forena99

Hi @Mayeli,
Welcome to the group!!  So excited for you. =)  Wish you good luck in your journey.  I did NOT end up using a letter from a family member or friend validating the relationship.  I also, however, did not have a co-signer on the affidavit, so, I was just supporting myself.  Not sure if they two are related, but I didn't end up using that and we ended up being fine.

Hi @Mayeli welcome to the thread  In my initial petition i provided two notarized affidavits of bona fide relationship from my spanish teacher/fiance's friend in Cuba and from one of our friends in New York. It's not necessary, but I don't think it hurts! I'm going to include one from my mom and best friend who both traveled to Cuba to meet my fiance this year. I used a template I found on visajourney (through search section) and tweaked it accordingly. 
Congrats! That is such wonderful news and so exciting, I'm glad he had an easy entry into the states!

Felicidades Forena!! I love going through Fort Lauderdale it's always cheaper & faster than Miami. I'm planning on traveling & coming back with my fiancé through there. I'm hear to see he didn't have any issues at the airport. 
 
I can only imagine how nice it was to see your fiancé's face. I can't wait to experience it with my fiancé! 
 

Never mind just saw about the legalization a few pages back... so that's not needed now.

Hi all, thank you guys for sharing all of this information! Congratulations @forena99 that is so wonderful!  very happy all went well!
 
i wanted to ask your guys advice on when to fill the I-134. Our interview is at the end of July, do you suggest preparing it closer to the date or would now be ok? My other question is more specific. My current job is a long term contract position that endangers in June 30. If I don't find a new position before the interview, how should I explain and fill out the form? Everything is a bit uncertain now. Regardless of what my new position will be in the next two months, it will differ from my current role. 
 
 
Another question - where is the consultoria juridicia in Havana? My fiancé doesn't know and thinks it's not necessary to go there but I'm telling him it is! Haha
 
thanks xx
 
 

Congrats that is so wonderful! A long journey but sooooo worth it  and congrats on the apartment and all!!! How come he's flying through FLand not direct? Just wondering cause my fiance will need to come to New York haha 
 
x

I am thinking to go as family visit, as i always stay with his family anyway. do they ask you to provide any proof for this?

Wow this is great!! Thank you. 
 
One more thing 🙄 Did you guys put anything on the DS-160 where it asks for the national identification number?

Welcome Joqui!!
Congratulations on your NVC number and your progress with all of this
My NvC letter took its time to get mailed. But all you need is the number and it was my experience that the embassy did not ask for the nvc invoice. 
Your fiance will never get a package from the embassy. I will let you know what you both need to do and bring down the interview. The dhl package it's sent to the embassy for them to review, and it contains your initial fiance petition. 
It will be only the ds-160, and you can do that now so you can get an appointment at the embassy. If you are active, you can get everything in order in two months, so don't schedule not too far out, or too close. 
I'll get back to you on the package content

Picking up the Visa after an approved K1 ♥
 
1.      After an approved K1 visa, the interviewer will give both of you a paper that says to go to this website: 
https://ceac.state.gov/ceacstattracker/status.aspx
Select Immigrant Visa (IV), use your HAV## for the Immigrant Visa Case Number, and fill in the security code.
Make sure the site says "Issued", before going to the embassy to pick up the visa. 
2.      Your fiancé has to be there before 10:00 am to get on a list to enter the embassy and pick up his package, passport, and visa. 

Felicidades @forena99 !! I am so happy for both of you  
I see that every experience is slightly different, haha But at the end, the results have been positive if we bring all of our documentation and as petitioners we are there for the interview. 
Oh wow! You found an apartment and everything! That is very exciting!! I know, there is a lot to be done in no time. 
My fiance is on his way to get the visa this morning! I am so happy! I will be buying his ticket today through Southwest , for next week and with no return ticket  

Thank you @058rocale!
Everything went smoothly that day.  We also did not have the medical exam in a sealed envelope.
However, when my fiance went to pick up his visa & passport, they gave him his papers (medical exam, background check, certificate of solteria, etc.) in one envelope with a seal on it.  He is not to open it.  US Customs will open it when he arrives at this POE, but he should also bring the XRay with him with than envelope.
 
My fiance will be going home for a couple weeks to arrange everything before he comes to the US.  I found an apartment for us this weekend.  Will be signing the lease in a couple weeks.  Everything is happening so fast!  We can't wait to be with each other again.  We had a great time in Havana, but honestly we were so busy seeing family and preparing for the interview, we hardly went out until after the interview!
 
I'm going to purchase a one-way ticket to Fort Lauderdale.  Is anyone buying a round trip ticket?
THanks,
Forena

Hello everybody!  
I apologize for not being around for so long!! I've been so busy with work and getting ready for my trip and getting all our papers together.  I think I waited to the end to get everything together.  I highly recommend a cover letter and a statement in front of each evidence explaining the content.  This really helped the consulate officer I think, but it took me a LONG time to get everything in shape for the interview.
We were approved!! on May 25th.  Thank you all for your well wishers and for keeping the forum going.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  You guys have been on my mind, so I wrote a list of reminders for you guys after the interview to share with you when I got back.  I got back last Wednesday, but have been so busy and tired that today was the first moment I've had to write, literally.
 
First, even though our appointment was at 10:30 am, we arrived at the Anti-Imperialist Park (the triangle park) at 6:15 am.  There were already a bunch of people there.  Ladies in normal clothes were telling us where the bathrooms were and were asking us if we had all our photos, etc.  These are NOT embassy workers and I think they are looking for people who may not be prepared so they can help them out in some way for a little money, like getting photos if you need them, I'm not sure.  Just another way of earning income in Cuba!  But they seem to be giving correct information.  There are no cans, glass, or phones allowed inside.  The ladies in the peach uniforms ARE embassy workers and they don't smile, they are very serious, and they are on a tight schedule.  By about 6:45 one of the embassy workers welcomed us and started separating us into lines by visa type.  Temporary and Permanent visas were rounded up to one side and the names called one by one.  As they call your name you go across the street and stand in a line.  I never left my fiance's side.  Tell everyone you speak to that you are the fiance and that need a pass.  That's what they told us to do, ha ha.
 
Everyone in the line walks to the entrance of the embassy, and they ask for your documents (Beneficiary's papers and the Affidavit of Support), including passport but NOT the carnet.  They don't ask for the Affidavit of Support but I asked them when do I submit it when they came to pick up the beneficiary papers and they said, "Yes, we do need that now, but not the Continuing Evidence.  We'll get that later".  We also did NOT need to bring the X-ray from the Medical Exam.  She also asks that you put everything (Beneficiary's papers and Affidavit of Support) into one folder.  Also, his photos need to be recent.  My fiance decided to keep his beard so he had to get photos again to reflect the way he looked the day of the interview.   You can't have any glasses in the photo, though.  If you have a US Passport you can enter the building.  Then they check your bags.
 
Once through the security, we sat in a sitting room "Linea de Salida Definitiva" waiting for them to call our names.  After 15 min or so, we went upstairs to the room with the teller windows.  She couldn't find our DS-160 online.  She had been given the wrong number.  We used the DS-160 confirmation page to straighten it out, so she finally found it.  Phew!  Then, the lady took our Continuing Evidence.  She took out papers we didn't need, like my updated Fiancee Letter of Intent to Marry, the payment receipt for the fee of the visa and the DS-160 confirmation page with the digital photo on it.  She also returned our clear folder to us.  She took my passport to give me a pass.  Then she took my fiance's fingerprints.  
 
Then we went to the 'Sala de Entrevista'.  They have to open the for you, so you have to wait outside.  They check our bags again and let us in to the room.  By this time it was 8:08 am.  Somebody tells you exactly where to sit.  Temporary visas sit in a different area than the permanent visas.  The interviews happen while you sit.  Sometimes you can hear the questions and the answers.  At least there are bathrooms in this room.  When our named was called, we just stand while the consular officer asked my fiance questions.  He asked 1. How we met, 2. His profession, 3. Member of Communist Party? 4. If he had family in the US and 5. If he had ever tried for a visa before.  He asked me 1. How many times I had been in Cuba, 2. If I was originally in Cuba on a tourist visa and 3. If I had any relatives in Cuba (family).  Our Consular Officer was pleasant, courteous, calm and methodical with his questions.  
 
All in all, we were treated with respect throughout the process and the process was efficient.  It does help to be as prepared as possible.  
Thanks,
Forena

Hello everyone!! 
I just got back from Cuba and our visa was approved!! We are so happy!!
Let me tell you of my experience and what I learned.
First off I am glad to report that putting the WAC number instead of the HAV made no difference to them
You have to be at that triangle park close to the embassy at least 45 min before your scheduled interview. The ladies dresses in a salmon color dress, came with a list and started  calling out names. They will start naming in alphabetical order people applying for temporary visas , and after that they will ask for people applying for permanent visas. This was not in a list with them, but the told me that I have to make the line with them.
We walked in a line until the embassy, where we were divided in two lines, temporary and permanent, and then they cheques for his name in a list in two stops before entering the embassy. Right outside the embassy there are shops that offer to take passport style pictures, hold purses, and make the 'planilla' which it seemed it was the Ds-160. 
Once inside the gate, we went right upstairs to an office that seemed like a terrace made into a teller window office. In there we gave the documents requested for the beneficiary. 
We waited a little while to be called into to a teller that had reviews his info and asked information as phone number and places my fiance traveled to. Then they asked for our relationship evidence, but not to review herself, but to forward the case to our interviewer later on. She put everything in a binder, got my fiance's finger prints and gave my a pass to go with my finace to the interview. 
Once inside we waited and were called after an hour or so. The interview is right there at the waiting room, so everyone can and most certainly will hear what they ask you and what you say. There are only some that are a bit more private but just bc of distance. 
We were made to swear under oath that all the information was correct and the the questions began. She asked us our age, our occupations, when we meet, if my fiance belong to the Communist party (which my fiance said no and was looked at twice a with a face of complete doubt, but my fiance stayed strong since it's true) why he decided to marry me, she also showed us the pictures we sent for evidence and asked for us to say where they were taken. She asked if I had my own apartment, asked me to explain our wedding plans, why I changed the restaurant for the wedding from my original submission last year, what the name of the notary that was going to marry us. My Fiance was very nervous, but I surprisingly was not. I liked that the questions could have been answered by any of us, but I allowed my fiance to respond to some, like where we meet, and we're some of our pictures were taken. But the wedding plans was asked to me directly, I answered some of the pictures as well. I made a point of not to interfere but rather allow a balance of who answered what. But at the same time being aware to help out my fiance that was nervous.  
The interview can be very intimidating since they question you and our teller did nor smile, not even as she congratulated us haha. 
I noticed they did not asked for the Affidavit of support, neither did I volunteered the information. They did not ask for my birth certificate o any of the noas as evidence. They asked for the ds-160 and the appointment confirmation page. And they did not care for my fiance's xrays. 
My fiance will go next week to get his visa
Good luck to every one!!

Hello!
After determining the address situation in the DS 160 you can go ahead and schedule your appointment
P.S. the embassy in Havana doesn't email or contact us or our fiance. If you have questions or inquiry you can call them from 9am-10am on weekdays. 

@058rocale Hope you had a wonderful interview yesterday and waiting excitedly to hear news of how it went! Enjoy the time with your fiance 

Hello @eruiz3! Welcome! 
When my fiance went to get his documents legalized in Habana, they told them that they don't legalize police records. I haven't read anywhere that people were denied or had any problems with it either.  For the certificado de solteria and the birth certificate legalization, you do need a month for the consultoria juridica to return them legalized. For my fiance, it was particularly difficult to get his medical records. And once your fiance can make the medical exam appointment, they have to wait 20 days from the last day of the test to go back to the hospital and get the results. So it's good to have everything now and not be stressed a couple of weeks before the interview  

For IMO video calls, I usually take screen shots. I pull down the menu bar on my phone with the date and time but still showing the other persons face & their name on IMO and screen shot that... Then I just copy and paste them onto a Word doc
 
Here's one of my screen shots.

Our case was approved last night! A little over three months after our hardcopy NOA1. Thanks everyone in this forum for sharing so much helpful information and @forena99 for initiating it. Now I'm going to read over every post and follow your footsteps haha. X

Hi @058rocale,
I'll ask him tomorrow.  I don't remember if we got it already.  I think he already has it and got it from the Registros Civiles in Holguín.  He usually asks for the ´sello´ to make it official.  I don´t think they said anything about not being able to legalize his records.  I´ll let you know when I know more.  
Thanks,
Forena99

Hello Titiypablo,
From what I read you don't have to bring any documents to support the information you gave in ds-160 (apart of the birth certificate). 
In my case, we also thought that it was not substantial, he did not have a rank or anything like that. I feel like it's like an ROTC in a way. I know forena answered this differently. So I guess I'll let you all know what happens at the interview. But the form says to answer at the best of our knowledge and giving the nature of the questions that fallowed saying no made sense to us.
It will be good to bring the questions of the ds-160 for both of you to review together. That way you can save important time later. 
Have a wonderful time with your fiance!!

Hello Forena!
Thanks to your post I realized USCIS had updated I-134 on December and that last years are no longer valid. So now I am going to do the new forms. 
I did put the A### ### ### number in the Noa2. But I just realized this! Thank you for making me look twice at this Noa2. Online other people have done the same. 
On the previous i-134 form, the samples I read said not to put anything and state the "N/A K1 VISA APPLICATION" you mention. But now since the format is different I have to do more research. I'll let you know what I find
 
 

I just found this. It's the updated form instruction sample  
http://www.***removed***/visitor-visa/sample-i-134-affidavit-of-support-form.pdf

Great! Then everything is good Thank you!  

Hi! I like your VJ screen name! 

That is generally the case.  Once you use your NVC# to check your status on the CEAC website and it shows your status is "Ready", you can submit your DS-160 and start scheduling your interview.  Now remember, every country is a bit different on when to submit your DS-160 and how to schedule your interview and medical appointments.

I did a bit of research for Cuba.  According to the US Cuban Embassy government website, their checklist is directly on their website:
https://cu.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/family-based-immigration/the-interview/
 
Being a March 2017 filer, you have some time before the NVC receives your case.  Before receiving anything, I'd recommend referring your Cuba K1-Visa related questions to another VJ member named @forena99.  She is another November 2016 filer whose case is at the NVC stage now.  

She started a very informative and current thread regarding her Cuban K1 Visa experience here: 
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/625353-2017-post-noa2-for-cuba-k1-getting-ready-for-interview/