sandgoose

Thanks everyone for the kind words. The process is not easy for anyone. I was lucky because I was able to go to Korea every 2 or 3 months to visit her during the process. Her job did not allow her to take vacation. Anyway, no worries anymore.

For us - at the South Korean consulate - we did not need to wait. They sent her and I an email with the forms to fill out. They were just links to the PDF's. So we just turned in the ones we filled out previously. It worked fine for us in Korea. I don't know the system in your country, but I don't see it bein different in this regard. Go ahead and do it. Worse case is you just have to fill out a different form with the same info when it comes time. The thing you need to do is work on gettin all the supplemental documents done and translated.

Mark and Anna,

One thing I'd recommend from my experience may help you out. I'm not sure about the address system in the Ukrain, but I'm assuming that the addresses are much longer and drawn out (similar to those of South Korea- where my fiance is from). Anyway, long story short- if my memory serves me correct - the DS 230 requires all addresses since the age of 16. It takes quite a while to gather all of those addresses and get them translated. It doesn't take 4 or 5 months (the time you'll probably wait for NOA), but it does take a while and could save you a big headache later. You might want to put together a MS Word document for address and set that aside for a while. Just my advice. - Andrew

My fiance's K1 visa was approved last week in South Korea!

I went to Seoul in January and we prepared the medical exam, scheduled the interview, and got all of the paperwork translated together. We also scheduled her interview for April 4th.

She came to visit for the whole month of March. No problem on entry by the way. We went to my hometown to introduce her to my parents (who loved her!).

She got to the consulate at 7:30 A.M. and I heard from her via text again in about 2 hours time. Apparently the actual non-waiting time was about one hour. The interviewer asked her if she preferred to speak Korean or English, so the interview was conducted in Korean. Questions were very similar to those we've all seen here: how did you meet, did you meet his parents, what's your plan after marriage, when will you leave? The only tricky question was "do you plan to have a wedding here?" I'm not sure if this was set up as a trick or not. Apparently the interviewer was extremely kind and actually said he was impressed by our application packet. But he did ask the question. So my fiance answered properly, "No, we will have a wedding in the US".

One thing I want to recommend to VJ members - I'm sure you've all seen those photo book websites like shutterfly.com or others? Those books make great evidence and it's very easy to handle as opposed to a loose packet of photos. Just an idea. We had three books which she presented to the interviewer. Apparently he said, "You look like a perfect couple. Your visa will arrive in a few days."

She scared the living ####### out of me after the interview. The first thing I received from her was "여보 ... ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ" which is like ... "honey... (crying / sad emotion)". So I was so. scared. I knew I had prepared everything well, so I called her immediately- not even on an app... an actually extremely high priced phone call. She was just teasing me though, and all was completely fine. Phew!

Anyway, if anyone has any questions about the South Korean process - please feel free to contact me at any time.

Hey Ryan,

I'm in a bit of a similar situation. We filed in early July through the Vermont center. We finally received our NOA2 yesterday! (About 5 1/2 months)

Anyway, we have also made wedding plans and such, but ours have a bit more leeway than yours I believe. We are looking at a June 1 reservation in my hometown in NW Arkansas. So that gives us nearly 10 months to comfortably receive the visa.

My fiance is in South Korea, and she's going to come and visit in March for a few weeks to meet my parents. SK is a visa waiver country, and I'm not expecting any difficulty with her getting into the country as she has visited before and has ties to work which we can prove if needed. Our plan is that we will get all of the prep done for the visa filing in Korea before she comes here and arrange an interview date for April when she returns to Seoul. Then we are planning to do a small traditional engagement ceremony in Seoul for her extended family and my immediate family will also attend. Then after all of that they will all travel to the US to attend the wedding in my hometown. Does that all make sense?

I was getting nervous until I heard the news yesterday that we got approved. It's funny, because I called for expedition 10 days before I was approved and received the rejection letter for expedited service... 2 days before approval. That process is long and arduous because you won't here anything until you are approved or if they require more information.

Anyway man, we are both kind of taking a gamble with dates. I did a lot of research on here after we applied and decided that giving ourselves 10 months would probably be enough time. This would allow for delays in the process or any additional request that would be made. Now that the longest and hardest thing is out of the way I don't worry about too much else. I've heard a lot of people here say that doing a ceremony in the foreign country is not a good idea, but ours - in all likelihood - will take place after the visa is in hand, so I don't have many fears about it.

Sorry, this isn't really advice... but we're in the same boat so I thought I'd share. Best of luck to us both man.

Hi Charles, Just wondering about the conclusion of this as I am currently in the same exact situation with my fiance. We received NOA2 today, and we are planning a wedding in the states on June 1. Hoping to have a simple engagement party (Korean ceremony) in Korea in early May- hopefully after she has the visa in hand. Like you said- nothing official. So I was just wondering what you did in the end, and how things worked out? Thanks.

Yeah I understand exactly what you are all saying, and I'm not trying to sound rude in my responses. If things go as planned she will have her visa in hand beforehand. Like I said, it won't be an official ceremony but more of an engagement event. Giving her whole extended family an opportunity to meet mine. But as I have read all of your advice, there will be no mention of anything about this to the consulate (not that we were planning to).

Hi everyone! I applied on July 11 and I received my NOA2 today! Just hold out a little longer everyone!

I have been calling them everyday for the past few days to nag a bit. Not sure if this helped or not, but I'm just letting you all know.

There shouldn't be any issue. It's simply a ceremony for her family. There will be nothing official records signed or changes of maritial statuses. And anyway, by that time she should have the visa. I'm simply wondering about the interview scheduling procedure in Korea for the K1 visa.

I'm sorry, I should have clarified. We are only doing a wedding ceremony in May, but nothing official.

Upon arrival in the US in May (after receiving the visa) we will get married officially.

I've got a question concerning the interview scheduling for the K1. I'll try to provide some info to hopefully explain the question clearly. Today- Dec. 19- we received our NOA2! We filed in early July, and have weddings planned for mid-May (in Korea) and June in the US in 2013. Timing shouldn't be an issue.

Now comes my question- my fiance is going to come to visit me in the US basically for the whole month of March. She lives at home now with her mom, so any mail which gets sent to her home can be conveyed to us VIA momma.

I'm expecting that she will probably be contacted by the embassy before she comes here in March. Obviously, she can't go in for her interview before she comes in March, because we are getting married in Korea on May.

So the question- I've seen others above who noted that interview dates can be arranged online for the embassy in South Korea, but for other visa types. Is this the same for K1 filers? Ideally she would make an appointment for interview within the first week or so of returning back to Seoul in March.

BTW.. this is my first post in VJ. Any advice or tips pertaining to the US embassy there would be greatly appreciated. I lived in Korea for a few years as a student and worked in a company. Now I live in New York and I work in the Korean Consulate here. Just trying to get her here legally!

Thanks again everyone!

I've got a question concerning the interview scheduling for the K1 (129F). I'll try to provide some info to hopefully explain the question clearly. Today- Dec. 19- we received our NOA2! We filed in early July, and have weddings planned for mid-May (in Korea) and June in the US in 2013. Timing shouldn't be an issue.

Now comes my question- my fiance is going to come to visit me in the US basically for the whole month of March. She lives at home now with her mom, so any mail which gets sent to her home can be conveyed to us VIA momma.

I'm expecting that she will probably be contacted by the embassy before she comes here in March. Obviously, she can't go in for her interview before she comes in March, because we are getting married in Korea on May.

So the question- I've seen others above who noted that interview dates can be arranged online. Is this the same for K1 filers? Ideally she would make an appointment for interview within the first week or so of returning back to Seoul.

BTW.. this is my first post in VJ. Any advice or tips pertaining to the US embassy there would be greatly appreciated. I lived in Korea for a few years as a student and worked in a company. Now I live in New York and I work in the Korean Consulate here. Just trying to get her here legally!

Thanks again everyone!