EngineerSwede

Hi everyone,

I'm in need of guidance.

My fiancée and I have decided to cancel my K1 visa petition in favour for her to come to Sweden instead. This for multiple reasons but mainly because I'm still under the 2-year-rule, with a year left to serve.

We got as far as to the stage of being able to book an interview for me at the embassy for my K1 visa, but haven't booked one (for reasons of no longer being interested in the K1). 

So we thought that we would cancel the K1 visa application. The end date for us being able to book an interview is coming up fast so we need to cancel it soon.

I have a couple of questions.

1) How do we proceed to cancel our petition?

2) Will there be any consequences with future applications?

Just to clarify, we are still a couple and plan to marry. For now we plan to live in Sweden but in the future we might want to be able to move to the US together.

Our thoughts are that we by then will use another method than K1 visa, but we are worried that the cancellation of this visa could affect our chances in the future.

I hope that you guys can help out and that my questions were clear.

Best regards,

EngineerSwede

2 minutes ago, DrEllaNJ said:

"proving ties" means that if you enter as a visitor (to get married), you may have to prove that you will be leaving the country, so prove ties to your home country. In subsequent posts you say that you've already visited on ESTA so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

I have no idea how long the wait is. I did hear horror-stories from a couple of friends who got a non-objection letter from their government and still got denied a waiver of the 2-yr HR  If it all works, it will be quicker, but if you get denied, you'll have to wait it out.

 

After moving to the US, you still need to get married, do AOS (which costs $1225), and be out of work for 3/4 months while you wait for your employment authorization. You skip all of that if you do spousal visa.

 

I hope it works out for you!

Oh I see. That might actually be a route to go as well then. 

I'm aware of the wait for the employment authoirization and AOS fee. The main driver at this point for going the no objection route is that it's been hard enough to be apart for a year. So we would just like to be together as soon as possible. 

Thank you!

1 minute ago, Scandi said:

Is it possible to visit the US as a tourist if you have the 2 year rule on your previous visa and it hasn't yet been 2 years? Or does the 2 year rule only count for other types of visas and not a tourist/VWP one?

Yes, I've already visited earlier this year. It does not affect the ESTA.

On 12 juli 2017 at 0:55 AM, PauliA said:

Hi!

I'm going to apply for k1 visa and I also had a J1 visa with the two year requirement. I started my waiver application mid march. My embassy took a month to send the no objection statement. It was received on April 21st and was given favorable recommendation by Department of State on June 2nd. It was transfered to USCIS on June, 5nd and right now I'm waiting for their final decision on my waiver. 

Hi!

Thank you for your input.

That waiting time does not sound too bad, at least not if the final decision doesn't drag out in time. 

On 11 juli 2017 at 10:03 PM, DrEllaNJ said:

you could also look into the possibility of getting married right now and getting a spousal visa. This would also take about a year, and would at least eliminate the process of AOS. The i-129 is at that point wasted money, but so be it. You would get a green card upon entry and would be able to start working right away.

 

This means you'd have to visit the States on a visitors visa, get married, and come back. You may have to prove ties, but your obligation to serve out your 2-year HR would be a big argument in your favor.

 

Good luck!

Our hopes are that the "no-objection" path would be quicker than a year. Maybe we are naive?

I'm not entirely sure about what you mean with your last paragraph, about proving ties?

Thank you for your input!

1 minute ago, Scandi said:

The validity of the i-129f approval can get extended for up to a year, 4 months at a time. The Swedish embassy most likely extends it automatically when it's about to expire but if I were you I would contact them and ask to have it extended just to be safe.

Thank you for the quick answer, Scandi! I will contact the embassy.

It would also be very interesting to hear about the experiences of someone who applied for a waiver of the 2 year rule.

To my understanding it would be a "No Objection Statement" that would be the most relevant for me to apply for?

Is it then so that the processing time is highly dependent on what country I appeal about this for? So in my case Sweden. 

Thank you,

EngineerSwede

Hi everyone,

I'm in need of immediate help. I've tried searching but had no luck in finding an answer. 

My fiancée and I just recently got our I-129F approved and thought we were getting close to being reunited.

However, we just realised that I am still under the "two-year-rule" from my J1 visa, on which I met my fiancée.

I obtained a J1 visa for exchange studies in New York for two semesters. Since then I've been in Sweden for about a year to finish my master studies. I'm a Swedish national.

From my understanding it is impossible for me to obtain the K1 visa at this point and to obtain a waiver for the two year rule can take several months. The validity of the I-129F expires in a little over 2 months time.

My main question is therefore, does this mean that we need to restart the whole process with obtaining an I-129F?

I realise that it is completely our fault for being uninformed about the two year rule in the first place.

I would really appreciate any help in the matter, we are quite desperate at this point. Especially since we just learned that it would take her about 14-18 months to get a residency permit in Sweden, so unless it is possible to extend the date for which we can schedule the interview for the K1 visa we have nothing but bad alternatives. 

Thank you,

EngineerSwede