February 2017 I-129F Filers

[eastcoastgroove 329]

On 2017-03-13 at 11:15 AM, cjh11 said:

Just have to get through the work day and then picking up my fiance from the airport to stay for a month!!! Hopefully he will be back in perfect time for the embassy interview and this visa process hurries along. Can't wait to not have to rely on these few-and-far-between visits! ????

Enjoy your visit! My fiance just left yesterday and now we have a 6 and a half week wait until I go and visit him next.  Hopefully around that time we will be receiving our NOA2.  

[Angel&Eric 185]

On 3/13/2017 at 7:15 AM, cjh11 said:

Just have to get through the work day and then picking up my fiance from the airport to stay for a month!!! Hopefully he will be back in perfect time for the embassy interview and this visa process hurries along. Can't wait to not have to rely on these few-and-far-between visits! ????

You are fortunate.  My fiance is in the Philippines and we only get to see each other when I go there.  We tried to get a tourist visa for her, but she was denied because she did not show sufficient ties to return to the Philippines.

[Angel&Eric 185]

My fiancee vaccines records were destroyed in a typhoons.  Does anyone know if this will cause a problem or if there is anything we can do to keep from having a problem with this?

[Alex2017 34]

1 minute ago, Angel&Eric said:

My fiancee vaccines records were destroyed in a typhoons.  Does anyone know if this will cause a problem or if there is anything we can do to keep from having a problem with this?

I guess she needs to get all shots again. 

[doggieandsam 765]

On 3/13/2017 at 6:15 PM, cjh11 said:

Just have to get through the work day and then picking up my fiance from the airport to stay for a month!!! Hopefully he will be back in perfect time for the embassy interview and this visa process hurries along. Can't wait to not have to rely on these few-and-far-between visits! ????

Lucky you! I get to see my fiance 2-3 times a year but even at that frequency it is still difficult to be away from each other. Enjoy your time together, hopefully it'll take your mind off the waiting for now. =D

[Kamikazi718 56]

Hello fellow Feburary filers!!

 

I have been stalking this thread for a little while, thought I join. 

 

We filed February 17th, got first NOA on February 22nd.  

[mkm1993 92]

Alright y'all,

I'm a Mississippi, Southern boy and I've caught the love bug with Karolyna, my brazilian girlfriend. We connected on face book after being friends on there for over a year without me even hardly recognizing her until we started talking. We started talking last July, I went to Salvador during the Christmas holiday and met her for the first time. It's all so exciting and I'm excited about our love and our future together. I'll spare you all the lovey dovey, sappy love story details... I just joined within the past hour after I found this thread. I Started my Petition the day after I got home... I worked on it until the night before I sent it which was around the 20th of Feb. It was received on the 24th or so and I received the NOA1 about a week and a half or so after it was received. I did my own petition, prepared everything myself in a huge binder, did all the required paperwork, got all the required documents from her, proof of our meeting and proof of ongoing relationships including pictures, text messages, boarding passes, copies of every page of my passport, my Birth Certificate, credit card statements, and much much more. I'm anxiously waiting and I feel good about her being here by the end of the year. I will go there in december when I have 2 weeks off during the holidays and have a ceremony with her folks and other kin. From what ive been reading in this thread it seems like 6-9 months is a safe time frame of the whole process from I-129F through visa in hand, give or take a little... This brings up one of my questions... I cannot miss work until december and I am trying to save about 1000 dollars a month until I go and get her (I work tons of overtime most weeks due to the type of work I do)... I really dont have the luxury of jumping on a plane and going to see her whenever I want due to my job and the fact that i'm not loaded with money, im just a hard worker. Anyways getting to my question... when the visa is approved how long does she have to come to america.. for example say she gets her visa in september or october, could she keep it until december when I have my time off and have obtained my financial goals or does it have to be used within a short amount of time? I'm contemplating wether to bring her here first and then go back next year to do ceremony with family or stick with the plan at hand now depending on if she can hold onto the visa until I can go in december if its granted earlier than expected. Sorry for the long windedness, im very detailed and I like to talk alot. Thanks for the input and may God bless all of you in your journey of Love :]]]] 

Edited March 17, 2017 by mkm1993
adding a picture

[RaptureSongbird 533]

37 minutes ago, mkm1993 said:

Anyways getting to my question... when the visa is approved how long does she have to come to america.. for example say she gets her visa in september or october, could she keep it until december when I have my time off and have obtained my financial goals or does it have to be used within a short amount of time? I'm contemplating wether to bring her here first and then go back next year to do ceremony with family or stick with the plan at hand now depending on if she can hold onto the visa until I can go in december if its granted earlier than expected. Sorry for the long windedness, im very detailed and I like to talk alot. Thanks for the input and may God bless all of you in your journey of Love :]]]]

 

Welcome to the forums and good luck on your journey!

 

To answer your question, your fiancee has 6 months to enter the US with the K-1 from the date of her medical exam from what I've read on the forums.  So, let's just talk about a theoretical timeline for you.  You received your NOA1 around the end of February and based on other timelines you're looking at around the end of May/beginning of June for NOA2 if you are approved with no RFEs.  Then it will be another 2-4 weeks as your case is transferred from the CSC to NVC to the local embassy, so let's just say the end of June/beginning of July for that.  Once you have the case number from the NVC you can usually get the medical scheduled.  If your fiancee has her medical in July or August that would give her until January or February to enter.  So, based on that, you should be just fine with your December plans.  Of course this all depends on a number of wildcards (if you get an RFE, how long it takes for your fiancee to get her medical scheduled and available appointments, getting through her interview and getting approved at that stage, etc. etc.).  Also, I think you can drag out the timeline a bit if you need to as, I think, once you have your NOA2 you have 4 months from that approval date to complete the next steps (medical exam, any other necessary steps specific to your embassy, visa interview, etc.).  So, from my understanding, yes, you should be good with your December plans.

[mkm1993 92]

Awesome, 

this helps me so much and I greatly appreciate your words and advice. This is all new for me and I never even dreamed that I would find myself in love with someone on another continent lol!! But the things we do in the name of love. I'm also curious about RFE's. I was ever so careful with my I-129F form and the rest of my petition and I checked, rechecked and rechecked again more times than I can think BUT there is also that possibility of me missing something. If this be the case, God forbid, how long does this hold the process up for? Assuming I get them the info they request immediately... Will it go straight to them? Sit in a cubby or tray for an amount of time or what? You may not even know the answer to this... Thanks again 

Edited March 17, 2017 by mkm1993

[RaptureSongbird 533]

1 minute ago, mkm1993 said:

Awesome, 

this helps me so much and I greatly appreciate your words and advice. This is all new for me and I never even dreamed that I would find myself in love with someone on another continent lol!! But the things we do in the name of love. I'm also curious about RFE's. I was ever so careful with my I-129F petition and I checked, rechecked and rechecked again more times than I can think BUT there is also that possibility of me missing something. If this be the case, God forbid, how long does this hold the process up for? Assuming I get them the info they request immediately... Will it go straight to them? Sit in a cubby or tray for an amount of time or what? You may not even know the answer to this... Thanks again 

I know exactly what you mean, I never imagined myself falling in love with someone overseas and having to learn all about the visa process and bureaucracies of bringing someone to the states.

 

There seems to be some inconsistencies with the RFEs.  It seems like most of them are reviewed and approved within 2-3 weeks of being received back at the CSC.  Unfortunately there are always exceptions to the rules and I've seen some people on the forums have another month or two+ added to their processing times due to RFEs.  It does seem like most RFEs are due to forgetting to check a box or sign a form or include a necessary document (letter of intent to marry seems the most consistent one) but they can issue an RFE for anything, including documents you included in the original submission that they might have lost or overlooked that were already included.  Another RFE that has seen an uptick again recently is if you state you met Online.  These RFEs tend to request which site you met on and proof that it is not a IMBRA site.  If you get an RFE, you will of course want to send it back as soon as possible with all the evidence requested via a trackable method.  They also include, I think, a blue sheet of paper that you are supposed to return with your evidence that has your case number on it so they can match it back with your case when they get it back to them directly at the CSC.

[mkm1993 92]

omg thats crazy but i totally understand the politics behind that. I provided more than enough proof that we had a legit relationship... I think the biggest piece of evidence that I provided was hundreds of pages of our conversations from the app we use to communicate "WhatsApp" and those went all the way back to the first words we said in july to the day leading up to my completion of the packet... screen shots of our times we had talked on the phone and video talked and what seemed like an endless pile of pictures and other things lol... I feel I was detailed and well prepared but I could be wrong... Does it matter if we've only been together since july and only been together for about 2 weeks? Will that have a negative affect on the process... I know the rule is 2 years or less. 

[RaptureSongbird 533]

5 minutes ago, mkm1993 said:

omg thats crazy but i totally understand the politics behind that. I provided more than enough proof that we had a legit relationship... I think the biggest piece of evidence that I provided was hundreds of pages of our conversations from the app we use to communicate "WhatsApp" and those went all the way back to the first words we said in july to the day leading up to my completion of the packet... screen shots of our times we had talked on the phone and video talked and what seemed like an endless pile of pictures and other things lol... I feel I was detailed and well prepared but I could be wrong... Does it matter if we've only been together since july and only been together for about 2 weeks? Will that have a negative affect on the process... I know the rule is 2 years or less. 

 

I don't think the amount of time you have been together will impact the paperwork approval process.  However, it might be an issue/question that comes up when your fiancee goes for her interview.  Your CO might wonder if you're "ready" to be married in only knowing each other for about a year (by the time of your interview) with only 1 visit in person with each other.  On the other hand, it might not even be an issue or come up.  I hate sounding wishy-washy on my answers but cases tend to vary based on embassy and, even with some embassies, with the COs that are working that day.  You might want to check out the sub-forum specific to your embassy here for more information:

 

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/96-mexico-latin-south-america/

 

You can also read reviews related specifically to your fiancee's interview embassy here:

 

http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cnty=Brazil&cty=&dfilter=5

[mkm1993 92]

Also I have one other question/concern. My girlfriend has since moved 6 hours away from her address that I put on the I-129F and the other forms. She moved to her cousins house and started a job so that she could begin saving some money. It was all very spontaneous and she wasn't expecting any of this to happen but the opportunity presented itself and so she took it. I've tried to go into the uscis website and see if I can change her address from the old address to the new one... the apartment where she lived before is now vacant and so she will not receive any mail there. But it only allowed me to change my address. Do you know what I need to do in this situation? It's a little worrisome but I know we are still early on in this and that since it's still being processed I can't do to much that I know of. Is it necessary to change her address now or wait till the NOA2 is sent? That's what I read somewhere. Thanks for the help 

[mkm1993 92]

Okay I'm back again, 

this time I'm a little more worried lol!! I'm scrolling through the K1 process posts and procedures and I'm kinda concerned as to what I'm reading. My gal had one job last year... she is 20 will be 21 in July, I'm 23 and will be 24 in July... I've been working since I was 17 years old full time... but her job history was very short. I just read a post where a couple was denied and labeled her or him as a threat to become a charge or whatever... it didn't go into details and the guy didn't know why his fiancé had been labeled that... Now it's got me a little concerned as I make nowhere near what this guy makes and he still was denied. She just got a new job after the I-129F packet was already sent and didn't have this job at the time I submitted every thing. I put that she was unemployed because I am very honest... I'm hoping this won't happen to us... I don't live in poverty, I make about 40K a year at this point and being home 30K+, I live modestly and well within my means... these forums are more worrisome than helpful  lol!! I hope and pray this will not happen. 

[glmg21 330]

1 hour ago, mkm1993 said:

Also I have one other question/concern. My girlfriend has since moved 6 hours away from her address that I put on the I-129F and the other forms. She moved to her cousins house and started a job so that she could begin saving some money. It was all very spontaneous and she wasn't expecting any of this to happen but the opportunity presented itself and so she took it. I've tried to go into the uscis website and see if I can change her address from the old address to the new one... the apartment where she lived before is now vacant and so she will not receive any mail there. But it only allowed me to change my address. Do you know what I need to do in this situation? It's a little worrisome but I know we are still early on in this and that since it's still being processed I can't do to much that I know of. Is it necessary to change her address now or wait till the NOA2 is sent? That's what I read somewhere. Thanks for the help 

Wait until the NOA2 is sent. As your girlfriend is not the US citizen, she's not going to be receiving any mail from USCIS at this point. When you get an NOA2 and your case goes to the NVC, that's when you'll want them (and the embassy they send it to) to know where embassy communication should be sent to.