K1 visa and J1 2 years home residency requirement

[Badarin2050 0]

Hi guys

Thanks for this amazing website

Me and my US girlfriend met online months ago, we love each other and just can't wait be together soon BUT we're patient of course! we decided we will choose the k1 visa option. As you know we're required to have met in person in the past two years, so to fulfill this we agreed we're gonna meet in jordan in august this summer since its the best time for both of us to take vacation from work and meet

However, There's something that deprives us from sleeping in the night ( beside ); I went to the US for an internship in June 2014 and was back to my home country on Aug 3 2014 on a J1 visa and is subject to the 2 years Home residency requirement ( i swear if i knew of these 2 years thing i wouldn't go there even though the internship was designed for outstanding students from the middle east and i'm proud to be one ). by the time we meet in august inshallah i would be finishing the first year of the 2 years. my fiance will start filling for me in September this year, the average processing time for the k1 is 7 months i think, we can wait for that long time. My concern is: which agency or immigration office responsible for checking the 2 years thing ? i read in many websites that its the US consulate in my country ( which made me and my fiancee feel good and relaxed ) cause i don't want for our application to be flagged or prolonged or even god forbid denied by USCIS or NVC because the 2 years thing! does the NVC have a say in that issue ?? I wanna make sure its the consulate only ... and what will the consulate do if i arrive at the interview ( sometime next April or may ) and there still 4 or 5 months for the 2 years thing ? would they hold my visa or make it start after august 2015 ? that would be good anyways ..me and my fiancee can wait .. but we are afraid that NVC may have a say in this issue and delay the processing time for petition until after Aug 2015 ( disastrous ) .... We love each other very much and we're happy and cant wait to become a family and thats why im asking this question very early ...

waiting for your help.

Thanks

[Hypnos 6,576]

The embassy will ask about any J-1s you have, and if you are subject to the HRR. If you are subject to it, then you cannot be issued with an immigrant visa or several types of nonimmigrant visa - including a K-1 - until the HRR is satisfied. Note that the time you spend waiting for the application to process can count towards the two years, provided you are in your home country (i.e. you do not have to wait two years, then file), you just can't receive the visa until you've spent two years there.

Based on the facts as you have outlined them, the earliest you will be able to receive your visa is 3rd August 2016, if you have remained in your country of origin since you left the US, and if you remain there. Time spent in any other country does not count towards the two years.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Hypnos

[allyinchicago 8]

I think you are gonna be ok. Of course we didn't do the fiancée visa but we waited almost 2 full years to get our I-130 approved. plus 6 months at NVC. the positive thing for you is that you left the US on time!! my husband overstayed his visa so he's back in the West Bank for 5 yrs now. so anyways, the Jerusalem consulate is super slow at everything!!! Aug 2016 is reasonable to get your fiancée visa

[Badarin2050 0]

The embassy will ask about any J-1s you have, and if you are subject to the HRR. If you are subject to it, then you cannot be issued with an immigrant visa or several types of nonimmigrant visa - including a K-1 - until the HRR is satisfied. Note that the time you spend waiting for the application to process can count towards the two years, provided you are in your home country (i.e. you do not have to wait two years, then file), you just can't receive the visa until you've spent two years there.

Based on the facts as you have outlined them, the earliest you will be able to receive your visa is 3rd August 2016, if you have remained in your country of origin since you left the US, and if you remain there. Time spent in any other country does not count towards the two years.

Thanks for the details; i have another question. Yesterday my fiancee told me she was able to take a 1-week leave and come to see me in jordan this month ) So we're gonna see each other earlier than august ( however shes still planning to come in august ) ... my question is : there's more than one service center and i see they vary in the processing time of the i-129F, with CSC being the quickest ( sometimes only one month between NOA1 and NOA2 ! ) , so there's a chance our application gets processed quickly or will be assigned to another service center ( TSC for example ) and takes longer time !! can you advice me on this ? I'm a lit confused and cant decide what to do. at one hand i'm afraid we file in august and it processed quickly and then we face this 2 years HRR thing or wait and file later with longer time it takes so we regret. Whats the better time to file in our case ? i also learned that even if the petition approved i can still schedule my interview to be in august ... we wish to wait but in the same time we dont want to wake up and find that the processing time took time even later than Aug 2014 because we files late

Edited May 3, 2015 by Badarin2050

[Badarin2050 0]

I think you are gonna be ok. Of course we didn't do the fiancée visa but we waited almost 2 full years to get our I-130 approved. plus 6 months at NVC. the positive thing for you is that you left the US on time!! my husband overstayed his visa so he's back in the West Bank for 5 yrs now. so anyways, the Jerusalem consulate is super slow at everything!!! Aug 2016 is reasonable to get your fiancée visa

Thank you sister

And sorry for what happened in your case, inshallah you soon get yours approved.

so how long does it take the embassy in Jerusalem to process the application after it recieves it ? will that help me and my fiancee , cause honestly i need time and need to file early and convince myself its the consulate that keeps delaying and not because of the 2 years HRR thing ( I started to hate the number 2 recently )

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

Ok, in light of this info, I want to adjust my answer to you in your other post. If you need to wait out the HRR from the J-1, then have both visits, gather plenty of evidence of those visits and the time you spend together in person, then file after both visits. You still have over a year to wait, and the more time you spend together in person, then better your chances are for getting the K-1 approved.

I think the I-129F petitions are all being routed to the CSC right now for workload balancing issues, so I would not count on having a 5-7 month wait for the petition approval.

[jxn 86]

I don't know about checking from abroad but I know from inside the U.S. (perhaps it's exactly the same process outside of the country as well) you can write to DHS and ask them to see if the 2Y HRR applies to you.

My wife was a J-1 and her visa said she was subject to the 2Y HRR, yet she knew based on her program that since neither her country's government nor the U.S. had a financial element involved in the exchange program that it shouldn't apply to her. DHS responded to our lawyer's request and indicated that she was not subject to the 2Y HRR despite her visa saying she was. At the point we didn't even need a waiver, just a copy of that letter along with our other AoS documents.

[Badarin2050 0]

I don't know about checking from abroad but I know from inside the U.S. (perhaps it's exactly the same process outside of the country as well) you can write to DHS and ask them to see if the 2Y HRR applies to you.

My wife was a J-1 and her visa said she was subject to the 2Y HRR, yet she knew based on her program that since neither her country's government nor the U.S. had a financial element involved in the exchange program that it shouldn't apply to her. DHS responded to our lawyer's request and indicated that she was not subject to the 2Y HRR despite her visa saying she was. At the point we didn't even need a waiver, just a copy of that letter along with our other AoS documents

Interesting

but my DS2019 says I'm subject to the HRR, and my program was fully funded by the US Gov. however i'm still thinking of asking for advisory opinion

Ok, in light of this info, I want to adjust my answer to you in your other post. If you need to wait out the HRR from the J-1, then have both visits, gather plenty of evidence of those visits and the time you spend together in person, then file after both visits. You still have over a year to wait, and the more time you spend together in person, then better your chances are for getting the K-1 approved.

I think the I-129F petitions are all being routed to the CSC right now for workload balancing issues, so I would not count on having a 5-7 month wait for the petition approval.

Thank You.

[Hypnos 6,576]

If your J-1 program was funded by the federal government then you are almost certainly subject to the HRR.

[allyinchicago 8]

Thank you sister

And sorry for what happened in your case, inshallah you soon get yours approved.

so how long does it take the embassy in Jerusalem to process the application after it recieves it ? will that help me and my fiancee , cause honestly i need time and need to file early and convince myself its the consulate that keeps delaying and not because of the 2 years HRR thing ( I started to hate the number 2 recently )

When Jeursalem gets your approved file it, they schedule the interview 1-2 months later..They also do not help with getting a permit to enter Jerusalem. My husband had problems with getting a permit, just kept getting denied even with the official letters from the consulate.