KimchiLumpia

To the OP, processing times on the USCIS website and VJ vary greatly.

There are several VJ posts from members who've filed during specific months ex: November 2016 filers, December 2016 filers, January 2017 filers, etc.

If you haven't already, make sure to follow the post with the month you filed your petition.  It tends to be the most accurate gauge of when petitions begin to be touched.  

To the OP, processing times on the USCIS website and VJ vary greatly.

There are several VJ posts from members who've filed during specific months ex: November 2016 filers, December 2016 filers, January 2017 filers, etc.

If you haven't already, make sure to follow the post with the month you filed your petition.  It tends to be the most accurate gauge of when petitions begin to be touched.  

My fiance and I just finished this process, as she had entered the US yesterday May 28th.  So the process is fresh in our head and as recent as it gets.

When your CEAC status shows ready and you have your MTL# from the NVC, you can download packet 3 online on the Canadian embassy website.  Which obviously, you already did.

Once you email the requested 3 documents from packet 3, you should have gotten a return email which is packet 4.  We had received our return email/packet 4 with-in 12 hours of mailing the initial packet 3.
 
 In the return email/packet 4, this is where you will have info regarding scheduling your interview and medical.  Which ever email your fiance received information for scheduling his interview and medical, that is the packet 4.

You are to print this email/packet 4 and present this to the medical persons.  The packet 4 email sender email is: Montreal-IV-DV@state.gov 
 

To the OP, processing times on the USCIS website and VJ vary greatly.

There are several VJ posts from members who've filed during specific months ex: November 2016 filers, December 2016 filers, January 2017 filers, etc.

If you haven't already, make sure to follow the post with the month you filed your petition.  It tends to be the most accurate gauge of when petitions begin to be touched.  

I've seen your other posts here.  You're going to be fine friend.  Just remember, thousands of couples have gone before you and have gotten their Visas without any problems.  You will too.

A therapist friend recommended breathing technique that has helped me deal with stress and anxiety.  The technique sounds simple and a bit silly, but, sometimes its simple non-complicated things that help the most.

The breathing technique is called the 4x4x4:

Breath in for a long 4 seconds.............
 
Then exhale for a long 4 seconds...........
 
Then repeat 4 times.............
 
Do this slowly and don't rush it.  Biologically, when you panic and get flustered, the first thing our bodies tend to do is breath too quickly and gasp for air.  This gasping for air activates our flight or fight response, and makes us panic and freeze.  Controlling your breathing will regulate your body and mind.  Just try it now, and you'll feel many times calmer.  

You will be fine.

To help ease your mind.  After submitting our I-129F, I also reread our application, and noticed several minor typos and misspellings as well.

We received no RFE's and our Visa is in hand. 

Unless you made a huge erroneous error, you will be fine. 

My interview experience yesterday on May 22nd, 2017

My appointment was at 8am, but I had to go through some stuff like: the scanner, finger print. It took so long that when my number was called to go to the window number 4, it was a beautiful Vnese lady who was asking me to give her the copy and original paperworks, then the medical exam, and affidavite of support packet. She was asking me some simple questions, like: who is your petitioner, did you get amrried before, did he get married before, do you have any children, does he have any children, what does he do for living, are you a member of Communism, have you ever been outside of the country, did you stay over 1 year in those countries. And she told me that my paperwork was done, then wait for them to call my number again at the window number 14 to 20.
I was waiting until nearly 11:30 when everybody left accept 5 people in the room with me lol. My number was called at gate 15. There was a black American guy who was handsome and had a beautiful smile haha, and a beautiful vnese lady standing behind him. He asked me if I could speak English, and I said yes. He told me to raide my right hand and swear that I would tell the truth. I did.
- When did you meet?
- You mean "in person" or something?
- Oh no, when did you know each other, like what year?
- In 2015
- So how did you know each other, on online or something?
- We knew each other through an dating app named Okcupid.
- And when did you meet in person?
I showed him our couple tattoo which had a date and location where we first met.
- September 25th, 2016.
He was a bit suprised and laugh out loud, he was asking me again if it was a date that we firdt met. I confirmed. Then he said: "Haha alright, your visa was approved!"
I was shocked because it went so fast I didnt believe that I made it. He said: "Have fun in Salt Lake". I thanked him and the lady a lot, he also asked me the last one before I left: "Have you ever been to Utah?". I said: " No, I havent. But I have heard that Utah is a very beautiful state.". He noded his head and said: "Yes Utah is a very beautiful state". I said thank you and may him had a nice day.
I waled out to the Ems counter to fill my information on the form, they will send my pp with the Us visa on it. It was about 11:35 am when I stepped outside of the US consular. It was not a dream. I called mom and aunty and my friends, I called my fiance and he was super happy. We smiled a lot that it hurted our faces. Before I called him on skype, I texted him: "Bad news that you have to buy a big comfy mattress because Im going to come there soon!" Hahaha.
Thank you everybody here who is a part of my family. I never have "American dream", I only have a dream to be with the love of my life. Our journey is just begun...

My fiancée had her interview today and she was approved! They said it'll take 2 weeks for her Visa but I thought I read elsewhere it would be sooner. 
 
Anyways, thank you, Visa Journey!  I seriously couldn't have done ANY OF THIS  without you and your support, both individually and through the forums!  I will definitely write a huge review so that I may help others through this process the way you have all helped me!  God bless you one and all!

I've seen your other posts here.  You're going to be fine friend.  Just remember, thousands of couples have gone before you and have gotten their Visas without any problems.  You will too.

A therapist friend recommended breathing technique that has helped me deal with stress and anxiety.  The technique sounds simple and a bit silly, but, sometimes its simple non-complicated things that help the most.

The breathing technique is called the 4x4x4:

Breath in for a long 4 seconds.............
 
Then exhale for a long 4 seconds...........
 
Then repeat 4 times.............
 
Do this slowly and don't rush it.  Biologically, when you panic and get flustered, the first thing our bodies tend to do is breath too quickly and gasp for air.  This gasping for air activates our flight or fight response, and makes us panic and freeze.  Controlling your breathing will regulate your body and mind.  Just try it now, and you'll feel many times calmer.  

You will be fine.

As discussed by other VJ members already, Nigeria is traditionally tougher when it comes to immigration.  

VJ has a section with other Nigeria VJ members and their interview experiences.  It is found under the "portal" tabs:
http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cnty=Nigeria

The requirements update every year, but most embassies go by earning an income of 100% of the federal poverty level for your household size within your state. For assets, it is generally accepted to go by the 3x rule for a fiancee (3x for a spouse/minor child, 5x for anybody else), meaning he would need 3x the gap between his earned income and required income for the I-134.
See here: https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-864p.pdf
 
Self-sponsorship may be possible for the K-1 visa, but it's uncommon and can vary heavily from embassy to embassy. The underlying requirement is that the CO must believe the beneficiary will not become a public charge....the I-134 is just a form used to help make that decision (it's not enforceable). COs have a lot of discretion to make this decision and I would generally suggest not relying on this unless you are considerably over the minimum requirements.
 
For a household of 2 (just your fiance and you...no children or past immigrants still sponsored), that would be $16,240 in income or $48,720 in assets for the I-134. If he doesn't meet the requirements and you cannot self-sponsor, then he needs to find a joint sponsor.
 
For the I-864 during AOS (after getting married in the US), It would change to 125% of the poverty level - $20,300 in income or $60,900 in assets alone. Assets can be combined between the primary sponsor and the intending immigrant for the I-864.

Another bit of advice to go along what others have said.  I've read accounts of many VJ members that set their wedding date, booked their weddings, gave the security deposit for the venue, bought airline tickets, reserved hotels, and invited family - Planning everything based on the VJ timeline when they should "expect" to receive their Visa.  Only to be blindsided and disappointed by a longer Visa process then they expected.  

My fiance received her Visa in hand 5 months and 2 weeks from mailing in our I-129F petition.  Some VJ members have waited 10+ months before getting their Visa in hand.  Don't rely on the VJ timeframe.

Get your K1 Visa in hand first, then start making definitive plans! 

Good luck on your visa journey!  

We did not use a lawyer either, and got approved for my fiance's K1 Visa last month.

With that being said, our case was very easy: never married previously, no dependents, no criminal records, plenty of in-person meetings with proof, plenty of finances, and a low immigration risk country in Canada.

I think using a lawyer for immigration would be akin to using a CPA to file your US taxes.  If you have one job, not many assets or dependents: filing your taxes on your own is pretty easy.  Conversely, if you own a business, have employees, have rental properties, a house, an ex-spouse - it would be wise to use a CPA.

If you would consider your relationship with your fiance pretty straight forward, by all means, you can do it on your own.
 

Congrats on your K1 visa! Hopefully we're there at that stage someday hehe. Our situation should be like yours afa overall factors, except she's from a bit of a high-risk country but that should be mitigated because she's the she not a he (the country has a high instance of love rat men but not women). Thanks for the input

You're very welcome.  Also, if you haven't already, make sure to visit the UK section here on VJ under the "portals" tab:
http://www.visajourney.com/portals/index.php?country=United+Kingdom

There's a lot of good UK specific immigration information and a great place to connect with other VJ members from the UK.
Good luck on your visa journey!

Thank you so much!

If you are referring to the letter of intents, it shouldn't matter if its hand written or typed.  As long as there is one each from both of you, legible, signed, and dated - you should be good to go.

However, in my opinion, I would type it out and sign and date it following the VJ example in "example forms section":
http://www.visajourney.com/content/examples/
 
Thousands of VJ users (including myself) followed the VJ example forms with success.  

The problem with hand written statements is that it may not be legible.  Not everyone has perfect penmanship.  

Visa Approved  
Finally the journey coming to a conclusion soon,and the new chapter waiting to begin. 
Thank you all for all the help and support! 
Hugs!!! 

The debate about the I-134 requiring a "wet" hand written signature vs. a copied signature is ongoing on VJ.  Some members have submitted a copied I-134 with a copied signature and have had no issue.  Some members have done the same with copied signatures, and had problems.  

I'm sure this debate will continue on VJ forever.  

Its all up to you and your comfort level.  
 
I know this for sure, they will 100% accept a completed I-134 with a "wet" hand written signature.  This is what I provided for my fiance because I felt more comfortable with her going to the interview with an original vs. a copy. 
 
 

Never mind! Service Canada called me back this morning to let me know they've approved my EAD, I should start seeing payments as early as tomorrow, or as late as next Monday.

Great breakdown. Thank you so much for this. I had no idea this was even a thing.

However, my husband is self-employed. Would he be able to qualify for EI benefits in this case?

My fiance has a similar combo name with a hyphen separating her 2 first names.  She even has this hyphenated name in her Canadian passport.

When we submitted her written paperwork, we added the hyphen.  In all correspondence received by the USCIS and NVC, the hyphen was not in her name either.  
 
Also, when filling out the DS160, it did not allow "symbols" like hyphens to be entered.  Only letters.

We had no issues, and her Visa was approved.  
 
 

I have never read on VJ that it matters where documentation was mailed from.  As long as the requested documentation is current and doesn't have an expiration date, it should not matter where the packet 3 documentation is mailed from.

For example, some consulates require the police certificates to be current with-in a certain amount of time of your petition.  And is some cases, these police documents can only be requested in-person. You would have to research the US Embassy in Argentina's information regarding the packet 3 documents requested.

You can find that information here:
https://ar.usembassy.gov/visas/fiancee/fiancee/
https://ar.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2016/12/K1-K3-Instructions-packet.pdf
 

At this point, there isn't much to do now.  How long will your fiance be in the US?  It may be 4-6 months until her I-129F petition is reviewed by the USCIS.  Longer if you receive an RFE.