Help!

[mrc 0]

Someone referred me to this site as being a site that could be very helpful. I'm looking for some information or some advice as to what would be the quickest way to bring my fiancee to the US.

Here is my situation. I am in the US military and I met my fiancee in South Korea. She is a citizen of the Phillipines. I have a friend that is currently in the same situation and he chose to submit a fiancee visa through the Vermont Service center and it just got approved after about 3 1/2 months. They are waiting for the interview date. I'm assuming it will probably be around five months before his fiancee receives the visa.

At any rate, I am back in the US now and my fiancee is still in South Korea. My service center is the Texas service center. From the graphs I see, it appears they take longer to process the 1-29F's than the other service centers...is this a true statement? How long can I reasonably expect this process to take if I do everything correctly?

Also, would it be quicker for me to go back to South Korea, get married at the consulate and file the I-130 there at the consulate and then do a I-129F Spouse K-3 visa application? Which process would likely be quicker from start to finish?

Any help would be great. I'm trying to sort this all out and get all the required paperwork and documents needed.

Basically, I'm looking for some advice as to which route to use.

[KAA 0]

I'm going through Texas Service center as well, but it seems as though they are transferring the petitions to the California Service center. So I would check Cali for a more accurate timeline since that’s where it'll probably end up.

As far as the timeframe it really varies case by case, and yes you’re probably looking at a 6 month time period to have the visa in her hand (really depends on lots of factors). I'm sure others have more info for you.

Also you may be able to get your petition expedited if you’re going to be deployed soon, that’s really the only way you can expedite your case. They wouldn’t even expedite my fiancee who is carrying our child right now.

Welcome and good luck

[Ladylethal 12]

The only petitions being transfered are the I-129 petittions, for work visas, not I-129F.

K1 is slightly faster than K3, although the timelines are just statistics, and it can go faster or slower depending on a series of things.

A rough estimate would be around 6 months from the day you file the K1 to the day your fiancee gets her approval at the interview (I think she´d have to be in the Philippines for that if she´s not actually South Korean).

[TracyTN 237]

There was a time, luis&laura, that they WERE transferring all I 129Fs to California because of the backlog in Texas. I thought they still were but haven't researched it lately.

[Ladylethal 12]

Sorry, I thought you were talking about the transfers to VCS. My bad.

But yeah, around 6 months.

[meddykomp 0]

Is this a double post? I swear I answered this exact post in another forum.

[mrc 0]

The only petitions being transfered are the I-129 petittions, for work visas, not I-129F.

K1 is slightly faster than K3, although the timelines are just statistics, and it can go faster or slower depending on a series of things.

A rough estimate would be around 6 months from the day you file the K1 to the day your fiancee gets her approval at the interview (I think she´d have to be in the Philippines for that if she´s not actually South Korean).

Actually, she will go through the interview process at the consulate in Seoul. She doesn't have to go through it in the Phillipines. My friend's was just approved and his fiancee is in Korea and she's a citizen of the Phillipines. She's just waiting for the interview.

[Ladylethal 12]

I read that she can put down another consulate, but that NVC can send it to her original consulate if they seem more appropriate, or didn´t I?

[Ken and Inna 0]

Yes...Texas is still forwarding to California service center which adds a little more delay. I agree the processing time with NO errors...repeat No errors that cause RFE is approximately 6 months average however other things come into play such as how fast is the consulate processing cases in your fiancee's location. Also to me it seems like some countries may endure closer scrutiny than others and I would not be surprised if Korea, Iran and Iraq were closely looked at which may cause a little slower processing. Good luck!

[Oly 0]

If you are transfered to California, yeah i would say it will take more less 6 months, it can vary sometimes, for example in my case if you look at my timeline, it only took us 5 months and now im with my love but we were really lucky with the whole process. Anyway K1 is faster than k3.

I wish you good luck in what you decide at the end.

OLY AND DIDIER

[slim 1,514]

The K-1 is definately the way to go.

For you to go back to the ROK to marry your girl, you'll have to take leave and spend over a grand. That's money that you could use to get her to you and set up shop back in CONUS.

You're on the right track already. Fill out all the forms and send them in, with Seoul as the embassy for her interview. This is going to take approximately 6 months, so don't think that you're going to be able to just send it in and she'll be hopping on a plane to the big PX while awaiting approval. She will have to stay over there while this is pending, and it is going to take a while. Mentally prepare for that now. However, just keep in mind that if you fly over there, marry her, then apply for a K-3, it's going to take LONGER!!! (The reason guys that are there are able to get their sweeties right in are because they actually submit all of the paperwork ahead of time, and escort their girls to the embassy... it's almost like a DCF, and they get a lot of "support" from the brass too.)

I recommend going to the family support center on your post to get more information and a little help with the process. Your first sergeant may be able to help too, but there is so much bias within units towards guys marrying girls they met in the ROK. Also, if you go to your PX or mess hall, I guarantee about half of the dependant employees there will be Pinoy and already have been through the process. They will be more than willing to help you out.

As for your young lady friend, if she doesn't have a KID (Korean ID.. kind of like a greencard) already, have her get to her embassy and get one with the stipulation that she'll be staying in Korea awaiting a visa to the US. That will guarantee her no problems with Korean immigrations (There seem to be a lot of "mix ups" with girls from the P.I., Russia, Vietnam, etc., lately.) and ensure that she will be able to stay in country until after the visa process is complete.

Other than that... good luck! (And tell her to stay away from all the GIs!!!)

[jaykimf 0]

Also, would it be quicker for me to go back to South Korea, get married at the consulate and file the I-130 there at the consulate and then do a I-129F Spouse K-3 visa application? Which process would likely be quicker from start to finish?

Basically, I'm looking for some advice as to which route to use.

Unless you are considered a resident of S.Korea you can't file the I-130 in Seoul. It's not an option. If you were stationed in Korea and could file the I-130 there, you'd be better off with the CR1 not the K3. Anyway, good luck!