Ron4

The current times from your NOA2 is your wait for it to arrive in the NVC usually about 10 days to 2 weeks and from there to the Consulate in Bogota, about a week and from there to schedule your interview which is usually about 3 weeks out although you may get lucky and find an available date earlier.

Rest easy and be patient, after the wait for the NOA2 it seems like the rest really flies by.

Then yes, you file an I-130 for your step-son since you married before he turned 18. It will be about a year, give or take, before he receives his visa.

How old was your step-daughter on the day you married? If she was under 18 on that day then you can file for her too. If she was 18 or over then your wife will need to petition her instead, and the daughter would need to wait until her priority date became current before she could obtain a visa. She is likely to age out before F2A became current, meaning she would be bumped down to F2B. She would have to wait about 7 years for her priority date to become current.

If you file for your step-daughter then it will be a much shorter wait. The problem will be your step-daughter's newborn child. If you are able to petition your step-daughter then she would need to leave her child (when it's born) behind, become an LPR, and then petition her own child. If your step-daughter cannot be petitioned by you and is instead petitioned by your wife then your step-daughter can include her own child as a derivative of her application and they could both immigrate together. Given the derivative issue, you may wish to do this anyway so that your step-daughter and her child can immigrate simultaneously.

There are positives and negatives both ways.

Yes, unfortunately I cannot file for her as she was over 18 when we married, I don't like the 7 year thing but what ya gonna do

Thank you all very much for your help, this sight and all the wonderful people on it really helped in the K1 process and continue to be a huge help as we try to get our family together.

Thank You All!

I see the current posted processing time for I-130 for resident petitioning for son or daughter under 21 is 5 months. Will her turning 21 during this time ruin everything or as long as we are to a certain point in the process it will be fine?

First, did either of the children receive conditional green cards? If so, what did you do with them?

The AOS was never filed for either of them so no green card of any type was held by either.

Also, I am seeing instructions for USC to petition step child, and for LPR to petition child. Which one should we use or can we petition as a couple?

Please try and bear with me on this one, without too much judgement and name calling.

I brought my (now) wife here in November of 2012 on a Fiance visa and her 2 children came also one with us and another followed. We are now married and my wife has LPR. Last fall the children became disenchanted and begged to go back to Colombia, we fought it but finally my wife grew tired of their griping and let them go back.

As I warned them would happen they now realize they have made a mistake, and wish to return to the US. My step son is 16 and I think I understand the process to petition him (I130). When it comes to my step daughter it get a little more sketchy, okay a lot more sketchy. First of all she is 20 and will turn 21 in November. And if that is not enough, soon after she returned to Colombia she became pregnant and is due in September.

Is it possible to petition them both? What route do I need to take?

Thank You for any help.

Make sure you send in the intent to marry letters from BOTH of you or you risk another RFE.

And yes 6 months is just starting.

My Fiance and her two children came on a K-1 visa, we got married within 90 days and then started saving for AOS. We have filed my wifes and were saving up for the two kids.

Now they want to go back to their home country and and stay with their father. Please don't go into all the reasons why or why not and if it's a good idea or not, believe me we have gone over that many times.

My concern is that they will get there and eventually want to come back.

Will their leaving before AOS get them a ban on applying for another visa? Or another problem that I haven't thought of or heard about?

Thanks

My son is not a USC. You misread, I (we) own NO property in the U.S., only in Colombia. I know she is not entitled to anything. Yes, my ineffective politicians can help, by sending congressional inquiries to the embassy in Bogota. They are representing me and my needs.

This is not unexpected, as over the years, Bogota has shown to be completely inconsistent. You can take all the documentation in the world, if it is never looked at, it is of no help.

Thank you for your replies.

Actually your Politicians may not be helping as much as hurting.

You say you are a permanent resident of Colombia but you have a US senator write to the embassy, asking for help from a US politician would be seen as a tie to the US.

It says they should plan on 4 days to determine if x-rays are needed. Even if they are not needed it says you need the 4 days. I don't know anyone that has needed them but I would hate for you to schedule it tight and not have the results for your interview.

Call to schedule your lab and doctor and ask them about the getting xrays anyway to have so you don't need to wait. On the other hand the x-rays may be more expensive than a couple extra hotel nights.

Mi esposa y yo (era mi prometida y vino de visa K) somos de mas diferencia que ustedes y ni preguntaron nada de eso. No se preocupan, no es gran cosa.

Actually that is only partly true, The packet is included in the email but because there is no mail system to speak of in Colombia (ie it blows) they do not send a hard copy.

The instructions of everything you need is in the one sent with the email. A list of what needs to be done before interview, what needs to be brought to the interview, contact info for doctors etc. They attach a copy in spanish and one in english. If you look at the small print on the bottom it says Instruction Package -K visas (packet 3&4)

I know you have seen it because it also has the instructions for how to schedule the interview. But if you don't still have access here is a link to the english copy

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/colombia/231771/PDFs/IVPkt3-4Instforinterviewmedicalexam_Nov12_.pdf

From what I know it varies from state to state, I know that here you can get your drivers license without a SSN

hey ron do you now if only K1 visa appicant are able to schedule their own appointment or does as i130 applicant can do that also?

also who did you call that was able to tell you that they have available appointments after august20?

Well I have not done it for I-130 but from the website it looks like most of the immigrant visa types are set your own.

I sent them an email letting them know that the system was not accepting my MRV number and they sent me an answer with a number to call

She is right you do not need a SSN for a bank account, but you may run into problems with your insurance if you add her to your health insurance, so I would go ahead and get one, then she will have it all done before she needs it to work or something else.

As soon as the embassy receives your paper work they will email your case number to the email they have on file. At that point you or she can log on to the website and create an account pay the MRV fee and schedule the appointment. On the website this morning it said the soonest was 45 days out but I talked to them this morning and they have available as soon as Aug 20th.

After the interview it takes about 4-5 days to get the visa. But that is for picking it up in Bogota. If she lives in another city add a couple more days to that.

Part 7 is where you list your assets if your income is not sufficient to cover the income requirments.

If your income is sufficient then part 7 does not need to be filled out although I would put N/A in the spaces rather than leave them blank.

If your income is not enough and you need to use assets, so fill in the apprpriate spots with the assets and include your proof ie bank statements etc.

Morning everybody.

I'm filing for my citizenship by myself instead of asking my lawyer to do so to save me some $$. But I got stuck with few questions that I would love to have some clarifications from you guys.

- I'm a flight attendant which basically mean I'm almost all the time outside the States for work, technically I don't have a way to know the number of days I spent outside the country in the last 5 years. What should I do in your opinion? Is there anybody that had the same issue or knows someone with the same situation?

- Part 9: how many sons and daughters have you had? : should I put the step childs in that category or not? technically I didn't have them.

- Part 10 : Continuous residence : have u ever called urself Non Resident on a federal, state or local tax return? : Well I did that, everyone that lives and works in 2 neighbors states have had done that before. if you live in NJ and you work in NY, you have to declare urself nonresident of NY as far as my understanding. the main question here, will that be a bad point in the "continuous residence" ?

I called USCIS but they said they can't provide general informations about the form !!

I'm trying to do this by myself to avoid paying some money to my lawyer, but it seems a bad idea

Thank you guys and good luck for those who's cases are pending.

The question about residency is referring to US residency, have you ever declared yourself an non-USA resident on a federal state or local tax return.

If you adopted the step children you must declare them.

Yeah, go ahead and give me some names and ill check them out. Thank you for the help!

Okay, as I said before I stayed at the Radel Bogota and it was a great price (130000 for the two of us) very clean and breakfast included, ask for the room with a balcony. Their website is http://www.hotelradelbogota.mex.tl/frameset.php?url=/photo_395587_HOTEL-RADEL-BOGOTA-.html They have also had people at the airport trying to get you to go there everytime I have gone, I have arrived later in the evening

Since the embassy is right there and a few blocks away is the feria or convention center there are a lot of nearby hotels. I have walked past, Hotel Estelar de la Feria, Hotel San Rafael, Hotel Platinum Suite, Hotel Boutique de la Feria, Hotel la Esperanza and Hotel Altos de la Embajada. These are all close to the embassy from across the street to a couple blocks away and vary from large hotels to almost B&B style.

Also close by but I don't remember seeing them are, Corferias Inn, Capital, Hotel Suites el Recuerdo, Hotel Ferrovial, Hotel Casa Fortel, and Hotel Charlotte Plaza 26.

Since you are probably familiar with Colombia I don't need to tell you that there are always a lot of small eateries close by, we always slept late and only had the breakfast at the hotel once, about a half a block away right on La Esperanza there is a big bakery with a restaurant upstairs, good food . cheap lots of fresh juices and I had the huevos rancheros two different mornings yumm.

There is also a very large mall about 5-6 blocks down from the embassy called Gran Estacion. I was planning on going there when we left from our interview to hav a celebratory lunch, but we got out so fast it wasn't even open yet, hope you have the same luck!

Speaking of eating and the embassy....there is actually a coffee shop inside the embassy so you can get something while you are waiting.

Good Luck and I hope it is smooth sailing!!!!! (and to aws &ndd too, I really enjoyed chatting with the other fiance visa interviewees while we waited)

Case was completed yesterday with NVC on 10-11-12 and today received an email, attached was the appointment letter for the interview date of 11-13-12 at 12:30PM in Bogota. Does anybody have any pointers on what to expect on my interview date at the embassy? What extra paperwork to bring? Suggestions where to stay in Bogota?

Thank you all I would appreciate any suggestions.

I won't be much help on extra paperwork as I had a different visa, but there are several hotels near the embassy. I have stayed at the Radel Bogota and found it very clean friendly and a good bargain, and it is a half a block from the embassy on a nice quiet street but one street over is a major street where it is easy to get a taxi. There are several others nearby, they look nice but I have not stayed in them. I can give you names if you want.

If you want to stay closer to something else ie: downtown or the zona rosa there are lots of hotels in those areas as well.

ou, the American citizen, must file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, for your spouse with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

USCIS will send you a receipt notice (Form I-797).You then file Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancé(e), for your spouse with USCIS. If your spouse is planning to bring his/her unmarried children under 21 years of age to the United States in K-4 status, you must name the children in the I-129F petition.

If USCIS approves your I-129F, it will send the petition to National Visa Center (NVC).

After initial processing, NVC sends the I-129F petition to a U.S. embassy or consulate in the country where your marriage took place.f your marriage took place in the U.S., NVC will send the petition to the embassy or consulate in the country where your spouse will be applying for the K3 visa. This is usually the country of his/her nationality, but could be another country if there is no US embassy or consulate in that country, or there is one but the post doesn't issue visas.

After receiving the I-129F petition, the embassy or consulate will notify your spouse, with instructions regarding medical examinations, visa interview and supporting documents (proof of marriage, financial support, etc.)

Your spouse must attend the visa interview, and if all goes well, will receive K-3 visa on his/her passport.

that's what am talking about i hope you do understand me as well right now thank you so very much keep in touch please

The K-3 Visa is an old visa that they do not use anymore, these are the instructions for the K-3 but it is no longer in use! Do not follow these instructions please please please follow the instructions for the I-130

You need to put all the addresses where you have lived at anytime during the last 5 years. Then in the next box it asks for the last place you lived outside of the US if you lived there for more than one year. If you visited your home country it does not count as living there unless you gave up your residence in US or were there longer than a year.

So put the addresses where you have lived for the last five years and then the last address outside the US where you were for more than one year even if it is the same as one of the ones where you have been for the last 5 years. Or if it was more than five years ago that you lived outside the US put the last address.

Hello, I have read somewhere that to travel to the Philippines without a visa a person must have a roundtrip airline ticket. I will be going to Manila in either November or December hopefully to attend the USEM interview with my fiancee. I am planning on waiting for the visa and returning with her to the states. So I would need to book a one way ticket only to Manila then book us both one way tickets back after obtaining the visa. Am I confused on the roundtrip requirement to enter without a visa? Thanks for any reply

Buy a ticket that you can change the date on, book it for a return as far in the future as travel rules for Phillipines will allow and then change the date when you find out when you are leaving. Tickets that are changeable cost more but not as much as 2 one way tickets. Then when it is time to leave you have your ticket and just buy a one way for her.

Ok, I'm sorry if this has been asked already. I've been through the site so many times and cannot find a definite answer. So, here's the story...

We got all the docs together for the petition and I mailed to Texas on July 9th. On July 10th we got the NOA1 and we were trying to be very pro-active so we started research on what things may be asked at the interview and what he will need to bring - think we're ok here. We got our NOA2 on Sept. 21st (YAAAAAY!!!) and on Oct. 2nd I talked to the NVC and they'd already sent off the approved petition to the US Embassy London.

Now for my questions...

**How long should he wait before filing the DS-156 (x2), DS-157 (x2) & DS-230? Also, does he have to file form DS-156K? (I know DS-2001 doesn't go out until we're sure we've got all of our "ducks in a row" so no worries there)

**Since we have the LND and A #'s can he can go ahead and schedule his medical at Knightsbridge before filing the forms? He's already getting the injection records from his GP.

**I will be sending my support documents (bank statements, tax transcripts for last year and current pay stubs) to him next week. I have read these are only needed at the interview so no rush really... Is that correct?

We just want to be sure we're doing everything in the right order on this side of things so we can minimize any possible delays or issues. I'm back in London to visit in November and we'd really like it if he was able to come back with me (early Christmas present maybe? ).

Thanks so much for any and all help! This site has been a HUGE asset for me during this whole process!

~Mandy~

There should be info on this on the embassy website, while all similar it does vary a little. I know at ours we did not file before but we took the DS 156 DS 156K and DS 230 to the interview and had to sign them there in front of them, but did not need a DS 157

On the London Embassy page here, it says some can be signed and some not, Have you received the letter 3 from Embassy yet? All should be answered there, or you can link from here to the embassy website to see if there is a copy of instructions there.

This is another one of my pet peeves on VJ.

K1 doesn't require vaccinations. You can get vaccinated here in the US for AOS.

My insurance comapny promoted vaccinations because they want a healthy customer base. People have reproted fees as low as $60 for stateside penal exam.

It's not all about saving money but priortizing to dos.

It has turned into a peeve for me also, because as you have pointed out numerous times...K-1 does not require vaccinations, but what do you do when the examining doctor and the embassy say you need them or they will deny the visa. This is what happened to us and we spent an extra several hundred dollars going back and forth between doctor and embassy trying to get them to follow what the USCIS guidelines are. But it ended up being vaccines or no visa.