A little help totaling up the K1 costs please...?

[Kosmoleo 3]

Ok, so my fiance, who lives in Thailand, and I are preparing to file the I-129F soon and we are working together to try and total up all the major costs of the whole entire K1 visa process from start to finish. We have friends, a married couple, who also just went through the whole process successfully, from Thailand, and I have also been browsing through the K1 guides and flowchart here on visajourney. I'm going to present here a cost list of everything I have so far. Could anybody in here who has also gone through the whole process successfully please take a moment to review what I have here and offer any helpful comments, advice and information you might have to share based on your experiences with the process...? We mainly want to know if we are missing any major costs here in our considerations, so that we can end up right now with a very complete and reliable list of all the costs and can know what to expect the total amount for the whole process to end up being before we submit our initial petition and get the whole process started. Thanks in advance for any helpful advice and information you all can share with us to help us begin our visa journey with security and confidence. Here is what I have so far....

* I-129F fee: $340

* Misc. K1 prep fees (med exam,

background check, etc, based on

info from our fiends for the K1 beneficiary's

expenses to prepare for the K1 applicatiion): $1200

* K1 visa fee: $265

* I-485 AOS fee: $1070

* Plane ticket Thailand to the US: $1100

* I-693 (No med exam required if I-485 is

filed within 1 year of fiance's exam overseas): $0

* Total: $3975

[baron555 934]

Thanks in advance for any helpful advice and information you all can share with us to help us begin our visa journey with security and confidence. Here is what I have so far....

* I-129F fee: $340

* Misc. K1 prep fees (med exam,

background check, etc, based on

info from our fiends for the K1 beneficiary's

expenses to prepare for the K1 applicatiion): $1200 ???? Yes the medical costs (depends on the country) but all the other prep fees are zero if you do it yourself. And there is no extra background fee,, that's part of the 129f processing.

* K1 visa fee: $265

* I-485 AOS fee: $1070

* Plane ticket Thailand to the US: $1100

* I-693 (No med exam required if I-485 is

filed within 1 year of fiance's exam overseas): $0 Most CS's charge to transcribe the vaccination info from the DS-3025 form to the 693 form....ours charged $200. Shop around at CS offices in your area...find them from the USCIS website.

* Total: $3975

You're not even close to the true number; you neglected some of the items below:

New Car

Clothes

Education

Travel

Bedroom remodelling

Kitchen remodelling

Bathroom remodelling

Landscaping

[Kosmoleo 3]

Thanks baron for the helpful input, here's some comments with regard to your reply.....

* Kitchen, bath, bed, remodeling...?

We don't own a house and we will be renting a house so we will not have any of those remodeling costs you mentioned until quite a bit later .

* Travel....?

If you mean my fiance's travel costs in preparing for the K1 interview, etc, that is part of the above mentioned $1200, and as you can see the plane ticket is already included on top of that as well. If you mean traveling around the city or state etc when she is here, for the k1 and AOS processes, I already live in a major city as well as near the relevant places so that cost will be quite minimal by comparison to the other major costs.

Clothes...?

She has quite a few good clothes to bring with her and what little she may need is not expensive if you know where and how to shop.

* Education....?

She already speaks excellent English, in fact she teaches it too. In addition she is already certified in several kinds of massage, has been a receptionist for the Coca Cola company and is also a superb chef, so she already brings with her great intelligence and a host of well established good job shills. I don't think we will have much in the way of education costs.

* New car...?

Yes we know she will need her own car once we get her a driver's license. But we will start with a good used one for now and new will come later at the right time.

* Landscaping....????

Sorry, we don't really know what you mean by saying we will have landscaping costs, especially since as I said we don't own a house. Could you please explain what you meant by that one....?

Also I have done some more research on forms DS-3025 and 693 and this is what I discovered on a faq post right here in this very forum:

" If the beneficiary's vaccinations were COMPLETED as part of the visa process, IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO INCLUDE FORM I-693 IN THE AOS SUBMISSION. All your medical information is enclosed in the brown envelope which was handed in at the POE. The envelope is then forwarded on to USCIS where it will be consolidated with the I-485 submission, once received. If you received a copy of the Vaccination Documentation Worksheet (Form DS-3025) from your Panel Physician, you may include a copy of that form in your AOS submission in place of Form I-693. "

So it seems we won't have to pay any CS to transcribe to 693 at all if the above is true, though I'm sure we will include a copy of the DS-3025 in our AOS submission package just to be safe.

So, we have been working on it some more and this is where we are at now....

* $3975 Above total so far

* $1200 Food and personal living expenses to support my fiance until she can get authorized to work and we can become a two income household... $200 / month x 6mos

*$5175

We are still working on figuring out health care insurance for her and it's costs and I will post an update here when we have it. Does anyone else have any more helpful advice or experience on the costs of the k1 process to share.....?

[CowBoE 429]

Ok, so my fiance, who lives in Thailand, and I are preparing to file the I-129F soon and we are working together to try and total up all the major costs of the whole entire K1 visa process from start to finish. We have friends, a married couple, who also just went through the whole process successfully, from Thailand, and I have also been browsing through the K1 guides and flowchart here on visajourney. I'm going to present here a cost list of everything I have so far. Could anybody in here who has also gone through the whole process successfully please take a moment to review what I have here and offer any helpful comments, advice and information you might have to share based on your experiences with the process...? We mainly want to know if we are missing any major costs here in our considerations, so that we can end up right now with a very complete and reliable list of all the costs and can know what to expect the total amount for the whole process to end up being before we submit our initial petition and get the whole process started. Thanks in advance for any helpful advice and information you all can share with us to help us begin our visa journey with security and confidence. Here is what I have so far....

* I-129F fee: $340

* Misc. K1 prep fees (med exam,

background check, etc, based on

info from our fiends for the K1 beneficiary's

expenses to prepare for the K1 applicatiion): $1200

* K1 visa fee: $265

* I-485 AOS fee: $1070

* Plane ticket Thailand to the US: $1100

* I-693 (No med exam required if I-485 is

filed within 1 year of fiance's exam overseas): $0

* Total: $3975

I think misc fee can be cut in 1/2.

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

Thanks baron for the helpful input, here's some comments with regard to your reply.....

* Kitchen, bath, bed, remodeling...?

We don't own a house and we will be renting a house so we will not have any of those remodeling costs you mentioned until quite a bit later .

* Travel....?

If you mean my fiance's travel costs in preparing for the K1 interview, etc, that is part of the above mentioned $1200, and as you can see the plane ticket is already included on top of that as well. If you mean traveling around the city or state etc when she is here, for the k1 and AOS processes, I already live in a major city as well as near the relevant places so that cost will be quite minimal by comparison to the other major costs.

Clothes...?

She has quite a few good clothes to bring with her and what little she may need is not expensive if you know where and how to shop.

* Education....?

She already speaks excellent English, in fact she teaches it too. In addition she is already certified in several kinds of massage, has been a receptionist for the Coca Cola company and is also a superb chef, so she already brings with her great intelligence and a host of well established good job shills. I don't think we will have much in the way of education costs.

* New car...?

Yes we know she will need her own car once we get her a driver's license. But we will start with a good used one for now and new will come later at the right time.

* Landscaping....????

Sorry, we don't really know what you mean by saying we will have landscaping costs, especially since as I said we don't own a house. Could you please explain what you meant by that one....?

Also I have done some more research on forms DS-3025 and 693 and this is what I discovered on a faq post right here in this very forum:

" If the beneficiary's vaccinations were COMPLETED as part of the visa process, IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO INCLUDE FORM I-693 IN THE AOS SUBMISSION. All your medical information is enclosed in the brown envelope which was handed in at the POE. The envelope is then forwarded on to USCIS where it will be consolidated with the I-485 submission, once received. If you received a copy of the Vaccination Documentation Worksheet (Form DS-3025) from your Panel Physician, you may include a copy of that form in your AOS submission in place of Form I-693. "

So it seems we won't have to pay any CS to transcribe to 693 at all if the above is true, though I'm sure we will include a copy of the DS-3025 in our AOS submission package just to be safe.

So, we have been working on it some more and this is where we are at now....

* $3975 Above total so far

* $1200 Food and personal living expenses to support my fiance until she can get authorized to work and we can become a two income household... $200 / month x 6mos

*$5175

We are still working on figuring out health care insurance for her and it's costs and I will post an update here when we have it. Does anyone else have any more helpful advice or experience on the costs of the k1 process to share.....?

A lot of those 'fees' are silly and have nothing to do with the actual immigration. I would focus on what you personally need to spend for the whole immigration process.

You are correct about the I-693 medical and vaccinations for AOS. If you have all the required vaccinations marked off on a properly filled out DS-2035, then no need for a civil surgeon at all. > http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/551080-immunizations-ds-3025-or-i-693/

Also, there will be Removal of Conditions(ROC) about 2 years after AOS. That fee is currently $590.

[Kosmoleo 3]

A lot of those 'fees' are silly and have nothing to do with the actual immigration. I would focus on what you personally need to spend for the whole immigration process.

You are correct about the I-693 medical and vaccinations for AOS. If you have all the required vaccinations marked off on a properly filled out DS-2035, then no need for a civil surgeon at all. > http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/551080-immunizations-ds-3025-or-i-693/

Also, there will be Removal of Conditions(ROC) about 2 years after AOS. That fee is currently $590.

Thanks a lot for that helpful info KayDeeCee, we did not know about that ROC fee until just now. Glad to know we have two years before needing to pay that one.

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

Thanks a lot for that helpful info KayDeeCee, we did not know about that ROC fee until just now. Glad to know we have two years before needing to pay that one.

You are welcome. It is nice to get that 2 year break to enjoy your married life together before delving back into the wonderful world of the USCIS paperwork overloads.

[baron555 934]

Thanks a lot for that helpful info KayDeeCee, we did not know about that ROC fee until just now. Glad to know we have two years before needing to pay that one.

There's more beyond ROC. Study up and Read the Guides.

Landscaping is buying flowers and redoing the bushes but since you're renting, it's a moot point.

What about pet costs?

Foreign relationships and immigration to the US is very expensive.

[Kosmoleo 3]

There's more beyond ROC. Study up and Read the Guides.

Landscaping is buying flowers and redoing the bushes but since you're renting, it's a moot point.

What about pet costs?

Foreign relationships and immigration to the US is very expensive.

Pet costs...no pets, no cost. Any other major costs (ie $2-300 or more each) you can think of that we should be aware of...? We are mainly concerned with any individual costs of that size that may come up between now and the moment of our 2 year conditional AOS being approved that we may have missed so far. Anybody else aware of any major individual costs we may be missing between the 129F submission and the AOS approval...?

[Kosmoleo 3]

Thanks a lot DualityOneness for sharing that and posting your K1 timeline, that is very large amount of very helpful info!

[baron555 934]

Pet costs...no pets, no cost. Any other major costs (ie $2-300 or more each) you can think of that we should be aware of...? We are mainly concerned with any individual costs of that size that may come up between now and the moment of our 2 year conditional AOS being approved that we may have missed so far. Anybody else aware of any major individual costs we may be missing between the 129F submission and the AOS approval...?

OK, then you may have everything covered.....but there is just a lot of "other" costs that can creep in there.

Since you don't have the courtesy of updating your timeline or even telling us what foreign country is involved,, how can we begin to help you with these other costs.

You have the VJ related costs pretty well listed, but depending on where your fiance(e) is from, that may indicate some of the other costs.

As I've stated, it's very expensive and to those who worry about the cost, maybe this is not the best decision?

Sri, Thailand, yes I've read that again. Why the worry about the total costs before you submit the petition? Didn't you even consider this before you began?

Edited July 13, 2015 by baron555

[Kosmoleo 3]

OK, then you may have everything covered.....but there is just a lot of "other" costs that can creep in there.

Since you don't have the courtesy of updating your timeline or even telling us what foreign country is involved,, how can we begin to help you with these other costs.

You have the VJ related costs pretty well listed, but depending on where your fiance(e) is from, that may indicate some of the other costs.

As I've stated, it's very expensive and to those who worry about the cost, maybe this is not the best decision?

Sri, Thailand, yes I've read that again. Why the worry about the total costs before you submit the petition? Didn't you even consider this before you began?

Well gosh baron555, it seems like that is what we're doing right now this minute, considering the costs before we begin.....?!! Anyway on a side note, I have not begun the timeline because we have hardly started the formal K1 processes yet, as I mention in my first post, we are only just getting ready to file the I129 soon. Also, we are not worried about the cost or anything else, just making sure we know everything we should before we start, in the spirit of starting out on the right foot.

[hayesj6 1]

Wedding license & ceremony costs. That will vary depending on the type/size of ceremony. Just something to consider.

[TabeaK 516]

It is a comprehensive list. I'd avice to plan on 20-30% of the budget as a buffer for unexpected issues - e.g. people have been stuck re-doing the medical due to USCIS tardiness.

[TabeaK 516]

It is a comprehensive list. I'd avice to plan on 20-30% of the budget as a buffer for unexpected issues - e.g. people have been stuck re-doing the medical due to USCIS tardiness.

It is a comprehensive list. I'd avice to plan on 20-30% of the budget as a buffer for unexpected issues - e.g. people have been stuck re-doing the medical due to USCIS tardiness.