K1 Visa Approved! Some things I'd like to share.

[LucidDreams 1]

My Fiancee had her interview today and was approved!

That's only 3 months and 2 weeks from when I first mailed the petition packet!

I just wanted to thank you guys and gals for your advice during this process. Most questions I didn't even have to ask because someone else did.

Something things that I learned: the small roughly 1.5" x 1.75" Philippines Passport photo is just fine for the I-129F. No RFE with that. Of course, for St. Lukes and for the Interview it was that standard U.S. Passport size--at that point they are strict.

Front loading the I-129F worked great. Even though we were together only 3 days, I included pictures of us together on different days in different locations wearing different clothes. I took screen-shots of email subject exchanges between us, and also phone records from whenever she called me. Also, money that I have sent her for cell phone loads through Aryty or Western Union Money Transfers. I lost all of my receipts from when we were together (can you believe it!). So, I just printed a Bank Statement showing the transactions that I completed using my debit card (most of them) and wrote little notes about each line. Of course, I sent more current proof of relationship for the final interview.

I planned for 3 days for her to be at St. Luke's, but she was completely done in one day and even arrived after they opened!

For the final interview, regarding my finances I just completed my taxes on Jan 30th 2014, so I sent my 2013 1040A and W-2's. Talk about current--I wonder if I'm the first one to submit their 2013 1040A. According to the official website, only last years tax returns are required (no longer 3 years). Nothing else is requested. However, for good measure, I included a tax transcript for 2012 and my last 4 paychecks.

I looked up every question I could think of for the interview and types out the answers just in case, and quizzed her to make sure she memorized. Ended up being totally unnecessary though. My fiancee was asked very few questions--it was a quick interview and fast approval. Well, fast is relative. They arrived at like 3 or 4 AM and (long before the Embassy opened) and were done "before lunch." Oh, she also made a photo album of us together to bring to the interview.

We had no pauses, delays, and everything went super fast. Perhaps it's faster than before related to Typhoon Yolanda? I hear that as a result of that event, Visa processing has been accelerated. I know every time I checked for potential interview dates, "tomorrow" was always an option online. St. Luke's Fee is/was discounted related to the Typhoon.

One of the best things for both our relationship in-itself and also to help prove our on-going relationship (by printing my cell phone call history between my Fiancee and I), is Smart's Talk-a-Lot 300. "P1.50/min! Enjoy 200 IDD mins for 30 days for only P300." Dudes, that's cell phone to cell phone from the Phils to the U.S. for 3.3 cents per minute. That's less than $2 an hour. Crystal Clear. The quality of this to the Phils blows Skype, Google Voice, Yahoo Voice Chat, and the calling cards I've tried out of the water. So, I would just send her loads and then tell her to call me via e-mail.

Sending my Fiancee a Smart Phone (iPhone) was such a great decision. I pre-loaded it with all the apps she would need to view Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, .PDF's, and more. So, it was a replacement computer basically--she could surf the web to look stuff up and read all of the docs she found or that I sent to her. Also, to watch YouTube videos that would do mock K1 Visa Interview sessions, etc. (plus yes she liked being able to Facebook and play Candy Crush whenever lol). I also paid for her unlimited data ($27 / month). I set up her iPhone to instantly notify her whenever I sent her an e-mail. So, e-mail was basically just as fast as an Instant Messenger in getting each others attention fast. Plus, having all text-based communications in one place (e-mail) vs. scattered (Yahoo!, Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, Text Messaging) made it so much easier print for Proof of Relationship. Also, this system worked so much better than having her text my spare cell with a Phil's SIM Card here in the U.S. (costs her one Peso), then I text her back via Skype (I think that costs like 6 cents?). (Though now that I no longer need to prove proof of relationship, I'm considering trying Apple's Face-time Voice (not video) as it's less data than Skype and therefore should be more stable with the Phils shaky internet. If it works well consistently, since I already pay for unlimited data, then our Voice Calls would go from cheap to free. But Skype can be terrible even with just voice but it's also a bandwidth hog.)

The paperwork has been time-consuming but not difficult--especially with an awesome forum like this one to ask questions.

The next step is receiving the Visa stuff in the mail and scheduling the CFO Guidance and Counseling Session. Just formalities. Should all take less than 10 days, and then we can pick a date and buy a plane ticket! No rush actually because we're planning for her to fly to the U.S. sometime in April.

[JRF 117]

Congratulations! While your rapid approval may have been partially the result of forces outside your control it sounds like you approached the process in an organized manner, which no doubt helped tremendously.

I'd wish you best of luck (and I do) but it sounds like you don't leave things to chance!

[Hank_ 9,174]

Congrats!!

[Tahoma 2,298]

Congratz on your approval...that was really fast!

And thanks for the tips you posted.

[Tintin and Mike 127]

Great news, congrats!