filed K1 instead of spouse visa (split topic)

[Hemutian 68]

On 12/6/2018 at 9:15 PM, payxibka said:

For stateside petitions a slight advantage but not for those fortunate enough to file outside the USA.  I am quite sure the only thing that it is too late on  is the fee.  The petition can be withdrawn.   If it  were me, I'd post the question up in the DCF forum or the spousal forum about withdrawal and a new application and see the responses from the more experienced members.   It might be as simple as submitting a withdrawal letter to uscis stateside and giving a copy of it to the uscis in Guangzhou when they intake the I130 

I'm in a similar situation as wryly. I just filed the I-129F, am waiting for the NOA1, and like wryly, I also live in China with my fiancee. I just assumed K1 was faster so we applied for K1, also we weren't ready to put on a wedding this year (2019), so we figured that the K1 would buy us more time to plan the wedding. Is this a good enough reason to choose K1 over spouse visa? Are the consular officials going to be suspicious why we're seeking K1 instead of spouse given that I live in China with my fiancee? Is my explanation as provided above good enough to convince them? 

Thanks

[Hemutian 68]

Wait...why are you expecting a physical package in the mail for your NOA1?

I thought that the NOA1 is delivered by telephone (text) and/or email?

By the way, I'm also based in China and wondering how well the packages will all arrive given that only one address part on the form asked for Chinese characters, while many other address parts on the form did not give the option for non-English alphabets (I used the supplemental forms to translate the addresses into Chinese, so hopefully that works).

[wryly 47]

9 hours ago, Hemutian said:

I'm in a similar situation as wryly. I just filed the I-129F, am waiting for the NOA1, and like wryly, I also live in China with my fiancee. I just assumed K1 was faster so we applied for K1, also we weren't ready to put on a wedding this year (2019), so we figured that the K1 would buy us more time to plan the wedding. Is this a good enough reason to choose K1 over spouse visa? Are the consular officials going to be suspicious why we're seeking K1 instead of spouse given that I live in China with my fiancee? Is my explanation as provided above good enough to convince them? 

Thanks

The NOA1 did arrive after about 10 weeks. We sent it from China at the end of November and received the NOA1 physical package in the middle of February. I had requested text/email notification but they didn't send it, even though they processed the package, so don't count on that happening. You can call USCIS to check on your application's status and get your receipt number. Our NOA1 package arrived in our mailbox, which we rarely check. It wasn't delivered to our door and nobody called.

I don't think the consular officials will be suspicious of why you're getting a K1, but the tricky part for people like us is twofold. First, we have to prove domicile or intended domicile in the US. Second, we have to show stable continuing income in the US to qualify as a sponsor (unless you have a co-sponsor). My solution to that was moving back to the US alone to start working, earning a salary in the US, paying rent on an apartment, etc. I did this on the advice of an immigration attorney. My fiancee has a tourist visa so she can visit while we're waiting for the K1 to process.

[Dongbei 22]

11 hours ago, wryly said:

The NOA1 did arrive after about 10 weeks. We sent it from China at the end of November and received the NOA1 physical package in the middle of February. I had requested text/email notification but they didn't send it, even though they processed the package, so don't count on that happening. You can call USCIS to check on your application's status and get your receipt number. Our NOA1 package arrived in our mailbox, which we rarely check. It wasn't delivered to our door and nobody called.

I don't think the consular officials will be suspicious of why you're getting a K1, but the tricky part for people like us is twofold. First, we have to prove domicile or intended domicile in the US. Second, we have to show stable continuing income in the US to qualify as a sponsor (unless you have a co-sponsor). My solution to that was moving back to the US alone to start working, earning a salary in the US, paying rent on an apartment, etc. I did this on the advice of an immigration attorney. My fiancee has a tourist visa so she can visit while we're waiting for the K1 to process.

I successfully processed an I-864 for a CR-1 visa based solely on assets. I've been overseas for a few years now so none of my income has qualified (even though for much of the time I was working for a US company overseas). I used assets (cash and stocks) and it went through just fine. 

[Hemutian 68]

On 2/25/2019 at 9:47 AM, wryly said:

 

Oh, so you mailed the I129F from China?

I also live with my beneficiary in China, but I flew home to the US specifically to file the I129F.

 

It sounds like yours may have been delayed getting out of China? Do you mind if I ask, what courier did you use?

 

We've requested for our mail (both mine and hers) to be delivered to her parents' address in China, and are counting on them contacting us by phone in advance of the delivery so we can explain specifically how to deliver it. My beneficiary says the couriers in China are really good about finding hard-to-find addresses, and that it's normal for them to call the recipient in advance of delivery to clarify the address and make sure the recipient is home when the package arrives.

 

I read somewhere else on here that the US Consulate in Guangzhou has their own courier to specifically deliver visa-related packages. I wonder if that's really true?

 

Having read your post I'm now a little worried. I also requested the notification on G-1145 and listed my Chinese cell phone number along with email address. I hope that they send the notification by BOTH phone number and email address, because I'm still in the US right now, and if they call the Chinese cell phone number I listed on the I-129F, they won't get any answer.

[wryly 47]

6 hours ago, Hemutian said:

Oh, so you mailed the I129F from China?

I also live with my beneficiary in China, but I flew home to the US specifically to file the I129F.

 

It sounds like yours may have been delayed getting out of China? Do you mind if I ask, what courier did you use?

 

We've requested for our mail (both mine and hers) to be delivered to her parents' address in China, and are counting on them contacting us by phone in advance of the delivery so we can explain specifically how to deliver it. My beneficiary says the couriers in China are really good about finding hard-to-find addresses, and that it's normal for them to call the recipient in advance of delivery to clarify the address and make sure the recipient is home when the package arrives.

 

I read somewhere else on here that the US Consulate in Guangzhou has their own courier to specifically deliver visa-related packages. I wonder if that's really true?

 

Having read your post I'm now a little worried. I also requested the notification on G-1145 and listed my Chinese cell phone number along with email address. I hope that they send the notification by BOTH phone number and email address, because I'm still in the US right now, and if they call the Chinese cell phone number I listed on the I-129F, they won't get any answer.

I used UPS to ship it from Shanghai to US and that was pretty fast and without any problems. USCIS charged my credit card within a week of shipping it from China, which was a good sign that USCIS has accepted the package. I think the NOA1 was delayed when it got to China because they had to translate the address from English to Chinese. I don't even know what courier it was -- they just left it in an unsecured mailbox and left. I'd guess it was China Post or whoever takes over a USPS shipment once it reaches China. No calls from the courier. No text/email from USCIS.

 

Once your card is charged the application fee, then you've probably reached NOA1. You can call USCIS 30 days afters after they receive your package and they'll help you out. If you don't receive the NOA1 package, it isn't a really big deal. When I thought ours wasn't going to arrive, I called and had another shipped to an address in the US, so I have two now. You don't really use it except as a way to get your receipt number anyway. You can check your application's status online once you have the receipt number.

[Hemutian 68]

31 minutes ago, wryly said:

 I think the NOA1 was delayed when it got to China because they had to translate the address from English to Chinese. I don't even know what courier it was -- they just left it in an unsecured mailbox and left. I'd guess it was China Post or whoever takes over a USPS shipment once it reaches China. No calls from the courier. No text/email from USCIS.

Thanks for your reply. It sounds like the problem for you was the Chinese courier not being able to read the English address.

 

Hopefully, I've prepared for this eventuality, since I used the "additional information" page (the last page of the I-129F) to add her and my mailing address in its Chinese form.

[Ryan H 3,790]

***Post split into separate thread as poster is posting about their own case and not replying to the OP of the other thread; please start your own thread with your own questions instead of hijacking threads started by other members.***