Mrsjackson

4 hours ago, Greenbaum said:

About 3-4 weeks for NOA1 but some have been sooner.

 

If you go back through some of the postings here in this forum, and look in their signature box or at the bottom of their posting you will get a glimpse of their timelines. Also, if you create a timeline and their is a box just above the information on the left column that says "show similar timelines" and if you select that you will be taken to a page that shows about 10 ppl that are near or close to your processing dates and you can see what they are experiencing.  

Thank you! We just got the text today so they've got our forms  

I do need to fill out my timeline I'll do that asap! 

8 hours ago, Lovelise26 said:

You should have him check his account either tomorrow or Tuesday morning. That's how I found out. I sent mine on the 1st and it arrived on the 5th due to the holiday. On the 7th I checked my account during the day and nothing had been withdrawn. Friday morning I checked at 7am and had an email from my bank stating the large withdraw and when I checked the account it had the USCIS draft. Later that day (8th) I received the text and email and the NOA1 arrived on the 14th. 

Thanks! 

Hey other sept filers, 

We filed ours on the 17th - does anyone have an estimate for how long we should expect the NOA1 to take? I tracked the USPS delivery and it made it to the PO box a few days after (wednesday) but the money is still in my fiancé's account. Any September filers that filed earlier that can give me an idea? Thanks and good luck  

4 minutes ago, CannonTop90 said:

I have all my medical history and all my documents I need for my interview. I am waiting for a certificate of no impediment which I pick up October 19th and my police check I will recieve in 10 working days. Am I best waiting until these 2 forms come back to me just to make sure? Also when booking my interview and medical do they give me a date? Or can I choose a date that is available for them? 

 

My stress levels have never been higher lol

Get in touch with the USCIS approved physician closest to you/where you are choosing to have your medical done and ask them what the booking procedure is. I'm sure they will try and accommodate you, but only they can answer that. 

I have only recently submitted my I-129F, but from what I have read 4 months is not a very long time and I wouldn't get nervous quite yet about something being wrong. It sucks for obvious reasons, but USCIS has a lot of petitions to get through. 

I have limited understanding of K1 expedite, so hopefully someone on here can provide a more concrete answer, but I don't think your relative being ill will be a reason to expedite. Again, I don't know for a fact so please continue to look into that. Here is a link from USCIS that lists reasons for expediting a petition: https://www.uscis.gov/forms/expedite-criteria

One reason is "emergency situation" which is vague, but I believe that means if your fiancé(e) needs medical care, there is a natural disaster, etc. Of course if your father is ill (so sorry about that by the way) you would naturally want the emotional support of your partner, but I don't know if USCIS will consider that a strong enough reason. I hope someone can give some better insight, I hope your dad beats cancer, and I hope everything goes smoothly with your application. Best wishes. 

6 minutes ago, Annaguilar said:

Hello again guyss!!!

 

I bet I'm the most annoying member here. I always ask questions lol.

But we finally filed today! We read the USCIS website about the updated forms and stuff.

We submitted the following:

 

Payment(check $535)

Form g 1145

Form I-129F

Passport photos of my fiance and I

Copy of his US citizenship certificate

Intent to marry letters of my fiance and I

Proof of meeting for the past 2 yrs:

-copy of his passport pages with arrival/departure stamps

-copy of hotel receipt

-copy of our class schedules respectively. (we went to the same class)

-5 pictures together

 

 

It seemed to me that these are few but he insisted that these should be fine. 

What are your thoughts?? Thanks in advance!! 

 

 

This site is for asking questions so don't worry about that. 

It looks great to me. You've included what's required and it doesn't seem like you've gone too overboard or anything. We just filed too. Good luck! 

I'm confused.. doesn't the K1 visa give you NON immigrant status which you can then adjust? Why would his status show immigrant? 

12 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Photos are secondary evidence of having met at least once within the past 2 years. By themselves, they don't meet the requirement in most cases. In conjunction with other evidence, they are useful.

 

I don't think anybody was encouraging to not send any photos...just pointing out that photos are not a technical requirement. Personally, because I am aware of USEM's processes, I only included one photo of us...and I 100% believe it didn't do anything meaningful for our case. We were approved for the I-129F and K-1 fine. For certain other embassies, doing this is fine for the I-129F but is otherwise visa suicide.

 

Exactly - the photos corroborated the primary evidence (the dated receipt), which is very good.

The text logs likely yielded little to no consideration for this requirement.

 

Yeah, some photos are good to include...although what you should do is very different from a requirement.

"In conjunction with other evidence, they are useful". That's exactly what I just said. I have already stated that they are indeed not a technical requirement. 

Unless you were told by USCIS what helped your case and why it was ultimately approved (highly doubt it), you really have no way of knowing for sure what helped you and what was meaningful to who was reviewing your case. What you think doesn't really matter. What you know to be a fact does. Same goes for your statement about the text logs. Are you the officer reviewing my application? If not, how can you make statements about what is going to be considered and what isn't? 

It might not be actively encouraging people to not include photos by calling them "weaker proof", but it's about people's perception. Someone might read that and think "oh I don't have to bother with photos then since it's a weaker form of evidence" and that's not a good thing. Wording can be misinterpreted, especially if someone's first language is not English (and this is a site with visitors from many different countries). 

What you should do and what is required are clearly two different things, yes? 

3 minutes ago, EG&XY said:

Sure, that is fine, but 99% of the time those are not the types of pictures that people are talking about on here. And you are reinforcing my point that it is the receipt that matters, not necessarily any old picture of the two of you together. You could have had a hotel receipt with both of your names on it. Or plane/train tickets showing that you were on the plane/train together. As I stated, just providing a picture of the two of you together is not sufficient, it is the other documentation that is the stronger proof. And yes, I agree, photos should be included; however, you really need the other evidence as it is stronger proof of the dates, times, etc.

 

Similar to the picture argument is that some people think that having a baby together is sufficient proof of a bonafide relationship. It is not, it only proves that you were together one time and that your reproductive organs worked. There are plenty of people who can't or choose not to have children, and they still have bonafide relationships.

I never said receipts don't matter. They matter a great deal. I said that pictures are not considered "weaker proof". Pictures on their own without any other evidence may make for a weak application, just like only including a boarding pass and evidence of a trip alone without pictures would make for a weaker application. Various forms of evidence work in conjunction here to create a strong application. One form is not weaker than the other. 

7 minutes ago, EG&XY said:

It's not that I'm being very technical, what you said was factually incorrect. You stated it as a fact, and it was incorrect.

 

And pictures are in fact consodered to be weaker proof than the other forms of evidence. There is no way for the officer reviewing them to know for sure when it was taken. However the other forms of evidence would contain dates that actuall demonstrate when the even occurred.

That's not true. I included pictures from trips that were taken at events (for example we took one of those tourist pictures while visiting a city) and they provided us with a receipt with the date on it. This confirmed both the date and location. Also, I provided text logs that were dated and showed when I sent the pictures (taken on my phone) to my fiancé. The bottom line is pictures, while not technically a requirement, should absolutely be included if possible. The requirement is proof you have met in the last two years. Just because someone got on a plane doesn't mean they actually met their beneficiary face to face. A picture of the meeting will prove that, and therefore can be considered a requirement. 

8 minutes ago, EG&XY said:

This is incorrect. There is no requirement to submit pictures.

 

The requirement is to prove that you have physically been together in the same place within the last 2 years. Pictures are actually very weak proof. Things such as rental contracts, receipts, plane tickets, etc are much better evidence and pictures can help support those.

 

Pictures are recommended, but they only act as secondary supporting evidence to the other things that you provide.

You're right (and very technical). I should not have said that pictures were a requirement, what I meant was proof of having met is the requirement and the majority of applicants use pictures to do so. However, pictures are not "weak proof" of having met as you say. Even if they are supplementary evidence, it is still widely regarded as a necessity and an application without pictures might not go over well, so let's not encourage people to not include pictures. 

You included a lot of stuff that they won't need at this point. I don't think the CD should be submitted, and I would consider instead printing out a few more messages for them to look at (not 10,000! I included about 12 pages of texts sent over an extended period of time.) It seems like you have merged everything you will need for your beneficiary's visa interview into your I-129F petition and that's not necessary. Be thorough by all means but don't overdo it like that. 

Also, they prefer you attach the G-1145 notification form to the front. I would put it after the check and before the cover letter. 

Chat logs are not a requirement. The only requirement is pictures and how many you submit is up to you, however I personally think 50 might be overkill when you just need to prove you have met at least once during the last two years before filing. I included 7 pictures all taken at different times of the year. I would recommend including pictures from early on in your relationship to now. Don't forget to provide the dates and location. 

Consider submitting anything related to you living together. Lease with both your names on it, bills, etc. 

I went on on YouTube and looked up "I-129F package assembly" and found that very helpful. I think the presentation is important and these tutorials will give you a good idea of what to do. 

On 2017-09-16 at 10:17 AM, geowrian said:

That site is automatically masked on VJ for a reason. And the checklist was updated a few months ago as well to reflect that the G-325A was no longer needed (although it updated a few months after the I-129F change took place).

 

Yeah, USCIS will ignore the documentation that doesn't relate to the requirements for the I-129F (i.e. relationship evidence). It will be forwarded with your case to the embassy, where the CO may review it before your interview. This is where it varies heavily from embassy to embassy. For some embassies (i.e. USEM), they don't review it beforehand...you don't even know what CO you will get until you reach the front of the line (and they don't know what applicant they will get until you're at the window). COs from other embassies may look at it in much more detail and have an opinion before the interview begins.

 

In the vast majority of cases, frontloading has no drawback. At the same time, anything you submit can also be used against you...so sending like 500 pages of chats opens you up to them cherry-picking some detail you long forgot and asking about it in the interview.

 

It's not needed until the interview, but front-loading is beneficial in some cases, and almost necessary in others (i.e. dealing with very difficult embassies like from Ghana, Nigeria, etc.).

It is good to point out that frontloading should be probably be done reasonably, and 500 chat messages is going overboard and that should be common sense. But applicants shouldn't submit anything if they don't know for sure they'll have a clear recollection of it later on. Again, common sense. 

I had the same question just the other day as I was surprised to learn the G-325a form is no longer needed. The k-1 guide on here needs to be updated apparently.

Make sure the I-129f forms you use are 13 pages and dated April 10 2017 on the bottom. I had already completed the G-325a forms when I found this out so I have left them in my I-129 petition because if the officer doesn't need them they'll just disregard them, and someone on another site (***removed***) pointed out that the G-325a forms were still on the USCIS checklist so to just include them anyway (I can't confirm that as for some reason the checklist won't open on my computer.) The point is it can't hurt to include them but no, I do not think they are required anymore so don't worry about them if you haven't already done them and don't want to. 

And you don't need to prove anything but having been in each other's presence at this stage, however a lot of applicants, myself included, choose to go the "frontloading" route because again it can't hurt. The officer conducting your interview will review your case beforehand so why not arm them with as much useful information as possible. It might get you a shorter interview if he/she feels they already have a lot of the information they need, and it makes you look thorough and serious about your petition. Good luck. 

2 minutes ago, LabOz said:

Are you reading the Instructions from the I-129F dated April 10th, 2017? I just read them and 100% you need color 2x2 passport style photos. It is under top of page 11.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-129finstr.pdf

 

Don't forget letter of intents to marry. One letter for each of you signed and dated.

Thank you so much for your reply! Very helpful. I am 100% sure I reread the instructions and it does say very clearly that they require the passport style photos, so I just missed that somehow. It's been a stressful time. They are dated April 10, 2017  

I have included the letters of intent for both of us and G 1145, I-129 supplement to expand on how we met/our relationship (I know that's not a requirement), I'll take out the G-325s but have the passport photos, the relationship evidence section, his birth certificate and a photocopy of my NEXUS card (also not a requirement but I just included it so they know how I've always entered and it's a travel document issued to me by the US after having looked into my background, so I thought well that can't hurt to show they've already confirmed I don't have a criminal history). 

40 minutes ago, Kimberlia said:

After the K1 Visa interview and it is approved, is there any paperwork to be done before leaving to one's destination?  In our case, Egypt to America.

I can't be of too much help but I do know there is a K1 visa flowchart on here that might be helpful for you. 

2 minutes ago, Frage said:

I think the guide should be updated by the admins asap. 

 

I followed it too and included the G-325a with the pictures. Thankfully I also included the I-130a so I didn't get an RFE. 

I completely agree because that is extremely confusing. Do you know if I should take out the G-325a forms then? We're filing a I-129..

Hello all, 

I posted a different question about the G-325a forms and was surprised to learn that apparently the VJ K-1 visa guide here has not been updated and those forms are no longer necessary? I just want to confirm with other users that this is true. I have the passport photos ready to go and I read the I-129 form instructions really thoroughly but I did not see where it said to include the passport photos with them, but I am only human and possibly just missed that. I will reread those instructions as soon as I am able to. I would really appreciate any information on this and please, it's just a question so getting frustrated is not necessary. Thank you!

8 minutes ago, KULtoATL said:

That's what I said, the forms are not updated in the VJ K-1 guide. And I also said to refer to both the VJ K-1 guide PLUS the I-129F official instructions sheet. 

 

You do not need to confuse yourself. It is as simple as the G-325A is NO longer needed. I cannot word it any simpler than that.

 

And if you have read the I-129F official instructions sheet, you will notice that it asks for US passport photos for both US petitioner AND foreign beneficiary.

I appreciate your attempt at being helpful but you seem to be getting a little upset so try to calm down because it's really not that serious. 

I didn't confuse myself. The instructions not being updated on VJ telling me to include the forms when apparently that's no longer necessary is what is confusing. I can't word it any simpler than that  

I not only read the I-129f instruction sheet, I went over it in detail with a highlighter and everything. As you probably know, this is not the most straightforward process and I think it's pretty easy to become a little disoriented and that doesn't mean you're not researching things thoroughly. That's why this forum exists right? We're all a little confused and just want to do it right. No need to get hostile though. 

And when you said the forms were not updated it sounded like you meant the I-129 forms were the old version. It wasn't clear that you were saying the guide itself was not updated. 

1 hour ago, KULtoATL said:

Read both the K-1 guide here and also the official I-129F instructions sheet so that you can put together a "wholesome" petition, to ensure that you submit everything that's required plus everything else that would help with your case. 

 

Please note that the forms are not updated in the VJ K-1 guide. However, all other info in it is still useful and can be adhered to.

 

The current edition I-129F and it's instructions sheet can be found here: https://www.uscis.gov/i-129f

 

Current fee is $535, made payable to U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Hello, 

Thank you, I will definitely go take another look at the K-1 instructions here on VJ. I have already and I really thought it said to include the G-325a forms and passport photos so now I'm so confused. I'll have a look at everything again. 

Edit: Just had a look at the VJ k-1 visa guide and it says to include the passport photos and G-325a forms when assembling your I-129F package - is the VJ guide just not updated? 

2 hours ago, J&B said:

Make sure you have the right forms. The G325-a form is not needed and your I-129F should be the new 13 page version. 

Hi, 

Thanks for your reply. I definitely have the right forms as I downloaded them off the USCIS website directly and they are definitely 13 pages. You are sure I don't need the G-325a forms? I thought I read that they should be included as well on VJ? Would that mean I don't need the passport photos either because we have included those.. so confused. 

Edit: I just had a look at the VJ K1 visa guide and it says to include the passport photos and G-325as, is the guide on VJ just not updated? 

Hello all, 

First, I apologize if there is already a post on this topic but I searched and couldn't find it. I am filling out the G-325a forms right now and for mine (the beneficiary) I'm not sure if I'm supposed to sign it under "signature of applicant" or if my USC petitioner fiancé is supposed to? Any help is much appreciated!

4 hours ago, KULtoATL said:

Example:

 

Part 5, Part 2, Item 14a-15b

Beneficiary's Physical Address 3

Street address:

Apt/Ste/Flr:

City/Town

So on and so forth

 

 

Part 5, Part 2, Item 14a-15b

Beneficiary's Physical Address 4

Street address:

Apt/Ste/Flr:

City/Town

So on and so forth

 

 

That makes sense, thank you! 

Hello all, 

I am hoping someone can help me with a question about the I-129F forms... I need to expand on both the address and employment history because I've lived and worked in more than two places in the last 5 years. I am thinking of just attaching a separate sheet instead of using 'Part. 8 Additional Information' at the back. I know what to put for page (5) and part (2) but what do I put for item number?? Has anyone had to expand on this part? 

Any help is much appreciated!