Traveling from DR to Los Angeles on K1 visa

[vochoa8a 3]

My fiance and I got approved for the K1 Visa on September 13th, 2016 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

He has until March 12th, 2017 to use the K1 Visa to enter the USA.

We purchased his ticket and is set to arrive January 5, 2017.

There is one small thing we are worried about. Today he went to give thanks to a family friend who is a Lawyer who gave us tips during our application process. He went to tell him that we had gotten approved and to let him know he will be coming to the USA in January. The lawyer said that technically K1 visa holders do have 6 months to travel to the USA from their home country BUT it looks a little odd that we would wait almost 4 months for him to come. Said that if we really loved each other and really want to be together, we would be RUSHING to do things ASAP.

I completely disagree.

I miss my fiance so much. With all of my heart. However, Los Angeles is a big city with high living costs. As a Latina female, I have followed tradition and live at home with my family and am looking for an apartment now that we are soon to get married. I traveled to DR every 3-4 months for over a year and financially, that was a little heavy on me. I did it because I wanted our relationship to be as normal as possible... so us waiting almost 4 months for him to finally come to the USA is not because we aren't excited...but because there is SO MUCH THAT NEEDS TO BE PLANNED AND THOUGH OUT CAREFULLY. He is also very close to his family and we had agreed that we would spend Christmas and New Year's with his family. However, things changed and because ticket prices are so expensive, I made the choice to remain in Los Angeles and have him travel alone... that way, the money we would save, could go towards paying rent in ever so expensive Los Angeles.

We are now worried that he will be stopped at his POE. He will depart from Santiago De Los Caballeros and will arrive in JFK airport. Then from JFK continue to LAX.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Opinions? Personal stories? I would appreciate any insight! We are trying to asses if we should listen to the lawyer friend and have him come to the USA BEFORE January or simply leave the plane ticket as is?

[Pitaya 2,577]

Have your fiance do their US Port of Entry (POE) prior to the expiration date on the visa. His POE will be the his first stop in the US, wherever that may be. Period.

I hope that answers your somewhat convoluted question.

Good luck on your immigration journey.

[vochoa8a 3]

My question is very convoluted indeed. Thank you for reading it through. I think my post is a reflection of how confused and stressed I feel inside!

My fiance is simply worried that at his POE (which will be JFK) he will be denied entry. His worry arose after a family friend who is a Lawyer told him that it seems very suspicious that he would wait almost 4 full months to travel to the USA after getting his K1 Visa approved. That most people wouldn't wait so long to travel to the USA and it might make the immigration officer at the POE question our relationship.

I told my fiance that I disagree with that point of view/opinion. That we shouldn't worry about it because he has until March 12th, 2017 until his K1 Visa expires.

As a form of precaution, I decided to post here just to see if anyone had any further information pertaining to this.

I appreciate your answer! Thank you so much!

Have your fiance do their US Port of Entry (POE) prior to the expiration date on the visa. His POE will be the his first stop in the US, wherever that may be. Period.

I hope that answers your somewhat convoluted question.

Good luck on your immigration journey.

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from K1 Process to Working and Traveling During US Immigration Forum~

~Similar topics are often discusses at this forum~

[Unlockable 7,315]

The lawyer is absolutely wrong. Why would USCIS give a K1 immigrant 6 months to use the visa if they will have issues with immigrants taking that long? Doesn't make sense. People need to get their affairs in order before a major event like moving to another country.

I know this lawyer is a friend and all but kindly thank him for his service and move on.

[Californiansunset 336]

More than 4 months will have past since my interview when I will do the POE. It's normal that people can't just leave their job all of a sudden and we have a three months apartment cancellation time in my country. So it's impossible to leave before if you have an apartment and a steady job. People see too many complications when it comes to the K1 where there aren't any. I'm not worried about this at all.

[Dashinka 24,597]

My now wife took over five months before she entered the country on her K1. We used that time for her to get her affairs together and to plan a small intimate wedding. She never had any problems entering, just the normal questions of someone entering on a K1.

I would keep you plan as is.

Good Luck!

[NikLR 13,227]

Family friend is causing unnecessary worry. There is no issue.

[smallgirlbigworld 46]

Same here from Interview to POE I will have a little over 3 months and I'm not worried at all that they will deny me. There are plenty of couples out there that didn't leave right away. Everbody has things to be taken care of before they leave. Don't worry. He will be fine.