cristi1231

Hi everyone! turns out when my MIL came to the country and they questioned her, she gave our new address (a miracle she remembered!). And they told her that's not what they have on file (she says they were trying to intimidate her haha)
 
But she held her ground and stated that her son recently moved. So they wrote down the address, and we got her new Social Security Card a couple weeks ago in the mail to our new home!
Still waiting on the Green Card though. It's been 4 weeks now, is this normal? We did pay the immigration fee like 1 day after she came in (I know we were supposed to do it before, that was our bad).

It definitely varies like everyone is saying, but I have seen rare occasions of visa processes going more than a year. We applied August 2 of this year, 2013, and in my head I have August 15 of 2014 is a wonderful wedding date.
So I'm planning what I can around that. I havent booked or bought anything excepted my wedding dress.
Back in September after a month of sending our petition I was definitely freaking out wondering if I would be one of those rare cases that would take more than a year. I kept telling myself that I WOULD be the one to get that back luck haha.
But our petition has been being processed unsually fast!
So what I did is I researched. Look into several different locations, ask them what their cancelation policies are or what their policies are on moving the date. Most venues are ok with that with no fee as long as it's a date that they aren't booked. If you ever have to re-book and it's more than the 3 months allowance, you can always get married in court and do the religious when they are available!
I figured, if you're going to spend the money anyways, it's okay to book when you're 90% sure if they'll allow you to move the date with no fee as needed.
For wedding invites, I'm designing them and I just won't send them until my fiance is here with me with two months in advance. We just won't do save the dates to be cautious. probably just tell close friends and family by word of mouth to "save the month".
In the meantime I'm all about do-it-yourself so I can start with decorations and store them at home, especially if I go with fake flowers.
There's so much you can do while you wait without actually committing to a date. Definitely set a goal at least a year from now for you and your fiance and pray the process goes smoothly.
Like I said it's been going so smooth for us, in 3 months, our petition is already at the embassy and all we are waiting for is for my fiance to set up his interview date. Personally I'm going to start making final plans once we have an interview date. I already feel comfortable enough with the venues I have and the people I'm working with to trust them enough to accomodate me.
But like everyone is saying, it will vary and don't do anything if you're not so sure or comfortable. That's just all what's working for me so far. Take it a step at a time and after you send your petition, the best thing you can do is research! Especially before you get your NOA2 and you have to start researching the next step for that, get wedding research out of the way as soon as you can so you won't go insane

CONGRATS!!!

- Start gathering everything required for affidavit 130.
- Make sure you meet 125% of the poverty line in what you make yearly. You can google 2013 poverty line, and just do the math. It's about 19,000.
- Figure out how much you have in checking and savings, bonds, life insurance and property you own.
- passport pics of both of you, more evidence (what you sent in the petition and new stuff), letter of intent to marry, letter from the bank with your account info, letter form your employer, tax returns of past two years (i was told Peru specifically asks for this. http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Order-a-Transcript), tax w2s of past two years, birth certificate (I'm bringing both of ours just in case originals and copies), Your NOA2, your NVC letter, last 3 paystubs.
Sorry if I'm forgetting anything. A lot of these are not required, but wouldn't hurt to bring. Check out these links:
Scroll down to the "once approved" area
http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide
Info on support items for the affidavit:
http://www.visajourney.com/content/support
And then I stalked other VJ-ers to see what they brought just in case
What your fiance can do is make sure he understands everything he will have to do off the checklist they send him (I can get that to you) and make sure he has info of the two doctor's in Peru that are approved by the emassy for physicals (I can get that to you too!).
He can make sure his passport is good and not expiring soon, make sure he has passport photos and his birth certificate, and evidence he has of your relationship on his end.
He can't do as much until the embassy receives it but he can definitely be mentally ready to jump on the process!

Let me get this straight..
1. You came here on a K-1.
2. You never got married.
3. You are no longer with your petitioner.
4. You have now married a new woman.
Right?
You basically screwed yourself over when you called off the wedding and didn't go back home. If you enter on a K-1, you can only adjust status based on marriage to the person who petitioned your K-1. If you don't get married and adjust status within 90 days, you are unlawfully present on day 91. Chances are by now you have either a 3 year bar, or a 10 year bar if you've been here more than a year past your 90 day period.
You do not have a green card. A K-1 does not give you a green card as soon as you're in the US! You receive a green card once you get married to the petitioner, and then file for adjustment of status. The entire point of a K-1 is for you to come to the US, get married to your fiance(e) within 90 days, or leave.
Your new wife cannot petition anything for you while you're still in the US. Your only option now is to leave the US and hope you got a 3 year bar and not a 10 year bar.

There are a lot more issues involved than you probably realize, but let's try to keep this simple. There's no need to make it complex at this point, because your questions actually have easy answers.
If your fiance wires money to you, there is no harm, no foul. It's his money and he can do with it what he wants. If the amount is more than $10,000 or if the circumstances seem suspicious to the Bank, they will notify the IRS of the transfer as required, but this is NO BIG DEAL. It happens all the time.
After your fiance is in the US, and transfers the rest of his savings, it's the same result. If the amount exceeds the $10,000 threshold or otherwise appears suspicious, the Bank will notify the IRS. Again, NO BIG DEAL.
It makes no difference that he transferred some to one account, and the rest to another account. It's his money to do with as he wishes.
Now, here's where it gets a bit tricky. Let's assume you marry before the end of 2013. That means you can file jointly for your 2013 US income tax return, if you wish to do so. But, depending on how much money/wealth your fiance has outside of the US, or transfers to the US, you may not want to file jointly the first year. It is way beyond the scope of what I can discuss here on this forum, and there's no way I can cover all the potential variables.
At tax return time is when you will need to determine what should be reported and how it should be treated for US income tax purposes. But in general, money that he earned before moving to the US is not taxable by the US. My recommendation when you get to this point is to seek a competent tax advisor (Attorney, CPA or Enrolled Agent) for help in preparing your tax return that covers the first year of being married. Subsequent years should be quite simple.
In lieu of talking to a tax advisor, you may want to review IRS publications yourself for some guidance. Start with IRS Publication 519 (the link is the 2012 edition, but it has a lot of good information).
There's an individual who keeps posting about the $10,000 threshold. While it does exist, you have nothing to worry about as long as your fiance earned his money through legal means. Don't stress out over this because it's just standard operating procedure for the banks. This is only ever an issue if money is obtained through illegal activity which I am happy to assume you and your fiance have no involvement with.
While I cannot provide specific tax advice to you in a forum such as this, nor can I disclose my employer, let me just say this: I have been a tax advisor for the past 23 years, working for one of the 4 largest international accounting firms. And, my fiancee just arrived here on a K-1 visa yesterday, so I'm dealing with exactly the same issues you are asking about.