Peot

@Maeph is correct. Letters of intent need to be wet inked from beneficiary. 

Can be mailed along with any other documents or items needed such as the passport photos to save on postage. 😉

I think the reason you might be asking is because many people suggest filing for AOS before your fiance's I-94 expires (which would be 90 days). This isn't true. There's no time limit but your fiance WILL be technically overstaying on their entry visa.

Once the AOS stage starts the overstay is forgiven as it's a non-issue. Clearly the overstay is on account of the adjustment of status.

Why would you want to file for AOS as soon as possible? Convenience! As a beneficiary myself I found it close to impossible to do some basic things such as building credit, getting a driver's license, buying a car, and so on without documentation. In fact once the 90 days hit, I was unable to obtain any of that. When you file for AOS you usually also file for EAD / AP and that gave me a work permit and travel permission early, I was able to get credit, renew my driver's license, and get a job. No more sitting around the house!

You cannot schedule an interview without first paying this fee. Paying the fee at the interview isn't an option as an interview appointment won't be created without payment.

Instructions on paying will actually come as part of the "Packet 4" email you receive. It will provide a link under a title "Schedule your visa interview appointment", and on that following webpage it will provide options for making the payment.

So yeah, wait for the instructions. 🙂 You literally can't proceed without first processing the fee.

7 minutes ago, Heidi888 said:

I have passport stamps, but no credit card purchases

Again, those passport stamps are the most important, but any other evidence you can think of will definitely help.

Even a written affidavit of witness to your meeting signed by a relative or friend that you might have met with while in LA can help as extra evidence to your favor.

1 hour ago, Heidi888 said:

I was the only one flying, as he lives in LA. I have my pp stamps and photos of us together - but no receipts of any of our meals etc. is that enough?

The more you can show the better - look for that receipt at the airport, for example. If it's drawn from your account - perfect. If you bought something at the airport using a debit / credit card, you can show your statement from that as well.

If your fiance has any receipts at all, they likely won't be good enough as they'll be in their name, not yours. He could have mailed those to you at any time.

Passport stamps are the single most important part. Boarding passes and tickets themselves are only secondary evidence as you can print a boarding pass / ticket and never actually board the flight. A passport stamp shows that you were admitted through the port of entry and are therefore much more important.

5 hours ago, Zerce said:

Tourist visas are not required for Canadian citizens. Canadian citizens only need to use their passports to cross the US border to visit or vacation.

 

This is true, but when entering the US, you still need to go through customs, and you will still need to be permitted entry through business/tourist process. In your passport, they will stamp it with the appropriate "B1/B2" stamp and usually also include maximum date you can stay until. This acts as your "tourist visa" in place of the physical document.

It's all besides the fact though - whether you need a visa beforehand or whether you get permitted at the port of entry itself, you will need to apply for admission into the US again. Expect scrutiny - expect to show you have ties to Canada (and at the very least a return ticket).

Submitted papers in December - had my Biometrics Jan 4th, and received the card May 14th. About a 4 month wait.

Above is correct in that you do not get your status updated until the card is being sent to you in the mail. I had received a notice confirming its approval via snail mail before I ever saw it change online. 

On 6/11/2018 at 7:13 PM, Peot said:

Case status was updated on May 7th that they were ready to schedule an appointment.

 

Called USCIS today to ask what the timeline was. 11 - 24 month wait at Detroit for interviews. Super jealous of anyone here who already had their scheduled, attended, and green cards obtained. 

I just got my interview notice in the mail today! Scheduled for August 2nd. Guess their 11-24 month wait was actually 3 months?

Online, their processing times (for Detroit) say they're running cases from May of 2016, so that info is clearly way outdated or just wrong.

14 minutes ago, Day_dreamer said:

Therefore if the CO ask me about his work, I should answer the current job he is into now and mention also his previous company where he worked and got layed off cause of financial breakdown. Am i correct on this? 

 

 

If he's currently employed and that's reflected on the I-134 - the work history will also be detailed there. Usually no need to explain the reasons for leaving jobs - just important that he has one now.

Very interesting and also very strange! I imported my car just fine without that - only things needed for import were both emissions and safety standards - all was detailed on compliance letter from the manufacturer. Nothing I saw about a TPMS required. Mine's a Dodge though, so I wonder if this is import (vs domestic) specific?

For your next steps, insurance and the DMV - I have experience in that as well! 

• Keep your Canadian driver's license valid for as long as you can. This saved my butt many times! 
• At the DMV you can get a driver's license in some cases with just a K1 (I did), but it was only valid for the 90 days end date! Once it expired, it was no use to me, but hilariously I needed it in order to register a state license plate for the car. The car's license plate is connected to this driver's license, so when it expired, I actually got pulled over! The Canadian driver's license was my saving grace.
• Some states do NOT require a police inspection if you're not registering for resale, but it's a very simple form if you need it done, and it can be completed by literally any officer.
• Once you get your work permit (or even green card), you can renew the driver's license up to the expiry date - and you can finally stop paying for the Canadian license. 
   

• Insurance was a piece of cake - No problems, but definitely more expensive than what I was used to!
• You (usually) need an SSN for car insurance. Some companies I approached wouldn't talk to me until I had that, so I also kept my Canadian provincial insurance on the car until I had US insurance and then cancelled in writing via fax. This let me drive around legally while I waited for documents like the SSN, and before I hit up the DMV.

They may not even ask during the interview, but keep in mind that all evidence and documentation submitted can (and often is) subjected to scrutiny. They can very well look into the support document after the interview, and if they notice it's incorrect, that could lead to problems.

As was said - always answers truthfully and up to date. If you submit documentation you know is outdated, you're setting yourself up.

Case status was updated on May 7th that they were ready to schedule an appointment.

Called USCIS today to ask what the timeline was. 11 - 24 month wait at Detroit for interviews. Super jealous of anyone here who already had their scheduled, attended, and green cards obtained. 

When I went for my interview I made sure they confirmed this - 125% unless you're military personnel.

If you're not quite there (or even if you barely hit 125%), you should probably get a co-sponsor.

This is the total loan amount (mortgage) remaining. They want to know how much you owe vs the property value in 8a.

Only the K1/2 applicants (beneficiary) need to fill out the DS-160.

That said, assuming that her daughter is a K-2 applicant, yes she will need a separate DS-160 filed for her.

1 hour ago, dobraolu said:

Any follow up on this? 

 

They say not to list places while traveling, but that also there should be no gaps in time. What gives?!

 

I would appreciate any help in this matter.

The form G-325A is no longer required. It is all covered in the I-129F forms.

Please ensure you're following the most current instructions on filing. 

Worst case is you get an RFE for which you would have to make the change to the form and resubmit.

He'll have things like Birth Certificate / passport page that will verify whichever name he chooses. Typically if the name differs, you would have to show proof to support that different name, or change the form to reflect the correct name.

6 hours ago, Mark1973 said:

Hi. My boyfriend is Chinese and I'm an American working in China. My boyfriend applied for a tourist visa last summer (June 2017) and a student (F1) visa this month (May 2018). Both times he has been rejected. We would like to apply for the Fiance (K1) visa but have been advised by friends that we should wait. (Maybe a 1 year!) Their rationale is that if he applies for another visa so soon it might be looked at that he is so desperate to get into the USA and is "visa hopping" so our application will be held up or denied. As we're a same sex couple applying, I'm afraid that alone might raise a red flag!  I'm leaving China this summer to return to the USA and don't know what to do. Can we apply immediately for the K1 visa or is it advisable to wait?

Thank you in advance for your advice :-)

The bigger red flag would be the previous denials for visa, depending on what they were denied for, not that it's a same sex marriage. 

The number itself comes on the NVC processing letter that you (the petitioner) likely received which starts off saying "The National Visa Center (NVC) received your fiance(e)'s approved I-129F petition from U.S...." which I'm sure is pretty standard for all applicants.

This is also carried forward to the embassy / consulate, and the letter they send the beneficiary saying they're ready to schedule an appointment has the case number. It's obviously different from country to country, but when I went for my medical they made me bring a copy of the "we are now ready to schedule an interview" letter which was also a checklist. It has the case number on it.

To get that interview letter, I had to send the consulate an email with the case number, ds-160 confirmation number.

On 5/14/2018 at 1:16 AM, Liz Bohne said:

My fiance received a number from NVC but they didn't say anything about filling out DS-160. All it says is it wait and Montreal will contact me. When I put the number from NVC into CEAC it says it doesn't exist. I'm so confused about the next step. Help? 

Should be on the email or letter that gives you the NVC number. Mine was via email.

Exact wording of the email was:

Quote

The National Visa Center (NVC) received your fiance(e)'s approved I-129F petition from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). NVC will forward the petition to the U.S. Embassy in MONTREAL, CAN. The U.S. Embassy will contact your fiance(e) when they are ready to schedule a visa interview.

 

In the meantime, please have your fiance(e) and his or her children visit http://ceac.state.gov and complete Form DS-160, the online nonimmigrant visa application that is used for a K visa.

Note the second line.

Unless things have drastically changed, I feel that you should probably head there of your own volition and get it filled out. 

Note: It's the beneficiary that fills out the form.

2 hours ago, payxibka said:

Tough one.  If you read the instructions it stipulates that all evidence should be a legible photocopy unless an original is SPECIFICALLY requested.  An original or certified divorce decree is not on the list of specifically requested originals.  The instructions also go on to say that if an original is provided that was not specifically requested that it may be destroyed.  Theoretically they should have it in the file but they might have made a copy of it and destroyed the one you submitted.  I am surprised that they are requesting an original from the USC

This is not the case for Packet 3 / 4 in Canada. It does specifically state to bring BOTH original and photocopy. They check the original and keep the photocopy. I think this is getting confused with the I-129F instructions.

3 hours ago, Draaier said:

Today I received an email from the embassy reminding me of my impending appointment within the email it reminded me of documentation that I am required to bring. Within their it requests original and copies of all divorce certificates for both of us. Now my fiance the petitioner has been divorced and when we originally filed we sent in a certified copy of his divorce certificate. This was the only certified copy we had and we never received it back. So now for me to bring to the interview I only have a copy I cannot bring an original and there is no time for me to get it before the interview. I'm just looking for your guyses advice on what I should do? We already submitted a certified copy during the initial process do I still need another one for the interview or will they have access to that certified copy?

 

Thanks for your time

I understand that your interview is one week away - it looks like your only option is to reschedule the appointment date, which they absolutely can do.

Other option is to have your fiance ask how long postage will take, and to have the courts mail it to your address. See if they'll take a credit card to express mail it to you in Canada, but you MUST use FedEx / UPS and not USPS to have this done as there will likely be an additional week delay added otherwise.

Do not wait too long to reschedule.

4 hours ago, AAiowan said:

yea I am  (the petitioner) planning to send the following.

 

1) copy of passport photo page

2) Copy of DL

3) copy of marriage dissolution (and original).  (not sure if i have to send original)

3)i134 affidavit of support original signed

4) payslip + bank statement(s) for assets and funds.

5)copy of citizenship certificate 

6)original intent to marry

 

anything else I am missing?

 

Thanks!

For legal documents like a divorce decree / dissolution / annulment, you need an original copy (usually with raised or inked stamp).

Letter of intent must also have wet inked signature. 

Everything else can be a copy.

For evidence of domicile, as suggested above, I simply used the driver's license copy (which has the address of domicile on it) along with PP showing citizenship.

Packet 3 I received via snail mail. Packet 4 was emailed to me.

I might be missing something here, but in order to receive Packet 4, you need to email them the checklist you received from Packet 3. If you haven't received this yet, where did you get a copy of it?

You MUST wait until Packet 4 is sent to you so start making interviews. None of the doctors I spoke to would do the medical without a copy of Packet 4 sent to them. Once the Packet 4 comes, you can schedule an interview for any time available to you, AT LEAST one week after your medical to ensure you receive the results. 

1 hour ago, AAiowan said:

TNTidaho,

In packet 3 check list, petitioner has to send proof of us domicile.  They are asking for originals.  do you send the original naturalization certificate or just a scanned color copy to the beneficiary?  Thank you.

Always a copy unless asked specifically for the original. Note, this is only needed during the interview - not to be sent with the Packet 3 confirmation.

The image must meet the regular passport requirements. 

• In color.
• Printed on photo quality paper.
• 2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm) in size.
• Sized such that the head is between 1 inch and 1 3/8 inches (between 25 and 35 mm) from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head.

If the scanned image meets all of those, you should be fine, but most people typically get it done professionally to avoid any photo-related RFEs. That said, plenty have done their own copies and have been fine.

The other stipulation is that it must be within the last 30 days. If you're scanning an obviously old photo or one that has been used elsewhere (like in the passport), they'll know it's greater than 30 days old. 

Talk about scary! 

Glad it's all working out in the end.