chrisandamye

congrats!!

I just sent in the paperwork. As far as I'm aware, for the AOS we didn't require any of the supporting evidence that the initial K-1 application required or that the lifting of conditions will require in the future. Just a copy of the marriage certificate and some forms. Oh, and money. Lots of money :-(

And thanks to everyone for the congratulations. The worst part for Amye and I is that in three or four years we're going to have to go through this all again when we move over to Britain...yawn!

Hey everyone.

So a letter came through yesterday saying my permanent resident status had been approved, and my card was on the way! I applied for the AOS and EAD in February, so I'm very happy to be getting my AOS now...I did wait AGES for my K1 visa though--far longer than others I've seen--so I feel this balances it out. What I did find strange is that I never had an interview for my AOS. Perhaps because I filed for it so soon after entering the US and interview in London was taken as sufficient?

Anyway, I'm glad to have my AOS now as our friend is getting married in Morocco later in the year and now I have no visa hassles in going. Woo hoo!

Chris

There's no way they're going to know who's signature it is...I wouldn't worry. My records were signed by the practice nurse as she gave me the actual vaccines.

Hey everyone.

I know that somewhere there is a topic in which people have recorded good/cheap doctors to get the medical vaccination supplement done at(perhaps someone can move this there(and perhaps make that a sticky thread?)). Anyway, this afternoon I found myself at the doors of Dr. Phuoc K Doan. After a brief once over(height, weight, blood pressure etc - I was a new patient, after all) he was more than happy to fill in the supplement for me. More than that, he accepted my verbal declaration of past chickenpox infection and also my handwritten vaccination proofs from my doctor back home(which, will completely legitimate, have been the cause of hassle in the past). Ok, so I was charged $50 for this. To be honest though, it was worth it to have it done and over with. Plus, compared to the charlatans I spoke to wanting me to submit to new medicals and blood testing he at least knew of what it was I required.

Chris

# Dr. Phuoc K Doan, Clarendon Clinic

1220 North Hudson Street, Arlington, VA 22201

(703) 243-0250

I'm a K1 visa holder, just married. I'm in the process of collecting together all forms/evidence etc using the very useful guide provided by VJ. I do have one query, however. There is a codicil to the guide stating to include additional supporting documentation and photos for the I-765 application. Can someone please clarify what this additional supporting documentation might be? I can't find any references to it from the USCIS link. Also, should I be provide an additional two photographs for this application on top of the two for the I-485(do four in total)?

Many thanks

Chris

Hello!

So, the NVC sent the accepted application to London England, and they sent the package to my fiance telling him what to do now.

I had heard that after you request an interview, it usually takes 4-6 weeks for the embassy to schedule an actual date.

Unfortunately, we did not realize the information we needed to gather, and he just requested his criminal background check. They told him that it could take up to 40 days for him to get it back. Also, I'm still gathering the information for the I-134 that I need to send him, and his physical is on Thursday.

In order for them to schedule an interview, my fiance needs to send them a checklist saying that he has all the necessary information. Should he tell them that he has the information while we are in the process of gathering it so that a interview can be scheduled, or is it best to wait until he has everything in his hands?

Does anyone know how long it usually takes after you tell them you are ready to schedule an interview?

Thank you so much!

Have a great day!

Well, I was in a very similar situation and I just sent away the checklist. In fact, I sent away a downloaded copy of the checklist before my packet 3 had even reached me. As far as I was concerned there was no point in waiting. If the necessary documentation (in my case a Police Certificate from South Africa!) had no come int time then the visa would have been (hopefully) approved pending their receipt of it at a later date. As it was, that came in time but as I did my medical the same day my visa was approved pending receipt of that.

Now im stuck in the AOS/EAD qaugmire :-(

Hi,

My fiance and I are pretty distraught at this point. If anyone could help answer some of our questions we'd really appreciate it. Here's our status: after 8 months of this process, my fiance finally got his visa approved yesterday at his interview in London. Yay. But we'd always thought he could pretty immediately work as soon as he got here. However, we're finding that he gets a 90 day work permit (which we knew before) and the EAD doesnt come for up to six months! What the point of the 90 day temporary is I dont know. Who's going to hire a professional for 90 days?! We live in Washington, D.C. and we're wondering if everyone really waits 6 months. How do they afford that? So here are the specific questions from my fiance:

Q- Do I require a SSN to apply for my EAD/AOS? I ask because I understand that I should wait two weeks after entry to apply for a SSN and would like to apply for my EAD/AOS as soon as I arrive .

Q- Does anyone have any experience of the Washington DC local office? I have read that an application for EAD may be made to some local offices on the basis of an NOA from your AOS application. Does this apply to the DC office? If so, anyone have evidence of it being worthwhile or not?

Q- From what I understand, as long as I can demonstrate to an employer that the K1 visa is work enabled I should be able to work legally for the 90 days of its validity without any further documentation needed. Does anyone have experience of this?

I send anyone who can help a thousand thank you's ---Amye and Chris

Hey everyone.

So, yesterday was my K1 interview in London. Everything went swimmingly, interview itself was quick and painless though the long waits were less so. Of course, my fiancée and I were overjoyed that we were finally going to be back together (i fly out on 24th of January) after our 6months+ apart. That joy is turning into despair, however, as I read accounts of how long it is taking people to get their work authorisations.

I have to admit that we had both been concentrating so much on the initial K1 application that we may have let the details of the next stage elude us. I, like many partners moving to the US, require to begin work there as soon as possible both to contribute to our household expenses and to get going with my career which has been on hold for the past 6 months of waiting. It now seems I face further delays. As such, I have been searching through the guides and forums to try and get an accurate picture of both the order of the next steps to take and the likely period I will have to wait for each one. We intend on getting married the day after I arrive. Our home is in Arlington, VA, and from what we gather I don't need an SSN to get married only my passport. Other than that I have a some questions that a few of you may be able to answer.

Q- Do I require to have an SSN to apply for my EAD/AOS? I ask because I understand that I should wait two weeks after entry to apply for a SSN and would like to apply for my EAD/AOS as soon as I arrive ( I intend upon getting married on the 25th Jan - i arrive 24th Jan)

Q- Does anyone have any experience of the Washington DC local office? I have read that an application for EAD may be made to some local offices on the basis of an NOA from your AOS application. Does this apply to the DC office? If so, anyone have evidence of it being worthwhile or not?

Q- From what I understand, as long as I can demonstrate to an employer that the K1 visa is work enabled I should be able to work legally for the 90 days of its validity without any further documentation needed. Does anyone have experience of this?

If anyone can help with answers to my questions, or be able to offer any other information you think I might find helpful then please post a response or contact me directly. My fiancee and I are both young and in love and just want to get on with our lives together but there seem to be so many barriers! Hopefully someone out there has information that will smooth that process.

Chris (for ChrisandAmye)

Ok, i'm confused guys. My initial thoughts were that you simply had to declare you had your police certificates in your possession when posting Packet 3 to London. However I have been confused by some subsequent comments people have made regarding this that seemed to me to indicate you have to send the actual certificates themselves. could someone please clarify this for me?

Thanks a mil.

Chris

Hi all here is my detailed London interview experiance hope it is of use to you:

Interview date: 08/Aug/07

Travel to London:

I left home at 7pm on 07/Aug caught the midland mainline service from Sheffield to London St Pancras I got there at around 10pm. I had booked a hotel near the embassy for the night at the Hyde Hotel Paddington (booked by: www.Londonnights.com). The hotel is not very far from the Embassy. The staff were polite and the rooms although small were of a very high standard (better than I have had in some higher ranked hotels). I ordered a car from Plazza cars to collect me at 7:30am from the hotel to take me to the Embassy. The hotel does not have any AC and it was very hot.

Interview day:

The day stated early at 5:45am. Got ready checked over my paper work, all present and correct, I took my other bags and left them with the reception. The rest of the day when something like this: Headed down for breakfast at 6:50am Breakfast finished at 7:10am. Car arrived at 7:15am. Arrived Embassy 7:30am. The entrance that you need for the visas is on the south side of the square and has Grosvenor St leading off it. (if you are stood facing the front of the Embassy with the Roosevelt memorial on your right you are in the right place).

I had a 9am appointment and strictly speaking you are not meant to arrive more than 30 minutes before. I had heard queues of 2+ hours so got there early. This did not seem to bother them. I was standing around talking with other people waiting for the queue gates to be opened. They all seemed to have letters that looked nothing like mine. They were all going for non-immigrant visas and these are handled by a different branch. (Technically the K1 is a non-immigrant visa but it is handled by the immigrant visa branch). Also there were people of other nationalities getting visas to visit the USA. I think I saw a Ukrainian passport while I was there waiting.

Security is tight, you are not allowed to take any liquids through and I had to remove my belt and put everything in my small bag. I walked to the security hut and put my bag on the X ray. I waked through the mettle detector. It went off, don’t know why I did not have any mettle on me!! The security guard looked longingly at the x-ray of my bag and spotted the USB pen drive I had on my key chain. That had to stay at security. (my cell phone would have also but I had left it back at the hotel).

I walked round the building to the other side, you walk in front of the building where all the flags of the states are. You go up the steps at the other side of the building and there is a person at a desk, they ask to see your paper work.

Here is where it stated to go wrong for me, the guy on the best looked like a workman and did not know what he was doing. He asked to see my appointment letter, I showed it to him, he said

“No the one with the bar code” (I found out later this was wrong, if you are going for a NON-IMMIGRANT VISA then the letter has a bar code on it. The IMMIGRANT ones don’t)

Trying to be helpful I said this has a barcode on and showed him a copy of the DS156, I had a copy with me thankfully. He said that was ok and gave me a printed ticket No. 1000**.

This was the second problem, this ticket was for a non immigrant visa, the ticket that you should be given begins 5000**.

Anyway oblivious to this I went up the stars to the left and sat down. The room looks rather like a large bank with windows that resemble the cashier counters. These are where your interviews will take place.

Did not wait long and was called to a widow. The Lady here was very nice, she looked at the DS156 and said “Relocation to the USA?” I explained what I was doing and showed her my appointment letter. She talked with one of her colleges and she said I had been given the wrong ticket.

Back out to the front desk I explained to the guy who put right the mistake. Right ticket this time back to sit down. Longer wait this time, I knew I was on the right track when someone who was also interviewing for a K1 sat next to me. Called after about 30-40 minutes I think.

Window 13, for finger printing, payment and hand over of copies of Police and birth certificates. All going well so far, fingerprints taken 3 times as the reader was not working properly. Photograph give over, (they take a picture of the picture and use that, they give you the picture back). Asked for a letter of continued intent to marry from my US fiancé. This was because it had been more than 4 months from date of filing to the date of the interview. Handed over the I134 and supporting evince.

Then paid $100 visa processing fee, I had $100 in notes but they would also accept credit cards. Sat back down and waited, longer wait this time. Then called to window 15 for the interview. They make you take to Oath that you will tell the truth, if you don’t like swearing you can affirm.

I was asked to write Tracy’s full name on the DS157 (or it could have been 156 not sure). There were other forms to sign and then came the questions:

How we met?

When Tracy has been to college?

What I planned to do for work once I got to the USA?

Here is when the problems really stated. He asked to see Tracy’s tax returns for the last year. This was IRS FORM 1040. I did not have them. He explained that he needed to see them before he granted the visa but he was accept Fax copies. I was informed that the case was suspended until he saw the tax forms. I was given a blue piece of paper telling me what I had to provide. I was instructed that I had to have them couriered to the embassy with my passport.

I was then informed about the conditions on the visa, I had to get married in 90 days etc etc etc…..

I left at about 9am and headed back to the hotel. I got Tracy to fax me the forms (Wal Mart don’t do faxing at 5am by the way, just in case you are ever in this boat)

I arranged for the courier to collect the paper work from my home address the next day. That was the Thursday, the paper work reached the embassy the following Monday. The following Saturday we got everything back from the embassy visa Granted!!!!!

There you go one very stressful experience but it was worth it in the end. If you are going for the K1 interview don’t forget your tax forms!!!!

Paperwork:

Police Certificate

Birth Certificate

Picture conforming to state department regulations.

Letter of continued intent to marry from US fiancé. (because it has been more than 4 months from date of filing to date of interview)

I134 affidavit of support and supporting evidence.

Passport.

TAX FORMS FOR LAST TAX YEAR (POTENTIALLY 2 TAX YEARS)

Costs:

Train ticket: £22

Taxi Station to hotel: £15

Hotel: (£55 + 9.95 breakfast): £64.95

Taxi: hotel to embassy: £12

Visa fee $100 (about £50)

Courier: 24.50

Total: £188.45

Knowing that I can be with Tracy: Priceless

Things to remember for the Interview:

Tax forms: It does not say it on any of the documentation that you will ever see but you should take with you the USC's IRS form 1040 and some supporting evidence (eg W2's or schedules)

Money: There is a little cafe where you can by drinks and some confectionary. You are going to be there a while so best be prepared.

Letter of intent to marry if it has been more than 3-4 months between filing and date of interview.

This has confused me slightly: when you say USC's IRS form 1040, what are you referring to? The USCIS? If so, where do you get this form from? My fiancee probably doesn't have one as I met her in South Africa where we were both studying and so she has only recently moved back to the US ans is now working. Her father is co-sponsoring our application by filling in his own affidavit of support, but no idea about this IRS form. Anyone able to help?

Chris

A letter from my bank, all bank info, letter from work, and lots of pay stubs. But I dont have the tax returns because I just started working in June.

Thanks so much, pushbrk! I know you've been helpful in answering my queries in the past as well. I make 40K but just got the job and have been a student for the past six years and the last two not in this country. So I have no tax returns and obviously no assets, just my income. Because of that, I'm also having my dad fill out an affidavit. He makes 150K and has assets, but I didn't ask him to give me those tax returns, though he sent the bank statements, and everything else listed on there, letter, etc. Do you think this is going to suffice for the interview? Im scared to death that something's going to happen at the interview to ruin it. I'm also a pessimist. I know you can only give me your opinion as well. Does my evidence sound ok to you , though? Thanks---Amye

What you quoted was specifically for the Philippines. Do you know if this depends on the embassy because I just filled out the I-34 affidavit of support and it didnt go to K. It says you need two of the following:

The quote is specifically for Manila but in general, one would want to provide supporting evidence for claimed income, either in the form of tax transcripts and/or pay stubs and/or bank letters.

Also, you can simply skip all asset related sections (and evidence of assets) of either affidavit of support if the income alone is sufficient.

The principle to keep in mind is that you are trying to convince the Consular officer that the intending immigrant is unlikely to become a public charge as well as to avoid any delays in obtaining the visa. The best practice is to provide direct evidence in support of all assertions, wherever possible. This applies to all issues, not just finances.

One of the biggest mistakes in judgment we see is that people view the visa process as one of "meeting requirements" when, in fact, much of the adjudication process is highly subjective.

I doubt you'll need your Dad's affidavit but it's good to have available. What evidence of income did you include for yourself?

Thank you!

Thanks so much, pushbrk! I know you've been helpful in answering my queries in the past as well. I make 40K but just got the job and have been a student for the past six years and the last two not in this country. So I have no tax returns and obviously no assets, just my income. Because of that, I'm also having my dad fill out an affidavit. He makes 150K and has assets, but I didn't ask him to give me those tax returns, though he sent the bank statements, and everything else listed on there, letter, etc. Do you think this is going to suffice for the interview? Im scared to death that something's going to happen at the interview to ruin it. I'm also a pessimist. I know you can only give me your opinion as well. Does my evidence sound ok to you , though? Thanks---Amye

What you quoted was specifically for the Philippines. Do you know if this depends on the embassy because I just filled out the I-34 affidavit of support and it didnt go to K. It says you need two of the following:

The quote is specifically for Manila but in general, one would want to provide supporting evidence for claimed income, either in the form of tax transcripts and/or pay stubs and/or bank letters.

Also, you can simply skip all asset related sections (and evidence of assets) of either affidavit of support if the income alone is sufficient.

The principle to keep in mind is that you are trying to convince the Consular officer that the intending immigrant is unlikely to become a public charge as well as to avoid any delays in obtaining the visa. The best practice is to provide direct evidence in support of all assertions, wherever possible. This applies to all issues, not just finances.

One of the biggest mistakes in judgment we see is that people view the visa process as one of "meeting requirements" when, in fact, much of the adjudication process is highly subjective.

Can anyone---who did their interview at the London embassy---tell me if they asked for the two years of tax returns? Thanks---Amye

What you quoted was specifically for the Philippines. Do you know if this depends on the embassy because I just filled out the I-34 affidavit of support and it didnt go to K. It says you need two of the following:

A. Statement from an officer of the bank or other financial institutions where you have deposits, identifying the following details regarding your account:

1. Date account opened;

B. Statement of your employer on business stationery,revealing:

1. Date and nature of employment;

C. If self-employed:

1. Copy of last income tax return filed; or

2. Report of commercial rating concern.

D. List containing serial numbers and denominations of bonds and name of record owner(s).

I. Execution of Affidavit.

II. Supporting Evidence.detailedinformation on how to submit this affidavit of support form.

2. Total amount deposited for the past year;

3. Present balance.

2. Salary paid;

3. Whether the position is temporary or permanent.

Is this "k. Evidence of Support" strictly for Manila embassy?

Read carfuly the financial requirements from the consulate:

k. EVIDENCE OF SUPPORT. You should be able to demonstrate that you will not become a public charge or be a burden on the U.S. taxpayers for financial support. Submit your petitioner’s most recent U.S. Federal income tax return (Form 1040) and wage statements (Form W-2). Employment letters stating salaries and bank statements may be included. A completed I-134 Affidavit of

Support Form will be useful to the consular officer to evaluate your petitioner’s ability to be financially responsible for you.

http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwfivk1.pdf

The directions included with I-134 are very old, USCIS has no reason to update them since USCIS has no application for that form.

The consulates tend to treat the I-134 like a mini-I-864 as so prefer the same financial evidence as the I-864.

In our case this what the I-134 included.

• I-134 signed and notarized.

• SIMPLE Tax transcripts from the IRS for past 3 years, (Redundant for the (1040,W2,1099) but are free from the IRS http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq1-6.html

• Photo copy of IRS form 1040, and W2s for past 3 years (Not necessary if you provide the transcripts)

• Letter from my employer stating annual salary, job responsibility, and that is full time, on company letterhead.

• Photo copies of past month or so of pay stubs up to a few weeks before the interview.

My income was well above the povertyline so I did not include any asset data (LIKE BANK STATEMENTS or property values).

If your income exceeds 125% of the povertyline when counting yourself, prospective immigrant and any dependents, then don't bother with assets (401K, Bank balance, Stocks etc..), it is just extra un-needed data to provide, the consular officer is most concerned with INCOME.

Poverty line: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

It's not a matter of us not wanting to get married. We do, and have wanted to way before we thought of the K1 visa. We're just young and poor, so cant afford a wedding and a ring yet. With work, we're also too busy to even plan a wedding. We both agreed a long time ago that we wanted to be together forever. The difference in nationality is just pushing us to make are feelings articulated legally. I was just worried if we didnt have a engagement ring, on one knee story we would get denied the visa at the interview.

Hi,

My fiance and I are debating about what story to tell of how we got engaged when he goes to the interview. Here's the truth: We met in South Africa, we dated for a couple months, then we moved in together. We've been apart now since May and in total we were together in SA for about a year. We've known for a while that we wanted to be together for ever, but as we're only 25/26 we wanted to wait to get married. However, when we found out that we would have to get engaged to stay together--me being American and he being British---we decided to apply for the fiance visa. We have every intent to get married when he gets here, but there's never been an actual proposal.

That's the story he wants to tell, but I told him that sounds like a scam. Like we're just getting married so he can be here in the States. I think we should make up a story about him proposing, etc. that sounds like a more traditional (safe) engagement story that will get approved. He doesnt want to lie and thinks our real story is perfectly understandable. I fear the people at the embassy doing the interviews wont accept our real story and we'll be denied. What do y'all think?

Thank you so much!!! very helpful.

HI,

Can anyone send me a link to the packet 3 checklist for the London consulate? I went on the consulate's website and could only find a checklist of what to bring to the interview. The consulate does such a horrible job of organizing this. Instead of having one page for the entire process with all the forms for the entire process there, they scatter it all around the website. Thanks everyone---Amye

OOOPS, found it here on Visa journey. Sorry. But Ill post it if other people are wondering:

Packet 3 Contains: IV-15 Checklist

Information on how to book your medical

Medical Questionnaire

Request download and filling in of:

DS-230-I Part I

DS-156 x2 (Fill out online to generate barcode http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/...electronic.html - Do not sign)

DS-156K (Do not sign) (K1/2 Only)

DS-157 (Male only)

HI,

Can anyone send me a link to the packet 3 checklist for the London consulate? I went on the consulate's website and could only find a checklist of what to bring to the interview. The consulate does such a horrible job of organizing this. Instead of having one page for the entire process with all the forms for the entire process there, they scatter it all around the website. Thanks everyone---Amye

has there been a jump in membership since that article yesterday?

What article?

lol...where have you been?

I've been working on getting the computer up and running since the hard drive was flattened.

I read the article. It really is depressing. The range in the time it takes just isn't fair either. Some people get their visas in a matter of 3 or 4 months and others it takes over a year. It's such a ###### process. Really, if I were to start over again, I would have moved to Britain and done this the other way around. I cant believe how pathetic our country's immigration system is.

Thank you.

lol...where have you been?

Obviously not on this site. Can you not just tell me?

has there been a jump in membership since that article yesterday?

What article?

It's not a crime to go on vacation for a long time, but it is a violation of your "visa" to stay beyond its expiration date. When traveling abroad on an American visa (I am American and did this in Europe), you are given a 90-day "tourist visa" immediately by just having an American passport. It's not written, your passport automatically works as this sort of visa. But I can tell you, if you over stay that 90 days and they notice when you're leaving the country, that equals big fines. And no more coming into the country for a long time. So if you went to Italy (or you came over here, because I think the Italian passport works the same way for here) your fiance would have to cross the border every couple months to renew his "visa." Though, they can still catch you if they just look a couple stamps back at where you've been and for how long.

Also, I lived for a year in France working illegally and it was not as easy as you seem to think it is. With the European Union, it's a lot harder for Americans to work in Europe, especially if your fiance doesnt speak the language.

If I were you, I would do the above options and be very careful. Definitely cross the border to get the passport stamped out though. If the UK or wherever finds out he's been there for almost a year (which is close to how long this process takes), he wont be allowed back in for a long time and he's facing a heavy fine.