Stressed about K1 timing (NVC > London)

[Orientalelf 50]

Hello again, very sorry to start a new thread but have some questions I would truly appreciate help with, thank you!

Our K1 just got a LND case number at NVC and we're awaiting it's arrival in London, (is there a way to check online that it's arrived?). During this time I am feeling overwhelmed with how to realistically line everything up as I'm still in Thailand (case was moved from Thailand > UK) and have some worries below:
(1) GP SUMMARY - I'm getting a full letter etc. from my GP in Thailand, however, I know I still need one in the UK. Haven't registered with one since I was 13, and want to know how long it would take me to 1. Find a GP and 2. Get a check-up and obtain the summary? 
(2) Is there a time limit on how long I can take to go through with the embassy process? It's going to take a month to get things completed in Thailand before I am able to travel and probably longer before I can schedule the medical, interview (without getting the GP summary first)? 
(3) My time line right now is, fly to America at the end of April, stay there for 1-2 weeks whilst I drop off my things (schedule the medical and interview), fly to London (do Gp summary), do medical and interview. Is that realistic?






 

Edited March 14, 2019 by Orientalelf

[LukeU 413]

3 hours ago, Orientalelf said:

Hello again, very sorry to start a new thread but have some questions I would truly appreciate help with, thank you!

Our K1 just got a LND case number at NVC and we're awaiting it's arrival in London, (is there a way to check online that it's arrived?). During this time I am feeling overwhelmed with how to realistically line everything up as I'm still in Thailand (case was moved from Thailand > UK) and have some worries below:
(1) GP SUMMARY - I'm getting a full letter etc. from my GP in Thailand, however, I know I still need one in the UK. Haven't registered with one since I was 13, and want to know how long it would take me to 1. Find a GP and 2. Get a check-up and obtain the summary? 
(2) Is there a time limit on how long I can take to go through with the embassy process? It's going to take a month to get things completed in Thailand before I am able to travel and probably longer before I can schedule the medical, interview (without getting the GP summary first)? 
(3) My time line right now is, fly to America at the end of April, stay there for 1-2 weeks whilst I drop off my things (schedule the medical and interview), fly to London (do Gp summary), do medical and interview. Is that realistic?






 

You can track it here, select immigrant visa and enter your LND case number: 

https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?eQs=o/iS8zDpeAKjMWCuebHqOw==

This will show "In transit" when it's on its way to London and "Ready" once it's received by London.

 

(1): With regards to the timeline for a GP I believe it would vary depending on your area and GP surgeries workloads. If you're able to register and have a doctor give you a letter stating you have only just registered... Showing you haven't had ongoing/serious medical issues with them it should be sufficient along side the Thailand one. 

 

(2): Your NOA2 is valid for 4 months from the approval date I believe. I am aware you can have this extended but I am unsure if this extension is automatically applied or not. 

 

(3): Your timeline would work out about right roughly, I would just advise fly to London, do the medical, wait 10 clear working days between medical and your interview. If not you could take some delays in the issuance of the visa  

[Wuozopo 4,285]

 

 

4 hours ago, LukeU said:

Is there a time limit on how long I can take to go through with the embassy process? It's going to take a month to get things completed in Thailand before I am able to travel and probably longer before I can schedule the medical, interview (without getting the GP summary first)? 

 

You have one year to finish the London part after they notify you by letter that they have received your approved petition file and you may begin the K1 visa application process. If you do nothing for six months, they send a second letter asking Do you want a visa or not? We haven't heard from you. 

 

The petition approval (NOA2) has a 4 month expiration. If you don't interview before the expiration date, you bring to your interview a new letter of intent from the American fiancé stating she is still free to marry and intends to marry you within 90 days of your arrival in the US on a K1 visa. It's that easy. That information is written in one of their FAQs. 

I am applying for a K-1 visa, I have heard that I need a letter from my fiancé(e) to reaffirm the petition, what is this?

If the visa interview is scheduled more than 4 months from the date the petition is approved, the applicant is required to provide an original letter from the petitioner, confirming that they both remain legally free to marry and that they intend to do so within 90 days of the applicant’s entry to the United States.  There is no requirement that the letter be notarized.

[LukeU 413]

2 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

 

 

 

You have one year to finish the London part after they notify you by letter that they have received your approved petition file and you may begin the K1 visa application process. If you do nothing for six months, they send a second letter asking Do you want a visa or not? We haven't heard from you. 

 

The petition approval (NOA2) has a 4 month expiration. If you don't interview before the expiration date, you bring to your interview a new letter of intent from the American fiancé stating she is still free to marry and intends to marry you within 90 days of your arrival in the US on a K1 visa. It's that easy. That information is written in one of their FAQs. 

I am applying for a K-1 visa, I have heard that I need a letter from my fiancé(e) to reaffirm the petition, what is this?

If the visa interview is scheduled more than 4 months from the date the petition is approved, the applicant is required to provide an original letter from the petitioner, confirming that they both remain legally free to marry and that they intend to do so within 90 days of the applicant’s entry to the United States.  There is no requirement that the letter be notarized.

Some funky reason it quoted me and I didn't ask that bit but thank you! @Orientalelf The master has replied! 

[Wuozopo 4,285]

1 minute ago, LukeU said:

Some funky reason it quoted me and I didn't ask that bit but thank you! @Orientalelf The master has replied! 

It's my funky iPad. 😂 I kept trying to select only a portion of his question to quote. It wasn't working, so I selected it from your post. Oops! That didn't work.

[Orientalelf 50]

6 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

 

You have one year to finish the London part after they notify you by letter that they have received your approved petition file and you may begin the K1 visa application process. If you do nothing for six months, they send a second letter asking Do you want a visa or not? We haven't heard from you. 

 

The petition approval (NOA2) has a 4 month expiration. If you don't interview before the expiration date, you bring to your interview a new letter of intent from the American fiancé stating she is still free to marry and intends to marry you within 90 days of your arrival in the US on a K1 visa. It's that easy. That information is written in one of their FAQs. 

I am applying for a K-1 visa, I have heard that I need a letter from my fiancé(e) to reaffirm the petition, what is this?

If the visa interview is scheduled more than 4 months from the date the petition is approved, the applicant is required to provide an original letter from the petitioner, confirming that they both remain legally free to marry and that they intend to do so within 90 days of the applicant’s entry to the United States.  There is no requirement that the letter be notarized.

Your answers are life savers and thank you to @LukeU as well! So to clarify again, (because we're going to be over the 4 month mark for sure!) when I finally do get to the interview, I just bring a new letter of intent and that's it!? I don't need to inform the embassy before hand and they won't be contacting me until the 6 month mark? Have I understood that correctly? Thanks.  

[LukeU 413]

25 minutes ago, Orientalelf said:

Your answers are life savers and thank you to @LukeU as well! So to clarify again, (because we're going to be over the 4 month mark for sure!) when I finally do get to the interview, I just bring a new letter of intent and that's it!? I don't need to inform the embassy before hand and they won't be contacting me until the 6 month mark? Have I understood that correctly? Thanks.  

That's how I took Wuozopo's info. 

 

I was 2 weeks short of the 4 month mark from NOA2 so I took new letters of intent to marry but they didn't ask. For how small effort is needed, I feel it's probably best to just have the more recently dated letters sent for sure  

[Wuozopo 4,285]

Nothing has to be done prior to interview day to ask that the four months be extended. Just show up with the new letter signed by your fiancé and they will know she is still in the visa game. Your petition is extended at that moment. I would bring an actual wet ink signed original document. 

 

I think the expiration is really a way to put a shelf life on petitions. There are people who break up and the embassy never receives a DS-160 visa application or medical report. It gives them a means to void the process after a lot of time has gone by.  If somebody jumped back in after two or three years, they could just tell them to start over with USCIS and use the "petition has expired and no longer valid" reason.

 

You will be fine. I know of many others who didn't make it to interview in the four month time frame because they had to chase down difficult documents from other countries. And others who just needed to stall the process awhile so they could finish Uni first, for example.

[Wuozopo 4,285]

1 hour ago, Orientalelf said:

they won't be contacting me until the 6 month mark? Have I understood that correctly?

Forgot to address this when I answered. If you submit the DS-160 (visa application) at some point, then it shows you are indeed working on the visa project and haven't dropped into a black hole. It doesn't have to be right away....maybe a month or so after your case is already in London and they have sent you the instruction letter. Since you are in no hurry, you can just wait on that letter or the one from NVC that tells you your new case number. No point in hanging on hold to the NVC just to ask the case number and if it's been sent yet. That's for people who are trying to jump the queue and rearrange the order that London wants you to do things. 

Edited March 14, 2019 by Wuozopo

[Orientalelf 50]

5 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

Forgot to address this when I answered. If you submit the DS-160 (visa application) at some point, then it shows you are indeed working on the visa project and haven't dropped into a black hole. It doesn't have to be right away....maybe a month or so after your case is already in London and they have sent you the instruction letter. Since you are in no hurry, you can just wait on that letter or the one from NVC that tells you your new case number. No point in hanging on hold to the NVC just to ask the case number and if it's been sent yet. That's for people who are trying to jump the queue and rearrange the order that London wants you to do things. 

Thank you so very much Wuozopo, very detailed and easy to understand. So glad this part of the processes isn't difficult. However, I've just found out from a another memember something in regards to GP Summary's. He is German and has not been registered with a GP before, in my case, I was registered with one a very long time ago. He said in order to register with a new GP they required a proof of address but I don't have one?! This is definitely going to cause a problem when I get to knightbridge and have nothing to show but my Thai GP summary... would calling Knightbridge be a good idea? 

[Wuozopo 4,285]

5 minutes ago, Orientalelf said:

This is definitely going to cause a problem when I get to knightbridge and have nothing to show but my Thai GP summary... would calling Knightbridge be a good idea? 

My wife always uses the  expression from her grandma, you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip, meaning if you haven't got one, you can't bring one. I personally wouldn't call Knightsbridge because I'm not convinced they are the sharpest tools in the box. Show up, bring the Thai report (in English), and say this has been my doctor for the last x years---deal with it. If you haven't noticed, I'm old and don't put up with non-sensical things that don't make sense. And I've been with my American wife for 10 years and her ways have rubbed off on me. 

 

Being told to go register with a new doctor to bring a blank report because you have no history at that surgery is stupid. They only want it to make sure you aren't hiding anything like depression meds or some serious illness. Well you could have overdosed 8 times in Thailand and had cancer and syphilis two years ago and the shiny new doctor in the UK would have nothing to report. Right?  You could omit anything you wanted to. So what's the logic in that? I am sure the doctor will be more sensible about it because you are an exception to the general group that comes in.  And that's my soapbox for the evening. Cheers!

[Orientalelf 50]

On 3/15/2019 at 9:49 AM, Wuozopo said:

My wife always uses the  expression from her grandma, you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip, meaning if you haven't got one, you can't bring one. I personally wouldn't call Knightsbridge because I'm not convinced they are the sharpest tools in the box. Show up, bring the Thai report (in English), and say this has been my doctor for the last x years---deal with it. If you haven't noticed, I'm old and don't put up with non-sensical things that don't make sense. And I've been with my American wife for 10 years and her ways have rubbed off on me. 

 

Being told to go register with a new doctor to bring a blank report because you have no history at that surgery is stupid. They only want it to make sure you aren't hiding anything like depression meds or some serious illness. Well you could have overdosed 8 times in Thailand and had cancer and syphilis two years ago and the shiny new doctor in the UK would have nothing to report. Right?  You could omit anything you wanted to. So what's the logic in that? I am sure the doctor will be more sensible about it because you are an exception to the general group that comes in.  And that's my soapbox for the evening. Cheers!

@Wuozopo Thank you very much for this response. I'm going to have to make sure I have everything ready from Thailand. Could I be cheeky and ask another question? Sorry, I keep running into concerns and appreciate your responses greatly.

RE: I-134F 
We're using my fiance's father as the sponser (my fiance is a student). He works for the state and makes over the 125% poverty line, however, this April he is going to be retiring (effective April 30). We have all the information required (employment letter, 4 months pay stubs, 1-3 years of tax returns), but will be this void due to his soon retirement? He will be getting a tirement fund but the office cannot state how much that is going to be yet. So, my question is what do I bring with me for the I-134F now? Should I go ahead with the letter anyways and have them state he will be getting a retirement fund as well (plus) their bank savings on top? Or should we only go with bank statements? Thank you!