Children of a K1 VISA Beneficiary (merged)

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Hey Folks,

 

I posted a question about our situation a month or so ago regarding my fiancé's son. In the end, we decided that it was best in our situation for us to leave him behind for the first year & for him to join us thereafter. Our original intent was to petition for him after a year (we're not even sure what forms or process it would take to do this) & assumed that it wouldn't take long since his mother was here & was married to a US citizen. As time has passed, however, we have realized that the process is likely to take much longer than we had planned for. We understand that we did have the option to have him as a K2 so that he could "follow to join" within a year...and while that would have likely been our best option...with our current circumstances that doesn't seem possible unless we postpone our current interview date & potentially push back our wedding date as well as incur a lot of extra expenses in the process. Since my fiancé's son does not have a passport, it prevents us from moving forward to try to get him to her currently scheduled interview date. The earliest appointment we could get for her son's passport was on May 8th. It seems like most passports can take 1-2 weeks to process & be received out in the province areas. We would then need to complete the DS-160 for him & pay the additional MRV fee so that he could move on to getting his medical exam and then finally to a newly scheduled interview. We are currently out of reschedules on the website, so I can't even see what the next available interview appointment would be, but based on what we were seeing several weeks ago I assume that the next available appointment is probably in July or August (not including any potential canceled appointments that may pop up occasionally). I have read & have been told that K1's do not have to pay an additional MRV fee to reschedule their appointments, but based on the website...we would need to pay the MRV in order to be allowed to do any further reschedules on the website. In lieu of paying another $265 MRV fee to be able to use the website to set an appointment, I suppose the only other option would be to call the embassy to try to set up our appointment "manually". This would likely also be the only way for us to potentially snipe any appointments that would pop up before our scheduled interview. At this point, it just doesn't seem to make a lot of sense for us to really consider this option. This is also assuming that he could not accompany her to her May 5th appointment & then complete all of the other steps later with one of his relatives for the medical exam and/or separate "K2" interview. If there is another option here, feel free to let me know.

 

With that in mind, what exactly is the process for us to petition for her son after she is in the US? Should we start a petition for him immediately after we get married? After we apply for her AOS? What process would we be looking to follow to bring her son here? Petition for a family member (I-130 - Petition for Alien Relative)? Skimming through the guides here it would seem that in our situation, if I petitioned for him after we are married...I would fill out a Form I-130 to start the process and then I would be able to file a K4 (since I already have put him on the original 129F) which would allow him to live with us in the US while his I-130 was being processed. Am I understanding this correctly?

 

The more I read this stuff, the more I get confused. Some of the guides seem to almost make it seem as if her son would automatically qualify for "follow to join" benefits since he was listed on the original 129F that was approved. My question then becomes...what about his DS-160, MRV Fee, Medical Exam & Interview...can he do those separate from his mom with a relative as a chaperone?

 

Can anyone shed some light on any of this?

 

Thanks!

 

Kawika

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Based on what I am seeing here...

K1 Visa Application at Consulate - VisaJourney

It looks like it is entirely possible for him to complete the K2/K4 process separately from his mother.  It would seem that as long as she is granted her "Advanced Parole" before a year from her K1 VISA issuance, then she will be able to travel there herself to get him through the medical exam & interview...and then fly back to the US with him.

[Crazy Cat 39,669]

9 minutes ago, Kawika & Michelle said:

I would fill out a Form I-130 to start the process and then I would be able to file a K4 (since I already have put him on the original 129F)

A K-4 is a derivative of a K-3.....He is not a K-4. 

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

3 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

A K-4 is a derivative of a K-3.....He is not a K-4. 

 

Guess I'm reading this wrong...

 

Can my child come to the United States to live while the visa petition is pending?

If you are a U.S. citizen, once you file Form I-130, your child is eligible to apply for a nonimmigrant K-4 visa. This will entitle him or her to come to the United States to live and work or go to school while the visa petition is pending. To petition for this benefit, you may file Form I-129F. However, you are not required to file Form I-129F and your child does not require a K-4 visa. Your child may wait abroad for immigrant visa processing. Seeking a K-4 visa can be a method for him or her to come to the United States more quickly. For more information, see the “K3-K4 Visa” page.

 

If you are a lawful permanent resident (Green Card holder) and you have filed Form I-130 for your child on or before December 21, 2000, your child may be eligible for the V visa classification if more than three years have passed since the I-130 was filed. For more information on V visas, see the V Nonimmigrant Visas page.

 

For more information, visit the Adjustment of Status within the United States page and Consular Processing overseas page.

[Crazy Cat 39,669]

You are not the first to ask this question.  It appears now and then .   Maybe @Boiler can explain it better than I.  Good luck.

 

K-3/K-4 Nonimmigrant Visas | USCIS

A child of your foreign spouse may be eligible for a K-4 visa if he or she is:

• Under 21 years of age;
• Unmarried; and
• The child of the K-3 visa applicant you filed for.

[Boiler 43,759]

On my way out but it appears there would be enough time for the child to get a K2 before the mother has to leave with the K1, visa should be good for the mother for 6 months from the date of medical.

 

K1 is to K2 as K3 is to K4, you are not married, K3 in the very few cases it is issued is for married people.

[Ontarkie 13,962]

~~Duplicate threads have been merged. Please do not start new threads for the same topic.~~

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Just now, Ontarkie said:

~~Duplicate threads have been merged. Please do not start new threads for the same topic.~~

 

This situation was different than the last...hence the new topic.

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

9 minutes ago, Boiler said:

On my way out but it appears there would be enough time for the child to get a K2 before the mother has to leave with the K1, visa should be good for the mother for 6 months from the date of medical.

 

Alright...I had put together a long post with questions that got lost after the topics were merged...so let's see what I can recall...

 

Are you suggesting that my fiancé stay behind to get him through the K2 process? Or can she travel as we had planned & have him complete the process with a chaperone (likely his sister)? Does he lose eligibility for the K2/K4 if his mom & I get married before the K2 process is completed? She would like us to get married on June 10th (our anniversary that we have been using since 2020), so I'm not sure if we would be able to get him through the entire process by then based on the trend of interview slots available the last time I was able to see them. About 2-3 weeks ago the current appointments were in June/July...so I would assume by now that would be July/August with the occasional canceled appointment popping up for someone to be able to snipe. 

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

On 2/14/2023 at 2:43 AM, IWander said:

Follow to join is available for up to one year.  He would have a separate interview and the visa needs to be issued before the one year anniversary of the k1s issuance and have the same 6 months validity, so in theory you can stretch it out almost 18 months 

 

OK...if this is the case..then her son would be eligible for the K2/K4 for up to a year after his mom was issued the K1 VISA & would not have any relation to whether or not we were married already when he gets it.

[IWander 583]

26 minutes ago, Kawika & Michelle said:

 

OK...if this is the case..then her son would be eligible for the K2/K4 for up to a year after his mom was issued the K1 VISA & would not have any relation to whether or not we were married already when he gets it.

K2 not K4.  Yes, you and the child's mom can be married when the K2 is issued 

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

I started filling out the DS-160 for her son but cannot complete it until the passport is issued to him. I've sent an inquiry to the embassy to seek clarification on a few things regarding our situation. It appears that in most cases, the Manila embassy does not require an in-person interview with applicants 14 years old & younger. Since we do not plan for him to join us until next summer (June 2024), it doesn't seem to make sense for us to the medical exam until 3-4 months prior to that to ensure that it is still valid when it is time to travel. 

 

And just to confirm...is the DS-160 fee for her son the same as the cost for the mother (15370 pesos / $165)?

[powerpuff 5,982]

2 hours ago, Kawika & Michelle said:

is the DS-160 fee for her son the same as the cost for the mother (15370 pesos / $165)?

Yes 

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Does anyone know if we can submit his DS-160 after her K1 interview or how that process would even work if he is going to do a "Follow To Join" route? Would we just submit his DS-160 to the Manila embassy separately? I think I read that in one of the guides here.

 

In addition...our plan was for the both of us or at least her to fly back to spend time with her family & then return to the US next summer (June 2024). The research I've done on the I-131 (Advanced Parole) seems suggest that the current processing times is 12-18 months. If she can't leave the country to bring her son here...what other options do we have? As a last resort I could go there to get him, but he doesn't speak a lot of English yet & I am not sure he would be 100% comfortable being with me without his mother or another family member there as well. 

[powerpuff 5,982]

3 minutes ago, Kawika & Michelle said:

Does anyone know if we can submit his DS-160 after her K1 interview or how that process would even work if he is going to do a "Follow To Join" route? Would we just submit his DS-160 to the Manila embassy separately? I think I read that in one of the guides here

I don’t think it’s wise to submit it so early. I’d email the consulate and ask how to proceed.

 

4 minutes ago, Kawika & Michelle said:

In addition...our plan was for the both of us or at least her to fly back to spend time with her family & then return to the US next summer (June 2024). The research I've done on the I-131 (Advanced Parole) seems suggest that the current processing times is 12-18 months. If she can't leave the country to bring her son here...what other options do we have? As a last resort I could go there to get him, but he doesn't speak a lot of English yet & I am not sure he would be 100% comfortable being with me without his mother or another family member there as well. 

Maybe ask another family member to accompany?

 

the only other option is for you to petition him as a step son (I-130) or she can also petition him after becoming an LPR but that will take longer as opposed to you petitioning him