hearsay

Thanks @Redro

😢

I filed the I-130 electronically. I received a notice last week that said my case estimated wait time is "12 months."

Did you receive something similar? Was the end result accurate? For example, if yours said 12 months did you receive your visa within 12 months or was it a shorter or longer wait?

Thanks for sharing!

My reputation score says "1" jaja

How do I increase my reputation score?

thanks!

Additional Proof of Marriage includes the following:

Quote

- affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital relationship. each affidavit must contain the full name and address of the person making the affidavit; date and place of birth of the person making the affidavit; and complete information and details explaining how the person acquired his or her knowledge of your marriage.

I was wondering if someone could give me a template. I realize it needs to be personalized but I'm just looking for a general format.

thank you to the both of you!

@Mike E

@Crazy Cat

Yes, I know the answer to this ridiculous question but I've determined to find people to tell me how obvious the answer is anyway. 

Filling out the petition for 130. Instructions say verbatim: "if your documents are in a foreign language, upload a full English translation and the translator's certification with each original document."

I speak Spanish fluently but I'm not an "official" translator. I would like to translate the document and provide a signed document that says something like "I'm not an official translator but I speak and write Spanish fluently and have translated this document from Spanish to English."

What do you think? It will work? or better to find an official translator?

15 hours ago, sandranj said:

You must go to to the sugar loaf.The view from there is astonishing.If you  will be in Copacabana then  walk 20min to see the  Ipanema Beach.

thank you! We returned from Rio a few weeks ago and loved it. Literally the only thing we didn't do was sugar loaf which was directly in front of our hotel. We just kept saying we have the views from the top of our hotel and spent time doing other things but I imagine the top of sugar loaf is amazing. 

With your experience in rio if you only had four days what would you do? What would your list of activities look like? We are simple so Christ the redeemer and the beach might be all we need but hoping to plan a perfect trip. Thanks for your help. 

What career would you rather have from the following choices?

Thanks for the responses. I think you just made the decision really easy for us!

130 it is!

general waiver is for someone who has filed a petition in the past?

Can you tell me which is better to file. Here is my situation:

I am living in Colombia with my fiance. I don't plan on returning to the United States until she receives a visa. If she doesn't receive a visa then we will stay in Colombia.

Last night I started filling out the 129f but wondered if it might be better to fill out the 130. Plus, I like that we can file the 130 online. We can get married now while living in Colombia and then could file the 130. But it really comes down to which route would allow us to travel to the USA quicker.

So which is better?

Thanks

But to visit you need a tourist visa? Or you just show up in the United States showing proof your applies for the K1?

I just learned this morning that K1 visas take about a year to process and the same timeline is for petitioning a family member. 
 

We haven’t decided if we want to get married in her home country or in the United States. 
 

I’m a U.S. citizen she is from Colombia. 
 

We want to visit my family this summer or fall but the wait times seem to make it impossible. 
 

When can she visit? We must wait until the K1 interview? If she can visit while the application is filed does she receive some type of document to show the immigration officer after landing in the United States?

As far as actually getting married we were thinking this November but the K1 could push that back. It’s amazing how we have to plan our lives around the immigration laws of the United States. 
 

I just want her to meet my family in person. 

that's a really good idea. Yes, we own real estate and have work contracts. I like the idea of visiting other countries as tourists. I guess the best we can do is apply and hope. 

ty - this is what I was thinking too. It seems like the best we can hope for is to reapply for the B2 and explain our circumstances to the immigration officer and hope for the best.

I am a US citizen. My fiancé is a Colombia citizen. We live and work in Colombia. We have no intentions of moving to the United States as we both love living near our families here in Colombia. We simply would like to visit the United States for 1-2 weeks.

The issue:

My fiancé applied for a tourist visa 2 years ago but was denied saying she had no ties to prevent her from staying in the USA. Which is not the reality because she genuinely wants to live and work in Colombia and live near her family. 

K1 = This visa says we must get married and live in the USA (but again, we just want to visit)

IR1/CR1 = Even if we get married in Colombia this visa is still for the purpose of living in the USA and I would be afraid they would revoke the visa if we simply visit for 2 weeks and return to Colombia. Then they may never allow her to return to the USA. This would be the worst case scenario for us.

B2 = but the issue is that she was previously denied, the only difference is that she is now my fiancé. I'm almost certain they would review the previous denial and reject again.

I'm positive that there are many people in our situation. Simply wanting to visit the USA and not live there. I realize that would be the tourist visa but with a prior denial aren't the chances very low that they will deny her again? Maybe simply showing proof of our relationship, jobs, and support while in the USA would change the outcome during this visa interview? 

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully someone with prior experience can help answer this question for us.

Right after I posted this I saw that my signature is where I kept my timeline up-to-date, somewhat... I'm proud of my past self 

I went through the visa process back in 2005 just after marrying my beautiful Colombian wife (still just as beautiful to this day and we are still happily married with four children (2 boys and 2 girls). Every once in awhile I stop in at VisaJourney simply to browse the forums and my timeline. Every time I do this I wish I would have maintained better records of the timeline and of my paperwork. I did not use a lawyer and completed the entire process from visa to citizenship with the help of this wonderful site. There was one person in particular who answered some of my questions so perfectly and she even sent me private messages on how to organize my documents. I am so grateful to whoever that was and the many others who contributed to the success of our visa journey. We are ever so grateful to this wonderful forum and the kind and generous people on it...

Till next time....

Ok, ok, you win.

Most people on here probably did not use a lawyer since this a DIY site.

however whether to use one or not is up to the person and in some cases it might be better to use one but for simple straight forward cases (that is the majority of cases) a lawyer is not needed.

Many posts on this site are from those who have hired a lawyer. Read the first page of this forum for instance.

i.e. "We love our lawyer"

I would never label this site as a DIY -

If I had to hire a lawyer I would still use this site just to see if other that have been through the same experience can shed light on the situation, for example.

I hope everyone takes a look at this topic. I feel, especially with forums such as VJ, that a lawyer is highly unnecessary. Yes, there are some circumstance that warrant an attorney, but you can do it. I feel that if I would have hired a lawyer I would have had to correct and monitor their every move making it ten times more stressful.

The process is doable by anyone who completed 6th grade.