ALIENRJ187

We just went to and from Hawaii (Oahu) with her ID (coming back on 12/24). No immigration documents were needed. The TSA doesn't even blink an eye. No problems. In fact, my wife has flown with me 3 times now domestically, and we have never had 1 second of a problem.

Also, I am TSA-pre screened. Because I bought her ticket with mine, she also gets the TSA-pre clearance and goes with me through the TSA pre-screen line.

(First 2 times she was on a K-1/I94; last time she had an AOS on file but no green card yet. But again, they never checked this.)

Thanks for the heads up everyone. I think we will be fine but we will bring copies of the I-94, marriage certificate, ID and the kitchen sink as backup just in case too. It seems like it should be fine and we are booking the trip tonight after I transfer some funds around. We are planning on Oahu as well, any little known points of interest worth seeing?

No she does not. She just needs government issued ID. She has state ID and that's all that's needed to travel domestically.

Legally she should carry her green card (not a copy) after it's issued. Many people don't however, because they have state ID and the green card is expensive to replace.

This is what I was thinking, I'm just being extra concerned because I don't want anything to happen in the airport. Every domestic flight I've ever taken has only required a state issued ID card which she now has, so it should be fine. The AoS paperwork would be sent out before the trip if that makes any difference.

Stupid question I know, but she doesn't have a permanent resident card and it worries me. We just got married and are preparing our AoS packet. It will be finished and sent out a few weeks before the trip in February. She has a US ID card and we are planning to travel to Hawaii and back from the continental US. We will not be going out of country, only from WA to Hawaii and back with no international stopovers. Will she require any additional paperwork?

I don't think passports are necessary since its US state to US state, but just her status is what worries me. Don't want any problems in the airport.

Although I have never seen anyone face penalties or removal for not filing AoS within the 90 day window.

I was looking at this users http://www.visajourney.com/forums/user/81720-ebunoluwa/timeline http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=81720 and it showed they did not file for AoS until five months after their marriage, so I guess in limbo until it is filed then. I just wish it answered us on the USCIS website so my heart would stop beating so fast. Thanks for your help.

You cannot send out your AoS packet until after you are legally married. You will need documentation from your wedding as supporting information. The K1 visa expires the minute you enter the US. You do not need to file your AoS within 90 days of landing, you just need to get married in that timeframe. You can have all of the AoS papers prepared in advance of your wedding.

Best of luck.

So to clarify, the visa was used on Sept 21, and "expires" (i.e. we have to be married) within 90 days of landing (Dec 19). So what is my fiancee's status then after December 19th passes and we haven't yet shipped out our AoS packet? We are hearing answers that the AoS has to be received by USCIS before the 90 day window for marriage is up which is confusing. We are definitely getting married on December 12 so that is within the 90 day timeframe for marriage.

Like, can we send the AOS packet out before we get married or does it have to be after marriage? (Pretty sure it's after marriage, just checking to be sure)

Does the AOS packet have to be sent out before the K1 visa expires? We will be getting married a week before the K1 expires and want to make sure we are not breaking any rules.

So basically if you already submitted your paperwork before June 9 you can keep the process going, but no printing of Visas until this is resolved? That seems to be the consensus I'm hearing. Our interview is in a few weeks and even though we have a few months of leeway I'd still like to have it all fixed and done before too long.

Yeah they wrote on her copy that it's unavailable in the country, so I'm sure that's in the sealed packet as well. Now it's this China Hack thing that has me worried about delays. She wouldn't be able to come until September anyway, but still I hate that it seems a hundred things are trying to jump in our way to make it more difficult.

Fiancee from Indonesia, two of the vaccines needed for the medical are not available in the country. She recently got a copy of the medical results (as well as the sealed packet) and her copy states that two of them are not available in the country. What would happen in this scenario? Would the interview still go fine but she has to get those two vaccines before coming over, or she has to get them in another country, or she has to get them as soon as arriving?

When you send your fiancee your tax return as part of your Evidence of Support, do you just send the two page 1040 form with your W2 (and possibly 1099-INT which I'm including just in case) or do they want all the calculation worksheets as well? I went through Turbo Tax and it has several options to choose from when printing them out. Initially I'm thinking just the two page sheet with the W2 and 1099-INT.

Do I need to sign the copy as well since they would only use it to determine the fiancee wouldnt be a burden to the state?

I do not think you meant any harm, just probably did not know of the vast time differences in approval times, of the two service centers.

I would be excited too if I was you!

Just remember the golden rule, "NEVER but a ticket, or plan an event UNTIL, you have your visa in your passport.

We thought my wife was coming to the USA in Jan. 2013, she came April 24, 2013! STUFF happens!

Congrats, on your approval, and please no "plans set in stone" until a visa is in the passport.,.,..just some advice.

I will keep this in mind, I made plans for the wedding date with a place and they put in the paperwork that we could change the date for whatever reason for no fee as long as they had openings available. I figured it will be a good step at showing proof of ongoing relationship when it comes to the interview time. Now that I'll have to change the date to sooner I have to see what is available and update that contract so I can send a copy of it to the fiancée as well. We are definitely not buying a plane ticket yet, price on those is quite high and they aren't too fond on transferring tickets over without a huge fee. So doing my best to keep everything running smoothly until visa is in hand. Thanks for the support, we both are really appreciative of everyone here

I just wish this kind of posts bragging about "how fast" their approval were stop. Very insensitive IMHO.

Regards.

Yeah I get it, people think I'm bragging. After a short hiatus I joined up again under a different name and did a few posts and some reading. Never saw any posts like this before so made mine. Maybe I read different forums or search for different things than many people do. Didn't mean to make it sound bragging and I don't think I did, just trying to share the good news. Please read the other posts to see we already discussed that I asked questions about is this being normal and how does this happen and the like and finding out that times listed on the government websites are not always accurate. They were accurate when I applied 3 years ago and are not accurate now in some cases.. CSC is faster, TSC is not, it sucks and I'm sorry for that, but try not to take it out on me when I'm just trying to share good news with people who I thought would understand.

Congratulations,

How did you meet your fiance? If you don't mind me asking?

I filed and withdrew 2 petitions I had to wait 18 months for the girl I married. When she brought a 3" stack of evidence with her the CO said he was going to deny her but he changed the blue to a pink slip and she got approved.

We met on Internationalcupid.com. Became friends for awhile before we decided to start dating. That stack size sounds about equivalent to the amount I sent in with the petition.

Kastrs wasn't trying to make the OP feel bad for the quick approval. None of us TSCers are doing that intentionally or "taking our frustrations out" on you. It's the phrasing of certain posts that are, by definition, insensitive to those who are suffering immense grief at TSC. Just as I've seen all over members' signatures and on the site itself, people should research more before they post. The OP would have known why they were approved so quickly if they had done this, for example. I'm sure we've all been guilty of it in the past, but we're encouraged to figure stuff out on our own before posting. It saves time and can provide context that will avoid awkward situations like this.

And, yeah, we should probably be a little less sensitive. But if you haven't experienced TSC you can't imagine what it feels like and how on edge and desperate many of us are, especially after the transfer announcement that's not actually happening. I guarantee you there was more than one nervous breakdown among TSCers in the past few weeks, so let's just give each other a break.

I have been a member on this forum under another name since 2012 but made a different account and name so the ex couldn't stalk me on this one. When I sent the packet out in March I checked the timetables here for the CSC http://www.uscisprocessingtimes.org/uscis-service-centers/california-service-center-processing-times/ and it clearly showed 5 months as the processing times for I129F visa petitions. I assumed other centers were about the same, until I looked and saw they were either also 5 months or up to a year waiting time which I recently checked after going over the posts here today. Had no need to check other service centers since my petition wasn't being sent to them. And since I expected it to be 5 months since my petition in 2012 was also 5 months waiting AND the above link also stated 5 months, the fact it took 3 weeks was surprising and shocking to me. I didn't know if I was a special case or I just sent so much relevant information that they said yeah this one is good and let it continue on. I also thought it might have been a fluke too and I'd get another letter sometime later stating sorry there was an error you still have to wait or some other situation like that. I've never heard of this happening before to ANYONE so that's why I asked if it happened to anyone else as well. I haven't kept up on posts here lately so this being a huge problem between difference service centers and their backlogs was not something I was aware of.

I did not put in for an expedited application, just a standard I129F as I'm no one special and nothing would qualify me for special circumstances. Thank you to everyone who has responded so far, and I truly hope all your petitions are able to go through quickly as well so no one has to be apart from their loved ones anymore.

What country are you petitioning?

I'll fill in the timeline when I get home from work tomorrow, have a lot going on this weekend especially with this good news. I'm petitioning for my Indonesian fiancée in Indonesia. The other petition I did back in 2012 was for the Philippines but it was a 5 month wait on that one just to get the approval.

First congratulations

Secondly you have to understand when the USCIS website says 5 months that means within 5 months

Anything under 5 months is reported as 5 months

Also for the people who are waiting and having been waiting a very long time at tsc your post seems a little insensitive

Had no idea, I assumed all the service centers were about the same backlog so this is news to me. Had good news and wanted to share it with a community that understands.

That is good to know thank you. I was kinda nervous getting a letter from them so early, was thinking it was an RFE even though I submitted 3x the paperwork compared to the last petition.

I'll be sure to update it this week. I'm just wondering how this happened? All wait times at all the service centers said 5 months or so on their website. Last petition I filed also took 5 months before it went on to the next step. Can't help but wonder why I got so lucky. Maybe they hired some new employees and cleared up the backlog?

Mailed out the petition in early March, got I-797 saying they got the petition about a week later. Got home from work tonight and there's a letter in the mail from USCIS, it's been approved!!! From receipt to approval notice was exactly 21 days. My fiancee and I are so shocked right now I'm literally shaking all over.

I did the I-129F process several years ago and it took almost 5 months to get approved last time, which was common back then as well. That ex never got the Visa because I found out she cheated and lied to me so I cancelled the petition. Now I'm wondering, how the hell did I get so lucky? Does the fact that I had a previous approved petition help things speed along? I went to check our case status online but for some reason the part of the website to check case status is down right now. Anyone else have experience with this?

Looks like I'll have to be moving the wedding up by about 3-4 months

I have been looking to buy a house for some time. The K1 petition has my current address and it's all up to date. If I do find a house that I want to buy before everything is approved and my fiancee is here, what's the process for notifying the USCIS about my move? How will it affect the application process since current housing will not be up to date? is there a form to fill out to send to them or to the service center that my petition is currently at?

Turns out my earlier response was wrong.

14.e is the date you sent out the old dossier, it doesn't have to be the exact date you mailed it. I put the received date from my I-797.

14.f and g are city and state you sent your old dossier to, I.E. which service center. Address or at least city/state should be on the envelopes you got back from them with the I-797

14.h, still not sure on this one, I asked a lawyer for help to be sure. initially I put Withdrawn after Approved, but it could also be Approved, Never came to USA. FYI Withdrawn means cancelled. It doesn't specify whether cancelled means cancelled by USCIS or by you. I cancelled mine before she went to the interview which is why I picked Withdrawn after Approved.

No, they don't have one. Leave it blank.

THANK YOU!!!

Fiance can't find it anywhere, searches online can't find anything either. Just clarifying here to be sure.

I'm having the same issue, I sent a petition 3 years ago that I ultimately withdrew and now have to put the same answers in.

14.a-d is straightforward.

14.e I had issues with this as the old I-797C was received on one date, but several months later on the I-797 it has the original received date as two days later. Yet the noticed date from I-797C is the same as the received date from I-797. Probably go with the receipt date from I-797 but I also asked in this thread as I'm not positive either and I don't want any mistakes on your or my forms.

14.f and g - I assume these would be the city and state you were in when you filed the old visa application

14.h - For the reason what would you put? Mine is that I officially withdrew my petition

I have a few similar questions about 14.a-h here in my thread if you can help out

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/538128-i-129f-questions-14a-14h-old-fiance-info-alien-registration-number-simple-questions-but-hard-for-me/

About 14.a - I submitted an I-129F application three years ago for a fiance who never went to the interview, never got a visa and never came to the United States. Since then the form has changed. I only found one document from all my old saved documents from back then that even has an Alien Registration number for question 14.a. I know I have to put this information on the form. My question being, she had a child (not mine) we were also bringing with her, but I never found an Alien Registration number for the child on any of my old information. Do I still need to put one in for the child as well, or would it be better to add an additional piece of paper stating there was a child but they never received an Alien Registration number?

14.e - Is the date of filing the date I mailed off the old I129F, the date USCIS received it, or the date USCIS sent me the form 1-797C?

14.f and g - my city and state where I filed the old petition from?

14.h -Result, would this be that "I sent formal notice of withdrawal of the visa petition?" I have the Embassy letter stating it was withdrawn and being returned to USCIS in the United States. Would a copy of this letter be necessary for 14.h even though it's been over two years since I officially withdrew that application?