ShanghaiSurfer

Thank you. Did you use online transcripts? Or do the mailed ones come out differently?

I understand your previous year taxes are required. However, I've noticed some people get the free transcripts from the IRS. Is that required or can you just give them copies of the tax returns?

Also I assume you only need to provide the Federal Tax Return and not the State Tax Return.

I'm currently going through the K Visa Instructions from the Consulate so we can have all the documents ready in advance. On the instructions it says all copies of documents written in local language (Chinese in my case) need to be certified translations. I understand the birth certificate, police report, single certificate all need to be in a notarized white paper. Did any of you just provide your own translation on your resume? Did this cause any trouble?

I know my fiancée provided both Chinese and English resume (not certified) when she got her 10-year USA travel visa without any problems. Any advice is much appreciated.

My NOA1 was received today as well in the mail. Here are my dates for those waiting to understand the timeframe involved:

Dec 16th - Sent I-129f

Dec 19th - I-129f received by Texas Lockbox (signed according to fedex)

Dec 27th - Check Cashed (8 days wait)

Dec 28th - Email Notification (9 days wait)

Jan 3rd - NOA1 Received in Mail (16 days wait)

22 minutes ago, Brandonfigueiredo said:

ShanghaiSurfer, the thing is that she didn't come here for me she came to visit a friend. I met her while she was here, so would that still be needed? 

My suggestion above was on proving that you have met in person within the last two years, which is a requirement for the petition. The visa/passport stamp, boarding pass, etc. will prove she was in the USA within the last two years (two months ago in your case). Otherwise the photos could be from anytime. The reason she came to America is irrelevant for that part. Also discussing how you met on a separate page will help tie her visa USA arrival date, engagement ring, and photos together. 

Penguin_ie was giving you great suggestions on providing evidence for a bonafide relationship which you will definitely need at a later stage or now if you decide to frontload the package. There are some great guides on VJ. Encourage you to read them. 

19 minutes ago, Ray&Ash said:

I soooo hope its not gonna work like you said  

i think they already knew of the visa fee raise, so they may have taken in more staff anticipating the increase, Maybe the fee hike is to onboard more staff

even if they take in refugee applications too, wouldnt there be different departments for the visa types? 

Trust me. I hope I'm wrong as well. Just would rather be pleasantly surprised then expect it to be approved within two months, which isn't happening for most people I've seen reading the November Filers Updates. If you look at Jim's updates they sometimes are only approving a few each day from ones submitted at end of October. Let's hope you are right and they have increased the number of people to clear all the petitions.

Some have suggested giving my fiancée my passport to show bonafide relationship validity during the interview. It seems to have worked well in their situations. In my case I'm worried it might have the opposite affect on them questioning why I'm still in China.

Her visa and/or passport stamps to show she was in USA visiting you. Copies of her itinerary and boarding pass if she has any of them.

1 hour ago, Sedona and Thomas said:

Got my NOA1 almost 2 months ago and I am still waiting on NOA2. Everyone is saying how the holiday's and the increase of price for the 129F starting today is affecting the times. Someone said they are even getting around 300 per day and have only really been processing a handful a day at the CSC  

 

Good luck and hope you hear back soon! 

Well based on that December filers can expect 3 to 5 months to get NOA2 approval. I also noticed CSC handles some refugee applications. My fear is that due to handover in President the previous administration may want to process more refugee applications urgently and put K-1 applications on back burner. Not to scare people but would be surprised if we do get approval for NOA2 before 3 months unless they decide to transfer or send more resources to process k1s. 

Sincerely hope im wrong. But better to think like this then assume it will be processed in 2 months. 

Thank you for the advice. Plan on using my Mom's address for the move to address but the new form requires you to list your current physical address. I don't want to put a misleading address if they can easily see where I am from looking into travel database. I will also provide a copy of my storage which I think also helps to prove domicile. You wouldn't have storage if never planning to go back to States. Any other advice is much appreciated. 

I'm a bit worried about proving domicile after reading what happened to the gentleman who was very upset about being given the blue slip by Bangkok Embassy due to not proving domicile even though he was living in America.

I've been living overseas for over 13 years now. However, I have always been paid in the US. I have my bank accounts and credit cards in USA. I have always kept my California driver license. My understanding is you need to prove intent. Our plan is to temporarily live at my Moms home until finding our own housing. I'm hoping I don't need to move before interview but did notice on the new I-134 form it now makes you state where you (petitioner) are physically located not just mailing address as previous form. 

Anybody have any advice or concerns about my domicile based on above? Or if someone has been in similar situation. The Bangkok bad experience really threw me for a loop.

Hope everyone has a good new year. Already 2017 here in Asia. 

13 minutes ago, jeneebeeme said:

guys anyone sent their I-129f packets on December 22? We did after calling USCIS in San Bernardino, we were told that we must enclose the new fees as it will reach Lewisville on 23rd. Now we are confused on how the said "Postmarked" means. Is it from the Postal when it was sent or from USCIS in Lewisville when they marked received? thanks. Happy new year everyone!

When we got the email from USCIS it stated the receipt date as when the package arrived December 19th, not when it was sent on December 16th. I understand the NOA1 date will also be different from the receipt date when you receive the hard copy notice.  

2 hours ago, Maagiclady said:

Which app are you referring to? 

You can download the USCIS Case Tracking App from the Apple App Store. It's free.

You will need your receipt number. My understanding is once it goes to NVC then will need to track it using a different method as it's now with the Department of State at that stage.

My fiancé port of entry was philly it was pretty easy we were directed to another room where they took the seal envelop and than stamp his passport and advise us we had 90 days to married.. we than walk out and collect our bags..

So they allowed you to accompany your fiance to the other room?

Good question to ask upfront. I made the mistake of not asking.

Here is VJ's helpful guide on what visa to choose:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

Seems Texas Lockbox are catching up a bit. Here is my update:

Sent: December 16th

Received: December 19th

Check cashed: December 28th

NOA1: Not received by email yet

Thank you so much for your opinion. I'll look into other Chinese DCF timelines. I did do the search on 129 which shows as 5 months on USCIS CSC vs. 2.5 weeks for a 130 from Guangzhou.

Do you know if I decide to take that route if my k-1 already in process will cause me trouble with the DCF CR-1 approvals? I notice on the I-130 it does ask you if you have petitioned before.

Also will the short time of being married (could be only weeks) cause concern with the interview process?

To clarify on his question about DCF:

On the DCF, can you file the day after you get married? Or does the consulate want you married for a certain time period? Would being married a short time look bad?

We've been together for over 4 years and have known each other for over 8 years.

I recently filed for a K-1 visa. I thought I did a lot of research by looking at K-1 vs. K-3 vs. CR-1. What I didn't know about until I saw a link on VJ to "which visa is best for you?" is there is something called DCF.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

We specifically picked K-1 as we read this is the fastest way to get visa. I thought that until I saw a DCF is only 3 months vs. 7 months for K-1 (maybe longer as USCIS is back logged right now). Considering I live in China for over a decade it looks like DCF was easiest and best option. Can someone confirm I indeed made a mistake?

Also if true do you suggest I withdraw my K-1, get married in China, and file DCF?

Feeling pretty stupid right now but you don't see DCF listed ort talked sbout much. Hope this can be a lesson for others if I did make a bad choice.

Thank you for the encouragement.

I guess I'll just delay renewing it as long as possible in the hope of avoiding an RFE.

Got. It. Thank you for the explanation on why it wouldn't work. I didn't realize they were using Google API.

I've avoided using VPN living in china for 13+ years. Why start now :-) Haha. Although I admit not having google is a real pain. Will just make it more special to come back home next year.

Mine was sent on 16th and received on 19th. Also haven't heard anything if that makes you feel better since yours was a few days after mine. I'm not worried as I figure it's due to holiday.

Unfortunately Facebook along with google, twitter, YouTube, etc. are all blocked in China. They call it the Great Wall.

Welcome to my world :-)

Hello All.

Wanted to give the moderators a heads up if they don't already know about it not being possible to become a new member in China. Due to the internet restrictions in China it seems your security code does not show up. I couldn't even use the contact us method to report it due to same reason. At first thought it was iOS issue but had same problem with Windows and Androids.

I was able to finally create an account when I went to a local hotel which has a built in VPN and security code showed up. That's when I knew it was a China internet issue.

I think you would have a lot more members in China if you didn't require the security code. The anti-spam question works fine here.

Anyway just wanted to let you know since I tried for over a month to sign up.

I filed my petition already but will need to change my passport in the next few months. I used my passport as my citizenship validation on the I-129. Does anybody know when they run the security checks on the USC? And if I change my passport before they run the checks will this cause an issue?

This site is very helpful. Thank you in advance and nice to meet you all.