TandD2016

20 hours ago, Californiansunset said:

yes that is correct. However the interview gets waived while the case is still in Missouri not when it was transferred to the field office. It gets transferred to be scheduled for an interview, not to have it waived. The Tier 2 likely communicated the wrong info that it was transferred to a field office even though it hasn't (happens more often than you think).

That was my point... I am obviously aware that K1s before October 2017 can have their AOS interview waived. 

Speaking from personal experience (since I’m a K1 with an approved GC with interview waived) I think you are incorrect on this one. I spoke to multiple Tier 2 officers and had a senator enquiry answered by my local USCIS office. Again I’m only talking about K1 fillers, NBC recommends an interview waiver and case is sent to the local office for final approval. All k1 AOS are sent to local offices independently of interview waiver or not. The local office might then decide to approve issuance of GC or invite applicant for an interview. As I said that’s how the process was explained for K1 AOS by multiple Tier 2 officers. Btw just emphasising the point that always ask to speak to a Tier 2 officer as they are the only ones that can give you meaningful updates.

18 hours ago, venom123 said:

Nope, I spoke to the receptionist at my doctors office and I was told they have no official transcript. They said they could only send me that email.

 

i noticed there are many different types of titer tests. How do I know which one I need?

 

Would having an official letter from my doctor confirming the vaccinations I had, scanned to me also work? 

 

An official letter from your GP confirming vaccinations and dates administered might work but as far as I know it needs to be an original with a wet signature to be accepted. The vaccination record will be completed by the General Surgeon as part of the medical exam so it is up to him/her what will he/she accept. You will need to consult with whoever you choose to perform your medical exam with and they will be able to advise you as to the best way forward. That’s my advice!

3 minutes ago, Scodavvyy said:

I emailed them the scanned I-129F and our case has been updated today to Administrative Processing, so they're doing something with it.

 

Piggies crossed

 

If the case creation date on CEAC has been changed to today's date and the visa designation has changed from Immigrant to Non-Immigrant, then you are really close!

On 18/01/2017 at 1:56 PM, Scodavvyy said:

Hello everyone,

 

I had my K1 visa interview yesterday in London and was approved, YAY!!, but today I awoke to find an email from LNDIVSubmissions@state.gov telling me they were ready to print my visa however they will need me to scan and email a copy of my approved I129F petition to them at that address.

 

I'm confused.

 

They sent me the approved I129F, why don't they have a copy on file?. I had it with me at the interview but no one asked for it. After searching I can't find another instance of anyone being asked this. Am I being paranoid?. I don't want to hold up my visa being sent it just seems odd.

 

Anyone else get asked this?

 

Thank you

 

Dave

Hi Dave,

First of congratulation on your approval!!! So this is pure speculation...the person who was printing your visa realised that for whatever reason there is no copy of your approved I-129f on file. They cannot issue your visa without a copy of the approved I-129f as i think that is the only place where they can see your Alien Number (A number) that USCIS allocated to you during the I-129f process. Good luck and i hope you get your white package from DX soon!

On 17/01/2017 at 4:25 PM, sallymcp said:

Hello, everyone!

 

So we've now got our NOA2 and received word that the Embassy in London has gotten all our paperwork. Fiance is finishing up the DS-160 tonight, submitting his police background check thing tomorrow and scheduling his appointment at Knightsbridge after that.

 

We're aiming for a mid-May move, so we have some wiggle room but not too much! I have a few questions and would love some advice

 

My questions about the I-134:

1. What does Part 7 require? Currently planning on sending:
   1. My W2 from this year
   2. Tax returns from 2014 & 2015
   3. Letter from my employer
   4. Statement from my bank (Usually around a $600-$1000 balance, that's my bills + fun money)
   5. Statement from my Fidelity savings account ($8k balance, that's my emergency funds + down payment savings account)
      
      Am I missing anything here?
2. My fiance is the only one I am supporting and he has no dependents, do I need to put "none" in all those spaces?
3. It asks for our wedding date, but we haven't set one yet. We're getting legally married in the 90-day window, but have a big wedding planned for 9/30/17. Should I just put a random date in there?

 

General questions:

1. Does the I-134 need to be submitted early or does he just bring it to the interview?
2. I'm sending over copies of the NOA1, NOA2, updated letter of intent to marry, and the I-134 form with supporting documents. He already has a copy of our original I-129F submission. Am I missing anything?
3. I've seen things around here about extending the date for an interview, or an expiration date of some sort-- I haven't seen that on any of our paperwork, am I missing something?

 

Sorry for all the questions but y'all have been so helpful throughout this process. I really appreciate it!

I will try to answer your questions from personal experience from when I had my interview in London in Dec-16

1. I-134

As long as your income meet the 125% poverty line then all the CO will want to see is W2 for 2016 and the employment letter. Bank statements are only really required if you do not meet the 125% limit and you try to make up the difference with savings. On that point if you meet the 125% limit with your wages alone then you do not need to put your savings on part 7 of the I-134. I very much doubt that they will ask for your previous years tax returns but he can have them with him if it makes you feel better.

2. I guess you refer to section 8 of I-134, if that is the case then you put "None"

3. An approximate date will do and when he is at the first window and handing over his documents then he will be asked when he is planning to travel to US.

General Questions:

1. I-134

Your fiance will submit the I-134 during his interview appointment but make sure that it has a "wet signature" as they will not accept scanned copies of the I-134.

2. I was never asked for NOA-1 or NOA-2, he does not need to have a copy of the whole I-129f submission (thats exactly what the CO has in front of him during the interview). All he really needs from you is a "wet signature" I-134 with your 2016 W2s and the employment letter. I had a full binder full of documents that I was told during the interview that they are not required but it made me feel more prepared.

3. You only need the updated letter of intent to marry if his interview is more than 4 months after the NOA-2 date, your NOA-2 notice should have the date that it is valid to. If his interview is after the four month window then you will need an updated letter of intent to marry, there is a debate on whether this needs to be notarised or not and it depends on the embassy. I didnt have that problem but if it was me I would have had a notarised "wet signature" copy.

As many people have already said, London is really "easy going" and you should be fine but it is really important that he gets his police certificate asap just in case there is something on file and he needs a Subject Access Request. If he needs a SAR then that takes ages.

On 17/01/2017 at 2:57 PM, missushabes said:

 Hey Fiola! Our interview is on the 25th and I am bringing my fiance's w2 from 2015 with me. He also has low income that year so we got a joint sponsor to back us up. In this case, we got my aunt as the joint sponsor. You still have time to get one. The primary reason for bringing all these documents to the interview is to assure the US government that our fiance can support us and we won't become a public charge. Not being able to meet the poverty guideline as per your fiance's household size can be questionable and can be a reason for visa denial (apart from lacking some documents) so you will need somebody to add his/her income with your fiance's to back you up and making sure that all documents required are available with you at the time of the interview.

 

As per Google: "A joint sponsor is a person who is not the petitioner for the fiance visa applicant but who meets the citizenship, residence, and age requirements and who meets the 125 percent minimum income requirement for his or her household size."

 

He/she also needs to submit the same paperworks that the petitioner has to submit including proof of citizenship, form I-134 and also needs to provide tax forms and w2, paystubs and employee certificate. Best of luck to our journey!

I don't know about the embassy that you going through but it is well known that some embassies will not accept joint sponsors for the K-1 visa. You need to check your regional forum on whether your local embassy will accept joint sponsors. Also just as a side note if they do allow a joint sponsor then that individual will need to meet the 125% poverty level income in his/her own right and based on his household size.

Hello one and all!

i guess this is an account of our journey from the beginning of October 2016 when we filled our I-129f petition (and created this thread) to yesterday when I finally picked up my visa from a courier's depot in the middle of an industrial estate. For the last three months, we have been living in an emotional rollercoaster that it is nearly impossible for anyone that hasn't gone through this process to comprehend. I don't think anyone or anything  can prepare you for it and all you can rely on is the strength of the love of your relationship. I still remember vividly the time when I woke up in the middle of the night and found out that our petition has been approved, it is one of those moments that I will never forget. The daily phone calls to NVC to find out if they have received our case file and the joy in my voice when the middle aged lady from NVC told me that they have received it! The embassy interview was probably the biggest anti-climax of the whole process as unfortunately there are no fireworks or big parades when the CO tells you that you have been approved lol. Then after the interview, there was probably the most stressful period of my life so far which ended yesterday when a young guy handed me a large white package. He had absolutely no idea what this package meant to us! In the end every single minute of this rollercoaster was absolutely worth it and we couldn't be happier and more excited about our future together!!!

I sincerely hope that every one of you that still waiting for an approval or interview get the news that you want very soon. It is off to AOS for us but at least this time we will be going through the process together and not thousands of miles apart.

Never lose hope and never give up because love is the strongest single thing in the world!

58 minutes ago, TandD2016 said:

I had my interview for a K1 visa on the 15th December 2016 during which the CO informed me that pending the receipt of my Greek police certificate from the USEM in Athens, I have been approved. After numerous e-mails and letters to both the USEM Athens and USEM London, my greek police certificate was received and accepted on 30th December 2015.

On the 30th December 2015, the case creation date and update date was changed to 30th December 2015 and my "LND" case number was changed from Immigrant Visa Application to Non-Immigrant Visa Application. Now from what I have read on VJ when that happens then it signifies that visa issuance is imminent. Unfortunately, nothing has happened since the 30th December 2016 and my case still shows under "Administrative Processing".

I am looking for any input on whether I can now be on extended AP (i.e. security clearance) even though my case creation date has been changed.

 

P.S. I am a British national but born in Greece with absolutely no links to any countries of special interest (apart from a holiday to Egypt) and my occupation is not one of special interest either

Apologies...the date for the change on the CEAC website is of course 30th December 2016 and NOT the 30th December 2015.

I had my interview for a K1 visa on the 15th December 2016 during which the CO informed me that pending the receipt of my Greek police certificate from the USEM in Athens, I have been approved. After numerous e-mails and letters to both the USEM Athens and USEM London, my greek police certificate was received and accepted on 30th December 2015.

On the 30th December 2015, the case creation date and update date was changed to 30th December 2015 and my "LND" case number was changed from Immigrant Visa Application to Non-Immigrant Visa Application. Now from what I have read on VJ when that happens then it signifies that visa issuance is imminent. Unfortunately, nothing has happened since the 30th December 2016 and my case still shows under "Administrative Processing".

I am looking for any input on whether I can now be on extended AP (i.e. security clearance) even though my case creation date has been changed.

P.S. I am a British national but born in Greece with absolutely no links to any countries of special interest (apart from a holiday to Egypt) and my occupation is not one of special interest either

Just for any Greek born members that will come up with this situation in the future requiring a Greek police certificate (Penal Record for Judicial purposes) but having to interview in an US embassy/consulate other than the one in Athens, this is what you need to do:

1) Wait till you obtain your NVC case number (i.e. LND2016xxxxxx)

2) Apply to the Greek Ministry of Justice for your Penal Record for Judicial purposes in person or via representative to be sent to the US Embassy in Athens and make sure that your NVC case file is included in your application.

3) Penal record will be sent directly to the US Embassy in Athens from the Greek Ministry of Justice within 2-3 working days.

4) Contact the embassy/consulate that will be interviewing you and ask them to request your Penal Record for Judicial purposes from the US Embassy in Athens so that it is available to the Consular officer during your interview. I personally wrote a letter to the US Embassy in London so that I had a record of the request made.

5) Your Penal Record for Judicial purposes will hopefully arrive at your interviewing embassy/consulate before your interview and you will have no problems. If it hasn't arrived make sure that you explain the situation to the Consular Officer and insist that they need to request it from the US Embassy in Athens. I say this because apparently Greece is the only country (as the consular officer that interviewed me said) that will not provide such certificate to individuals and will only send it directly to authorised government agencies/departments.

Hope this helps.

Well lets clear up your misconception, I filed my petition before I even knew VJ existed. I followed the advice of a friend who at this point already has his wife here in the states. He only sent in the first page of his divorce decree and I did exactly the same. he did not receive an RFE but I did requesting all 20+ pages of it. He also used the same dating site I did. again he did not get an RFE but alas,I did . so you see it is not always research and prep. it appears it was just my unlucky draw to get the RFE for information my friend was not asked for. Now had I been a member here prior to assembling my packet perhaps I may have avoided the RFE then again maybe not.

I would have actually thanked you for posting the info about starting the DS 160 and just keeping it "saved" until the case was marked as "ready" and then sending it in. but you blew that by making the insulting,belittling comments towards me and some of the members here. It was totally unnecessary and uncalled for but it was done anyway. So do keep in mind,that you you were the first one casting stones.... best of luck with your case and I bid you a good day

Thank you for validating my position statement that:

"99.9% of the time if you get an RFE then you did something wrong and however you want to see it, it is not USCIS' fault."

It was not an "unlucky draw" but purely poor preparation and research when you solely relied on information that you received from a friend. Hopefully you have now appreciated the complexity of this journey and you will make sure that every box that you tick and every piece of evidence that you provide is properly researched otherwise be prepared to encounter delays.

I am glad that hopefully you will use some of the information that I shared and maybe it will reduce the amount of time that you have to spend away from your loved one. As I said in my original post, my experience is solely based with dealing with the London embassy and I never professed to know how other embassies/consulates around the world operate.

The thing is I personally took the time (just like I took the time when I first created this thread) to write something that I thought it might help people from the UK get an earlier interview slot and hence minimise the time that they have to spend apart from their other half, I now wish I never had bothered. It seems that on this thread certain people are more interested in cursing their luck for having to wait for approval and not doing something constructive about it. By the way we should all count ourselves lucky that we do not have to wait for 5 months for NOA2 approval which by the way is the "service level agreement standard" that USCIS works to.

On a last point, this is my first interaction with yourself and I did not "cast any stones or made any insulting or belittling comments" and if you follow the thread properly you will see that it was yourself that first felt the urge to call my fiancée "an attention seeking troll". Now that was definitely unnecessary and uncalled for and against everything that VJ stands for!!!

All the best of luck with your journey.

Lets put this to bed and carry on with our individual journeys....

I wrote about our experience and the hours upon hours of collective research that we did so that we do not get an RFE and so that as soon as our case was "Ready" for interview we were ready to book an interview slot. I even numbered the steps that we took so that there is no confusion as to the sequence and I specifically mentioned twice NOT to submit the DS-160 before the case is changed to "Ready". And yes the DS-160 for me took a lot longer than 35-40 minutes due to all the details that had to be included for education and employment.

I really fail to understand how some of you are complaining about the time that it is taking when you got an RFE, 99.9% of the time when you get an RFE then you did something wrong. Yes I stand by this statement, 99.9% of the time if you get an RFE then you did something wrong and however you want to see it, it is not USCIS' fault.

I really fail to understand how some of you did not know and are now surprised that the historic average processing time for I-129F's is 90+ days and even though they came down during a small window over the fall they will eventually go back up to the average.

So buckle up, do your research/preparation and be ready for the next step ahead of time.

P.S. Cleofe+Daniel there was absolutely no need to get personal and maybe next time if you do manage to fill out some simple forms properly and submit the required evidence then you will not get an RFE!!!!

Checking in with everyone. I have been silent because we are at a point we need to gather some more info and translations before scheduling the interview. Our case shows ready in CEAC and everything but my fiance lives in another country from where the interview will be so we want to make sure we have everything ready from one country and have started to complete things from Haiti before she goes to Haiti to complete the medical and interview there.

I will say that this process has been so fast compared to the one 8 years before. It may not seem like it because you are knee deep in it but it is true.

Good luck with everything and make sure that you double and triple check everything, just like I am currently doing.

When we first justed the application I was expecting that I will be having the interview in Feb 2017 at the earliest, so yeah I couldn't agree more that this process has been so so fast!!!

Thank you for the posting!! I agree with everything you said with two exceptions. How did you prepare your ds160? Did you download and save then submit later? I was under the impression you needed your nvc # first.

Second - I read the DHL instructions very confusing and wasn't able to follow the numbers they were talking about. I know they circled and showed examples.... Maybe I absolutely need my case # before I can follow the instructions better. Monday will be 3 weeks.... I'm calling back. Last Tuesday was two weeks and NVC didn't have the case# yet.

Again... Great post!

DS-160: you only need your USCIS receipt number and not the NVC number. I didnt download it but I simply kept it saved on the website. It does say that they keep it for 30 days after you last saved it so I made sure that I was accessing it on the website and re-saving it once a week or so.

DHL tracks the transfer of your case from NVC to embassy so you wouldnt be able to track anything up until your case leaves NVC for your embassy. By the way you dont need the NVC number to track it but you need to know when it left NVC.To be honest this is not a necessary step but it made time pass quicker as I could see the DHL envelope with our case inside being scanned at different parts of the world :-)

Just so you know what happened with NVC, I phoned one day and they said that they received the case but no number has been assigned yet and told me to wait two weeks. Of course I phoned the next day and they told me that case number has been assigned and they gave me the number. I phoned the day after and told me that case has left NVC for the embassy, that's when the CEAC website changed status from "At NVC" to "In Transit".

Hope this helps!

Hi everyone, I am set for my interview in London this Thursday Dec 15th 2016! We count ourselves extremely lucky that it has taken only 69 days from NOA1 to date of the interview. But here some tips for people who want to speed up the process after your I-129f has been approved, they worked for me:

1. I filled out my DS-160 and have it ready to be submitted but I didn't submit until London Embassy had received my case and case status was changed to "Ready"

2. I reviewed the London embassy information on VJ and made sure that I had all documents needed for the medical and the interview.

3. After two weeks of NOA2 date, I was calling NVC every other day

4. As soon as I got my NVC case number, I arranged my medical with Knightsbridge ( I had to reschedule a couple of times and they were absolutely fine about it)

5. I was checking CEAC website every day after I received my case number

6. I tracked my case being shipped from NVC to London Embassy through the DHL website

7. As soon as CEAC status was changed to "Ready" then I submitted my DS-160, paid visa fee, re-arranged date of medical, submitted online readiness form and booked my interview.

I only received a letter from the London embassy today (Dec 10th) and if I had waited for the letter to arrive before I did step 7 then the earliest interview appointment would had been end of January 2017.

All I am saying is if you are proactive through this process then you could potentially reduce the time apart from your loved one by about a month. I am not sure if this applies to other countries but that has been my experience so far from the UK.

Good luck everyone....I am going to spend the next five days going through the mountains of paperwork that I have accummulated over these last few months and try to organise it in a coherent way ready for my interview :clock:

Exciting times ahead...medical date has now been changed to 12/07/2016 and my interview has been provisionally booked for the 12/15/2016. This will be the best early Christmas present

Another step closer today...the visa petition has left NVC and it is on its way to London as we speak, it should arrive on Wednesday.

Nice! Gonna try to call myself now. Did they say how long until case # assigned?

They said to phone them back in two weeks but looking at other people on VJ it normally takes couple of days.

Just got off the phone to NVC, case received today!!!! Our NOA2 date was 11/02/2016

What is the date of your RFE? It will take about a week before you receive the actual mail. I guess you can't do anything yet unless you receive the actual mail.

Status of our i-129f package has just been changed to APPROVED!! Hooray! It took 28 days from noa1 date!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! One very big step closer to our loved ones...

For those who have been approved what service center was used?

All I-129f petitions go to the California Service Centre

I haven't but I don't think they are that persnickety. Now if your marriage certicicate called you Frances, then maybe a problem.

Just an update...followed the above advice and our I-129f petition was approved in 26 days :-) Thank you very much once again for all your help!!!

Just got our NOA2! So excited! I just spoke with my fiancee and we're incredibly thrilled that it only took 22 days to get to this point. Hoping the wait at NVC isn't too bad. Fingers crossed...

Congratulations and all the best of luck for the rest of your journey!!!

As of 2nd November 2016....we are APPROVED!!!!

Hi everyone! I just saw a filer with a NOA1 dated Sept 27 which was approved yesterday October 21! OMG! We are almost there!

I have been tracking cases that were delivered to USCIS on the 29th September and they approved the first one yesterday!!! The wait is almost over....