Couple of questions relating to I-129F

[DonaldDuck 0]

Hello, I looked through your guys' FAQ but didn't get much help.

I filed for my I-129F (for my fiancee) to come in from Canada. She has two questions:

1) When the application is granted, does the fiancee have to move right away or can she wait until her affairs are in order (how much time is granted?)

2) Will the fiancée visa will allow her to work or does she need to apply for a separate visa? If so where can she apply for it?

Thanks for any help!

[Tim/Mav 305]

Hello, I looked through your guys' FAQ but didn't get much help.

I filed for my I-129F (for my fiancee) to come in from Canada. She has two questions:

1) When the application is granted, does the fiancee have to move right away or can she wait until her affairs are in order (how much time is granted?)

2) Will the fiancée visa will allow her to work or does she need to apply for a separate visa? If so where can she apply for it?

Thanks for any help!

Questions : #1 No - The process takes about 6 to 9 months. After the NOA2 there is a 4 month timeline for completed information and finalization.

Questions: #2 - No - There is NO such thing as a separate Visa. Not for a K-1 Respectfuly, you need to read. Tim

[HeatDeath 430]

Hello, I looked through your guys' FAQ but didn't get much help.

I filed for my I-129F (for my fiancee) to come in from Canada. She has two questions:

1) When the application is granted, does the fiancee have to move right away or can she wait until her affairs are in order (how much time is granted?)

2) Will the fiancée visa will allow her to work or does she need to apply for a separate visa? If so where can she apply for it?

Thanks for any help!

After the I-129F is approved, the US consulate in Canada that serves her area (Vancouver or Montreal, depending on which side of the Manitoba/Ontario border she lives on) will send her a visa application package. Following all of the instructions in that package, faxing in the appropriate forms and information, and ultimately going to an interview at the consulate (start saving now) will take at least 2-3 months. The visa itself will be given or couriered to her after the interview. Once the visa is actually in her hands, she will have 6 months to enter the US with it. Lots of time to sort everything out in Canada.

Once she enters the US, she will have 90 days to marry you. As soon as possible after you marry, she will send a big package of forms in to USCIS. One of these will be an application for a work permit. It will take 6-10 weeks after she sends in those forms for the work permit (called an EAD) to arrive. She cannot work for a US employer until she has her EAD card in her possession.

The other thing to keep in mind is that a fiance visa is single use. That means that once she enters the US with it, she cannot leave the US FOR ANY REASON without having first received a temporary travel document, that arrives at about the same time as the EAD (6-10 weeks after you file the forms, which is as soon as humanly possible after you get married). If she leaves the US without either the temporary travel document (called an AP document around here) or her green card, she will be effectively locked out of the US, you two will have to start all over with a spousal visa. She should keep this in mind as she wraps up her affairs in Canada - she will absolutely positively not be able to return to Canada for a period of 3-4 months after entering on her K-1 visa.

Edited June 30, 2011 by HeatDeath

[HeatDeath 430]

One thing to add:

I said the AP travel document and EAD card usually arrive around the same time. USCIS has started combining the two into a single, wallet sized card, so they will probably arrive at exactly the same time, 6-10 weeks after you file the post-marriage Adjustment of Status (AOS) forms.

[Tim/Mav 305]

Questions : #1 No - The process takes about 6 to 9 months. After the NOA2 there is a 4 month timeline for completed information and finalization.

Questions: #2 - No - There is NO such thing as a separate Visa. Not for a K-1 Respectfuly, you need to read. Tim

Looking at Question #1. You said: The Application. There are no such things as applications. They are petitions.

After a Visa is Issued (K-1) it is good for 6 months. So plenty of time to sew - up details.

Got alittle confused there.

[DonaldDuck 0]

Thanks HeatDeath, that was amazingly helpful

Edited June 30, 2011 by DonaldDuck

[DonaldDuck 0]

@HeatDeath: When you say "Start saving"... what kind of money are we talking here?

/DD's girlfriend

Edited June 30, 2011 by DonaldDuck

[Tim/Mav 305]

@HeatDeath: When you say "Start saving"... what kind of money are we talking here?

/DD's girlfriend

Less Than 44 Cents for a Postage Stamp. Good Luck.

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

@HeatDeath: When you say "Start saving"... what kind of money are we talking here?

/DD's girlfriend

The visa application fee is $350. Whatever the medical in Canada costs, and any other needed expenses for the interview. I am sure HeatDeath can be more specific about costs in Canada.

After getting the visa and coming to the US and getting married, the AOS fee is $1070.

[HeatDeath 430]

@HeatDeath: When you say "Start saving"... what kind of money are we talking here?

/DD's girlfriend

She will have to travel from wherever she lives to Vancouver or Montreal to interview at the US consulate and have an immigration medical exam. Figure airfare both ways, plus 2 or 3 nights in a downtown hotel.

Mine ran about $1100 all in, including the fee for the medical.

[HeatDeath 430]

Oh right... when I went the interview fee was 131. Now it's 350. So add a couple hundred to my estimate.

On the plus side, the I-129F petition is a fair bit cheaper than it was, so you've gotten some of that money back already.

[DonaldDuck 0]

She will have to travel from wherever she lives to Vancouver or Montreal to interview at the US consulate and have an immigration medical exam. Figure airfare both ways, plus 2 or 3 nights in a downtown hotel.

Mine ran about $1100 all in, including the fee for the medical.

Phew... I live within 5 hours of downtown vancouver so that will save a lot of money.

Thanks again for your time

-DD's girl

[HeatDeath 430]

The medical is still 350+, and the interview is still 350. But yeah, not having to fly or hotel anywhere will help immensely.

She will have to get to the medical, in line outside the building, ready to in, at 5:45 am on a Wednesday morning. There is a budget hotel, called the Burrard Inn [www.burrardinn.com], right next door to the medical clinic. So she may want to spend at least one night in Vancouver.

[S and P 9]

Phew... I live within 5 hours of downtown vancouver so that will save a lot of money.

Thanks again for your time

-DD's girl

There is a regional forum for Canada right here: http://www.visajourn...orum/93-canada/ where you can find answers to almost any question you'll have through this process.

It seems the majority of the members there are processing through Montreal, but there are a few going through Vancouver (which seems to move much quicker).

Welcome to VJ and good luck to you!!

[bigdog 376]

Questions : #1 No - The process takes about 6 to 9 months. After the NOA2 there is a 4 month timeline for completed information and finalization.

Questions: #2 - No - There is NO such thing as a separate Visa. Not for a K-1 Respectfuly, you need to read. Tim