Shellane845

Hello,

My Korean Fiancee is 24 years old. We started going through the visa process and are at the point where we make our interview and medical check. He has not done his military service as he was going to a special maritime school that would equal his military service if he completed it and went on a ship for 3 years. We realized that it would be a little tricky explaining that he cannot complete his service because we decided that America would be a better living situation for us especially with my career. But we just saw that his passport expires at the end of the year and he can't renew it because he has not completed his military service therefor he does not have a passport that is valid for 8 months by the time of the interview. 

Anyone know if he can get a military waver or some type of explanation to get around this? 

Any advice from someone who has not done their military service but was able to get a K-1 visa? 

On 4/1/2018 at 4:05 PM, Hawksquill said:

Employment letter and three pay stubs should be enough.  You can include bank statements showing your savings and paychecks being deposited as well, if it will make you feel better.

 

They don't necessarily care about your past finances (like when you were living in another country), they care about your ability to support fiance now and in the future.

 

If it helps, I lived in another country for a year almost immediately before applying for K1 and didn't include anything about my UK finances in the application - only my USA paystubs, employment letter, and bank statements.  We didn't have RFE's or any problems, either. 

Thank you so much!

Also There is a part of the I-134 that asks about debt and I have substantial school loans do I put that on there or just by credit card debt? 

Hi Visa Journians! 

I just received my NOA2 my fiancee and I got approved to this point. I just had a questions about the affidavit of support. I make enough to meet the requirements but by the time of his interview I will only have maybe 3 months of paystubs for him since I was living and working in Korea previous to this. Also my bank account stayed stagnant while I was in Korea because I used a Korean bank account and was transferring my money into a different account that is now closed. When I left Korea I transferred the rest of my money to my fathers account for various reasons. Is three months of pay, automatic deposits, and a letter from my job about my stable employment enough? Or should I get a co sponsor? 

Thank you in advance! 

On 3/31/2017 at 7:54 PM, BCARNOLD said:

Thanks so much for your reply! I called the consulate here in Seoul and they said I can go to my Korean bank and get a check that can be cashed in the US. I guess that would be a cashier's check or banker's check? Thanks again for taking the time to help! 

I am in the exact same boat as you. I am in South Korea and sending my i-129 packet from here. What did you tell your bank to get the check that can be cashed in the US? Did it end up working out? 

Thank you!

Shellane

On 9/11/2017 at 10:37 AM, J&B said:

Hi there, 

 

Gotcha on the address. We will both be living here till August 2018, so we are using my school as the mailing address. We are a little nervous about that one, but all USPS mail that we have had sent from his family in the states have been received.

 

About the proof, this is what we are putting together:

- Pictures - for us it is a lot of mundane stuff like being out to dinner with friends, birthday parties, travelling together once outside of Korea, baseball games and such

- Kakao messages - Lordie we have a lot! We will probably screenshot messages that fit in with some of the pics, then also just some loving conversation between the two of us and lastly just random everyday stuff we talk about. We now live together so those messages are a lot less after two years of living apart and finally moving in together. Also, we will probably make sure that we have messages from each month since we started dating. We will screenshot all of this.

- Facebook - we are not the type of couple who put everything on Facebook, but we do have one or two pics of us together and two posts from when we posted about our one year and two year anniversaries respectively.

- Cards - we have made cards and written notes to each other so we will scan all of those

- Lease - like I mentioned we now live together and both of our names are on the lease so we will send a translated certified copy of our lease.

 

I know living in the same country we don't have that a lot of written proof as long distance bi-national couples might have, but we do have more photographic proof so play those up.

If you guys called each other on the phone, get your phone company to send you a print out of your call history and highlight all your calls to show that you have spent time developing this relationship.

Since your fiance is Korean his family is here and if you spent time with them include pictures of that or proof of anything they might have given you.      

 

I hope that helps.

 

We are filing this week, but have so much more to do. We want to go slow though so we don't make mistakes and get an RFE.

 

Good luck to you guys!

 

Joe 

Thank you so so much this helps a lot!! We are not big facebookers either and that kind of sucks haha in hindsight we should have announced everything on facebook when it was happening but I am such a private person and prefer to tell my family and close friends first. But we have pictures and lots of kakao messages. Also he has met my dad and I have met his family here so I will put those in there. Hoping pictures, kakao messages, and meeting the family proof is going to be enough. (cross my fingers) 

Thanks again!!! 

Shellane

Hello, 

I am filling out the physical address for the last 5 years for my fiance on a i-129 form. He went to two  different universities and during that time he went back home during winter and summer vacation and for two of those breaks he got a short part term job. Do I need to put it down every time he went home for winter and summer break as a change of physical address? That would be 4 years of putting his university then home address and back again three different times (So roughly 9 times of the same addresses repeating each other).  But on his jobs it will say they were in his home town and his address will say he lived in his university town. Anyone have advice on this or have a similar situation?

Thank you so much!!! 

On 9/7/2017 at 5:17 PM, J&B said:

Shellane845, 

 

we are kinda in the same boat. My fiancé is the USC, but I'm South African and we both live here till next August. 

 

We are are putting our packet together and will probably file late next week. If you need any help, let me know. 

 

Since you are the USC and living abroad, can I ask you if you are using a Korean address for your mailing address? 

Hey! 

We have very similar situations!! We are going to file next week too! Since when I mail it I will be living in Korea still I am going to use my Korean address for the living address but my mom's address for our mailing address. Because I will be leaving Korea in a few weeks. I want to make sure to get the mail without any hiccups. 

What did you all put in your proof part of the application? I am doing pictures, some messanger conversations starting from the day we met and my Korean residency card to show we lived very close to each other. 

Thank you!!! 

Shellane

Hello! 

I am currently filling out my K-1 visa for my fiance and we are having my mother who is a USA citizen fill out the sponsorship form I-134. I have a few questions about it. Can she sign it and scan it and email it to me or does it have to be a wet signature? Also is this the correct form for her to fill out. It asks if she is filling the visa for the person she is sponsoring but she is not I am. 

And should she put down that she is going to contribute money to our marriage if we don't know if she will yet?  Can the form just be her saying if anything goes wrong she will pay the bill for the financial loss of the US. 

The problem is I cannot be the sponsor because I am still in Korea and when I get to the US won't have a job right away. So we need someone else to prove that if he racks up medical or school bills someone is responsible. Essentially we will support ourselves but my savings is not enough over the poverty line to prove it now. When I get a job in the US before he comes plus with his savings we will be able to support ourselves. But does my mom need to say that if we need it she will be giving us financial support monthly? 

Thank you for your help!!! 

7 hours ago, Spazmotic said:

@Shellane845   One more thing, since you are first starting this adventure.  Your Korean Fiance may find it easier for them to research information about this by doing it in their mother tongue.   You can find an excellent Korean community for US Immigration and posts and information about the K1 process specifically here at the Naver Cafe:

 

http://cafe.naver.com/gototheusa

 

  Has helped my partner a lot in understanding the process.   Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.  We are still waiting on our NOA2, but have learned a lot through the process.

 

 

This is perfect!!! Sometimes it's hard to explain exactly what I need for the application and why in detail and have him understand. 

Thank you so much! 

5 hours ago, Orangesapples said:

You can also print screenshots of some of your kakaotalk messages (like one or two per month seems reasonable). 

Good idea! Thank you! 

11 hours ago, Marzena & Stephen said:

Did you post any photos on social media? It would be a good idea to print a screenshot of a photo from there because the date is stamped on social media alot of the time. Also dinner recipes that have dates are also good to include. Just include as much as you can. And in regards to messaging they dont need everything but if you gave a few clips that were talking about visiting that may hopefully support your case?!. Good luck! 

That's perfect thank you!! I will do some screen shots and a few clips of our conversations in the begging middle and end we used to talk about seeing each other on Friday nights so I can find that. 

thank you! 

8 hours ago, danie82 said:

I will be copying and pasting things from facebook/messenger into a word document to send.  Documenting when the relationship started, when we were engaged, etc...  Also if you discussed marriage or wedding plans on that texting app you used, copy and paste that as well.

Perfect! Thank you!! 

13 hours ago, Spazmotic said:

반갑습니다~

    YOU will need to handle all translations for the USICS.  Make sure anything that you send in has been translated by a third party with a statement of their fluency in both languages, wet signature and dated.

 

 Good luck

Thank you I will keep that in mind!! 

6 hours ago, usmsbow said:

Make a copy of your work visa and your residency card. Provide a couple pictures together. Since it will be clear that you lived in Korea, and he lives in Korea, I don't think they'll be that picky. 

 

 

That's a great idea!!! Thank you so much!!! 

5 minutes ago, geowrian said:

You can file from anywhere. Overseas mail will likely be much slower, so it may be better to use a US mailing address, especially since you plan to return to the US within the next few months. You will need US domicile before the visa will be issued anyway.

Thank you so much! 

I am using my moms address as my mailing address in the US. So the physical address being Korean wont trigger them to deny the application? They will just check when its approved before they issue the visa? 

4 minutes ago, Going through said:

Well, it's better than nothing right?  That, along with the AirBnB confirmation...

Sure I can do it. I'm not sure how they will translate it but that's ok along with the pictures it will hopefully be enough. Thank you!! 

2 minutes ago, Going through said:

I'm curious....when you purchased the ticket online, then, they sent no sort of receipt of payment at all?  Do you have any sort of credit card/bank statement showing the purchase transaction?

I had my fiance purchase it on a Korean phone app for the train here but he used my card. I am not sure how the app stores the purchase history as it is only in Korean I could take a screen shot if he can pull up the purchase but it would be under his name not mine because he used his account and my bank card and it will be in Korean. He was already in Seoul and I met him. I can go the the bank and ask for my transaction history for the day we booked it but it will be in Korean and it will just be a list of purchases from that day I could highlight the train one and say this is the train ticket for that day if that would work. 

Just now, Going through said:

You would have had to show something to actually board though, right?  Print out the boarding pass/receipt of ticket purchase?

Oddly in Korea no. They do not check your boarding pass. If the seat is sold and there is a person in it they don't care who it is. They just walk through the train and count. 

Hello! 

My fiance and I both are living in South Korea and are starting to apply for the K-1 visa. Will it be a problem that my address is in Korea and not the US. I am moving back to the US in November but until then my physical address will be in Korea. I have a mailing address in the US to send forms to in case they come after I move back to the US. 

Thank you! 

14 minutes ago, JFH said:

The only proof you need to send is that you have met in person at least once in the last two years. 

 

You can submit further evidence (this is not the same as proof) of your relationship being genuine so that this will be attached to your petition and sent to the embassy for the CO to review when making his decision. However, since you are living in the same city and see each other regularly and South Korea is not known for high fraud rates when it comes to visas (hence the country's inclusion in the VWP) you should not need much more than a few photos. Have you made any overnight trips together for which you may have boarding passes, hotel reservations, etc? Do you share any finances there? 

Thank you so much!

We have not taken many overnight trips as our vacations were always opposite. He is a student I work at a private after school academy. Recently we went up to Seoul to meet his parents but I bought the tickets online and never got a paper ticket. They don't email confirmation either here (good ole Korea). But I have the Air bnb confirmation if that would help. 

I will print the pictures and hope that will work. 

Hello!

I am starting my K-1 visa journey at the moment and starting to fill out the I-129F. My fiance is South Korean and I have been living in Korea for the last two years. We have known each other for a year and half and been in a relationship for maybe a year of that. We live in the same city maybe 5 miles from each other. As far as proof I only have pictures to send. We never emailed each other and didn't call as we could take a bus or taxi and be with each other within 20 minutes and I kept my US phone number when I moved here. What is the best proof I can provide? I've got pictures of us but it recommends I only send 5. Is that enough? We used a messenger service called Kakao talk and have talked to each other on it quite a bit. But that would be pages and pages and pages of messages to send. 

Any suggestions? I don't any taxi receipts or local bus receipts as they don't give them to you inner city. 

Thank you!!

Shellane