New to the site

[KM Cam 12]

Greetings, I just joined the site.  My boyfriend (and soon to be fiance, of course) lives in Brazil and we are planning to start compiling our documents over the next 4 months, make our engagement official at the end of this year during our next visit, and file our petition in January, 2019.  All of the info and the whole process is so daunting and I am very overwhelmed.  I want to make sure we do everything right so we don't mess up our chance to have our life together!

 

My two initial questions are:

 

1) For people who have gotten further along or finished it, what is the one thing you wish you had known before you started?

2) Has the Trump administration changed anything with the k-1 visa process that I should be concerned about?

 

Thanks in advance, so glad this community exists to help everyone along the way. 

[mushroomspore 3,043]

1. Only thing I wish I had done differently was not do my medical. But I AoS'ed from B2 tourist status. You're doing K1 so I don't think that applies to you as the medical is 100% required. My only advice is to read the guide on this site and double/triple/quadruple check everything before sending it in. And prepare yourself for a looong wait. It's just how USCIS is. The long wait doesn't mean there's something wrong with your case. They just have a lot to go through and more applications are coming in at the end of the line everyday.

 

2. No. The changes they ARE making...well, I actually am in favor of most of them but given the administration's "image", the media is attempting to demonize them even more with these policy changes. They have not and are not doing anything with K1 specifically. 

[KULtoATL 1,551]

Welcome to the site! Lots of helpful people here. I know it's daunting but check out the following guides:

 

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1flow

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1tips

 

Read the guides and get an overview of the process. Always download and use the latest forms from USCIS website.

 

The one thing I wished we had known better would be to keep all the papers (think tickets, receipts and the likes), confirmation e-mails etc from every meeting. Reason being you will need all sorts of evidence to support your case. And if you are not sure about something, always ask early and prepare early rather than later. That would save your sanity.

Edited August 12, 2018 by KULtoATL

[Crazy Cat 39,362]

I have seen a lot of K-1 posters who wish, later, that they had gone the CR-1 route.  You might want to take a look at my comparison:

K-1

    More expensive than CR-1

    Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)

    Spouse can not leave the US until she receives approved Advance Parole (approx 3-4 months)

    Spouse can not work until she receives EAD (approx 3-4 months)

    some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period .

    Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.

CR-1

    Less expensive than K-1

    No AOS required.

    Spouse can immediately travel outside the US

    Spouse can start work if desired

    Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card withing 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US

    Spouse  has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US. 

 

All-in-all, the CR-1 is superior to the K-1 imo. 

Edited August 12, 2018 by missileman

[RambaCat 643]

Hi! I'm currently in the process, close to medical and interview stage as I've just had the petition approved.

 

1. What I wish I'd known before we started the K1 process...well, best thing to do is to try not to judge your own case based on someone else's. Just because someone else's case gets a request for more evidence doesn't mean that yours will, and vice versa! But at the same time, the people who file at the same time as you and the previous month will be the best source of information you could possibly hope for, and the most supportive!

 

2. I'm not sure whether it's related to the Trump administration or not, and I wouldn't like to speculate on it, but last year (2017, or at least the first half) the process only took 3-4 months. Currently it's taking 7-8 months just for the petition approval. So you'll be in for a long wait!

 

Edit: To concur with the above post about the CR1, though...the marriage visa is probably the better route. Even though it will be nice having a wedding in the US, I can honestly say I wish we'd done a quick wedding and had the ceremony later when we weren't so stressed!

Edited August 12, 2018 by RambaCat

[Crazy Cat 39,362]

The increased wait times began long before President Trump was elected......since early to mid 2016, there has been an increase in the number of petitions submitted.  At the end of March, 2018, there were almost 28,000 I-129fs still pending, and there were more than 1.3 million I-130s still pending.  For FY 2018, USCIS has been getting about 4,000 fiance petitions per month.

[Jaquelly 1,647]

1 hour ago, KM Cam said:

Greetings, I just joined the site.  My boyfriend (and soon to be fiance, of course) lives in Brazil and we are planning to start compiling our documents over the next 4 months, make our engagement official at the end of this year during our next visit, and file our petition in January, 2019.  All of the info and the whole process is so daunting and I am very overwhelmed.  I want to make sure we do everything right so we don't mess up our chance to have our life together!

 

My two initial questions are:

 

1) For people who have gotten further along or finished it, what is the one thing you wish you had known before you started?

2) Has the Trump administration changed anything with the k-1 visa process that I should be concerned about?

 

Thanks in advance, so glad this community exists to help everyone along the way. 

 

1. I wish we had done the spousal visa. Please consider it. It would have been much better for us, in the end.

2. No. 

[geowrian 22,336]

2) No, unless the beneficiary were to have been from one of the travel ban countries. Or maybe certain travel patterns or line of wrk may make them subject to the additional questionnaire and processing for social media accconts and such. Neither seems likely to apply here.

[Kiolas 102]

1 hour ago, KM Cam said:

Greetings, I just joined the site.  My boyfriend (and soon to be fiance, of course) lives in Brazil and we are planning to start compiling our documents over the next 4 months, make our engagement official at the end of this year during our next visit, and file our petition in January, 2019.  All of the info and the whole process is so daunting and I am very overwhelmed.  I want to make sure we do everything right so we don't mess up our chance to have our life together!

 

My two initial questions are:

 

1) For people who have gotten further along or finished it, what is the one thing you wish you had known before you started?

2) Has the Trump administration changed anything with the k-1 visa process that I should be concerned about?

 

Thanks in advance, so glad this community exists to help everyone along the way. 

@KM CamCongratulations on your relationship and a new exciting life ahead!

 

1) The process is very stressful because of current wait time. So many people apply for different types of immigration benefits and the system is overloaded. For some reason, it doesn't work properly, although it can be OK for some people.

 

However, others (like myself) experience unprofessionalism and suffer from negligence of employees that effect the life of the whole family. In my situation I am facing a possible deportation because during the short break up my fiancé sent withdrawal of I-129f. USCIS ignored it for a long time, approved I-129f. We moved on with our life, I came to the U.S. on K-1 visa, got married, got a green card. But during naturalization application, years later, USCIS decided to finally acknowledge the withdrawal of I-129f. Now I am in a very terrible situation, facing a total uncertainty what to expect next. My whole life is on hold right now.

 

I wouldn't wish this to my worst enemy.

 

2) Trump administration issued policy on June 28, 2018 that negatively effected all people and caused the system not to work effectively and efficiently. I feel that Trump's intentions are good, but the outcome of these intentions are not good - the policy creates even more chaos. You should be concern about the wait time. Here in NYC it changed (increased) dramatically over the past few years. In addition, it is impossible to schedule InfoPass appointment in NYC - I was trying to schedule it many times, but the appointments are unavailable. 

 

Overall, the system let me and my family down. We are left alone with our issue. The system is not working for us, it failed us. Our family paid lots of $$$ for me to come here (including USCIS fees and living expenses to come and live here in the U.S. with my spouse). Still it is not enough for USCIS. Turned out, USCIS doesn't think I am good enough to get citizenship just because they finally see the withdrawal of I-129f in their system, which they ignored for years.They want me out of the status of LPR, and, eventually, out of the country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alabamak1 688]

@KM Cam whatever visa route you decide to take K-1 or CR-1, remember the process is unique for each application. Not 2 cases run the same path or length of time to be adjudicated. Good luck.  

[Mithmeoi 29]

2 hours ago, KM Cam said:

1) For people who have gotten further along or finished it, what is the one thing you wish you had known before you started?

 

1. Keep all your receipts, tickets, photos, joint accounts, bills etc!  And keep them organized.  Helps make things go more smoothly and you'll have less of a chance of an RFE.  You don't have to submit EVERYTHING, I mean keep it within reason, but if they ask for something in the future that you haven't submitted already, you won't have to panic.

We went the Spousal visa route but for either visa, it'll make your life easier.  Especially when you get to removal of conditions on the green card and need proof that you are still living together.  

 

Congrats and I wish you the best with everything!

 

Edited August 12, 2018 by Mithmeoi

[Daisy.Chain 317]

6 hours ago, Kiolas said:

@KM CamCongratulations on your relationship and a new exciting life ahead!

 

1) The process is very stressful because of current wait time. So many people apply for different types of immigration benefits and the system is overloaded. For some reason, it doesn't work properly, although it can be OK for some people.

 

However, others (like myself) experience unprofessionalism and suffer from negligence of employees that effect the life of the whole family. In my situation I am facing a possible deportation because during the short break up my fiancé sent withdrawal of I-129f. USCIS ignored it for a long time, approved I-129f. We moved on with our life, I came to the U.S. on K-1 visa, got married, got a green card. But during naturalization application, years later, USCIS decided to finally acknowledge the withdrawal of I-129f. Now I am in a very terrible situation, facing a total uncertainty what to expect next. My whole life is on hold right now.

 

I wouldn't wish this to my worst enemy.

 

2) Trump administration issued policy on June 28, 2018 that negatively effected all people and caused the system not to work effectively and efficiently. I feel that Trump's intentions are good, but the outcome of these intentions are not good - the policy creates even more chaos. You should be concern about the wait time. Here in NYC it changed (increased) dramatically over the past few years. In addition, it is impossible to schedule InfoPass appointment in NYC - I was trying to schedule it many times, but the appointments are unavailable. 

 

Overall, the system let me and my family down. We are left alone with our issue. The system is not working for us, it failed us. Our family paid lots of $$$ for me to come here (including USCIS fees and living expenses to come and live here in the U.S. with my spouse). Still it is not enough for USCIS. Turned out, USCIS doesn't think I am good enough to get citizenship just because they finally see the withdrawal of I-129f in their system, which they ignored for years.They want me out of the status of LPR, and, eventually, out of the country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trump hasn't changed anything about the k1 process. Wait time increases started before him. 

[BRENTWOOD 14]

1. I would recommend GO THE MARRIAGE ROUTE. If you do it this way your spouse can work and get a green card on arrival? I believe this is the case, I haven't fully researched but I know it is the much cheaper and less life altering route. K1 visa is ++ exhaustive and makes for a more difficult transition for your spouse who will be new to the country. Also the wait times are very lengthy which does make sense. Each small step is a milestone but the entire process for a normal life together can take years. If you do the K1 when your spouse gets to the states they won't be able to work for about 6 months. This can be a deal breaker for some situations and put a lot of financial strain on the situation. 

[Kim and Jermaine 28]

I just wanted to say, after reading several comments on K1 in this thread.... do you want to marry in the States? Or in the foreign country? I went the K1 route because at the time, it was quicker. I'm not sure if wait times are any different now, I dont keep up with it. I've kept my timeline updated if you'd like to see our wait times at each phase. Good luck regardless of decision! 

[agrabs 237]

We did the K1 and If we were to do it over again I would do the CR1 (marriage) visa so he could have his green card when he entered the US.

 

  I underestimated how difficult it would be during those first 6 months while we were waiting for him to get his work permit and green card.  I didn't think it would be that big of deal because we were in a good place financially so we weren't in need of  income from him and we would finally be together so I thought it would all be wonderful.   However, until the work permit (EAD) is approved, he could not get a driver's license and where we live there really isn't a public transit system (and in 2012 Uber wasn't an option).  He pretty much sat around all day waiting for me to get home from work.  He didn't know anyone here so its not like he could go hang out with friends.   He was completely dependent upon me for most everything - tough for a man.   My husband is a tough guy but he was getting a bit homesick after a few months,not to mention the pressure I felt to make sure he was happy and adjusting to his new life here.  Having the green card from the start would make things a whole lot easier. 

 

Either way, have lots of patience!   Congratulations and good luck on your visa journey!