Starting the K-1 visa

[Mighty Ferengi 0]

Hello all!

My fiancee and I have just started getting all of our documents together for her K-1 fiancee visa. She has just received her NBI, CENOMAR, and Live Birth records. She is sending me copies along with her letter of intent and G-325A. I have several photos of us together plus my plane tickets, the engagement ring receipt, and some of our chat logs. Am I missing anything? I have followed the checklist posted here and added a few of the documents I have seen on this forum for the Philippines.

Also, anyone have a rough estimate of how long the entire process takes? It's kind of hard to plan a wedding when we are not sure when we will finally be able to marry.

[Hank_ 9,173]

Hello all!

My fiancee and I have just started getting all of our documents together for her K-1 fiancee visa. She has just received her NBI, CENOMAR, and Live Birth records. She is sending me copies along with her letter of intent and G-325A. I have several photos of us together plus my plane tickets, the engagement ring receipt, and some of our chat logs. Am I missing anything? I have followed the checklist posted here and added a few of the documents I have seen on this forum for the Philippines.

Also, anyone have a rough estimate of how long the entire process takes? It's kind of hard to plan a wedding when we are not sure when we will finally be able to marry.

Add copies of passport stamps to your list of evidence of having met in person. Engagement ring & chat logs do nothing for establishing having met in person... you can save those for the embassy interview.

Planning a wedding... Good luck with that one.

[Mighty Ferengi 0]

Can do! Thanks Hank!

[rmarkwallace 7]

It looks good. One variable that you can control is whether they need to ask for additional information or can make a decision based on what is in the file. If they have to mail it back because you forgot to sign the form or something it would take up to a month longer. You can track other people filing on this site. They seem to be approving applications filed in February. The first stop is a basic check for things like signing the form, enclosing the fee, etc. That you should pass in a week. It takes about 90 days for it to clear the US unless they need additional information. Then it goes to Manila. People seem to be getting interviews in about a month, the visa comes via courier a few days later. I am guessing five months but do not buy plane tickets, book reception halls, etc. until the visa is in her hand. Also be sure that she pays the visa issuance fee at BPI and makes the application and appointment on line immediately.

[Brian&Naty 0]

Any evidence of financial contributions, sent flowers, etc. You should show a vested financial interest in your fiance. Western Union, Flowers, gifts, etc that you have sent her. Those reflect direct involvement. My wife is Filipino. We submitted in August of 2008 and NOA 1 came quick and it was I think about 5 months to get NOA2. Once we had that, she went to Manila for the Embassy interview and medical. We got stopped up for 2 months due to her not passing the TB screening (white spot on the x-ray). When that period was over,she finished the process and she arrived in August of 2009. So all told for me from the time we sent in the K1 until she set foot on US soil was just over a year. BUT Listen to me and ETCH THIS IN STONE. DO NOT GET HER SS number UNTIL you are married and have her married last name. Additionally, as soon as you can GET HER A STATE ISSUED ID. This has been a misstep on my part and we received an RFE wanting additional eveidence of a bonafide marriage. Document EVERYTHING. Every card, letter, etc. it is ALL IMPORTANT. And Hank? The receipt for the engagement ring, etc. IS useful in making your case.

[sweet cakes 326]

Hello all!

My fiancee and I have just started getting all of our documents together for her K-1 fiancee visa. She has just received her NBI, CENOMAR, and Live Birth records. She is sending me copies along with her letter of intent and G-325A. I have several photos of us together plus my plane tickets, the engagement ring receipt, and some of our chat logs. Am I missing anything? I have followed the checklist posted here and added a few of the documents I have seen on this forum for the Philippines.

Also, anyone have a rough estimate of how long the entire process takes? It's kind of hard to plan a wedding when we are not sure when we will finally be able to marry.

For the I-129f filing, she doesn't need to get her NBI clearance, CENOMAR and birth certificate. These will be needed though during the embassy interview, but she will need new ones (less than 6 months old) except the BC. Also, don't forget to ask her to send you a colored passport-type photo. She can email you a photo file too and you can just have it printed here.

VJ K1 guide here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

Timeline for a K-1 actually varies, from 5 months or more (NOA 1 to NOA 2, could be faster or slower). Could also take longer if you have RFE. Then additional time for medical and the actual schedule date (some have been waiting for an interview date to open for a month now).

It is highly suggested here to not plan or book anything yet until the beneficiary has her visa on hand. Best to keep everything open for now, until perhaps your fiancee got a visa interview date, and then from there, give it sufficient time allowance. But definitely not too soon from interview.

Edited May 29, 2014 by sweet cakes

[Mighty Ferengi 0]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. She will be sending her passport-photo, G-385A and letter of intent via airmail tomorrow. I can easily print out receipts for flowers, candy, groceries, Western Union, etc and add them in. She just received the NBI and CENOMAR this week, so they should still be good if the process is running around 5 months. If it takes longer, we will just have to get them again.

[mrszorak44 7]

It took ours 7 months from the date we filed my petition to the time I got my K1 Visa.

Providing all helpful information and evidence to prove that you met in person and having a genuine relationship in that I-129F packet is helpful for your case - it sure was helpful in mine. In our I-129F packet, we included: passport stamps, hotel portfolio showing our names upon check-in, photos, engagement receipts, Skype calls screen shot, phone bill records showing my calls to my fiancé, credit card receipts that I paid for my plane ticket to see my fiancé.

It is also helpful to put some post-it notes and add a little caption on the evidence that you'll be providing. Congratulations and enjoy the journey.

[Al422 221]

And it is going slower now. A lot slower. We did OK with the NOA2, only 71 days. But lately there have been 5 to 6 month horror stories on that.

It took us 2 1/2 months to get an interview date. Now people have to struggle just to get a date, period.

And here we are 6 business days POST INTERVIEW and nobody at USEM has touched the file since that day.

Right now it has been 8 1/2 months since our initial filing. And probably 2 to 3 weeks before we have the visa.

And that was based on the OK time we got on the NOA2, which is now much worse.

So please don't plan your lives around any specific date.

[Hank_ 9,173]

It looks good. One variable that you can control is whether they need to ask for additional information or can make a decision based on what is in the file. If they have to mail it back because you forgot to sign the form or something it would take up to a month longer. You can track other people filing on this site. They seem to be approving applications filed in February. The first stop is a basic check for things like signing the form, enclosing the fee, etc. That you should pass in a week. It takes about 90 days for it to clear the US unless they need additional information. Then it goes to Manila. People seem to be getting interviews in about a month, the visa comes via courier a few days later . I am guessing five months but do not buy plane tickets, book reception halls, etc. until the visa is in her hand. Also be sure that she pays the visa issuance fee at BPI and makes the application and appointment on line immediately.

Where did you get that timeline data? PFA?

[Hank_ 9,173]

And it is going slower now. A lot slower. We did OK with the NOA2, only 71 days. But lately there have been 5 to 6 month horror stories on that.

It took us 2 1/2 months to get an interview date. Now people have to struggle just to get a date, period.

And here we are 6 business days POST INTERVIEW and nobody at USEM has touched the file since that day.

Right now it has been 8 1/2 months since our initial filing. And probably 2 to 3 weeks before we have the visa.

And that was based on the OK time we got on the NOA2, which is now much worse.

So please don't plan your lives around any specific date.

5-6 month horror stories? You are truly spoiled.... 5-6 months was the norm for a long time.

I think USCIS has been expediting all petitions for the Philippines since Yolanda... you know the one band-aid approach. Which has caused a serious bottleneck at the embassy for sure.

[rmarkwallace 7]

I got the timeline data by subscribing to the tracking data of about a half dozen other visitors to this site. At the top of the page, there is a button called "processing times." You can sub sort by criteria, such as Manila consulate, There is a fairly wide variance in how long it takes, but that is because there are variables like the application not being complete, the fiance, not immediately applying when it gets to her country, etc. What I quoted you is the minimum. It took my brother two and a half years to get his wife in because he kept making mistakes like filing tax returns as being single after the wedding, not enclosing a required document, etc. If she has children, be sure to list them on the form. The K visas are faster because they complete the application process after she arrives but she might not get work papers for some months.

[Hank_ 9,173]

Well good luck with getting an interview within a month and having the visa in hand within a few days later.

[Zedayn 485]

Hello all!

My fiancee and I have just started getting all of our documents together for her K-1 fiancee visa. She has just received her NBI, CENOMAR, and Live Birth records. She is sending me copies along with her letter of intent and G-325A. I have several photos of us together plus my plane tickets, the engagement ring receipt, and some of our chat logs. Am I missing anything? I have followed the checklist posted here and added a few of the documents I have seen on this forum for the Philippines.

Also, anyone have a rough estimate of how long the entire process takes? It's kind of hard to plan a wedding when we are not sure when we will finally be able to marry.

The NBI, Cenomar and her NSO birth certificate are not needed for the I-129F. You only need her letter of intent and G-325A, along with passport photo.

The average processing time according to USCIS is about 5 months. You should expect it to take at least this long, in reality you will likely be approved much sooner. Once your petition is approved, it is sent to the NVC for a case number to be assigned before it is sent to the embassy. It could take between 4 to 6 weeks for the NVC to receive your case and for you to receive your case number. Some have gotten their case number in as little as a week, others like myself had to wait 5 weeks to get it. After you get your case number, you can pay the visa fee and book the interview appointment. When you can get an interview date is hard to say. My fiancée paid the visa fee the other day, and we are still waiting for available dates.

If you want a good idea of how long it takes, check out the timelines of other K-1 filers that have gone through Manila.

[Al422 221]

Well good luck with getting an interview within a month and having the visa in hand within a few days later.

And then tell us who you know so we can all invite that person to dinner and get the same results.