K-1 Visa and I-212 troubles

[heyyitsmaryyy 0]

Hi everyone!

 

My fiancé (a UK citizen) and I have just gone through the long and tedious process that is the I-129F. Just as expected, the whole thing turned out to take about 4-5 months. Our NOA1 dated 4/6/2017 and our NOA2 dated 8/11/2017. We took an extra few months to pull together all the final things needed for the interview (ie. the medical examinations, affidavit of supports, etc.) and scheduled his interview for November 2nd...which was today.

 

Some background info:

-My fiancé and I have been together since October of 2013

-He was previously traveling to the US on a B1/B2 visa that was granted 10 years

-During his last visit to the US (Sept 2016) they denied him entry and expedited his removal. In his passport he was written "212 (a) (9) (A) (i) (I)".

 

At the interview he was given a blue piece of paper saying he was eligible to apply for the waiver. We were aware that in order to file the I-212, we had to wait for an officer at the consulate to give the go to file. But now, looking at the processing times (at the Nebraska Service Center specifically), it looks like its going to take up to a year to process? Is this some flaw in the system? Is our approved petition going to expire as we wait for this waiver?

 

I guess my REAL question is: Is there anyway to expedite this process? Do K-1 visas have priority when it comes the I-212 processing?

 

Any info is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

 

[JFH 12,190]

If he is a UK citizen, why did he use a B-2 to visit? Why not the VWP? Is he not eligible for the VWP? If not, why not? That will help with answers to your questions. 

 

With regard to the waiver, it takes as long as it takes. There is no priority for fiancés. There isn't even priority for spouses, who are immediate relatives of USCs. For the purposes of immigration, fiancés are not considered immediate relatives. If you can demonstrate extreme hardship then you might be lucky. But that's unlikely with a fiancé in the U.K. as the solution is for you to move to the U.K. and that does not constitute extreme hardship as the U.K. is an economically and politically stable country with excellent healthcare and wheee you would have no language problems.  

 

Have you considered moving to the U.K.? If it's all about being together, surely the location is irrelevant? 

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

Hi!

I'm sorry you're going through this. There is no preference for K1's in the waiver process however. The embassy can extend your petition as you wait,  unfortunately it takes about a year.

What was the reason for the expedited removal? A lot of the time the applicant is allowed to withdraw their application to enter at POE, just curious what happened to make it not so?

[heyyitsmaryyy 0]

Thank you both for your replies!

I've definitely thought about moving to the UK. Both of us are in the performing industry (I perform, he is an audio engineer) and there are so many opportunities for our kind of work here in Los Angeles. So preferably, we'd both love to live in the states.

 

As for why he was kicked out, they found out he made quick cash under the table. However, the officer at the consulate said it's better that happened while the two of us were together. Not sure why... They basically revoked his visa and did the questioning there after, so I believe the CBP officer just made it that way.

 

The reason he was on the B1/B2 visa was because we were both part of a non profit volunteer group, and that was the visa they suggested he apply for, seeing as he was constantly going in and out of the country.

[Boiler 45,665]

A solo I 212 can be done at any time time, now a I 601 is different, I assume they did not also require a 601.

 

Solo I 212's are last time I looked done by the PoE's. No set processing time, seem all over the place.