to do so, especially when it relates to a waiting period for an approval.

So, reassure your fiance that the flaw is because the Call Center is not a reliable source of information. Hopefully, he will be receiving approval of the I-129f very soon and the two of you can get busy on the next stage of the process. Most of the waiting is while the service centers process huge volumes of applications for a wide variety of different visa types - not just for K-1s. Once they get to your paperwork, though, things should move much more quickly. Fortunately, London is not one of the slower Consulates so you shouldn't experience too many more delays after this.

Thank you so much Kathryn. I guess we really shouldn't have paid any attention to the 'advisers'. The last time he called them just irritated us both because that's the third time they postponed the deadline. I forgot to mention that when he called them yesterday(or the day before??), he was told to expect a reply by march 10th. I don't know how much truth there is to it, but we'll find out on that date I guess.

My Fiancee had a call from Liasion as they sent her a email that was wrong and he said he was going to see what he could do we are Auf filers as well at CSC though hope you hear soon as we are can't wait to see my darling again

Can't wait to see my darling either :-( Its not nice waiting but I guess we can only support each other as many of us are in the same boat.

General note: It's careless and misleading to talk about contacting one's "state senator." People here could end up contacting a senator in their State Legislature. It's more precise to recommend "contacting your U.S. Senator or the Congressional Representative for your U.S. House district."

Also, to add to Kathryn's excellent advice above: You can cut off the Call Center goon in mid-script and request to be escalated to an Immigration Officer. The goon will object, but insist. The goons are required to escalate your call when you request it.

I stand corrected by the way. I showed your message to my fiance and he said he contacted a US Senator. I hope the immigration officer can help more, but saying that, any help they give will probably be more valuable than that given by the 'goons'..

I felt the same way too when we were waiting for K-1, bouts of nervousness and a few freak out moments over thinking "did I forget to sign something?"

You will get through it just keep holding on! Have him see what the liaison can do for you guys, i'm sure you will hear something soon.

Thank you inky. I'll definitely post here to let you know when and if the NOA2 comes through.

I got hassled coming back into Canada after a New Years visit with my fiancee and friends in Seattle. They took my phone and iPod and scanned through messages and pictures and went through my carry-on... until they asked what my fiancee did for a living and when they found out his level of US gov't security clearance I was good to go. It was kinda scary but would have been worst if it happened going into the US. I'm off to see him in Japan tomorrow so hopefully because I'm not going through the US I won't have any issues.

I just don't understand, we (K1 filers) are doing things by the book with our mountains of paperwork and waiting and the financial obligations and still they think we are going to toss that all away and stay in the US illegally? You'd think the K1 petition/NOA1 paper would be like a pass.... just sayin'

Wishing us ALL a speedy process.

Ugh, it's irritating when genuine people are treated badly and genuine applications end up in the hands of incompetent people. For once, it would be nice if those who did things the right way were given an easier time.

[Y&E 12]

That's a really good point you've made (and perhaps its something I seem to forget), i.e. about majority of fiancé(e)s not even having a chance to meet. Perhaps we should just patiently wait now.

If you have the funds and available time then you should meet as many times as you can. Don't feel that just because other people can't you shouldn't. Not everyone has that luxury and you are very lucky :-)

[shazj1 2]

Mine must look like a criminal, as well. Was denied at O'hare. Guess his Yorkshire accent and blue eyes were a big tip-off that said "terrorist." I've taken to going there or we meet in the Bahamas, as he can fly direct and stay away from US. You can go on Kayak.com and fly around places.

Good luck.

Soon.

LOLL! I totally agree with the blue eyes thing. Mine has blue eyes too, something very terroristy about them

If you have the funds and available time then you should meet as many times as you can. Don't feel that just because other people can't you shouldn't. Not everyone has that luxury and you are very lucky :-)

Funds aren't a problem really as we can always work on arranging money to visit and time isn't really an issue. As I mentioned before, I will look into using my VWP if nothing has happened by April..I really hope it doesn't come to that.

[Aztec&Taino 144]

Hi everyone, I am kind of new(been lurking since yesterday) and I find this forum very useful. This is partly a rant and partly a thread seeking advice as to what to do.

My fiance filed the i129f back in august and it was received and accepted on 31st august. When he contacted them in october, he was told to wait until 31st december for an answer..so we did. Just after 31st december, he called them again and he was told to wait until 31st january..which we accepted. On 31st january, guess what, he's told we have another 38 days to wait for the NOA2..! (The application has been filed at Vermont)

Now the wait would be okay if my fiance wouldn't get hassled and interrogated everytime he flies out to visit me. The poor guy gets searched and questioned like he is some sort of a criminal, even by CBP officers. Recently, we met in dublin for a week's break and upon his return to US, he was asked questions like "have you ever been to the middle east?". They then proceeded to take his phones away from him and presumably copied all the information on his phone, which is fine but annoying as it was unnecessary. I feel bad for even talking about our next meeting because I don't want him to go through an inquisition every time.

I guess we need to wait for the K1 process to be complete but with vermont changing dates everytime he calls them, I don't know whether to trust them or not. He has written to his senator who should help, but we've not heard anything.

If there is any advice any of you could give me, I'd really appreciate it. If not, thanks anyway for reading my rant.

I hope your petition is approved soon. The waiting is the worst! Luckily, once your petition is approved things moves MUCH more quickly. Also, even as it is annoying for your fiance to be interviewed at length when visiting you, at least he has the ability to leave his country and see you elsewhere or in the US! Many of us have fiance(e)s who are pretty much "trapped" in their home country and we (the petitioners) are the ones who always need to go see them... Best wishes!

[bahuffma 9]

LOLL! I totally agree with the blue eyes thing. Mine has blue eyes too, something very terroristy about them

Tell that to the "US Embassy Representative" in Paris and the CBP at Dulles.

The constant questioning of my religious convictions is what completely put me on tilt though. They seemed to be shocked that one of "them thar muzzies" slipped through the cracks and got a job working for the FAA. Idiots.