K-1 Expedite for Financial Hardship – Is This Enough?

[zeek99 3]

Hello everyone,

 

I’m looking for advice or experiences with expediting a I-129F petition due to financial hardship.

 

We filed 6 months ago (end of October), and it looks like USCIS has just started working on September cases. There seems to be backlogs and our case might take much longer than we expected.

 

Our situation is the following:
I currently live in the Netherlands with my U.S. citizen fiancé. He will need to move back to the U.S. at the end of July, as he is starting graduate school in August. Once he leaves, I will be responsible for the full rent, which I realistically cannot afford on my income alone. This means I won't be able to cover basic living expenses. (I earn 2100 EUR and our rent + utilities is over 2000 EUR).

 

We’re trying to understand if this could qualify as “severe financial loss” for an expedite request. We have proof of my income, our rent + utilities, his acceptance into grad school and the apartment we will rent in the U.S.

 

I understand that expedites are rarely approved, but I’d really appreciate hearing any real experiences or advice. Thank you in advance!

[Crazy Cat 46,529]

If you are living together, why go the K-1 route? If you marry now, the US citizen could seek a spousal visa through Direct Consular Filing directly through the consulate.  The Consulate might agree that his urgent relocation is an exceptional circumstance.  That could cut the process to only a few months in total. 

But step 1 is to legally marry.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Crazy Cat

[appleblossom 5,993]

What @Crazy Cat has said. ^^

 

My first thought was DCF as well if he has a reason for a short notice relocation. That would be much more likely than a K-1 expedite. 

Edited 54 minutes ago by appleblossom

[zeek99 3]

40 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

If you are living together, why go the K-1 route? If you marry now, the US citizen could seek a spousal visa through Direct Consular Filing directly through the consulate.  The Consulate might agree that his urgent relocation is an exceptional circumstance.  That could cut the process to only a few months in total. 

But step 1 is to legally marry.

 

 

We followed the K1 route as it was supposed to be much faster than the spousal visa. Here in the Netherlands it takes months to get the marriage paperwork ready and approved, and then a few more months to get an appointment to get married. We already paid the fee for K1 and already at the 6th month of the process so the spousal isn't really an option at this point. Thanks for your answer anyways!

[zeek99 3]

29 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

What @Crazy Cat has said. ^^

 

My first thought was DCF as well if he has a reason for a short notice relocation. That would be much more likely than a K-1 expedite. 

 

As I responded to the other comment, getting married here in the Netherlands takes months so that would slow down our process significantly. We are already at month 6 of the K1 process so it's too late to take the spousal visa route. That's why we're trying to see what our chances are with expediting. Thank you for your response though!