How long do I have to do the interview before the visa expires?

[nickeveling17 0]

My Nicaraguan fiancée and I have completed most of the steps to bringing her to the States to marry me, but due to her college studies down there, we are planning to get married at a later date.

The I-129F Petition for Fiancée Visa was confirmed and accepted, sent off to the US consulate in Nicaragua and my fiancée has already started to gather the documents and has gotten the medical check-up. Since we had to push the wedding date to next July 2017, I believe we needed to get a visa extension.

I wrote an e-mail to the U.S. consulate in Nicaragua and a 6 month extension was given. Great news! However, we need more than one extension for her to have her embassy appointment in February (6 months prior to wedding) and come to the States in July.

1. Is it possible to receive more than 1 visa extension to schedule the interview later after 6 months have gone by since the I-129F was accepted?
2. How can you view your Fiancée visa case status after it goes from the NVC to the US consulate?
3. Does my fiancée need to get another medical checkup?

Thanks,

Nick

[A'n'L 735]

1) Validity of petition can be extended up to a year, at the discretion of the CO. You are pushing it. Contact the embassy.

2) CEAC website

3) Absolutely. The date of medical determines the visa expiration date! It is only valid 6 months.

[YecaCruz 387]

Another option perhaps would be to go ahead with the interview after the first extension. You don't have to come right away when you are granted the visa. K1 is valid for up to six months before you enter the states, then the 90 requirement to get married starts after her feet hit US soil. Medical expires after 6 months so you'd probably need another one for the interview since you aren't doing it right away.

This is from the travel.state.gov website "An immigrant visa is usually valid for up to six months from the date of issuance unless your medical examination expires sooner, which may make your visa valid for less than six months.."

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone if I'm misinterpreting this.

Edited August 8, 2016 by JJGussiaas (Gush)

[nickeveling17 0]

Another option perhaps would be to go ahead with the interview after the first extension. You don't have to come right away when you are granted the visa. K1 is valid for up to six months before you enter the states, then the 90 requirement to get married starts after her feet hit US soil. Medical expires after 6 months so you'd probably need another one for the interview since you aren't doing it right away.

This is from the travel.state.gov website "An immigrant visa is usually valid for up to six months from the date of issuance unless your medical examination expires sooner, which may make your visa valid for less than six months.."

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone if I'm misinterpreting this.

Thanks for your response!

We would go forward with the interview but my fiancée has college studies and is awaiting her diploma which will most likely won't come to her until February in Nicaragua. We are planning to get married in the States in July 2017. Therefore, we are hoping that she has her interview in February (making it legally possible to come to the States in July).

We have already received 1 extension and are hoping to have the interview come February. We will do the medical examination again if deemed necessary and it appears that we need to. We just want to confirm that this would be possible without waiting until then and finding out later that the visa petition has expired.

According to the CEAC website, our case is ready for the interview.

Case creation date: March 21, 2016

Status Case updated: August 2, 2016

On August 2, I also received an e-mail from the US embassy in Nicaragua saying: We have granted 6 more months to apply for the visa K-1.

​So it sounds like we have until February 2, 2017 to do the interview?