Kowatti

They are probably not discriminating.  They need SS card to verify identity, criminal, credit issues, the legality of being in the US &, etc.  Many apartment complexes are now performing not just credit checks, but also background checks.  They will not accept certain crimes committed.  I recently had to go through the same thing when I moved into my new apartment.  Good luck.   

Thank you.

Well said!  You expressed my exact thoughts on this.  100% Agree.

You only qualify for CR1 at this point. You are not eligible to file K-1; that will be considered fraud. Plus, there's no quick process either ways. Let me put it this way, this process is going to test your patience, your mind, and the value of your time.

Yes, and this process requires a great deal of knowledge, planning, time, patience, and money......

Thank you very much for the info.  I will pass it on to him.  Much appreciated.  

Regardless to what your cultural background is, it's not always a good idea to live with family once you get married.  You are inviting them into your marital lives & it becomes difficult for them not to take sides.  I would say get out of their house, rent a little house/apt until you are able to purchase your own home.  Marriages have broken up from living with overbearing parents & family members.  I am a Christian & we believe that your spouse should always come first.  Take up for your wife when she is being insulted.  Just my opinion.  I wish both of you happiness for your future & good luck.   

I can understand your pain and I feel for you and your wife.
 
Whether you stay or move, I'd just make sure your wife feels supported and emotionally safe. But it seems like you are doing that from what I read! In my previous marriage my mother in law was very harsh towards me and my ex would feel caught in the middle and often take her side. It felt pretty horrible. It made things really difficult in our marriage and having a relationship with his family.
 
Saying that though, if it's possible, I also think its important to let your mom know how you feel. I think if you can very gently and lovingly talk to your mom about how the things she says make you feel and how you wish she could respond may be helpful. As long as you make the statements about yourself and how you feel and not accusing her of things, this usually has better results.
 
Good luck!

Hi.  That sounds good.  As long as they are not rude & just do their job, that is what I want.  Thanks for sharing.  Greatly appreciated.

Just pray and ask God for guidance in your interview. God is powerful.

And how should his wife behave or react to the MIL under her own roof especially when OP is not around? I'm more concerned about wife's emotional stress and sanity, than OP.

Hi all,
 
I wanted to share my quick story and recent updates on the K1 visa process I am going through with my Panamanian fiancee. I used this site quite a bit to gather information so I feel it is prudent to give back to the community and hopefully save some other people from searching for answers. I did not use a lawyer for any of this and simply used my best judgment in gathering resources from the internet. Please be careful with pulling information from potentially unreliable sources (a lot of the YouTube videos I saw were full of fluffy baloney like putting everything in a colorful binder with some silly heart-covered front page, remember these are government employees, any extra work for them is probably annoying) or sources that are outdated. Below is a (hopefully) short summary:
 
-I met my fiance in the United States as she was here under the Au Pair program on a J-1 Visa where she stayed for a year and a half (from November 2016 to June 2018)
-I proposed to her on my second trip to Panama about 4 months after she returned home (proposed early October 2018)
-I submitted the paperwork for the I-129F mid-November 2018 and received the NOA1 about 2 weeks after (late November 2018)
-Just yesterday (April 1st, 2019), I received the NOA2 showing that our request was approved (about 4.5 months total)
 
Hopefully, this gives good hope to those in the middle of waiting for their response. It is literally some of the worst anxiety I have ever experienced in my life and receiving this great news well ahead of time was a major relief.
 
Some notes that I believe helped our case go so quickly and smoothly:
 
-She is from Panama, a country that demonstrates a very low occurrence of visa overstays and fraud (from what research I have done)
-She already spent a year and a half in the US and, despite meeting through Tinder, we had spent plenty of time together face-to-face in the two years prior which continued even after she moved back to Panama
-She did not have any immigration issues between her visit in 2015 as a tourist and her stay as Au Pair; she left on time and did not get in any trouble with the law while here
-We had known each other for about two years by the time I had filed the I-129f paperwork
-Despite me having a criminal record (misdemeanor marijuana possession in 2007, served unsupervised probation successfully), I still had all of the original paperwork which I included in the submission (and made copies for myself to keep), and I wrote a letter specifically describing the circumstances and outcome (because, really, the whole thing was not a big deal)
-Included original documentation to prove legitimacy of the relationship and having seen her in the past two years (boarding passes, hotel reservations, receipts for the necklace and engagement ring, dinner receipts)
-The packet was organized by section with an outline included for easy searching and all papers with photos were labeled with date, location, and names of everyone
-The entire packet was two-hole punched at the top and I used ACCO prong fasteners (apparently, this is how they will file it anyway, it saves them time)
 
One major thing I want to mention is double-check, double-check, double-check your work!
 
I spent about two whole months on this and I am glad I took my time to do it correctly. I gathered documents that I had been collecting for quite some time and information from her and her family. It was very arduous, but it is incredibly important to be accurate in your submission. I probably rewrote parts of the I-129F form 10-15 times because I kept doing it incorrectly or I would later realize that I misinterpreted what was being asked of me (it's not straight-forward in all parts of the form).
 
Another major thing I want to mention is MAKE COPIES OF EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU SEND IT! Your fiance(e) will need to know what's going on and it doesn't hurt to have copies of the exact submission to verify what USCIS and the NVC have.
 
I very well may have overdone it, but I prefer the extra time put forth to getting an RFE or being outright denied.
 
Good luck to everyone else out there and I hope this helps. I was surprised to know that even with declining approvals for I-129F applications in the past two years, some of us can still be lucky to have their process move quicker than the 7+ months that we have been told.
 
-Panamerican

I see.....you will need a court order of some kind to kick him out.....but it won't be easy.......it's where he resides.

I feel so much better about his final destination here.  He is already a little nervous, although he hates to admit it, lol.  I want to make sure he feels comfortable & remember his first trip to US as a pleasant one.  Thank you for taking time to help me out.  You are an angel.    

I agree with you.  To us it matters that information is correct.  Everyone is supposed to assume that the electronically input info is correct.  I don't believe them.  I like to see the correct info on documents.  Just less stress for the visa holders.  

Thank you so much.  I plan on writing a detailed report on his interview with Dakar because there isn't much about this particular embassy.  People don't have much to say about it for some reason.  I am also going to take it further & share his trip from Lagos Airport all the way until he gets to our home.  I appreciate others having helped me & that is the least I can do.  Without my VJ family, I would have been a real nut case.  Thank you for helping.  Blessings to you.

Got NOA2 on the 27th. Hoping for a smooth process. Good luck to everyone on their journey 

You know that the citizenship can be taken away right? Especially if anyone discovers that you committed fraud which essentially makes your green card invalid and then your citizenship invalid. 
 
Good luck with that. 

Grab some fried chicken, make some rice  .. after that she will be snoozing.  

Hello Roxan.  Welcome & many happy days for both of you.

All you need is copy of receipt when you paid for it, maybe the airline, flight#, copy of boarding pass, the page on your passport that shows the visa stamp.  When you say, letters exchanged, do you mean letters that you have written to each other?  When your fiancé gets an interview, after getting your NOA2 approval, that is when you will want to get as much proof of bona fide relationship as possible.  Right now you need to send in the basics that USCIS is requesting on form I-129F.  

Thank You, You’re all so wonderful!!

Hubby and I have used this site from the very beginning. Take your time and read the documents and ask experienced members for advice. Save the money for a much needed vacation when this process is over😉

After 256 days my petition is finally approved. Got my NOA2 threw email today. 

That's what I thought, and it's really unfair. If one is willing to help commit immigration fraud, there should be some consequences for everyone. The entire "I love my friend but I feel ~misled~ so I will try to help deport them all now, I'm creating a binder" is ridiculous. People who sign such affidavits should be accountable just like the people in the petition themselves.