climo

Ok, my wife and I have completed all the documents for the IR-1 visa. Its at the NVC in Portsmouth, NH waiting for approval. Its been there about 1 week.

My wife informs me today that she has received the K-3 packet from Manila embassy. She already has an appointment set for her medical Aug 29 and the interview on Sept 5.

1. If we elect to use the K-3.........will I have to submit the new prices for the Adjustment of Status? It totals over 1000 dollars now.

2. OR should we go thru the K-3 process.....then the IR-1 process....just to get the IR-1 visa. This will save me from paying the Adjustment of Status fee of 1000 dollars.

I would like to have the IR-1 visa (to save on extra fees) but the K-3 is in the way.......What would VJ do?

I need some opinions on the best choice of action?????

Since she already have the packet for the K-3. Let her proceed with the medical and interview. If she passed, since she will be given 6 months leeway to go to the US, she can wait for the IR appointment. But since her inteview is on Spetmber 5 and hopefully by then, IR is already completed and forwarded to USEM, she can tell the CO during her interview about her IR-visa case. If they check and she also have a schedule for that, she maybe asked to come back for that schedule instead (there are some cases like that at USEM). If not, then all she have to do after receiving the K-3 visa is to wait for the IR-visa schedule -> go to the interview for the IR and give them her passport and they will change the K-3 to IR-1 visa. She don't have to get another medical for the IR since the medical is good for a year.

It would be better to wait for the IR. She will not have to adjust status when she get here in the US (fee is $1010 now). With IR, she only have to wait for her SSN and 10-year GC. Good lucj to both of you and God Bless!

Whoa! I like this idea!! I was thinking sort of the same since I read here on VJ someone interviewed for both visas and ended up with the IR-1. I did not know they could change a K-3 into a IR-1. So get the visa from a K-3 then interview a few months later for the IR-1. Once they see her K-3 visa they can/will change it into a IR-1?? This is good news!!

Ok so if your 129f is still at a service center, then there's no way the consulate knows about it.

This might be a wild guess, but perhaps the packet is for the IR1 interview.

I was so happy when she told me about it!!! Once she read off the Case Number.....I knew right away its for the K-3 and not the I-130.

MY signature timeline is not complete. My I-129F was sent to the Embassy back in May...and finally reached the embassy last week in July. So now the Embassy has my I-129F and the NVC has my I-130. Wish we could afford the AOS fee, she would be here in a few months using the K-3.

Contact the embassy, and reschedule.

http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwh3216.html

I updated my timeline....sorry for the confusion. I guess this is my best option. My I-130 has always taken the lead over the I-129F until now. My best guess is that my I-130 will be approved with a few weeks......hoping no RFE's.

I will have my wife call the Embassy and postpone the k-3 interview for as long as possible to allow the I-130 to catch up. Worst case is my wife arrives by year end instead of within 2 months. Why couldn't the fee increase come later in the year! Missed it by a few weeks....

I wonder what she received in the mail that they think is the K3 packet?

She received a Medical date (aug 29) and Interview date (sept 5) along with other papers. I will be in the Philippines in a few days so I can find out what they actually sent her.

My wife just received her K-3 packet in the mail today. Since most of you know the fees were increased this week and because of this we would like to postpone or delay her Medical and Interview date in favor of waiting for the I-130 to clear. We just sent the last documents for the I-130 to NVC last week. Hopefully we should know in a few weeks if approved.

What is the best way to postpone or delay the K-3......without hurting your chances when interviewing for the I-130? Do we email them and suggest postponement? Call? Looking for ideas here.

Yeah that's what I thought. All we needed was 2 weeks more....we would of made it before the price increase. Now, we have to wait for the I-130 to reach the embassy. That's ok since we want the I-130 anyway.

How should we tell Manila Embassy that we don't want the K-3 now? Postpone for the maximum amount and hope the I-130 catches up? I don't want to ruin our chances with the I-130 by canceling or not showing up for the K-3 process.

Ok, my wife and I have completed all the documents for the IR-1 visa. Its at the NVC in Portsmouth, NH waiting for approval. Its been there about 1 week.

My wife informs me today that she has received the K-3 packet from Manila embassy. She already has an appointment set for her medical Aug 29 and the interview on Sept 5.

1. If we elect to use the K-3.........will I have to submit the new prices for the Adjustment of Status? It totals over 1000 dollars now.

2. OR should we go thru the K-3 process.....then the IR-1 process....just to get the IR-1 visa. This will save me from paying the Adjustment of Status fee of 1000 dollars.

I would like to have the IR-1 visa (to save on extra fees) but the K-3 is in the way.......What would VJ do?

I need some opinions on the best choice of action?????

We are almost finished with the NVC using the I-130 that was approved back in March. I just sent my I-864 package and now waiting on the DS-230 to be generated. One more form then it gets shipped to the Embassy in Manila.

Now I receive this letter today (like a few other VJ'ers) from the NVC stating that in one week they will forward my approved I-129F petition to Manila for processing. Should I stop this from happening? We just want our I-130 to finish its course.

I don't want the I-129F to arrive at the Embassy before the I-130 gets completed. What happens if it does? Should I email them to stop the I-129F? Do I still need the I-129F for some reason or another?

What would Visa Journey do? (WWVJD)

Whoa!! I received the same letter today from the NVC. Talk about bulk mailing!! I think its a little late though. We're almost finished with NVC using the I-130. I just sent my I-864 and we're waiting for the DS-230. Good Luck!!

My I-130 was approved on March 8th but my I-129F is still pending over at CSC. I called the NVC on Wednesday and they have my I-130 with a case number assigned to it already. So I guess they are sending over the I-130's in favor of holding them. I was unaware of form I-824 at the time of filing.

I just called the NVC to check on my I-130 (to see if CSC actually sent it or not) and guess what??? :dance: My I-130 has a case number assigned to it!! :dance: I'm in shock since most of you guys had your I-130 held in favor of the I-129F. Still today my I-129F is still pending at CSC. I can't believe it!! I guess this sort of cancels out the I-129F right? Should I care about the I-129F at this point? I rather have the I-130.

I'm kinda hoping that my I-129F is not approved anytime soon.....this way maybe they will send my I-130 to the NVC. I will check with the NVC later this week to see if they received it.

I'm also curious about what other peoples I-130's form says.

I just received my NOA2 for my I-130 and on the form it says "We have sent the original visa petition to the Department of State National Visa Center Portsmouth, NH".

If I read this correctly...does this mean they sent my I-130 to NVC for processing? My I-129F is still at CSC waiting for approval. I read here on VJ that most recent filers had their I-130 retained in favor of the I-129F. I wonder if my I-130 will actually show up at the NVC in the next few weeks? Is this a general statement on all I-130's or should I start gathering necessary docs?

Does VJ have a guide or maybe a faq's entry on Taxes? I'm in the same situation about filing jointly with my spouse. It would be nice to know which forms may (or may not ) be necessary. Now I just learned that I need a notorized copy of her passport? Also form 2555? Can someone list all the items necessary to file jointly? Or point me in the right direction? I'm all confused on these forms.

Hey VJ'ers I have a question about my upcoming tax return. I'm ready to file my 2006 taxes but I'm not sure on whether to file separately or jointly. We're in the process of her K-3 and I've heard its better to file jointly then separately. Not sure why. I have a power of attorney letter from my spouse just in case. Also should I fill out the W-7 form to get her a temp ssn or just wait for AOS? We were married in Sept 2006.

I'm going to HR block by the way. I hope they understand my situation of a spouse with no ssn. Can someone enlighten me on this tax issue? thanks

I agree that the USC is generally the best choice for agent.

The beneficiary can prepare and sign documents ahead of time and send them to the USC to be ready to mail out when the NVC wants them, it will save a lot of time.

If your friend is not familiar with the shortcuts, I recommend reviewing James' Shortcuts in the pinned NVC Timesavers thread at the top of this forum, and also the NVC Flowchart in the guides.

I was wondering about the same question. I thought about having the NVC send all the docs to my spouse to cut time but the most efficient way was to elect myself (petitioner) as agent. I already informed her of all the necessary docs and I should have them in a few days. Just put the date and off it goes. Hoping to save as much time as possible.

I filed mines on 2/26/2007.

Concerning the I-130 form... I used the one that expired on 01/31/07 which did not have the extra proof requirement attached to part 7. Since no question was asked no extra proof was sent. Hopefully no RFE. Checking my NOA1 it was recieved on 01/11/07 so we barely made it on the time frame.

I-129F was sent on jan. 30 and the NOA1 was sent back on Feb. 5th. Now is has been transferred to CSC. Both checks have cleared. Still waiting for the I-130 to get touched.

Historically in the past K-3 petitions were processed by the National Benefits Center (NBC) in Missouri, recent procedure changes by the USCIS now has CSC & VSC doing K-3 petitions. You file your petition to the Chicago address, they will forward that petition to NBC and then based on where you live or whatever decision criteria is in place your petition could be further transferred to either of the other two service centers. A convoluted way to do business but that is our government.

I concur. I just received an email from CRIS stating they (chicago) were transferring my I-129F to the office here in california where I live. At first I though something was wrong since they did not forward it to NBC. After some searching I found this is the norm for now at least. I read here on VJ they do this so both the I-130 and I-129F can be approved at the same time. One office now holds both docs instead of two independent offices. Just checked my bank...both checks have cleared. So far so good.