Ephesus

Q 10 my citizenship was acquired through birth in the U.S., I marked that. Do I need to enter anything in this box "Give number of certificate, date and place it was issued."?

The short answer is NO..

And the long answer? Is it possible?

If my fiance is in the US when the first part of the K1 visa is approved, can she have the interview in the US, be approved, and then marry without having to go back to France?

Current and future paperwork fees can be found here:

http://www.visajourney.com/news/2007/01/31...-to-920/#more-3

Medical and visa fees do vary by consulate, and you can find that information on the embassy info section on this website.

Thank you! When will these fees go in place?

I think 2200 is a good place to start right now.

I guess I'll estimate 2200...?

Get ready to open your wallet.

Plan 1500 to 2000 for paperwork. And that's if the fee hikes don't happen.

Not a problem, thank you.

Is there a guide saying what forms I will need? I know I-129f, G-325a (free), DS-3025 (dunno the fee, if any) but that's it.

Sorry for all the new-ish questions, but I need to know this so I can prepare today.

Thanks,

Fee at filing is 170. fee for medical will prob vary by location, depends if there is fee for copies like birth certificate, court certificate, police certificate, each location will vary with what is required. I had to pay for the bank letter here.

I know that the fee for the I-129f is 170, but I don't know what other forms are required and the fees.

What is the cost, from the K1 visa filing fee, to finishing the medical exam (I think that's the last set cost). I already know the price of the airline. I'm about to budget this.

Ephesus,

Well, what is it that you are applying for? The instructions for what form told you that you needed to prepare this G-325A?

Yodrak

What do I put in 'This form is submitted in connection with an application for:'?

I-129F

What do I put in 'This form is submitted in connection with an application for:'?

Okey, thank you. I'll report it. And yes, I know I need a sponsor, my grandmother is doing that.

Rebeccajo - if he writes "unemployed - disabled" (or just "unemployed") in that section will that affect if he gets approved or not? Or no because it's not their job to judge that at this point in the process?

Can I just make it easy and not put in anything there since it isn't officially a job I'm not lying?

Works for me, thanks.

Since you do not work, I would put "NONE". This is not the stage where you are verifying your income.

Okey, thank you. I'll report it. And yes, I know I need a sponsor, my grandmother is doing that.

Rebeccajo - if he writes "unemployed - disabled" (or just "unemployed") in that section will that affect if he gets approved or not? Or no because it's not their job to judge that at this point in the process?

Can I just make it easy and not put in anything there since it isn't officially a job I'm not lying?

I am on social security benefits (SSI) and put down "Social Security" and under position "Disabled". I am thinking I should forget writing that in since A) could look unfavourably on me and B) my grandmother will be my sponsor for my fiance who makes well above the 125% minimum.

Also, will they care if I moved around a lot?

If you have a job and you're not getting paid off the books, yes, state it in the G-325a.

Well, it's not a job: I just get a disability check each month deposited into my account to live off of. It is an amount below the poverty line but I still am never in the red and only in debt with student loans.

Should I even state I have a job in the G-325a form? I put Social Security, but I think that could harm the application?

Thanks for your responses; they've been most helpful.

>>

Nope, they need original signatures in ink. A photocopied signature will lead to a RFE (see next paragraph). Can she afford the money to ship it by a faster method? I ended up having to DHL stuff to France at one point.<<

Yeah, we can do that. It just sucks that I can't mail off the stuff tomorrow.

>>Look at it this way. The employment situation in France is horrible and France is being loaded with immigrants. They want as many people out of the country as possible. If they're going to deny a person from leaving, they're gonna have a dayum good reason for it. <<

Heh, she told me to move their because immigration is so easy.

>>Does your sponsor make 125% of the poverty guidelines for their household plus 1 more?<<

I don't know what the poverty guidelines are, but my grandmother makes about 500k plus her assets (but she REFUSES to tell the government what she has). She lives with my grandfather who supports himself. I only say the number because I read a case in one of the guides where the person was denied because they were on disability (I'm on SSI).

>>

They asked my fiance 4 questions: what's her name, how did you meet, what does she do for a living, and what do you plan on doing once you're in the States. They didn't look at a single shred of proof of ongoing relationship. He was in the embassy for an hour and a half and most of that time was spent waiting to be called in.

<<

Should she have a job or is stating she plans to work as well as going to university enough?

>>They go to diffrent places. Its basically an electronic version of the orginal carbon form.<<

So it can be copies?

If you fill out the form electronically (go to the download section of the site), when you complete the first page it'll fill the other 3 out for you. Print all 4 pages, sign and date each page. Then have your fiancee do the same, all 4 pages. Each page has the same information on it, but each page goes to a different place at VSC - so they need 4 pages each with original ink signatures on them to go to each place.

Ugh,, okay, thanks.

>>Can you tell me about the medical exam?

It consists of 3 places: 1 place for bloodwork to be drawn (checking for HIV and whatnot), 1 place for a quick chest xray, and 1 place for the physical exam. The doctor that does the physical is awesome, very sweet lady with a great sense of humor. The physical took about 10 minutes for my fiance and was mostly yes or no questions. A concern I see a lot on this board is do they have to examine the, erm, private regions. Well, I don't know about for women, but for my fiance they did not. All 3 buildings are pretty close to each other, within walking distance. What else do you want to know?<<

That's it, thanks.

>>Yes, you both need to fill out all 4 pages of the G-325a.

How do you fill out four pages when there's only two people involved?

You fill out 4 pages, your fiancee fills out 4 pages. The 4 pages are identical, they just go to different places once they're processed.<<

F--- -- Can you just make copies of the form? She's in France now (well back on a plane), and for her to fill it out and sign it and mail it to me will slow things down by at least two weeks.

>>If it only takes three months, then we don't care. She has to finish university and that ends in June. I just saw on the Vermont page they are processing applications back from August 20th 2006. Why is it saying that and people are getting it in 2-3 months?

Vermont and California have very different processing times. People going through CSC generally take 2 - 3 months just to complete the USA side of the process. People going through VSC generally take only a month. Why the Vermont page says that is beyond me. In actuality, VJers going through VSC are getting their NOA2s in a month or less. Unless a RFE is involved, that could slow things down. Maybe the case being processed from August 20th has had multiple RFEs? <<

RFEs?

What are the reasons a visa won't get approved? I read the official reasons (which are obvious), but I don't know if there are more. I am worried about the statement of support.

>>You have to go to Paris for this? Not the embassy in Marseilles?

Nope, this is Paris. <<

Oh, great, train rides. heh. What do they ask at the interview?

And thanks to everyone else who has replied.

Hehe I can answer 2 of your Q's Each of you fill out all 4 pages. Make sure to sign each page as well. So in total, 8 pages of G-325A. It makes more sense if you see the original form they send if you call the center and have them send it to you. You get 2 copies of the G-325A and each has 4 carbon copy pages.

Vermont has the visa they've been working on the longest post as a CYA. The VAST majority of people (at least on this site) are getting approvals within 1 month. 2-3 month timelines are for california SC. You are lucky and get the shorter approval time!

I'm sorry I don't understand the four pages. All information fits on one. Why the four pages?

Another Frenchie, yaaaaaaay! Welcome! Come join our France/America couples post!

Take a look at my signature, we also went through VSC and Paris embassy. It basically took 3 months til he had his visa in hand. Paris embassy is a cinch - the medical is a breeze, the interview is a piece of cake, no problems no hassles!

Can you tell me about the medical exam?

Yes, you both need to fill out all 4 pages of the G-325a.

How do you fill out four pages when there's only two people involved?

As long as your co-sponsor makes 125% of the poverty guidelines for their household PLUS one more, you'll be fine. Paris requests the I-864 and then takes the I-134, they're sort of confused in that matter. So make sure your sponsor is comfortable filling out BOTH forms. We didn't want the embassy to take the I-864 so when they asked for "financial documents" my fiance played stupid and handed them the I-134, they took it without any problems. In the past at other VJers interviews, they offered both and the embassy chose the I-134. But still, packet 3 specifies they want the I-864, so you'll need to have that at the interview just in case.

Thanks.

There's no fee you could pay to speed up the process. Sure she can come visit on the VWP, she just has to go back for her medical/interview. If she's going to come you may want to get her here before you send out the petition - it's a bit more risky to cross the border with a K1 petition processing. She'd need to bring proof of strong ties to her country (i.e. bills, letter from employer stating the date she'll return, etc.) and even then the border patrol officer COULD turn her away if they decide she doesn't have a good reason NOT to decide to stay here and never leave. So if you want her here during the process (especially if you want to bring her here for 3 months), I suggest bringing her here and then mailing out the petition a little while after she arrives.

If it only takes three months, then we don't care. She has to finish university and that ends in June. I just saw on the Vermont page they are processing applications back from August 20th 2006. Why is it saying that and people are getting it in 2-3 months?

I think I got all your questions. Please do come over to our France/America couples post and join the fun. I posted my fiance's medical/interview experiences there, and we'd all be glad to answer any Paris-specific questions that you have.

You have to go to Paris for this? Not the embassy in Marseilles?

Okay, so I am filling the I-129f and G-325A form. First, do I need to send in all four pages of G-325A since only two pages apply to us?

I will be having a sponsor since I don't work (I am a student and I also receive SSI). Is this going to be a problem? Should I get a job quickly and keep it, or just use my sponsor (grandmother who makes more than enough money and has a lot of assets).

How long does the application take to process in Vermont? Then how long until she has her meeting? Basically, when can I get her to the US to marry? Is there another fee I can pay to speed things up? Can she be in the US without a visa, then fly back, and fly back to the US once the visa is approved? (I think you can stay in America for 3 months without a visa)

Thanks,

Ephesus