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First I want to thank this community! The advice, the pool of knowledge available here and just the feeling of belonging that most members project is such a source of comfort during this crazy process. I don't know if Jaycel and I would have maintained our sanity if we didn't have our fellow travelers to lean on. So thank you all so very much! 8 Months and 2 weeks from application received to card in hand. (And exactly 4 years from the day we started talking ) No RFEs and EAD in 51 days. Pretty happy with that timeline! Now we get a break from USCIS for the next 21 months Our full timeline in case it's helpful to anyone else: I-129F Receipt Date: 09/18/2023 I-129F RFE: 05/20/2024 I-129F RFE Response Received: 06/01/2024 I-129F Approved: 06/04/2024 I-129F Sent to DOS: 06/11/2024 DOS Case # Assigned: 07/01/2024 K1-FTP: 07/16/2024 Embassy Interview: 08/13/2024 (Approved) Visa in Hand: 08/20/2024 Entered the US: 08/30/2024 Married: 10/25/2024 AOS Receipt Date: 11/18/2024 Biometrics: 12/26/2024 EAD Approved: 01/08/2025 Interview Scheduled: 06/16/2025 Interview Attended: 07/23/2025 I-485 Approved: 06/16/2025 Green Card Received: 08/01/2025

Sorry to hear of this misfortune. Prayers for both of you. Since 2007 on VisaJourney, I've never heard of a K-1 being expedited for the stated reasons. I've never heard of the in-person meeting requirement's being waived, for ANY reason. If he hasn't even filed the I-129F, I regret to report that you can forget both of these. The chances are zero. As to what I would do in your shoes: Provide love and support from afar until the pancreatic cancer or the chemotherapy take their inevitable toll. Prayers for both of you.

I had my oath ceremony today! Finally done with all the visa stuff. Soooo happy ❤️ 3/31 online filing under 5 year rule 4/16 interview scheduled 5/30 interview 7/22 oath

To be honest, you face an uphill battle on several fronts. I have never seen a first meeting waiver granted. @TBoneTX is right. Chances are none. You have a difficult path ahead. Good luck.

The consulate doesn't advise on visas at all, you'd need an immigration lawyer if you have questions or want info. They will just direct you to the USCIS website where you can find all of the info you need. FWIW, I agree that the spouse visa is the best option from what you've said. Good luck.

Yes, very likely it's going to be an issue.

Update: It's official!

Another option: Marry now, and start the spousal visa process. No adjustment of status needed. In about 2 years, he can enter the US as a Green card holder.

Ok, so this is the point we need to intervene. The old guard here knows what you are going thru and it's time we've had a chat with you.🤣😂 Step away from the paperwork. Put it back in it's box/drawer and leave it alone. You have done what was required. You have been informed that you are recommended for approval. Now it's time to stop looking for problems and just wait for the process to run it's course. You have no more influence over any of this. If they want something they will contact you. Breath (in and out is advisable) and go do something else. I you haven't heard anything in 120 days it's time for you to do something again. And no sneaking a peak at the stuff when you think we're not paying attention either.

B2 Visas are issued only at US consulates outside the US.

Interview Account Sorry for the delay on this but Jaycel and I went out to celebrate getting past this part of the process last night Our interview was scheduled for 11:05am yesterday (July 23rd). There is covered, on-site parking for anyone going to this office. (Very fancy LOL) We walked into the building at 10:25am and went through security which is pretty much the same as TSA security with belt and shoes and all belongings going in the bin to be scanned and you walk through a metal detector. All in all we were through security in about 3 minutes. No line to get in the building at all. After security, you go to the reception window to the left while still on the first floor to check in. The receptionist will scan the barcodes on your interview notice to check you in and then direct you to go back behind the security station to the elevator and go to the 2nd floor waiting room. There are 3 doors (A, B & C) that we saw officers coming out into the waiting room on the 2nd floor to escort applicants out and call people in for their interview. We got to the waiting room right about 10:35. There were about 30 people waiting in there to include what we assume were applicants, petitioners and some who were obviously attorneys. Our officer called us at about 11:20am and she came out of the elevator to get us and took us up to the 3rd floor. She greeted us with a warm genuine smile and said, "Good morning Jaycel & Ed I'm happy to meet you!" She immediately put us at ease and joked with us that we're special because we were going to the "Management Floor" where her office is. She was kind, professional and you could tell that she was very experienced. I would even go so far as to venture a guess that she even may have been a supervisor? I don't know if they do interviews themselves ever? Maybe since everyone is getting interviews now (which she confirmed with us is absolutely the new policy) the supervisors are chipping in? If she wasn't a supervisor, I would definitely say she was one of the more senior officers at this FO. We got to her office and she asked us to remain standing so that she could swear us in. After that she asked me for my Driver License and asked Jaycel for her passport that she entered the US on, any other passports that she had (which she doesn't), her EAD card, her SS Card and her Driver License. Once we handed her our IDs, I noticed her take our licenses and put them side by side and compare the addresses to verify they were the same. She then did Jaycel’s biometrics (fingerprints of each index finger and photo). She mentioned that sometimes she would be typing while we were answering questions and not to feel like there was anything wrong, she was just recording our answers for the record. She also mentioned how slow their system is so that could cause some delays. She saw that I had taken out the sealed envelope from the civil surgeon and asked what it was I had to give her. I told her that we had the vaccine assessment part of the I-693 done by a civil surgeon because Jaycel was missing the polio vaccine from her overseas medical she had done for the K-1 visa. She said, “Thank you for getting that done!” She then said, “Ok, I love a good love story so tell me yours!” We asked her who she wanted to answer so Jaycel, who loves to tell our story, started. She listened very intently, asked some questions along the way to both of us and was typing at the same time. She then asked the following questions: Has either of you been married before? Do either of you have any children anywhere in the world? To me (the USC) are your parents still alive? Do you have siblings? To Jaycel - Have you met any of his siblings? Confirmed our wedding date and asked where we had our ceremony and who attended Did you have a celebration afterwards? Where was it? (Turns out she knows the exact place we had our celebratory dinner, as she had eaten there a few times) To Jaycel - Where do you live? Who lives there with you? Asked questions about our dog, in friendly way as you could tell she is a dog person Then she asked about 20 of the Yes/No questions from the I-485 She then said she was thankful for all of the uploaded evidence as it made her job easier. She asked if we had anything else to give her that we hadn’t already uploaded. She had the sealed medical and we gave her some proof that we were each other’s emergency contacts at our jobs, me as beneficiary on Jaycel’s insurance at her new job, a printout of our Amazon Family page with us both listed and some mail Jaycel had received in her name at our house. She then printed off the paper shown below - She said basically that’s just our proof that we attended the interview and that her plan was that afternoon to upload what we brought her and would approve our case. Hope this helps anyone awaiting an interview and feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

*shrugs* Not dumb...that's why you come ask on the forum. Someone inevitably knows something!

You have not explained why you have not met.

Firstly, Bangladesh is a high fraud country, secondly you have a 50 year age gap (this alone is enough for you to be under the microscope at vetting levels), thirdly you have been in a 4 year relationship and have never met even once, furthermore, k1 path is not considered as an emergency to USCIS as you are not considered his immediate relative. Finally I know where you come from people at 74 still work in farms and do a lot of manual labor, in the States, these group of persons are seniors who are at the last legs of their lives and are very fragile (90% of them live in nursing homes, retirement homes, assisted living homes or if they live alone, they have some sort of home health aides). Summary is that your chances of having a life with this man in the States are near to 0% , he needs treatment now and I do not think the weight of immigration should be put on him at this point. My personal advise is for you to move on and not waste another 4 years of your time because USCIS will accept all your fees when filing and would definitely not give two flying flies about the urgency of your case.

I received an email from USCIS that my interview is scheduled 9/5!! 5 year rules, FO is Louisville. 3/26 - N400 application filed online 3/26 - Biometrics reuse 7/28 - Interview Scheduled with interview date 9/5 Time to study hard for the test!!

it probably got denied cause they were confused by the I-130. as a K1 visa holder who got married within the 90 days, the I-130 is not required. why did you file the I-130?

No such thing as “what not to say”. She just needs to answer CBP’s questions truthfully.

You've already stated your wife has no intention of living in the US, so this whole process seems a little redundant... The answer to your question is simple. You tell the truth. Nobody here is going to coach you into providing answers that will "please" CBP.

News on my case: Interview today at the Phoenix office. Approved. - The Ceremony confirmation letter was also handed to me on the spot. The ceremony is in three weeks. Timeline: Feb 13 – Submitted case online. Feb 13 – Received NOA1 with case #. Feb 13 – Received biometric reuse letter. May 27 - Interview Scheduled for 15 July 2025 (PDF copy in USCIS account). July 15 - Approved. Aug 6 - Ceremony/Pending...

Just want to jump in to let y'all know that I received the notice today for the interview date of 8/29/25. Filed on 2/18/25, FO: Boston, MA.

He probably meant "we did not get married OR applied for AOS". Come on, let's not make crazy assumptions even if OP left the day after entering on K-1.

Well OP, I think you just got a boilerplate response email. Here's the problem, the AVR is specifically only for F, J, M, and Q visas. If you married, the K-1 is toast, your now spouse will need to file an I-130 for you and you'll need to proceed as a CR1. If you didn't marry, then you could try to have the K-1 reissued but that's strictly discretionary and you should honestly expect to file a new I-129F.

Well, the Journey is over. My wife became a US citizen on July 1st 2025. I want to thank all the people here for the help along the way. When we started this, I was just looking for information about the different visa options. And stumbled on to this site. Little did I know, that I would actually find a "second" family of friends, helpful resources and people willing to actually help a Newby along the way. We did all the paperwork from beginning to end ourselves; and yes some mistakes were made that costs time and money but it was learning experience and I hope that anyone reading our timeline, learns how to avoid them and make the right moves for their journey. Special thanks to @Hank who hasn't been online in a couple years but I think was the most informed person here on anything about the Philippines and to all the ones that answered my questions no matter how simple they seemed to be. Although we have made to the end of our rainbow, I will be checking in and hopefully get to use the things I have learned to help others along their Visa Journey. Thank You again, Michael and Angelica

We had a smooth entrance to the US, entering about 2 years and a week after our legal marriage. I mentioned this to the immigration officer as he was finalizing our entrance (the entire process took maybe 3 minutes) and he said "Oh, hmm I wonder if I could go ahead and change you an IR-1." The agent right next to him said "Yes, you can do that" and he acted surprised. (He actually scribbled something out he already wrote on the visa and changed it to IR-1 haha I hope it's valid!) His comments made it pretty clear he was going to erroneously issue us a CR-1 and he seemed to not even know he could change the visa status until his coworker advised him (THANK GOODNESS she overheard!). I don't know how onerous the process is to correct such an oversight but I'm glad we didn't have to find out! Just wanted to pass this along in the hopes it saves someone from any problems with the wrong stamp being placed in the passport, as I've read about here before.... I would kindly remind the officer "We married >2 years ago. We can enter with an IR-1 visa now right?

Interesting read. What piques my curiosity is if a child derives citizenship through a parent's naturalization, isn't that child also recorded in the SAVE database as a derived citizen? The posted review seems to indicate that only happens when the child gets an CoC via an N600. The discussion on fee increases, waivers issued, etc. was very interesting indeed going from $160 in 1998 to $600 in 2010 to $1170 in 2016 to now $1335/1385 depending on online vs paper filing, a massive increase in 27 or so years.

This official uscis document gives very clear instructions for documentation specific to each situation https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-130instr.pdf You would do well to study this carefully. It will answer not only this question but many others , and ensure your application is complete and accurate and less likely to get rejected or receive an RFE

That is a visitor visa. Your spousal visa was never activated, despite what you say. If it had been, you wouldn't have been admitted as a visitor AND you wouldn't have an I-94 record; permanent residents do not have I-94 records. You will not be receiving your greencard in the mail as you'd hoped. There is another tab that says I-94 history. You might be able to download that history and present it, demonstrating you've been continually admitted as a visitor when the visa was in your passport and should have been activated. Not sure if you'll be successful or not, but I'm not sure there's any harm in it.

it is also more clearly stated in the I-693 instructions "What if I am a K nonimmigrant visa holder and already completed an immigration medical examination abroad? If you were admitted as a: A. K-1 fiancé(e) or a K-2 child of a K-1 fiancé(e); or B. K-3 spouse of a U.S. citizen or a K-4 child of a K-3 spouse of a U.S. citizen; and C. You received a medical examination prior to admission, then: (1) You are not required to complete another immigration medical examination as long as you file your Form I-485 within one year of an immigration medical examination completed outside the United States; and (a) The panel physician did not find a Class A medical condition during your imigration medical examination; or Form I-693 Instructions 01/20/25 Page 8 of 12 (b) The panel physician did find a Class A medical condition, you received a waiver of inadmissibility, and you have complied with the terms and conditions of the waiver. (2) Even if a new immigration medical examination is not required, you must still show proof that you complied with the vaccination requirements. If the vaccination record (DS 3025) was not properly completed and included as part of the original medical examination report completed abroad, you will need to have the Part 10. Vaccination Record completed by a designated civil surgeon. In this case, you must submit Parts 1. - 5., 7., and 10. of Form I-693." https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-693instr.pdf so as long as your DS-3025 is complete, no need to go spending an extra $400 lol

You can establish the intent to re-locate back to the US. You need a concrete plan and evidence showing intent to move back. Be aware that she cannot travel to the US with a K-1 or CR-1 before you do. One option is to marry now, and request that the consulate in Japan process your case as "Direct Consular Processing". You would need exceptional circumstances such as a short term re-location due to a job offer, for example. If you are living together now, marriage and a spousal visa is a much, much superior choice imo.

Mary Arrived Seattle 8:05pm and I waited about an hour for her to appear. Getting her luggage was the long wait. She said customs was quick.

Yes this will be a problem - USCIS requires copies of the most recent tax year's returns or Tax Return Transcript. This is mandatory. Prior year's returns/transcripts are optional. Item Numbers 15. - 19. Federal Income Tax Return Information. You must provide either an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) transcript or a photocopy from your own records of your Federal individual income tax return for the most recent tax year, counting from the date of signing Form I-864. If you believe additional returns may help you to establish your ability to maintain sufficient income, you may submit transcripts or photocopies of your Federal individual income tax returns for the three most recent years.

It's a problem, imo. You need to make the decision easy for USCIS. They clearly don't like what you sent as supporting documentation for the I-864. The path of least resistance, imo, is to find a well-qualified joint sponsor to submit an I-864 and solid supporting evidence. You won't get another chance. I agree with @OldUser.

Assets are routinely ignored. If you can find a qualifying joint sponsor, it would help overcoming RFE.

OP — to try to answer your original question and things you’ve mentioned since: —She can say she’s visiting her kids. That’s a 100% valid use of ESTA. — It’ll likely have to be less than 60 on/60 off; the recommendation is double the time outside the U.S. as inside. — Would recommend getting global entry if she doesn’t have it already. It cuts down on questions as she’d be pre-vetted. Normally they don’t even ask purpose of visit. —There’s no need to frame your question any way; just have her answer in short sentences that are factual. There’s no requirement to volunteer more information than asked. —If there’s a language difficulty that requires translation CBP has translators they can call People here get a bit angsty when they see people trying to avoid the rules, which is not what you’re doing, but a lot of people who try to bend the rules ask similar questions, which is the reason for some of the responses you’ve received were a bit stronger in wording. The one thing worth mentioning on the I-130: you can postpone it at NVC indefinitely so it goes to the consulate when you’re ready, but you need to pay the fee in the first year and then log into CEAC at least once a year afterwards. It’s recommended to also send them an email a least once a year so there’s a paper trail. Other thing to note is the substantial presence test and if that has any tax implications for you all.

You do not need an attorney to file a second I-751, and certainly not the second one you spoke to who advised you to wait until court - that one is a clown show. There is no special filing to do, it's a regular filing, same form, same documents (which you can submit later), just a different box checked. Worry about the errors they did with this cancellation later, and you can sort an attorney later if necessary. Just get one filed ASAP and get that receipt.

Been a super busy week, so just getting around to posting an update. Interview successfully completed on July 7th, although it was a bit of an unusual experience. Officer was a formal and to-the-point lady. She wasn’t rude, but she wasn’t super friendly either. My attorney said he’d never seen her before, so likely a new officer. Started by getting sworn in and verifying my personal info. She asked for my DL, GC, and SSC. Then the civics test (answered first 6 questions correctly) and the English test. Then, we went over pretty much the entire N-400 application - addresses, jobs, trips abroad, citations, yes/no, etc. I’ve had a couple immigration violations in the past, which had all been disclosed, so there were some questions about that, then we moved on. Because of this, I was fully expecting a “can’t make a decision right now” checkbox. This is where things got a little confusing. Towards the end of the interview, the officer became a little friendlier and started speaking like she was ready to approve the application. She touched on the oath ceremony, updating the SSN, asked about upcoming trips, and said to stay out of trouble until the oath. Then, as I was reading the tablet verifying everything before signing off, she puts my giant file on the table, and says everything seems in order and I should get approved, but she still can’t make a decision as she has to go over the entire file more in detail. She said to give her a couple weeks or so. Then, she hands me the N-652 with “Congratulations! Your application has been recommended for approval” checked. And I was like, o_O , what just happened? The next day I got the approval + in line for oath updates. Two days later I got a cancelled scheduled oath + oath will be scheduled updates. But as far as I can tell from my history and API updates, I was never actually scheduled for an oath ceremony, so not sure what that’s about. Anywhoo, here I am still a bit confused, relieved, excited, and back to checking my USCIS account every 2 hours, lol. Anybody happen to know if there’s a difference between “Your Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, was placed in line for oath ceremony scheduling” and “Oath Ceremony Will Be Scheduled”? It had never really hit me that there’s two differently worded updates for the same thing.

Make a copy of your naturalization certificate. Make several of them. Make images of it. Blow it up into a nice wall hanging. DO NOT send your naturalization certificate off for the passport without making copies. Yes, you should get it back. Yes, it should be in good shape. But things happen. Regards, Vicky's Mom

It is not an immigration benefit, it is a waste of everyones time and expecting Congress to do anything is laughable. Sort of like Expedites, personally I think every case should be expedited and then there is no issue, but as it is free to try and you never know so why not. I will be dead and buried a very long time before Congress does anything.

Her visa expiry does not limit her stay, she would have an I 94 now on line that will state the date she has to leave by, not that I would suggest maximimising that.

It has been more than 20 days since June 2nd... In fact, if you really travelled to Canada on June 2nd, you are now over the 30 days cited in the CBP letter you shared. Where are you currently? Contact the Consulate/Embassy that issued your visa and ask about having it reissued.

Why on earth would you do that lol Sounds to me like you did not maintain your status as a K1, by leaving the US shortly after entering. Likely will also call into question whether you will do this again.

Umm, no you can't do that. K-1 is single entry visa - can't go in and out of the country with it. So, did you get married and haven't filed AOS yet? If you have filed for AOS but left without AP, you'll be sitting in Canada until your spouse files I-130 and you get an immigrant visa. If you haven't gotten married yet, there's a possibility to get the K-1 visa reissued (may need new medical and visa interview). So which one is it?

Very unlikely this will cost you your citizenship unless they are looking for a technicality years down the line. You did not lie during your interview. You stated you did not owe taxes and signed the whole thing "to the best of your knowledge" If it was known the USCIS would have had the data already. You were informed today and dealt with it so I really doubt this will become an issue. Should you end up dealing with USCIS for whatever reason down the road (petition for someone else?) and the question gets asked if you have ever owed back taxes, then you do need to report it.

You have multiple options to marry first. Why not look into the details of marrying in Mexico, and compare that to marrying in the USA during a visit, then starting the spouse visa process. Again, you do not need a special (K1) visa to get married in the USA. The K1 is for marrying and staying. As long as you leave and follow the spouse visa process, no problem.

I recently received my replacement green card due to an error on my previous that I applied for in October 2024. Thought there may be someone out there who might like to know how long the process took. October 7 2024 I received my green card with an error, it had the wrong country of birth,called the uscis help line they told me do resubmit a I90 stating the error and return the card with the application. October 8 Sent my new I90 application for a replacement card to the locked box address in Phoenix AZ October 10 Application was received at the locked box. October 15 I90 application to replace resident card is activley being reviewed. June 25 2025 New card is being produced from form I90 application to replace permanent resident card. July 3 2025 Received new card no errors! The whole time the card was pending it said it would take approx 24 months. it actually took 8 months 3 weeks, a lot better than the 24 months I was expecting!

Bring it all and be prepared to show nothing. They'll want to see the greencard, the passport and maybe the latest tax return (if they didn't find it for you). If you get the same day oath (depends on your office) hand in the greencard and any other cards you still may have from USCIS (EAD/AP card).

Looks good. GC holders don’t have I 94 records Hope this goes well for you ! It’s great when its all in the past and then get the new passport .. bye bye USCIS !!

Is this a real Lawyer Is this a Notario I would be demanding an explanation either way also making sure I was not charged either for the filing or associated fees.

Either incompetent (red flag) or wants to make money (red flag)

Finish up the divorce before he leaves. He can file I-407 to wrap up giving up his green card at the embassy after his return.