Can you interview from a country other than your home country?

[JerryH 0]

My Fiance is a citizen of the Philippines who is working in Hong Kong on a work visa. Can she do her medical exam and interview at the US Consulate in Hong Kong or does she need to return to the Philippines for these?

[MalloryCat 715]

she may be able to

she would have to contact the embassy in hong kong to request the case be transferred to them, and hong kong would initiate the transfer

its up to the embassy in hong kong

[JerryH 0]

We have not applied for the K1 visa yet. Should we start the process by applying for the K1 visa with her residency in Hong Kong?

[Lil bear 4,519]

4 hours ago, JerryH said:

We have not applied for the K1 visa yet. Should we start the process by applying for the K1 visa with her residency in Hong Kong?

Usually you can apply and interview in either your home  country or a country where you have legal residency status. 

[JerryH 0]

Is there a way to specify where you would like the interview and medical exam to take place on the K1 visa application?

[MalloryCat 715]

on page 8 of the I-129f (i assume this is what you mean when you say you haven't started the process for the K1 visa) there is a place to specify what embassy

 

but i believe sometimes they don't go off that information and it will go to the embassy where the beneficiary is a citizen or permanent resident

 

but as I said, when you get to that point and it does end up at the embassy in the Philippines, you may be able to have it transferred to hong kong

 

where the medical takes places entirely depends on where the interview will take place

Edited May 20 by MalloryCat

[itsgia 5]

11 hours ago, MalloryCat said:

on page 8 of the I-129f (i assume this is what you mean when you say you haven't started the process for the K1 visa) there is a place to specify what embassy

 

but i believe sometimes they don't go off that information and it will go to the embassy where the beneficiary is a citizen or permanent resident

 

but as I said, when you get to that point and it does end up at the embassy in the Philippines, you may be able to have it transferred to hong kong

 

where the medical takes places entirely depends on where the interview will take place

 

Oh dang, didn't know they could do that. I do hope they will forward my case to Montreal because I would scream (internally) if they send ours to Vietnam LOL. 

 

To OP: I'm (beneficiary) an international student in Canada and we put Montreal as ours consulate bc I still have a few years to finish up my program. Since ours are pretty similar, I think this also depending on the expiry date of your fiancé's work permit (for me, I allocated 1.5 years for the whole process, if things went south, I will just go back to Vietnam and do interview over there). 

Edited May 20 by itsgia

[WeekendPizzaiolo 96]

On 5/19/2025 at 4:39 AM, JerryH said:

My Fiance is a citizen of the Philippines who is working in Hong Kong on a work visa. Can she do her medical exam and interview at the US Consulate in Hong Kong or does she need to return to the Philippines for these?

 

Yes, it is possible. The only risk is if the work visa expires before the interview. You also have to complete document requirements for both countries. There may be a delay in case the consulate needs to verify documents or other details with a consulate in your home country.

 

My Brazilian fiancé completed the K-1 in Montreal, Canada while studying in the country on a student visa. We put in our I-129F Montreal as the requested consulate. After the NVC stage, we had an extra step before Packet 3. The consulate requested by e-mail for a copy of a valid, unexpired non-visitor visa (work, student, or PR) before they could proceed with Packet 3. This added an extra few weeks and pushed us into the following month's interview batch and added perhaps another week or so after the interview.

 

 

[WeekendPizzaiolo 96]

1 hour ago, itsgia said:

 

Oh dang, didn't know they could do that. I do hope they will forward my case to Montreal because I would scream (internally) if they send ours to Vietnam LOL. 

 

To OP: I'm (beneficiary) an international student in Canada and we put Montreal as ours consulate bc I still have a few years to finish up my program. Since ours are pretty similar, I think this also depending on the expiry date of your fiancé's work permit (for me, I allocated 1.5 years for the whole process, if things went south, I will just go back to Vietnam and do interview over there). 

How would the NVC know where to send your case if the desired consulate was not provided in the I-129F?

 

According to this post, you may need to do a public inquiry during the NVC stage to change consulates after the I-129F is submitted.

 

 

 

[itsgia 5]

14 hours ago, WeekendPizzaiolo said:

How would the NVC know where to send your case if the desired consulate was not provided in the I-129F?

 

According to this post, you may need to do a public inquiry during the NVC stage to change consulates after the I-129F is submitted.

 

 

 

Appreciated the help but I did put Montreal in that I129F form. However, I am  still a temporary visa holder and as per MalloryCat said, there's a potential that they might send it to my country since I am not a permanent citizen in Canada. Hence, the reply with "I do hope they send it to MTL instead of Vietnam"

[appleblossom 4,386]

44 minutes ago, itsgia said:

Appreciated the help but I did put Montreal in that I129F form. However, I am  still a temporary visa holder and as per MalloryCat said, there's a potential that they might send it to my country since I am not a permanent citizen in Canada. Hence, the reply with "I do hope they send it to MTL instead of Vietnam"

 

You should get given Montreal if that's where you live/work/pay taxes. But keep an eye on the wait times for an interview too - it's not too long ago that it was well over a year before you got an IL for Montreal. It has reduced but is still quite lengthy so if it goes back up at any point, you may decide travelling to Vietnam would be better. 

 

Good luck. 

[WeekendPizzaiolo 96]

2 hours ago, itsgia said:

Appreciated the help but I did put Montreal in that I129F form. However, I am  still a temporary visa holder and as per MalloryCat said, there's a potential that they might send it to my country since I am not a permanent citizen in Canada. Hence, the reply with "I do hope they send it to MTL instead of Vietnam"

 

Ah, thanks for the clarification. Well, it worked for us in 2022. Fingers crossed.

[itsgia 5]

 

2 hours ago, WeekendPizzaiolo said:

 

Ah, thanks for the clarification. Well, it worked for us in 2022. Fingers crossed.

 

4 hours ago, appleblossom said:

 

You should get given Montreal if that's where you live/work/pay taxes. But keep an eye on the wait times for an interview too - it's not too long ago that it was well over a year before you got an IL for Montreal. It has reduced but is still quite lengthy so if it goes back up at any point, you may decide travelling to Vietnam would be better. 

 

Good luck. 

 

Thank you! Honestly it isn't a bad idea to be mentally prepared my case will get transfer due to so many uncertainty going on right now (and like MTL is the only place that processing K1 in Canada too)  

 

I think OP have enough information about what they should put in that line & how to transfer their case! Good luck to OP as well!