When to quit one's job

[jeanieCZ 228]

Hello everyone!

 

I have a question aimed at those who have experience with K-1 at the US Consulate in Amsterdam, in other words, those who live&work in the Netherlands and plan to emigrate to the US. 

At this moment I have been waiting for my interview date (got my NOA2 on 20th June 2019) and I am not sure when should I quit my job...I have a 2-month cancellation period at work. I don't want to quit my job too soon, because obviously then I would be left without an income. But on the other hand, after I will hopefully get my visa, I don't want to wait too long before being able to move to the US. I find it quite stressful to time everything....help, please! Is anybody who went through or is going through the same willing to share their thoughts on this? Any insights would be very much appreciated  

 

[F+d 0]

I dont know in Amsterdam but in Montreal Canada i received noa2 approved on april 1, it took 1 month and half to get the case number from NVC, interview was july 2 and got visa on hand july 9.

[Ethan & Shannon 385]

Although I'm not from the Netherlands, I do have a suggestion. Think about whether you could afford to live without an income or not, remember that visas have no set timeline and it could take longer for you to receive it in the mail (i.e. can you afford this risk?). Also think about the time spent in the US when you cannot work (up to roughly 7 months after submitting AOS which is also a chunk of $). This is up to you, but definitely think about these things. It's suggested not to quit until you have the visa in hand.

[Crazy Cat 39,219]

2 month cancellation period?  .......or else?   Actually, it could take weeks or longer to receive your visa after the interview........ 

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,078]

The safest thing to do would be to wait until you have your visa, and put in your notice then. If you've got some unused vacation time, you might schedule that for the end of your two-month period.

 

If you trust your employer to work with you, I think you probably could let them know you're going to be moving to be with your fiance(e), and arrange for your last day to be, say, the Friday after you get your visa. I don't know how cancellation periods work in the Netherlands, so that's just a guess.

[RoaringMdog 15]

43 minutes ago, missileman said:

2 month cancellation period?  .......or else?   Actually, it could take weeks or longer to receive your visa after the interview........ 

 

When i went for my interview a couple of days ago they told everyone that they'd recieve their passport with visa back after about a week. Hell, someone already got theirs issues and it's only been 3 days. 

[Daphne . 1,670]

4 hours ago, jeaniecz said:

Hello everyone!

 

I have a question aimed at those who have experience with K-1 at the US Consulate in Amsterdam, in other words, those who live&work in the Netherlands and plan to emigrate to the US. 

At this moment I have been waiting for my interview date (got my NOA2 on 20th June 2019) and I am not sure when should I quit my job...I have a 2-month cancellation period at work. I don't want to quit my job too soon, because obviously then I would be left without an income. But on the other hand, after I will hopefully get my visa, I don't want to wait too long before being able to move to the US. I find it quite stressful to time everything....help, please! Is anybody who went through or is going through the same willing to share their thoughts on this? Any insights would be very much appreciated  

 

Dutchie here 👍🏻

My employer has known about my move ever since my husband filed my petition 10 months ago, and we agreed that my exit date would be 2 months after I received my visa in hand. I also have a 2 month’s notice. This way both parties involved will have some kind of safety net and you can wrap up everything nicely and have a fresh start.

Good luck! 

[carmel34 3,529]

My husband waited until he had his visa in his hands before giving a required 40 day notice to his employer that he would be leaving.  So even though he got his visa on June 19 he won't be moving here to California until August 19.  He wanted a little time after stopping work to wrap up his affairs and prepare for this big change in his life.  He's leaving everything behind.  It makes it hard to wait this long for his arrival but I also understand the employment laws and this two month wait is giving him the opportunity to take time to say farewells and prepare mentally for this big adjustment.  Good luck!

[Daisy.Chain 317]

The k1 visa doesn't expire for 6 months after it is issued. You could wait until you have it and then pick a date convenient for you.

[Crazy Cat 39,219]

4 minutes ago, Daisy.Chain said:

The k1 visa doesn't expire for 6 months after it is issued. You could wait until you have it and then pick a date convenient for you.

Technically, it's 6 months after the medical exam......not after visa issuance.

[Marieke H 2,303]

Communicate with your employer and explain the situation to them.

I signed a 3-month contract with my employer before I even had the NOA2. I simply explained that I could not commit to 6 months or a year, because I was planning to move to the US. We later extended the contract with another 3 months (by that time I did have the NOA2). It took 3 weeks after my interview before I received my visa, apparently I interviewed at a busy time. I discussed the schedule with my employer, used vacation time and worked some overtime, so I was able to fly out a few weeks before the end of my contract. 

If you don't have a relationship with your employer where you feel you can be open about your plans to move, then maybe the 2 month resignation period isn't such a big deal. I know several people who just quit and left. Not a nice way to end things, but you'll be out of the country anyway, so what could they do to you?

[andy78 178]

You can provide a two-month notice after receiving visa.

[Mrijex 20]

Another Dutchie here  I have been in the US since March and entered on a K1. This was a difficult issue for me as well, because there's so many things that come into play: you want to be with your fiance ASAP, but you don't want to risk quitting your job and having your visa for some reason be on hold or denied and be left without income...

 

I had a 4 week cancellation policy at my job at the time. Everybody there knew I was planning to move to the US but I did not tell anybody that my visa was approved until after the interview. My passport came back within a week after visiting the consulate but that was in February, right now it may be busy because its summer/travel season? Either way I made the decision to not officially give my 4 week notice until the visa got approved. Yes, that meant I had to wait until a little bit after I had my visa in hand already to travel to my fiance, but it meant more to me to know for certain that the visa was approved before I quit my job, because the risk of being without income if it had been denied would not work for my situation. Also what is a couple of more weeks in the Netherlands if after that you get to move to the US to be with your partner indefinitely? That's how we looked at it. I also made sure I had a bunch of paid vacation days left over at the time of giving my 4 weeks which meant I actually only worked 2 of the last 4 weeks- and still got to leave relatively quickly and get paid for my time off. Maybe you have some paid vacation days left over too that you can use that way?

 

Good luck with your decision!

[Nitas_man 3,100]

On 7/12/2019 at 12:48 PM, jeaniecz said:

Hello everyone!

 

I have a question aimed at those who have experience with K-1 at the US Consulate in Amsterdam, in other words, those who live&work in the Netherlands and plan to emigrate to the US. 

At this moment I have been waiting for my interview date (got my NOA2 on 20th June 2019) and I am not sure when should I quit my job...I have a 2-month cancellation period at work. I don't want to quit my job too soon, because obviously then I would be left without an income. But on the other hand, after I will hopefully get my visa, I don't want to wait too long before being able to move to the US. I find it quite stressful to time everything....help, please! Is anybody who went through or is going through the same willing to share their thoughts on this? Any insights would be very much appreciated  

 

Your visa will be good for several months after your interview.  Quit after visa is in your passport.

[jeanieCZ 228]

Thank you for the answers, everyone!

 

As some of you mentioned, of course I do think about the benefits of leaving sooner vs. leaving later, the financial part of the whole undertaking is quite important, too. I'm not looking forward to losing my independence as it is, so the savings are an important part for sure. 

 

I am not looking to leave this country hastily and I certainly want to wrap everything up neatly, including my employment. I still have some matters that will need to be taken care of before I go, so I plan to use my saved up vacation days for this, plus I want to spend some quality time with my family before I move halfway round the world away. 

I think I will wait till I have the interview date and decide then. 

 

I know nobody knows the exact processing times, but is it foolish to hope I will be in the US at the end of this year?