AdamF

My parents received a letter for me at my old home in the UK the other day from my bank. I asked them to open it for me, and it was a letter informing me that it had been a long time since I last accessed the account, and did I still want to use it? If so, I need to send them a form stating such by February 2010.

I had largely forgotten about this account. I originally didn't close it when leaving the UK, as at that point I was concerned as to what might happen in the future. What if I got denied and had to return home at short notice, for example? I decided, therefore, to transfer the bulk of my finances to my husband and I's (now) joint account, and leave just under 250 pounds there, in case of dire emergency.

Now, I'm not sure what to do. As I now have my Green Card, my status is a lot more stable, and I feel that I could safely close the account. (Can I even do that from overseas? Could I get them to transfer the remaining money to me at all?)

HOWEVER.

I also have student loans with Student Loans Direct. As yet, I haven't paid anything off, as I haven't reached the repayment threshold, but I realized that this bank account was the one I originally gave them when I went into repayment for the loans. If I close the account, will this cause dire problems when I come to repay? What is the best way to repay, anyway, when you're overseas - has anyone done it? Did you use Direct Debit with a UK account, or some other method?

I don't want to screw myself up, but I also don't want to keep this unnecessary "tie" with the UK if I don't have to and have it present any kind of problem when it comes time for Removal Of Conditions or citizenship.

Are you sure you gave the Student Loan company your bank account details? They take the money direct from your payslip via a PAYE type scheme and not by dipping into your personal bank account.

That is my understanding anyway

Thanks,

Adam

We've received our petition confirmation (hooray) and I'm now in the process of gathering together documents for my interview. My question is, do I need to include an affidavit of support document given we already submitted them with the petition package? I'm hoping the London consulate will have copies/access to the supporting evidence we have already submitted.

Yes. The one you submitted was not necessary. You will need an updated affidavit of support at the time of the interview.

I'd agree with Gary again here - The first people you see at the interview seem to be following a script - any deviation from that will confuse them and might cause you problems. When they ask for the I-134, it will be easier to simply hand it over than to try and explain you have previously submitted it and hope that they can find it.

Now is your opportunity to minimise your stress/worry on interview day - good luck! :-)

Regards,

Adam

I'll probably be doing the same on the day...

Regarding pay stubs, I'm freelancing at the moment, and it's not been a good year so this has me slightly worried as well. I have reasonable savings, and have never been on government support. Secondly, the affidavit we submitted more than covers the required 125% above poverty line requirement as my fiancee's father kindly offered to sponsor me. It's just my personal income for the last year isn't going to look all that great. I've applied for various jobs as well, but have had no luck. Is it likely to be a stumbling block? If so, I'll probably take some sort of temping position, unless I get a contract soon.

I'm not sure exactly how far along with your application you are, so apologies if you know this already. In your packet 3 the London Embassy will direct you a web page devoted to the 'financial support' aspect of the K-1 visa, which is here: http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/iv/faffidavit.html .

Unfortunately, I tried to follow these 'instructions' and fell down. Despite that web page clearly saying you can use your own funds (as the beneficiary), at the interview I was still told I needed to submit a I-134 from my sponsor. Maybe my personal funds weren't deemed sufficient, I don't know...but my long winded point is to take that web page with a pinch of salt :-)

I would agree with Gary in that you should be focussing on providing financial evidence (inc. the I-134) from your sponsor and worry less about your own financial position.

Regards,

Adam

Visas have been delayed for ticking "do not intend". Especially for Co-sponsors.

Tick intend to contribute, but you can be fairly vague in the lines below with something like:

For K-1 fiance visa, he will live with me and I will support him financially as required.

Cosponsors need to be more specific: perhaps just "room and board if required" especially if they are going to land at your parents' for a while.

Not necessarily - Sponsors & co-sponsors in London have been accepted by providing the answer suggested on the example form on this forum - "N/A ( K1 visa process for permanent residence )".

Regards,

Adam

yes.. now whether my father will actually listen to all the advice is another question! lol

thanks for the help

Well, it's his choice. He can listen now or wait for the official notice asking for the missing documentation.

This doesn't appear to make sense - In your reply above you said it's the I-864 that requires the documentation. Yet in this reply you make the leap to it also being required for the I-134?

Don't get me wrong, it's always better to supply too much evidence/documentation...but I'm seeing this requirement of proof of US citizenship posted a lot recently...but no one is telling me where this requirement is listed?

Thanks again,

adam

The mistake you are making is to presume everything you need to know about the I-134 is in the I-134 instructions. Since there is no statutory requirement for the I-134 at all and it is not actually used by USCIS (the agency that created it) anymore, Consulates tend to follow I-864 procedures when accepting it. You can trust this is correct and provide the needed docuumentation in advance or you can stubbornly insist it isn't required, right up until the visa is delayed for lack of documenting the cosponsor's eligibility to sponsor. It's your/his choice. Provide it now, profide it later or no visa.

Believe me I am well aware of the vagueness of the I-134 and the general 'financial support' aspect of the K-1 process.

As I mentioned earlier I would never suggest someone skimp on evidence/documentation - if it's not required all you've done is waste a small amount of time gathering it. If it is required and you don't have it, then the implications can be much worse.

You've been around here a lot longer than me so I'm not claiming to know anything more than you. But you are equally as stubborn as me in your insistence that it is required.

The form does not say any evidence of US citizenship is required, so we didn't provide any. It was accepted & my visa was approved. No "official notice asking for the missing documentation".

Have there been specific cases of I-134's not being accepted because there was no evidence of the co-sponsors citizenship being provided? If so, I'm willing to admit I either got lucky or perhaps the London Embassy interprets the rules differently.

Thanks,

Adam

Personally, the assertion that the the immigrant has something to gain by going to the US saddens me

You do have something to gain though! You get to be with the person that you love.

Well I suppose there is that minor detail :D :D

Assuming all the 'blue slips' are the same (I'm not sure if it's a central government form or a consular one?), mine said I had one year to respond to the request.

Thanks,

Adam

I have a question on the same question (#9) my fiancee is filling out this form and for this questions she does not have enough room...should she fill this out on a seperate page or?

Thanks in advance!!!

I used a seperate page - I was lucky enough to have a list of about 13 countries. I had to think hard to remember them all!

Regards,

Adam

yes.. now whether my father will actually listen to all the advice is another question! lol

thanks for the help

Well, it's his choice. He can listen now or wait for the official notice asking for the missing documentation.

This doesn't appear to make sense - In your reply above you said it's the I-864 that requires the documentation. Yet in this reply you make the leap to it also being required for the I-134?

Don't get me wrong, it's always better to supply too much evidence/documentation...but I'm seeing this requirement of proof of US citizenship posted a lot recently...but no one is telling me where this requirement is listed?

Thanks again,

adam

A very interesting discussion.

Every situation is obviously unique, but I just wanted to touch on something I don't think has been raised yet:

Personally, the assertion that the the immigrant has something to gain by going to the US saddens me

I am giving up my well paid job, my home, my beloved car, leaving behind my family and friends, the country I was born & raised in and more generally leaving my so-called 'comfort zone'. Not to mention moving to a country where *begin wild generalisation* everyone owns a gun and goes around shooting each other *end wild generalisation*

So residence in the US is not something I see as a 'perk'.

Don't get me wrong, I love the US, but it's not all 'benefits' as some people make out.

Thanks,

Adam

Mine took 17 days, but that was back in the summer so there may be people who have filed more recently who can give you a more recent data point.

Good luck!

Adam

Just to clarify, it was 17 days after returning packet 3 that I receieved my interview date. My interview was scheduled for 18 days later. So returning packet 3 to interview was 17 + 18 = 35 days (5 weeks).

(I'd edit my original post if I could see the 'edit' button, but my eyesight is apparently letting me down right now).

Regards,

Adam

Thank you guys I appreciate the quick feedback. I am going to put my time and effort into the process but I just want to make sure everything is 100 percent correct. So I would first download all the forms from this site and shall I fill them out online instead of hand written? After I fill out the forms, I am assuming I have to make a cover letter as it says in the guides? I was also wondering where it says passport style picture, exactly what would that be given that my fiance in the DR does not have a passport? Sorry for all the questions I am just to excited to get this process started..

This is just my personal opinion, but I used the forms directly from the USCIS web site.

That gives you the highest degree of confidence you are getting the most up-to-date version of the forms. The site also lists which versions of the forms are currently being accepted for filing.

If you download them from a 3rd party site, they could (in theory) be old and therefore no longer valid.

I would however recommend using the example forms on this site for guidance on how to answer certain questions.

Thanks,

Adam

Mine took 17 days, but that was back in the summer so there may be people who have filed more recently who can give you a more recent data point.

Good luck!

Adam

Thanks guys!

My dad doesn't believe it when I tell him, so I am showing him your replys ...

he said "who ARE these people?!" LOL

I told him that "they are people going through the same thing as me, who have been researching it also"

Please keep the replies coming!

Hint! Tell him we are people who read the instructions, if you think that will help.

Perhaps I'm just being blind, but where on the form ( http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-134.pdf ) or instructions ( http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-134instr.pdf ) does it say you need to do this?

Thanks,

Adam

I'm trying to send my fiancé my Evidence of Support and the embassy in Paris told him he needs me to fill out I-134. I know that I need a co-sponsor, so I myself filled out I-134 and gave all the supporting evidence, and I had my mother also fill out I-134 and give all her supporting evidence. We also both wrote cover letters explaining our situations. Is that the correct thing for a co-sponsor to do or was there some other form that my mother needs to fill out? Thanks for any help you can give!

No you got it right. Your mother also needs to attach a copy of her birth certificate, OR copy of entire passport OR copy of her green card to prove she is a US citizen or permanent resident. You already did that with the petition, she needs to also.

Hi,

Out of curiousity, where in the instructions does it say you need to do this?

Thanks,

Adam

I went through this. The CO at the interview said the visa would be turned around within 3 days of them receiving my documents & passport.

After a week of hearing nothing, I phoned the Embassy to be told postal applications such as this take 10 - 15 business days and I should wait it out.

It was released to the courier a couple of days after that.

As an aside, I think the courier company are a joke.

I saw the "expected delivery" date published on their tracking web site (which is awful), so made sure I was available all day. Come 18:00 , the status changed to "attempted delivery" and told me to contact them to re-schedule. But no-one ever turned up at my door. I phoned them up immediately and they actually admitted to me that delivery had in fact, not been attempted at all. Apparently the driver had problems with his vechicle

*rant over*

Regards,

Adam

The I-864 if the affidavit of support form that you submit when you file the AOS. It is a more in depth form that is required when you adjust status. As far as the value section, you can put an amount. It doesn't matter either way because they are going to be looking at income information anyway...Glad to hear that you got the tax transcripts so fast and eay...thank is great! Also, make sure on question 11 of the I-134 that it is marked "I intend" and then a brienf statement of how the fiance is intended to be supported. Hope this helps...

The example form here: http://www.visajourney.com/examples/Form-I-134.pdf

Suggests answering question 11 by ticking neither box and writing "N/A ( K1 visa process for permanent residence )". Worked for us.

Regards,

Adam

Hello all,

My fiancee is going for her K1 visa interview at the Moscow embassy soon. She works in embroidery and so has callouses on her hands. She is worried that she will be rejected because they can't fingerprint her at the K1 interview. So at what stage do they take fingerprints?

Thanks, Ryan

They will print one finger at the interview. They may or may not take her fingerprints at the POE and they will take them again for the AOS biometrics.

In London they print 3 (I think?) fingers and thumbs (electronically), so it may vary by Embassy.

Regards,

Adam

*Edited to say, if you were commenting with specific knowledge about the Moscow Embassy then I apologise and my comment can be ignored as surplus to requirements *

The "Packet 3" you receive from the London Embassy is actually just a link to this web page: http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/iv/iv_15.html (or it was about 6 months ago, anyway).

It tells you everything you'll need for the interview and how to go about getting it :-)

Regards,

Adam

Hi all,

I hope this is relevant enough to not be considered a hijack, but:

what is the approximate timeline between filing for AOS/work authorisation and receiving the work authorisation?

Does work authorisation typically arrive before the AOS is complete?

Thanks in advance,

Adam

To answer my own question (in case anyone else stumbles across this looking for the answer), the processing times can be seen here: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplay.do .

The timescale will depend on the Service Center you're using. As an example, the Vermont Service Center is currently saying 3 months to issue work authorisation.

Regards,

Adam

Hi all,

I hope this is relevant enough to not be considered a hijack, but:

what is the approximate timeline between filing for AOS/work authorisation and receiving the work authorisation?

Does work authorisation typically arrive before the AOS is complete?

Thanks in advance,

Adam

Hi all,

Just to close out on this, after submitting the I-134 (along with a co-sponsor) my visa was approved.

To those who offered advice, clarification and support, thank you :-)

As an aside, does anyone know the reasoning behind why there are no hard and fast rules behind the I-134? It would make peoples lives a lot easier if they clarified the position surrounding when it is required (or not), whether co-sponsors are accepted, what the minimum income requirements are, etc. Why do they choose to make it a consular issue? Surely the same rules/benchmarks should apply to all?

The whole process was relatively straightforward thanks to the clear outlining of what exactly is required at each stage of the application...until I hit the I-134, at which point it just seemed to become a minefield of vagueness.

Thanks,

Adam

In the USCIS.gov webpage, in the forms section they explain in detail, what docs. go with each form, and for Affidavits they explain how to determine if you need co-sponsor.

If the embassy sent you a package requesting what your fiance and you had to submitt for interview, then you both were supposed to figure out how to fill out forms and what to attach, that's why many people use lawyers, but many lucky others find VJ .

Good luck!

I don't consider myself to be stupid, if that's what you are implying?

I did read the USCIS web site, the I-134 form (and the instructions for it) and searched the forum before posting, but I posted because I couldn't find the answer to my questions.

The London Embassy directs you to a web page detailing what to bring to the interview. the page says,

"Evidence of Support

All applicants are required to establish that they will not become a public charge in the United States. Please follow this link for detailed information."

The second link then goes on to say,

"An applicant for K-1 or K-3 visa may generally satisfy the requirement of the law by the presentation of documentary evidence establishing that:

1. the applicant has, or will have in the U.S. personal funds sufficient to provide support for the applicant and dependent family members, if any, or sufficient to provide support until suitable employment is located;

2. the applicant has arranged employment in the U.S. that will provide an adequate income for the applicant and dependent family members;

3. relatives or friends in the U.S. will assure the applicant's support; or

4. a combination of the above circumstances"

All a bit of a moot point anyway, since the interviewer has said I require the form. I'm just looking for some assistance with my questions

When looking at the I-134 on the The forms section of the USCIS.gov web site (here: I-134 ) it does not "explain how to determine if you need co-sponsor". Neither does the PDF form, or the PDF instructions for completing the form.

Please can you give me some more clues as to where to find the information I'm after?

Thansk again,

Adam

Hi,

I went for my K1 interview today in London and my application was suspended

Reason being I need to supply,

1) Long version of birth certificate

2) I-134

I now have point (1) covered and am collecting it on Tuesday. I'm willing to admit that was a miss on my part. But point (2) has be confused and worried.

I interpretted this page on the London Embassy web site as saying you do not need I-134 if you are self-sponsoring:

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

Therefore I supplied plenty of detail about my finances, but none about my fiancee (US citizen). When I asked the interviewer about this, she simply said that 'she wished all the departments were on the same page and she needs to see it'.

My fiancee is a student with a part-time job, making next to no money with no savings.

The I-134 or it's instructions don't make any reference to specific income levels, but everywhere on this forum seems to point to the requirement being the same as the I-864 - i.e. 125% of the poverty guideline. Is this correct?

If it is correct and my fiancee doesn't meet 125% , is there anything we can do? The London Embassy web site doesn't make any mention of using co-sponsors and nor do the official forms - are they allowed? Can anyone point out an official source that confirms/denies this?

I feel like we're so close but it's all in danger of unravelling very quickly

Thanks in advance,

Adam

Well......getting engaged and proposing are two different things in the long distance relationship world as I see you know!

If they ask you when you got engaged then give the date you decided that you'd get married (which is obviously BEFORE you applied for the K-1). If he asks you when you proposed then explain that the two of you official decided to get married on XX/XX/before K-1 but that you were apart at that time so you officially proposed on XX/XX/after K-1 and in this way...blah blah blah.

Just be honest. They know that many of us don't propose in the conventional manner. But it's best to not confuse them and if they ask to just be honest. But be clear that the two of you WERE ENGAGED before the K-1 was filed as that is a requirement of the visa (remember those letters you signed way back before USCIS that said you swore to get married within 90 days of entering...if that's not an engagement then I don't know what is!).

Excellent - This is what I thought and I guess I was just looking for some reassurance as the nerves are starting to set in

Thanks for the quick response,

Adam