Clifff

For posterity, we resolved this by finding a copy of her I-797. Maybe this solution can help someone else out.

We called the school that she went to, and they had a copy of her I-797 approval for her I-539 change of status on file. The school needs a copy to prove that she had legal status when attending their school. They scanned and emailed us their copy, which was accepted by the embassy.

Yay!

-cliff

Hi,

My fiancee just had her K-1 visa interview at the Seoul, Korea embassy.

She brought all documents requested. However, they asked her for an I-797 approval notice for a change of status from B-2 (tourist) to F-1 (student) during a previous stay in America. Unfortunately, she lost it. I understand that she can request a new copy by using form I-824 - though that will take months.

Has anyone had any experience with this? My understanding is that this is somehow related to proving that she stayed 'in status' during her stay in America. But..this was not part of any documentation and we feel kinda blindsided by this request.

I am actively searching for a lawyer to help with these matters, I've filed petitions for congressional intervention on Friday, and I have a USCIS InfoPass appointment for Tuesday.

What is the basis for denying her visa based on not having this I-797? I don't even fully understand what it is they're asking her to prove. If she cannot produce it, will they deny her visa?

-cliff

Just to be clear, it seems to be CSC, not VSC, that has stopped processing I-129F petitions (unless VSC has recently stopped too, I haven't tracked them). I read an interview somewhere that said that they move examiners around based on need, and I imagine that since they were so far ahead of their goal of 5 months that they stopped processing new petitions for a while to work on some other petition.

But that's just a hypothesis.

As far as I can tell, other than the random lucky or expedited request, there have been no new K1/I-129F approvals from CSC since the first week of August. All approvals since then have been for prior RFEs.

It seems pretty clear that they've stopped approving I-129F petitions after they finished the May petitions. I'm no expert here, but I'd guess that they've moved the examiners to other visas for a while (probably because they have a 5 month window for I-129F and they were getting to be under 90 days).

The only visas that have been approved for weeks have been RFE re-examinations.

I hope they start back up soon..

Hi LexiandAnthony,

Congrats! Don't forget to update your timeline with your NOA2 date!

-cliff

Hi,

I assume we're talking about the I-129F fiance filing fee. I overnighted my application last Tuesday the 19th and I got an email Sunday night saying they had received it on the 20th (not sure if that's the same as NOA1 date). My check posted this Monday the 25th. It was for $340, so I assume that as far as the amount of the check, you are ok. I've seen no indication of a different fee in any material I read before filing the form.

-cliff