Unemployment during K1 Process? Help?

[audaud 62]

Hi, I filed our K1 Visa a month or so ago for my foreign fiance who is from England. He is currently in the states visiting me. We received our NOA1, First notice of action, and are waiting for the approval letter now.

I have done a lot of research but havent found any clear answers, so I came here. I currently am employed part-time but don't work that often. On December 29th my fiance and I are heading back to England together while the visa processes and to help pack up his stuff, prepare for the interview, etc. My question is, if I quit my job, how much of a big deal or factor is that going to be on our K1 Visa? When I filed it, I said I was employed from X date to current date. My job does offer time off but I have already taken almost 2 months off the first time I visited him, and my managers said it would be a hassle to figure it out for my upcoming trip. We are not sure when my return date will be, as we are hoping that we could fly back to the states together with our K1 Visa so we can get married.

 

Will the unemployment be a big deal? My parents are going to be my affidavit of support and my fiance and I have enough money to support ourselves. I just wouldn't have a job in those months I am in england. any help would be appreciated.

[JenD 180]

When did you receive your NOA-1? Are you (mentally and financially) prepared to be in England for 7-8+ months with no job? That's how long things are taking these days.

[Murph4865 597]

1 hour ago, audaud said:

Hi, I filed our K1 Visa a month or so ago for my foreign fiance who is from England. He is currently in the states visiting me. We received our NOA1, First notice of action, and are waiting for the approval letter now.

I have done a lot of research but havent found any clear answers, so I came here. I currently am employed part-time but don't work that often. On December 29th my fiance and I are heading back to England together while the visa processes and to help pack up his stuff, prepare for the interview, etc. My question is, if I quit my job, how much of a big deal or factor is that going to be on our K1 Visa? When I filed it, I said I was employed from X date to current date. My job does offer time off but I have already taken almost 2 months off the first time I visited him, and my managers said it would be a hassle to figure it out for my upcoming trip. We are not sure when my return date will be, as we are hoping that we could fly back to the states together with our K1 Visa so we can get married.

 

Will the unemployment be a big deal? My parents are going to be my affidavit of support and my fiance and I have enough money to support ourselves. I just wouldn't have a job in those months I am in england. any help would be appreciated.

Not sure why you would quit your job now and try and get him packed up when you have not even gotten NOA2 yet it is running on average 180-200 days before you get next notice when anything could happen where it could be well past those averages for notice.

 

Do you make 100% of poverty to be able to support him at the beginning stage of this for the I-134? 

 

Do you make enough part time working to meet 125% poverty that is required for the AOS filing after you get married or will you have a co-sponser to help?

 

Edited December 7, 2017 by Murph4865

[audaud 62]

10 hours ago, JenD said:

When did you receive your NOA-1? Are you (mentally and financially) prepared to be in England for 7-8+ months with no job? That's how long things are taking these days.

We got our NOA-1 last week. We have all of December for it to process, and then I'll be in England with my fiance. Is it really taking that long currently, even for a country like England? I assume some countries take longer than others.

I have been offered a work from home type job from a friend so I could do online work.

[audaud 62]

10 hours ago, Murph4865 said:

Not sure why you would quit your job now and try and get him packed up when you have not even gotten NOA2 yet it is running on average 180-200 days before you get next notice when anything could happen where it could be well past those averages for notice.

 

Do you make 100% of poverty to be able to support him at the beginning stage of this for the I-134? 

 

Do you make enough part time working to meet 125% poverty that is required for the AOS filing after you get married or will you have a co-sponser to help?

 

This is true, I guess we are just super optimistic =) No I do not make enough by myself to support that is why my parents will be my co-sponsor.

Financially, me working will not be an issue - I will be plenty well off during the entire process regardless on if I work. HOWEVER, I just wanted to know how important the employment factor truly is while processing. Because taking the time off to back to England is going to be more of a hassle/not approved rather than just quitting my job.

 

I have already booked my flight back and we want to spend as little time apart as possible.

[John & Rose 7,237]

1 minute ago, audaud said:

We got our NOA-1 last week. We have all of December for it to process, and then I'll be in England with my fiance. Is it really taking that long currently, even for a country like England? I assume some countries take longer than others.

I have been offered a work from home type job from a friend so I could do online work.

Currently 180 to 200 is the going rate.  Do you meet 100% of the poverty level?  That is around $17,000 for two people.  If you can prove you earn that annually it will help the CO make his decision.  After the 180 to 200 for NOA2, there is also a wait for NVC (anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks), then schedule the interview (can be a few weeks to over a month out).  Worse case is about 10 months from NOA1 to POE.  It can be quicker and it can be longer.  

[John & Rose 7,237]

3 minutes ago, audaud said:

This is true, I guess we are just super optimistic =) No I do not make enough by myself to support that is why my parents will be my co-sponsor.

Financially, me working will not be an issue - I will be plenty well off during the entire process regardless on if I work. HOWEVER, I just wanted to know how important the employment factor truly is while processing. Because taking the time off to back to England is going to be more of a hassle/not approved rather than just quitting my job.

 

I have already booked my flight back and we want to spend as little time apart as possible.

The CO will look at the whole background.  Not having a job is not a deal breaker unless the CO feels that the beneficiary may be on state support.  That is their main concern.  They do not want to allow a beneficiary in who will need to be on government support.  That decision is the COs and they are well trained.

[yuna628 9,533]

OP: It will take up to 6 months to just initially process the application. That's being optimistic, it may take longer. Once you get past that stage, it will take many more months to finish the paperwork/medical/interview/visa-in-hand.

 

Furthermore, you intend to quit a job and 'visit' him in the UK for a long period of time? Do you have a return ticket back to America? Do you have enough funds to support yourself during such a long visit? Do you have proof to provide to the UK HO's that you intend to return home? Just like the USA, you simply can't stay as long as you want. You can stay longer for a visa-free visit in the UK than you can in the US, but you still need to prove you intend to return home. They may be skeptical. And.. the reality is your visa will take far longer to process than they will allow you to stay.

 

As far as K1 goes - London specific cases ONLY, they have been known to accept 100% for the visa. They have also been known to accept self-sponsorship if the fiancé has significant savings. However, once you return to the US, and marry - you must file to adjust status, that has a strict financial requirement of 125%. Not having a job is of no consequence, provided you have a cosponsor for the K1 and joint sponsor for AOS. London accepts cosponsors, provided they have the evidence.

[audaud 62]

1 hour ago, yuna628 said:

OP: It will take up to 6 months to just initially process the application. That's being optimistic, it may take longer. Once you get past that stage, it will take many more months to finish the paperwork/medical/interview/visa-in-hand.

 

Furthermore, you intend to quit a job and 'visit' him in the UK for a long period of time? Do you have a return ticket back to America? Do you have enough funds to support yourself during such a long visit? Do you have proof to provide to the UK HO's that you intend to return home? Just like the USA, you simply can't stay as long as you want. You can stay longer for a visa-free visit in the UK than you can in the US, but you still need to prove you intend to return home. They may be skeptical. And.. the reality is your visa will take far longer to process than they will allow you to stay.

 

As far as K1 goes - London specific cases ONLY, they have been known to accept 100% for the visa. They have also been known to accept self-sponsorship if the fiancé has significant savings. However, once you return to the US, and marry - you must file to adjust status, that has a strict financial requirement of 125%. Not having a job is of no consequence, provided you have a cosponsor for the K1 and joint sponsor for AOS. London accepts cosponsors, provided they have the evidence.

We do have a return ticket for back to America, I believe I would be staying for around 5 months. The most you can stay is 6 months at a time, so it should be okay. Yes I will be going back to the UK with him. I visited him in August, he came home with me in October, and then we will be heading back to London together on December 29th. 

 

My fiance has roughly 30K Pounds which is around $45k USD in savings, and has other money in investments. Like I said my family would be sponsoring me financially as I am only 21 and my part time job isnt going to cover the income requirements. I only get around 10/15 hours a week at $11 per hour, so quitting my job is not going to be a big deal, it isnt some special job or anything. And I would much rather not have to worry about my time off running out among other things while the stress of this visa is happening during our visit haha. 

 

Thank you for your assistance. 

[JenD 180]

On 12/7/2017 at 12:17 PM, audaud said:

We got our NOA-1 last week. We have all of December for it to process, and then I'll be in England with my fiance. Is it really taking that long currently, even for a country like England? I assume some countries take longer than others.

I have been offered a work from home type job from a friend so I could do online work.

My fiancé is coming from Scotland. We have been waiting since April.

[VandL 69]

On 07/12/2017 at 8:17 PM, audaud said:

We got our NOA-1 last week. We have all of December for it to process, and then I'll be in England with my fiance. Is it really taking that long currently, even for a country like England? I assume some countries take longer than others.

I have been offered a work from home type job from a friend so I could do online work.

Yes I'm 206 days waiting and from England. We filed in MAY and are still withing for our NOA2

[Jaquelly 1,647]

I know it sounds exciting to live abroad for six months, but please do consider that it's a  different culture than it is in the states. There are some similarities, but it is still a big change. Are you ready to not work for that long? What will you do when you're bored? How does your SO feel about paying for both of you for half a year? Do you have anything in savings? What's your plan if things go wrong?

 

Just some things to think about.

[TNJ17 1,329]

On 12/7/2017 at 3:17 PM, audaud said:

We got our NOA-1 last week. We have all of December for it to process, and then I'll be in England with my fiance. Is it really taking that long currently, even for a country like England? I assume some countries take longer than others.

I have been offered a work from home type job from a friend so I could do online work.

It doesn’t matter what country they are from. USCIS doesn’t discriminate like that. If you just got your NOA1, you better sit down and buckle up because it will take at least 6 months for noa2, IF, and that is a big if, you don’t get an RFE. If you do, then another couple of months on top of that for noa2. Then another 6+ weeks for NVC, then another couple of months for embassy interview. There is absolutely no reason why you should quit your job now to help him pack as you guys are gonna be waiting a while. Even if you have a co-sponsor, why would you wanna quit your job, you need money to survive. Visiting during the holidays is totally fine then back to work. But if you wanna visit and wait til his paperwork is ready, you’re looking at 8+ months of living in foreign country where you’re not allowed to work and have no health insurance. If that’s all good to you then go for it. 

[tpmd 155]

I am from the UK and we received our NOA1 in May. Our NOA2 arrived in November, we are still waiting for NVC to receive our case. With your parents sponsoring you I'm sure you'll be fine when it comes to the interview etc, but I don't think you're fully prepared for how long it is going to take to get to that stage. It would be amazing for you if in 5 months time you were able to return to the US together with visa in hand, but the way things are going at the moment that is incredibly unlikely. 

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

It's my understanding that a majority of the financial validation falls on the petitioner, not on the beneficiary. However, I'm not sure how it works when you have a co-sponsor set up or ready to go. Once you reach the next step (what comes after I-129 approval), you as the petitioner (or your co-sponsor, I'd assume in this situation) will be required to show proper evidence supporting your/their ability to financially support the beneficiary. This includes proof of steady income and proof of employment. I don't think they really care what the beneficiary's savings account looks like - at the end of the day, if the petitioner has no job and the beneficiary (in most cases) will not have a job upon entry into the country, that may weigh heavily. However, as others have said, it depends on the situation and finances is not always a deal breaker. The CO will review all information and background, not just the financial aspect of it.

 

As for going to stay in your beneficiary's country throughout the duration of this part of the process - I totally get it. It's exciting, it's progress in the direction you both want to be. I wish I had the means to go stay with my fiancé in Sweden for longer than a week or two right now. However, since it sounds like you may be new to the process based on you just receiving your NOA1, be prepared. Right now, the processing time is in excess of 6 months, in most cases. We filed our petition at the beginning of June and just received our NOA2 on December 1. We still haven't heard anything since then and are now waiting on the NVC to forward our information, which some say is taking up to 8 weeks right now. You're looking at around 8 months average, at that point. I'm not sure about England, but just be wary that the process may take longer than the country will allow you to stay as a "tourist". I also hate to see people's aspirations get totally crushed by this reality, because it can be crushing. Most of us at the point where my fiancé and I are now did not realize how much this would be slowing down throughout 2017 and genuinely believed we'd be done by the end of the year, instead of a lot of us still waiting just for an NOA2.

 

At the end of the day, you and your fiancé know your situation better than anyone else and have to make the decision on whether or not you are financially and emotionally capable of waiting it out together overseas. The best advise I think anyone can be given right now is to remain optimistic, but also remain realistic, when making big decisions and choices.

 

Best of luck to you, no matter which side of the ocean you wind up waiting it out.