ScooterJones

Wow, this is crazy and I'm definitely following this thread. I hope everything goes OK and it's a good decision to go to the appointment. 

The government never ceases to amaze me with how their process varies by employee. It took our DMV 6 hours today because they didn't want to accept combo card as ID for a drivers license. The fun just never ends lol. 

For everyone with recent SSN troubles, we had the same issue. It took 8 weeks to get a letter in the mail saying we didn't qualify (which I guess was technically correct by that point since i-94 expired). 

This is just really annoying because we can't file taxes without the dreaded ITIN or filing an extension. Sigh

We're in the same boat. Social security office messed up multiple times and didn't issue a SSN 3 weeks after arrival on K1. I'm thinking about just filing the extension because we would lose a lot of money filing separately.

As much as I hate giving the IRS an interest free loan on my money, the ITIN is a massive pain that I don't want to deal with. There is NO WAY we are shipping the passport. 

Hi all,

Here is our situation:

• Beneficiary entered on K1 Visa in 2019
• Married in US in 2019
• Beneficiary stayed for over 200 days in US in 2019 (meets substantial presence test)
• US petitioner makes all income
• Beneficiary makes zero income
• AOS was just filed and is pending

We need to file as "Married Filing Jointly". It sounds like we need to file via mail with form 1040 and a statement that says to treat beneficiary as a US resident for tax purposes in 2019. We also need to get a SSN before filing (having trouble with local social security office for months).

Am I missing anything here? 

4 minutes ago, purem4g1c said:

you _CANT_ enter the US on a NEXUS pass if you are entering on K-1 Visa. You must enter the US normally like everyone else. I am pretty sure NEXUS will ban you from their program and maybe there are more consequences if you do enter on NEXUS instead of regular entry.

I don't think it is even possible to enter on NEXUS because the machines tell you to ask for assistance when you scan your K1. 

Just a heads up for anyone going through Toronto Pearson as POE, it took 2-3 hours to get through the customs at terminal 3 on a Saturday. Was an easy experience once the visa packet was presented. Didn't ask any questions at all. 

The room was full of people getting turned away for having invalid tourist visas and it took forever for them to sign all the paperwork. CBP agent told them they would never be allowed back in the country. Lol

1 minute ago, pandp said:

Hey ScooterJones,

 

Quick question! We just had our interview last week on 11/6, were approved (!!) and also paid for premium - when did you see that your visa said 'ISSUED' on CEAC? Is it on CEAC that we check this??? Ours still just says 'Ready' but updated last on 11/6. 

 

I didn't check unfortunately. We made a mini vacation out of our trip and were not in a rush.

9 minutes ago, wingman23 said:

I bet that's enough. They even take a look at what we have for the wedding. As long as the intent to marry letter has a wet signature from the petitioner, they are good with it.

 

Thanks!

They made sure the signature was wet? Interesting. People thought I was crazy when I said that... Lol

Congrats on the approval by the way! We should keep in touch through AOS!

Hey all, we just got our visa but I have a random question. Is anyone else planning to have their Canadian fiance sponsor them as a Canadian permanent resident during this process? 

I had trouble figuring out if that would cause an issue with our AOS paperwork (although I don't think it would). Canada is not very strict and we wanted to proceed with those papers as it is very easy to get Canadian permanent residency.

We wanted to have that as a future emergency option if we ever wanted to move. Please send me a DM if this relates to you. Thanks

2 minutes ago, Oscean said:

How much did they charge and what they claim for to handover for fast shipping? I need to get pp ASAp. 

It was 21.00 CAD. You can choose this option when you schedule your interview. I don't know what you mean by handover but the note said they would require photo ID and proof you live at the address. The Canadian mail service never seems to care about anything so they did not ask. 

Just an FYI to anyone curious about visa shipping. We paid for premium shipping and received the visa the very next day in Toronto. We were still in Montreal and they let the beneficiary's mom accept it without any ID. 😳 I feel like we got extremely lucky at every point throughout this process. 

41 minutes ago, Oscean said:

I am little confused about term PCC and criminal record check.. they sounds similar, aren't they? 

And is it mandatory to get from RCMP ? Or I can go with regional police I.e toronto police service? 

It's mandatory to get RCMP but we got the Toronto one as well. For some reason they did not want RMCP and they took Toronto police check (for some reason, maybe cause it's in color). If you're in Toronto like us, you can go to this place called Red Seal Notary and they took care of the RCMP fingerprinting and we had it within 10 days.

Toronto police check we did online just in case and picked up at the station (no fingerprints on Toronto police check). Guess it's good we did a bunch of stuff just in case. We came very overprepared and they honestly took a lot more paperwork from us than I expected (probably about 100 pages). 

11 minutes ago, KartineeKartoons said:

Yes. We have original Nov 8 interview. Everything is booked two wks ago. Theh just notified us yesterday afternoon that it is cancelled due to the move and will reschedule 👊🏽

Hi Congrats! What type of Toronto police check did they accept? Did they changed again? 😕

I don't think they changed anything. I think they just accepted the wrong one because it had pretty colors. Lol

We interviewed today and got approved! So exciting! There were a lot of people that did not know about this site that were not very informed and were missing paperwork (such as tax returns) that encountered issues. I am very fortunate to have done research and am thankful for the resources here. It was pretty disturbing to talk to a bunch of other people at the embassy and some of their beliefs about the process. 

The embassy gave a laminated sheet listing what documents to have and what order to put them in. Upon approaching the window, they asked for them in a completely different order.

Also, they wanted my Toronto police certificate and they did not want the RCMP... I am not sure why. Maybe because the Toronto police certificate had pretty colors? Very strange but glad we had both. 

As you know we allow most countries 90 days to visit the US on a tourist visa. Would it be OK if your fiance visited you for 80 days and then came back on a K1 Visa and you did not get married until 60 days after arrival? 

You wouldn't have to get married within 10 days to prevent overstaying would you? Probably a silly question but my Canadian fiance stayed 170 days out of 180 already so was just curious. 

4 minutes ago, klgck said:

Awesome! I am going to see him Oct. 31st! Did you get/need your flu shot? I plan on getting it regardless, but was wondering if I should get it documented on the vaccine checklist since it only requires it from Nov-Mar and my appointment is the 31st haha. Wishing you the best at your interview!!!

I went to him a couple weeks ago as well. The staff was a little disorganized but it was not a bad experience. He asked very little questions and it was a good experience once he actually got in the room himself. We did not need flu shots as it was not November yet.

55 minutes ago, pandp said:

Hi everyone, I just wanted to check in to see if anyone has any insight on the new presidential decree released yesterday. 

 

According to NY Times, Guardian, etc., "Immigrants applying for US visas will be denied entry into the country unless they can prove they can afford health care within 30 days of entering or can’t pay for it themselves, according to a proclamation signed by President Trump. The new rule, which comes into force on 3 November, will be applied to people seeking immigrant visas, not those in the US already. It does not apply to those seeking asylum seekers, refugees or children. But it would apply to the spouses and parents of US citizens. That could have an impact on families who are trying to bring their parents to the US."

 

I do not mean to stir a panic and I don't think it applies to us K1 applicants anyway as the K1 is non-immigrant visa. In any case, my partner would be able to afford healthcare once he enters, but we haven't seen anything on VJ yet so thought we'd just check in. I suppose this may come into play for us when we do AOS after we get married. Any thoughts on how this new requirement might affect our processes would be much appreciated! 

 

Thanks all, ever grateful for this community. 

Wow, we are probably going to cross the boarder on 5 November... Guess I will let you all know how it goes and I'll refrain from investing this month and keep the cash liquid in my account. I'll bring bank statements to the boarder as well. 

SIGH

3 minutes ago, wingman23 said:

my fiancee and i just saw nov 6 spots.

Wow they must have closed quickly? That's strange. 

1 minute ago, wingman23 said:

woohooo!!! got one spot!!!

 Congrats! Looks like November 6,13, 20, and 27th are open right now. 

I don't guess anyone else here on this forum has October 30th 😕

11 minutes ago, Oh_Canada said:

Yikes! Oh well, at you have the interview booked!  When did you book your interview? Around what time were you able to do it? Thank you

I booked my interview on August 14th. The only available date was October 30th at 7:30am and 8:00am. I chose 8:00am. It looks like everyone is having trouble finding dates at this time. 

6 minutes ago, wingman23 said:

Scooterjones got oct30. So i bet we r waiting for nov dates now. 

Was just about to say that but you beat me to it. I wish ours would have been earlier because I had already booked a trip to Canada until Oct 15th, but now that the interview is the 30th I get to spend another $1k to meet my fiance at the interview. Fun times lol

On 9/10/2019 at 1:34 PM, Cathi said:

I live in New Hampshire, very far from the southern border, and last week there was a mobile CBP checkpoint. I agree that AOS paperwork should be submitted ASAP as no one is safe once they are out of status. No one. https://www.concordmonitor.com/Border-Patrol-Checkpoint-I-89-Lebanon-28253323

The Supreme Court ruled that the immigration checkpoints within the US are allowed to stop vehicles at the checkpoint. Nothing more. Anything else is a waiver of your rights as a US citizen. You gotta have ***** of steel and get through their intimidation tactics, but you can tell them you don't answer questions and you don't consent to anything. If you know the law you can get through them but you need to be careful. Lol

39 minutes ago, wingman23 said:

same inquiry that i have. i guess what we can do is to call the consulate or nvc and request for information about this critical issue. call nvc at exactly 9am or before 9am. there will be no queue.

We should be OK. It seems like having an unexpired petition is not even possible for a lot of us right now. I contacted the consulate and this was their response:

Please note that you may indeed attend your appointment even if the I-129F petition has expired. Although consular officers have the authority to revalidate the I-129F petition for another 4 months, they are not legally required to do so for every case.These decisions are rendered on an individual case basis at the time of the interview.

15 minutes ago, wingman23 said:

Wow! Right on the exact date. At least, there will be no extra waiting time for the extension. Hopefully, we'll have it on or before the expiration date as well.

 

Good luck!!!

Good luck to you as well. How often are you checking for interview dates? Let us know if you get one.

43 minutes ago, wingman23 said:

It is exciting but also worried. Noticed that last interview date here is for Oct 30. Our petition expires on Nov 12.  I know that the CO can extend it but hoping to get in by then. Also, we are leaving for the Philippines in the first week of Dec. Hopefully my passport will be with me before that.

 

Thanks!!!

Our petition will be expired by the interview date. There were literally no possible dates before the expiration period.