Bforbarree

Without VJ, a lot of people would have their personal lives and their financial lives and their mental and physical health wrecked by this visa thing and it's comedy of errors. I am not exagerrating...

AMEN!

It's bad enough when things go smoothly...can't begin imagine the strees you've been thru.

Congratulations and thank you for posting!

Best of luck!

so what exactly do they mean when they say passport issued with a validity of at least 5 years?

Standard US passports are issued with a validity of 10 years, if you a minor (15 or under) they are issued with a validity of 5 years.

Your question is vague, and I was unsure of what form you were referring to, after looking at other posts/questions from your member profile it seems you are filling out the I-129f?

While you may send a complete copy of you passport to fulfill the requirement of the I-129F, you also have the option of sending a copy of your birth certificate (front and back). I sent both; the copy of my B.C. to fulfill the I 129-F requirement and a full copy of my passport as "evidence of our having met in person".

There are so many members here all at different stages of different immigration processes, by being more specific with the title of your post and your question you will get more responses and new members that have the same question are more likely to find the answer as well.

Congratulations, and good luck with your VJ!

Thanks for the info - that is really helpful - hopefully we will get our NOA2 soon so we can get it all sorted!! Are there any other documents/forms/red tape that need to be sorted for the next stage of the process?

Below is a link to the US Embassy London Document Checklist

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/iv/docs169.html

One possible snag that we luckily came across: the UK "short form" birth certificate is not acceptable at the Embassy interview....that was exactly what my S.O. had so we ordered a certified "long form" from the council where he was born. We did this over the internet on a Thursday night (cost £7.00) and it arrived the following Monday....really fast.

For anyone that is unsure the UK "short form" B.C. only states your NAME, SEX, DATE OF BIRTH AND PLACE OF BIRTH.

It does not have the names of your parents etc...

But I don't understand what notaries do and what we would need them for...

RE: Notary

This is just the way I understand it.....

The notary is an official witness, they witness that it IS the signature of yourself or "MR. Who Ever" on a legal document, they are not concerned with the contents of the document itself.

When you go to a notary take official identification, (a passport is probably ideal but I'd suggest having a couple other forms of ID as well, just in case) they need to know who you are, they need to confirm who is signing the document. When they notarize a document they make an entry/log, usually in a book, they will note down the ID taken (D.L. number, passport number), the date etc....and they might take a sample of your signature in their book as well, (it has been a few years since I have done this...so not sure....things may be different now....all on computer). Being that they are witnessing the signature, you should sign the document in from of them as well. By having something notarized; if you are ever taken to court you can not deny having signed the document.

With the I-134 you, the petitioner and the co-sponcer(s) are entering into a legal agreement with the U.S. Government saying that you agree to take financial responsibility/support the beneficiary for a specific period of time and if you fail to do that they can come after you in court for compensation, should the beneficiary require public assistance. If it ever came down to that, by requiring the notarized signature they are just making sure that their case is cinched up.

The notary procedures you describe are still the current procedures. Everyone should remember not to sign the document until they are in front of the notary. Also as mentioned, the bank is the best place to go in the US. In my experience the service is usually free at a bank for their customers and maybe for non customers also. If someone needs to pay, I think that anything over $10 would be unreasonable.

I am not sure that the I-134 info in the post is technically correct although it seems logical. I have read several times on VJ that the I-134 is not really binding on the guarantor but the I-864 is. Here is a link to some posts on the topic.

Yes, I had been looking into the document requirements on the US Embassy London web site, I ran across info on the I-864 which was contrary to what I understood to be what I would need, initially I found it very confusing but I found an answer....see direct quote below and link if you'd like to see the whole page.

"What about the fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen who is applying for a fiancé(e) visa?

An I-864 is NOT required when applying for a fiancé(e) visa. An I-864 will be required at the time the fiancé(e) visa holder applies to adjust his or her status from nonimmigrant to conditional resident with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services(USCIS)."

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/iv/i864.html

I have not read the threads on the I-864 here on VJ but from what I read on the above page, direct from the Embassy, the I-864 is for immigrant visas only and the K-1 and the K-3 ARE non-immigrant visas. I assume this is because the K-1 (I have not looked further into the K-3 as it is irrelevant to my situation) is only valid for 90 days and the person holding the visa is not actually eligible for any sort of immigration until they wed. So, because of this it seems you need the I-134 at your Embassy interview to satisfy their requirements to grant you the K visa to enter the US to wed, then later you will need the I-864 for the AOS after you are in the US and married. You'd think one document would be enough....but they are different government agencies........red tape.....WHAT A PAIN!!

Ohhh....yeah....

They will also stamp your document, usually near your signature, with an official seal where they may sign or initial and they may stamp it with their own identification number (for their future reference). But as I said above it has been a while since I have had this done and I have not gotten to my I-134 yet.

Maybe more detail then you wanted....but personally, feeling so overwhelmed in this process, I've been finding the details comforting?

I need to be doing this shortly as well. How much does it cost to have this done?

Also how can I find someone that does this?

In the U.S.A. usually any bank will have several employees that are notaries public, if not they should be able to direct you to one. I'd check there first but an accountant, stock broker or real estate office might be a place to check as they all frequently deal with documents that notarization....and a decent sized law firm usually have a couple on staff but I imagine the service would cost a quite a bit more from those places.

I don't know the current cost, I had a really great bank that offered the service free to their customers, another reason to check with your bank first! Before that I seem to remember that it cost about $10.00, but that was 10+ years ago, I suppose it varies but I would imagine it is more or less $20.00 depending on who and where.

Heathrow, add us to the airport list!

Ohhh....yeah....

They will also stamp your document, usually near your signature, with an official seal where they may sign or initial and they may stamp it with their own identification number (for their future reference). But as I said above it has been a while since I have had this done and I have not gotten to my I-134 yet.

Maybe more detail then you wanted....but personally, feeling so overwhelmed in this process, I've been finding the details comforting?

But I don't understand what notaries do and what we would need them for...

RE: Notary

This is just the way I understand it.....

The notary is an official witness, they witness that it IS the signature of yourself or "MR. Who Ever" on a legal document, they are not concerned with the contents of the document itself.

When you go to a notary take official identification, (a passport is probably ideal but I'd suggest having a couple other forms of ID as well, just in case) they need to know who you are, they need to confirm who is signing the document. When they notarize a document they make an entry/log, usually in a book, they will note down the ID taken (D.L. number, passport number), the date etc....and they might take a sample of your signature in their book as well, (it has been a few years since I have done this...so not sure....things may be different now....all on computer). Being that they are witnessing the signature, you should sign the document in from of them as well. By having something notarized; if you are ever taken to court you can not deny having signed the document.

With the I-134 you, the petitioner and the co-sponcer(s) are entering into a legal agreement with the U.S. Government saying that you agree to take financial responsibility/support the beneficiary for a specific period of time and if you fail to do that they can come after you in court for compensation, should the beneficiary require public assistance. If it ever came down to that, by requiring the notarized signature they are just making sure that their case is cinched up.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I am feeling very hopeful now!!!! And thanks for the info about the server updates (10:00 GMT), I am in the UK and I will be on the USCIS site at 10:am, 15 minutes! By your NOA1 dates I should not expect anything for 2 to 3 more weeks but no harm in practicing, right? An approval before Christmas would be great but an approval before December would be even better!

Hooray!!!!!

That is what I was told as well...... servants worked on Christmas Day and got their holiday the following day along with their gifts etc. In the UK my impression has been: A paid holiday celebrated at a pub by meeting up with friends and family that you were unable to see over Christmas. It seems it is also celebrated Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa....but I just looked that up.

Want to be positive but I just don't see the light here.

Our adjudication date is bouncing around between December 24, 25, 26.....CHRISTMAS EVE, CHRISTMAS DAY AND BOXING DAY....HA!.....and it is backed right up to a weekend. Oh how I hope it will be sooner, but if it is not done by Dec 20th then I'm afraid it will be the cold wet kiss of January twodouble0eight on our NOA2's post mark.....and I really don't like that at all.

I've been fretting about this for weeks....but the one thing you can count on here at VJ; you're never alone in your demoralizing little boat.

...sorry about the demoralizing little boat, who ever happens to be in it too....

.....thanks for listening

I hope things go well when you meet in person for the first time, it is all very exciting! Save all your receipts, boarding passes, maybe post a few cards to her before you leave home and once you return (remember to save the postmarked envelopes and bear in mind that they will be submitted as evidence), and remember to take lots of pictures both together and with her friends/family, you will need them if you petition!

Good luck

Hi Mark,

It looks like you've got a lot of helpful answers to you questions, I just wanted to add a quick note.

I am a USC, we filed in July, and I came to the Uk in October to be with my Fiance, so yes, you can see each other after you petition for the K1!

We also found this to be very daunting before we started the process....but once the packet is sent off it's mainly a waiting game.......where you have plenty of time to wish that you had started sooner instead of being intimidated and overwhelmed!

This website is an amazing resource, I am so thankful for it! I agree, if your case is straight forward you don't need an attorney, most any questions can be answered by a quick "search and read" on this site.....and if not you can always ask. It took some time and patience to get all the info together (but we would have had to do that anyway, even if we hired an attorney). We follow the instruction provided on this site, they are very thorough, and as recommended we use registered mail (return reciept) and a personal check. Once it has gone you start to worry, this way we knew that (and when) it arrived and once the check cleared we knew it has been opened at the service center.

I hope you decide to get started soon.

Good Luck!

Does anybody know the customer service number i can call about my case? I filed at the CSC and it has been almost 30 days. I didnt write a check, just money order, so i cannot find out online.

Hi,

USCIS 1800 375.5283

That is worrying, so you have no idea if your packet even arrived?

I never got my NOA (I assume this is what you meant by receipt) either, which was worrying enough.... but I knew my packet arrived because I sent it return receipt requested and I recieved the confirmation of the delivery from the post office plus I knew the check had cleared my bank (it cleared 11 days after I mailed it)....so luckily, I was not totally in the dark. I phoned USCIS and they told me the same thing, no help with out a case number...the WAC case number is on the back of the canceled check....but the scanned copy of my check was illegible (and the origional had been destroyed)....so, no letter, no check, no number, no help.... I had to wait 90 days...on the 91st I called again and got thru....got our case number....so they will help you BUT THREE MONTHS IS A LONG TIME!

Fingers are crossed for you, I hope they can advise you.