NKDL

And there is a difference between an immigrant visa and nonimmigrant visa, correct?
 
Do any of these new rules apply to those seeking a nonimmigrant (K1) visa?

Hi folks.
 
I'm really sad and depressed. I need help.
Here's my story.
 
It's been really tough and (removed) for me, if I'm honest. I had a great couple of months and then he's turned into some kind of control freak who is hell bent on blaming everything on me. I live with him in a basement in his aunt and uncle's house (I was sick for almost 2 months because of the conditions, poor food quality,) he hasn't and will not file for the AOS because he didn't do his taxes and other reasons he won't say. There's also the fact that he spent all the money his mother gave us in July last year to file for the AOS and a second lump he got from some tax returns he waited for me to get here so I would get him more returned!
He keeps telling me that he spent it on me but none of it adds up. 😞 

He's tried setting me up for under the table jobs he knows I can't do and then I'm labelled a bad person for not taking them.
Every day is a walk on eggshells. I'm pretty sure he is a sociopath so my emotions mean nothing nor recognised. I'm just called a bunch of names and so on. Everything is my fault.
 
I'm an emotional punchbag and get grief for not being happy or "loving" towards him. My life is "pointless and meaningless". 🙄 I feel empty and like I have nothing now. Not sure why I'd give him all the good stuff when I'm treated like dirt. But, hey ho.
 
I'm a mess. I really didn't expect any of this and I'm really scared about what to do or what I can do. I sure as hell can't afford to eat, let alone pack all my stuff and my cat to go back. I gave up everything for him. Home, job, family, friends...
 
I'm really scared. I cry every day because I don't know what to do. 😭
I'm pretty sure I'm illegal and I'm really nervous about it. I'm also not sure what to do and if this is even the right place for this. 
 
So, I'm looking to go back. I want to go back. I do not want to be trapped, illegal, and have no independence what so ever. I have no reason to stay here anymore. It's terrible really. His family even sat down with me and have noticed how cr@ppy things have been with his behaviour towards me and everyone. Nothing has changed since the talk.
 
This has been a huge waste of time and money for me. My passport ran out, AOS was not submitted, I have not got a penny to my name nor any help available to me. I paid for everything to be here. He did nothing.
 
I should have read the signs and listened to people from day 1.
 
Sorry for the rant. I have no one to talk to. I have this secretly tucked away so he doesn't see. 😞
 
My questions are;
What can I do with regards to divorce? What is the process?
I just want it over and done with so I have no ties to this awful life anymore. We have no joint accounts, nothing that "we" have. All his stuff and my stuff. No kids. Nothing is shared.
 
Does anyone know someone I can talk to? Preferably free. I need help. I need to get home.
 
Would I be able to return to the USA for vacations later on?
 
Is there a duration of time before I renter the US as a tourist?

The October 15th rule applies to people who apply for Adjustment of Status.  It included the I-944, Declaration of Self Sufficiency.  It shouldn't impact your K-1 visa interview.  However, the Consulate Officer continues to have discretion in determining public charge issues.  In other words, the CO will make a determination of how likely you are to need public assistance.
 
 
 

It should not impact you right now officially since the K1 is technically a non-immigrant visa, but if your sponsor is close to the poverty line on the I134, they may ask for a joint sponsor.
 
Good Luck!

Congratulations 

Congratulations 

Just a quick word of advice for anybody beginning the K1 visa application process:
 
Halfway through the months long process, they'll require you to get a medical exam. To get the medical exam you're required to show your vaccination records. If you don't have these already, get them now! The medical service in Ireland was extremely short staffed when I requested mine. It easily added a month and a half to my application process.
 
I recommend that you get a complete list of the documents you'll require throughout the process and obtain them all at the very beginning. It might sound obvious, but it's easy to miss one or two things. 
 
 

I think what is confusing for a lot of us is that, in the past the burden of not becoming a public charge was on the USC sponsor, and now there is confusion over whether this burden has been shifted to the immigrant him or herself. I am the USC and have plenty of income/assets to support my fiancee/future wife and guarantee that she will not become a public charge. Under the old rules, this was all that was required. However, under the new rules it is unclear if my fiancee/future wife needs to show that she has the income/assets ON HER OWN to not become a public charge. It's just not clear at this point. I think that's what all the confusion is about, at least for those of us in the K1 visa category. This is exactly why I wish VJ had allowed this thread to exist individually on their various subs, rather than merging them all together into this one massive thread covering ALL visa types. 

I started with a $500 Capital one credit card in November 2013. After about two months I opened a Walmart store credit card. Six months after opening my capital one he card, my limit was raised to $2,000. I then applied for a Discover card and given a limit of $1500. About six months later,. I requested higher limit from Capital one, and it was raised again to $3,000. Walmart also raised my limit to $1200, after I requested it. Every three months I would request a higher limit from Capital one and Discover. Walmart then offered to give me a real credit card, but unfortunately this meant they closed my old one, so year's worth of credit history was essentially removed. In July of last year Discover raised my limit to $5,000 and in August I applied for an auto loan from ally. The interest rate was high 8.9%, so I refinanced at a local credit union for 3% in November. In December wells Fargo sent me an application for a credit card with I think 8% APR. I applied and was given a 9,0000 dollar limit, which I thought was good given they rejected my application about 12 months earlier. I was just yesterday approved for a $140,000 mortgage. The main thing for building a good credit score was to pay my credit cards off as soon as possible, use them to make regular purchases and keep requesting to increase my limits when possible. The more credit you have available, the more credit card companies seem willing to raise your limits. And never ever close open credit card accounts, which means you should avoid credit cards with yearly fees, which you might be stuck paying long after you want to quit using them. Personally I think it's a good idea to open accounts in clusters, so your length of credit history will recover faster.

Amazing, thanks so much for the info  Now i just have to root out my aussie passport from where ever it is 

Hey... have you given a copy of your Australian passport or are you planning too? Aus police checks take  just under 3 weeks (I have had to get 2 sent for this proces). I dont know the answer but as you have the passport I probably would to be safe 

Yeah I think you should get one to be safe.  Here's the link, its the $42 name check https://www.afp.gov.au/what-we-do/services/criminal-records/national-police-checks
 
The check takes only 2 days but its the mailing back to Ireland takes over 2 weeks so if you know anyone in Aus that you could get it mailed to and ask if they can forward to you in expedited post. Or just take the chance you'll have it in time... which I think you should. 

i have a question not sure the correct answer or if anyone else has had this issue, 
 
i am the petitioner. i filed a k1 visa on april 4 2018, we recieved our approval notice on dec 6 2018, i started calling the nvc after christmas and did so, twice a week every week until middlwe of january, at that time i filed a request on my case through nvc and uscis. i recieved a response back that it was on the shipping dock and a new notice NOA2 was recieved on feb 4 2019, i waited 2 weeks and called twice a week for weeks  again same thing the case is still on the shipping dock, loaded in a truck waiting to be filled and shipped, that was march 8, i have called uscis every few days  and it was still on the dock, today a tier 2 officer told me that it was shipped out on the 21st of march, i asked everyone over this time period of the expiration on the noa2 paper stated dec 6 to april 4, i have asked for an extension, uscis states the nvc will give that when they recieve the case and nvc states the embassy will give when they recieve the case, it seems to me that everyone is apssing the task to someone else, my issue is i dont want the case expiring since the uscis held onto the case for over 90 days, 
 
what can i do? who do i call ? what happened if this ever happened to anyone else.
 
 
i did look back on here and seemed it was years prior was the only forum i found
 

I'm starting to think we won't hear from them until next week. Other Irish people's timelines generally seem to show that they received their interview date a week before the interview. Getting it next Tuesday will have us on track for an interview on Tuesday, Oct 1st.

I think it'll go to us, the beneficiary as all contact since embassy stage has been with me directly and not my fiance. I've both his email accounts on my phone anyways so I'll know without waiting on him

I received my K1 visa in the mail today... on my birthday!! We got our NOA2 on my fiancé’s birthday back in May and now this arriving is the best present imaginable. 🙂🥳❤️🙂

Hey ...nope nothing so far....despite me refreshing emails approximately every 10seconds.... hopefully Monday though . Fingers and toes crossed:)  

Hello all! Our interview was scheduled for 9/9. It went well but given that it's Afghanistan he was put into extra AP so now we wait....more.... So happy for all those who will be reuniting soon 

So I'm not sure I'm really the best person to be dispensing advice here as I'm no expert. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it myself.
Let me just share some links to info that I know of.
The actual rule is many hundreds of pages long, and I have not read it.
However, some VJers have (or at least the relevant sections) and have shared their interpretations on this VJ megathread.
This is also a good article describing the change.
Basically, what it seems to boil down to is added scrutiny on applicants for US permanent residency (i.e. green card). 
If you're still in the K1 visa stage, this doesn't affect you right now, but after you enter the US, get married, and apply for AOS (green card), that's when it could affect you.
With the new rule, the government will look at the applicant's income, assets, income-earning potential, educational background, skills, and English language ability to assess the likelihood of the applicant becoming a public charge. 
My understanding is that for applicants going through the fiancee-to-marriage process, the income assessment will include the US citizen petitioner's income, because after they are married they form a "household". So if your spouse/petitioner's income is above the poverty threshold you should be fine.
What has some people worried is that in the past the poverty threshold that was thrown around as the standard was 125%, and now there is a new number being thrown around because of this new rule and it is 250%. My understanding is the rule isn't actually saying you must have over 250%. What it's saying is that if the applicant is weak in other areas (i.e. low educational background, lack of skills, poor English ability), then having a household income over 250% (including the sponsor's income) could help to overcome those weaknesses and guarantee approval. They refer to all of this together as a "totality of circumstances" assessment, where there's no black or white one rule that determines whether an applicant will be approved or rejected, rather the IO (immigration official) will scrutinize the totality of circumstances holistically and make a discretionary decision. 

🌟Our visa was approved yesterday at the London embassy! 🌟
 
We are so relieved, it’s not been easy but we’re so happy! Wedding booked for end of October! ❤️
 
Thank you so much to everyone for the useful information and help! And a special thank you to @Greenbaum this process would’ve been a lot more difficult without the advice! 
 
Best of luck to those who are waiting still and congratulations to those of you who have been approved! 

Filed petition mid February 2019, NOA2 received mid May, visa approval 10th September! Wahoo. We could have got the medical and interview done much sooner but I’m not planning on moving until December. Best of luck to everyone still waiting for progress with their case or are waiting nervously for their interviews. The end is near guys, we are incredibly lucky to be here when so many others before us were waiting a very, very long time. ❤️

I had my interview today, my visa is approved!!! Now just a week’s wait to receive my passport😁 (review will follow soon)
 
A huge thank you to everybody on this forum who answered my questions, made information available to me, was patient with me and gave me words of support.  Thanks guys!!! 😁😊😁

Sorry to hear that   I hope you get good news of a rescheduled interview soon  

Congratulations