busta_busta

Sent in our AOS package on June 10th, USPS confirms delivery on June 12th.

I still can't believe Kris' is in less than a week. He is going to ask them if he is approved if they don't say. He wants to try and book the tickets when he gets home LOL.. Btw.. looking at the history of approvals to visa receipt.. it seems it varies anywhere from 2-4 days.. is that about right? I'm just hoping he gets his by Friday or Saturday.. (do they deliver on saturday?) Also.. how does it work if you pay for expidited? is there any mark difference?

I don't believe they deliver on Saturdays. If you pay for expedited delivery all it does is guarantee that they will deliver before a certain time of day (say 6am if you go to work early). You won't get the visa on an earlier day, just an earlier time of the day they are delivering it anyway.

Gillian

I got my visa delivered on a Saturday, Nov 4th 2006. My interview was Nov 2nd 06, and i didn't even pay the extra for the expedited delivery! I didn't think they delivered on Saturdays either.

Good luck tomoz Coatsy

ohh that gives me hope. he actually has an email out to them to find out the specifics. Our biggest thing is.. if it isnt' here by Saturday we dare not book for his flight for that following wed.

My fiance had her Interview on Tuesday May 13th and just received her visa this morning. She paid for the expedited service so that it would arrive before 8am, before she left for work. We have her ticket booked for May 21st. We had called before we sent in Packet 4 to make sure we were sending in all the right documents.

Hello all,

I was looking at the K-1 Visa flowchart and it says to get the SSN before applying for AOS. We were hoping to apply for AOS so the employment authorization can get processed. My fiance doesn't have a need for SSN immediately, just wanted to make sure it would be ok for us to file the AOS paperwork without a SSN, and then apply for the SSN in a few weeks time.

Thanks

My fiance had her visa interview today at the London embassy. She said it was all very quick. Appointment was at 8am and she was out by 9am. The actual interview only lasted 4min and the officer was very friendly and said she would have the visa in 3-5 working days!

Hello all, just curious as to how many days it has taken from the K-1 visa interview date to actually receiving your passport back with the visa.

Thanks

This post is like deja vu for myself with a slight variance.

In 2006 my "wife" and I were married in a religous ceremony in London, England. I was told and foolishly believed that the marriage certificate would be accepted as a legal marriage. I therefore submitted an I-130 and 1-129F in Jan '07 for a K-3 visa since I figured we were legally married. The petition was approved in April 2007 by USCIS and forwarded to the London consulate in May '07. At that time we received a letter to call the consulate and were told that we did not have a legal marriage according to US immigration law. She added that if we had a religous ceremony done in say India it would have been ok, because religous weddings there are accepted as a legal marriage.

Now I understand you say that your marriage was not registered. However, as far as the embassy is concerned you had a legal marriage.

Similarly, I was told that we had to reapply for a K-1 visa. We are still in that process and the petition was finally approved and is now sitting at the London Embassy. I tried to fight having to reapply but quickly realized that it was a losing battle.

Hope this helps, but you're better off just preparing the paperwork for the K-3 and sending it off. I'm no immigration expert, but that is my opinion based on my prior experience.

Has anyone received a similar letter?

Brief summary: Applied for K1 and received at CSC on 6/8/07. Fiance is a UK citizen. About 2 weeks ago, the application was 30 days beyond the processing dates so I made an inquiry. Information taken by service rep.

I received a letter today dated 2/7/08 which says,

... "The status of this service request is: Based on your request we researched the status of this case. We are actively processing this case. However, we have to perform additonal review on this case and this has caused a longer processing time. If you do not receive a decision or other notice of action from us within 6 months of this letter, please call customer service at the number provided below.

On 2/8/08 there was a touch, nothing since then.

What does that mean, 6 months they can't be serious. Please let me know if anyone has heard of this.

I am a U.S. citizen and married to a U.K. citizen. We applied for a K-3 visa which was approved via a 129F. Once the application was forwarded to the consulate in London, they are saying the marriage is not a civil marriage. We had a religious ceremony performed and were misinformed that it would serve as both a civil and religious marriage. So basically, USCIS approved my petition but the consulate has denied the visa.

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/marriage...cates/index.asp

Go here. If they don't have a record of your marriage, then the US govt won't recognize it. If they do, then get a copy of your marriage certificate. I don't know how you can appeal a denial or IF you can appeal a denial. I think the people in the Waivers forum may know a bit more about that.

Good luck.

Thank you all for very thoughtful replies. We were married in a muslim ceremony. I contacted the local registry office in the borough (county) we were married in. They informed me, the mosque we were married in is not registered to perform civil marriages. Basically, I was supposed to have a clerk from the registry office attend the ceremony and give us a "long green marriage certificate"

I called the foreign consulate asking if since we had an approved 129F if they could just use that approval to issue a K1. They said they're not allowed to do that, and that I need to apply for a K1.

After reading the posts in the forum, and non-stop thinking about the subject I just dont have the guts to go through a VWP marriage. Had I not applied for K3 then it would be a different story. But I agree, red flags will be abound.

Instead, I'll just have her come over for a 1 month visit when she is free in September. She'll go back for the month of October and I'll visit her during the last week in October. I am then hoping she has the K1 by then, if not she'll come over again (this time I'll be with her on the return flight) on the VWP for November and December. She is a pharmacist in the UK and needs to take a foreign equivalency exam which is only offerred twice a year in June and December. By the time she returns to the UK by the end of December, she should hopefully be up for the interview by then. I know its a matter of proving ties back to the UK in terms of employement letter, and other documents.

It really is disheartening to be so close to obtaining the visa, but so far away at the same time. Thank you all for the comments, any other advice is much appreciated.

I am a U.S. citizen and married to a U.K. citizen. We applied for a K-3 visa which was approved via a 129F. Once the application was forwarded to the consulate in London, they are saying the marriage is not a civil marriage. We had a religious ceremony performed and were misinformed that it would serve as both a civil and religious marriage. So basically, USCIS approved my petition but the consulate has denied the visa.

I went to the local USCIS office to speak with an immigration officer. She informed me that if my K-3 is denied I can re-apply for the K-1. Reapplying would involve doing a 129F over again and having to wait through the whole process. We would then have a ceremony in the U.S. once she comes over on a K1.

However, she told me a better option would be to have her come on a visa waiver, get married immiediately via court marriage. Then file an I-130, I-485, and travel and employment authorization the last 2 are optional. She said I that my wife would be able to stay in the country while this applications are being processed.

I'm evaluating my options, she did indicate that questions would arise during the interview but that being a U.S. citizen there shouldn't be any issues.

Any advice? I'm of course weary about either route.

Technically, entering on VWP with intent to immigrate is visa fraud and can have bad consequences. How often or likely they are to accuse you of that, I don't know. It is a risk, the worst case scenario being the adjustment is denied, your wife is deported and you have to start all over again, this time with a waiver for misrepresentation.

Where did you marry? Just because it was a religious ceremony doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't a valid marriage, why exactly do they think it isn't valid? Was a license or registration of some kind required to make it official, but not obtained? What did you send in with your I129F to show you were married?

Thanks for the reply. I was surprised at the option of the VWP and then filing, but it was at the suggestion of the immigration officer at the local USCIS office. We were married in London, UK. I found out only a few days ago that a recognized civil marriage has to be done in the presence of an officer from the general register's office. I sent in the marriage certificate I received from the local place of worship where we were married. Apparently it was enough for USCIS but not for the foreign consulate.

While the VWP option may not be ideal, it may actually be a better option for us rather than applying for a K-1. With the VWP work authorization could be obtained much faster than going through the K-1 process again. Complicating matters is the fact that my wife is a pharmacist in the U.K. and there are several hoops to jump through to transfer a pharmacy degree in the U.S. In addition to multiple exams, approximately 10 months of supervised work is required. Therefore, I'm thinking of making a few trips back to the USCIS office and making sure that we can pursue this option with minimal problems.

I think you have a bigger 'nut to crack'... since you should be addressing (rebutting) as well, the reasons the K3 was denied. The denial is on the books; why will their mind change the second time? You should try to get that into the petition so USCIS approves it. If your visa petition was returned to USCIS you need to address it.

This quote tends to have to do with K-1 denied then thinking forgetting about the denied visa and filing for a different one will get around the denial. It applies in reverse.

Lawyers – Be Careful Here!

Now in many cases where a K-1 has been delayed, refused or denied at a US Consulate, lawyers have advised clients to simply get married and file and I-130. That is not good advice, unless the attorney also advises the petitioner to pay close attention to the K-1 that has been sent back to the Service Center from the consulate.

If a Service Center begins a revocation proceeding for that K-1 petition, a petitioner’s failure to respond will mean that DHS will revoke the approval of the petition. When that happens, the 212(a)(6)(c )(i) that is pending in our beneficiary file, will become hard finding of Misrepresentation, under 9 FAM 40.63 N10.1 (above).

A Rude Surprise at the Second Consular Interview

Our love birds have followed their lawyer’s advice and forgotten about the K-1 petition. A NOID (Notice of Intent to Deny) letter comes in the mail and petitioner calls his lawyer. The lawyer says,

“Don’t worry about it. She’s your wife now. The K-1 petition is irrelevant.”

The lovebirds have taken the plunge and married. The petitioner has made another costly visit to the foreign country; bought another round trip airplane ticket, and maybe he has even sprung for a costly wedding ceremony.

An I-130 Petition for his new bride has been filed. And it is approved by the DHS Service Center. What will happen when his new wife appears at the US Consulate for her next interview?

Because the petitioner did not respond to the K-1 revocation notice, the beneficiary has a 212(a)(6)(c )(i) finding on her record. Even if the petition for her is approved, she is permanently barred from entering the US, unless she can obtain a waiver to that ground of inadmissibility.

http://www.ilw.com/articles/2006,0323-ellis.shtm

My K3 is being denied on the basis of not having a legally recognized marriage in the U.K. And that rather a K-1 is more appropriate. However, the immigration officer at the local USCIS indicated that going through the K1 process would take time and that coming on a visa waiver and proceeding with a new application is acceptable. Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience.

I am a U.S. citizen and married to a U.K. citizen. We applied for a K-3 visa which was approved via a 129F. Once the application was forwarded to the consulate in London, they are saying the marriage is not a civil marriage. We had a religious ceremony performed and were misinformed that it would serve as both a civil and religious marriage. So basically, USCIS approved my petition but the consulate has denied the visa.

I went to the local USCIS office to speak with an immigration officer. She informed me that if my K-3 is denied I can re-apply for the K-1. Reapplying would involve doing a 129F over again and having to wait through the whole process. We would then have a ceremony in the U.S. once she comes over on a K1.

However, she told me a better option would be to have her come on a visa waiver, get married immiediately via court marriage. Then file an I-130, I-485, and travel and employment authorization the last 2 are optional. She said I that my wife would be able to stay in the country while this applications are being processed.

I'm evaluating my options, she did indicate that questions would arise during the interview but that being a U.S. citizen there shouldn't be any issues.

Any advice? I'm of course weary about either route.

I'm hoping someone could help me with an answer I recieved from an immigration lawyer in the USA.

Basically he told me that if I entered the US on the visa waver program (I'm a British citizen) and got married they would immediately file for a Petiton for Alien Relative (I-130?) and also an Application for Employment Authorization which takes 6 to 8 weeks to come through. Although the petition takes up to a year I could start work a lot sooner.

Does anyone no if this is correct?

My fiancee has arranged for a face to face meeting just to be on the safe side.

Thanks

I'm in a similar situation. I am a U.S. citizen and married to a U.K. citizen. We applied for a K-3 visa which was approved via a 129F. Once the application went was forwarded to the consulate in London, they are saying the marriage is not a civil marriage. We had a religious ceremony performed and were misinformed that it would serve as both a civil and religious marriage. So basically, USCIS approved my petition but the consulate has denied the visa.

I went to the local USCIS office to speak with an immigration officer. She informed me that if my K-3 is denied I can re-apply for the K-1. However, she told me a better option would be to have her come on a visa waiver, get married immiediately via court marriage. Then file an I-130, I-485, and travel and employment authorization the last 2 are optional.

I'm evaluating my options, she did indicate that questions would arise during the interview but that being a U.S. citizen I shouldn't have any problems answering the questions.

Hope this helps.