Celtic Dryad

Yep. I live in Lakeview.

What does "front load" the petition mean?

Haha, so glad someone asked! I'm in LP, btw, right next to the zoo!

Hi there! I actually joined the forum last February when my boyfriend and I began seriously looking at the very real possibility of a future together. I have already posted my intro in another section so I won't repost but here's the link:

Getting Started!

I look forward to getting to know some of you as we begin our journey together....... SO excited!

Hey! We should start a local support group haha.

Hehe, we should - looks like we'll have similar timelines, too! Are you actually in the city??

We met on an online fan messageboard! You are far from alone...

I'm in Chicago, too - hooray!

Hehe - add us to the "met online" list (Second Life - March 2007!) Good luck to you; looks like we'll be going through this together

congrats hope all goes well

Thank you so much - you know, as we look at some of the short processing times we're seeing here, we think, "wow - this could happen in less than six months??? Wow!!" but in the grand scheme of things, time's not a big deal and it'll all come together exactly when it's supposed to happen. It's just so exciting to finally be able to say "here we go!"

Hello everyone!

I posted here several months ago about my boyfriend (Germany) and I (USA) when we began exploring the possibility of a real future together.

Brief background: we met online, were friends for two years and had been a couple for about a year when I joined this site. At that point, we hadn't met in person yet, though we both felt that we had the makings for a solid relationship based on our history of friendship. To complicate matters, I was legally married although my husband had left me and left the country with no forwarding information in 2007.

So what's happened since February? Well... my boyfriend and I have since met in person (it was wonderful and, of course, saying good-bye was AWFUL) and I found a good attorney who helped me file for a default divorce. That said..... on 8 October, we will officially be able to file our petition for the fiance visa!!!

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited! We plan to have one more long visit in December/January in which M. officially hopes to ask my family for permission to marry me. If there are no major bumps in our timeline, we intend to be married early next summer.

Can I say it again?? Oh my gosh, I am -so- excited! ~happy dance~

If you really want to be confused and understand what everyone is hinting about then here you go:

HBK Topics started

LOL! No thanks - the one thread I tried to make sense of was enough for me! Back to studying the guides I go... *waves* nice to meet you all and I look forward to getting to know many of you as we enjoy our journey!

You won't find this reading helpful. People are being sophomoric. That's not a criticism, just a description.

Fair enough I have to say, I've found this site to be extremely helpful and, while the big picture still feels overwhelming, I'm quite grateful for the guides - they break it down into manageable components, even for those of us whose eyes glaze over at the thought of forms and paperwork!

Regarding the OP and her fiance: I'm confused... isn't Hawaii part of North America? That whole referenced thread makes no sense to me (and that's even after deciphering all of the typos...)

Read.

Well that was helpful. (I've been reading!)

okay, I'm fascinated - and since I'm new to the boards, anyone care to enlighten me?

LOL! An áo dài is the outfit in JimVaPhuong's avatar picture - and no one looks fat in that photo

Well I've looked at the I-864 and I-864p for income requirements and I definitely fall over the 125% income requirement, which is great! But the thing that worries me is that, prior to last October, I was unemployed for a couple of years (the recession hit me *hard* from the start and bouncing back was rough). Until that time, I was literally couch surfing with friends and had no income so I filed no taxes. How on earth do I fix that, I wonder?

nope, you're not alone....I think we've all developed ulcers from the stress of the process. LOL

First step is to determine which Visa status to apply for...are you married or engaged?

Here is where we started: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html

I read every available bit of information I could get my hands on here at the Visa website, then came to VJ for issues I found confusing...or when I just needed to vent from the anxiety of it all.

Good luck and try to enjoy the journey...the days that I used our time apart to be productive were so much better than the days I gave into the indigestion.

hahaha! I so believe it! We'll be applying for the K1 when it's time. We've been friends online for nearly three years and a couple for more than a year now but we still have to have our first face-to-face visit so we're not making any assumptions til that happens. We have a strong suspicion that this is "it" though so we're examining the steps we'll need to take. In the meantime, we're doing exactly what you suggested: enjoying the journey!

Nope. It happens to all of us!

Start with the guides (link is at the top of every page). If you follow the instructions in the K1 visa guide, it's unlikely you'll forget anything.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=k1guide

As far as your previous question, petitions are not often denied. More commonly, people make mistakes or don't include required documents, and USCIS sends an RFE (Request For Evidence) for the corrected or additional documents. If you're an eligible US citizen, you provide everything required, and respond to any RFE's in a timely manner, it's virtually certain that your petition will be approved. Less certain is the visa application stage at the foreign consulate.

Yep, I love those guides; they're so helpful! I just get a little overwhelmed when I read "be prepared to ask for this well in advance" or anything with the phrase "financial documents" LOL! By the way, confession: when I read, "Does this áo dài make me look fat?" I laughed out loud!

by the way, am I the only one who gets tummy aches reading all of these K-1 threads because I am certain I will forget something important or not get approved??

I don't think so, but read the actual I-134 used to get the visa and the I-864 used when adjusting status. In short, you are the primary sponsor and the other is similar to a cosigner, in that only if you fail to meet any obligations, do they come after the cosigner.

Bear in mind that affidavit of support comes after petition approval. They are not filed with the petition.

LOL! Good to know (I have no idea what I'm doing - we're literally just getting started. actually, we're not even getting started yet; just asking questions and learning about the process)... under what grounds might they refuse a petition?

Quick question - what is the financial obligation of a sponsor or a co-sponsor? is there are short table of easy to understand info about this somewhere on the site? thanks in advance!

Oh by the way - yes! we have tentative plans to arrange for his flight! He just informed me tonight that he's almost got all of the money he needed to save and intends to come here hopefully by late March! Oh my gosh!

Welcome!

Unfortunately money rules the world.... just some tips.. look for tickets in the off season to help save money.. Last time I went to Germany, my fiance at the time (now husband) only paid $350 for my round trip ticket. Unfortunately right now ticket prices aren't at their best prices.

Where in Germany is Marc? My husband Marco lived near Duesseldorf.

Good luck to you!

Ah cool and thank you for the tip! Marc is in Hamm and will go through Frankfort for everything. You know, we've just read the timeline for the K-1 application and seeing it lined up step by step makes it look actually doable and not nearly as confusing as I thought it would be! Now that we're actually taking steps, we're thinking about a wedding date of 1-1-11 and I'm excited to see that it could actually be possible! If not, no worries, though; maybe we can do 11-11-11 instead

Welcome! Have you made plans to meet yet?

This is probably awful but we're waiting until we have enough money for airfare before we make ANY plans. That said, it's in the works but we're not quite there yet. Once we are, the quickest flight possible will be booked and I'll be shouting it from the mountain tops - I think, with 2.5 years of friendship and a year of online dating behind us, we're due for some face time, don't you?

and thank you both very much for the welcome!

Hi everyone! I'm new to these boards and very excited to be reading everyone's stories!

My name is Kelley and I'm from the USA; my sweetheart, Marc, is from Germany and here's our story:

We met online in September 2007 but didn't see each other with "romantic eyes" until February 2009, one year ago as I write. To this day, due to the recession and finances, we haven't met in person, though we have talked on web cam and, of course, use Skype daily! It kind of makes me giggle to think that we've known each other so long and haven't even met in person when there are clearly people right here on these boards who've known each other significantly less time than we have and are already married - more power to 'em! We're just taking it a little more slowly...

We have more than a sneaking suspicion that "this is the big one" so we're exploring this forum and checking out how the whole process works. No rush though and, frankly, right now, I'm much more interested in knowing what it's like to hold hands and in daydreaming about our first kiss than I am in doing significant thinking about the steps we'll have to take for immigration! Once we get our first 'face to face' visit under our belts, though, step back and watch us fly because I think from that point forward, it'll be an all systems go!

We don't really have a timeline yet but as soon as we do, I'm going to find one of those cute little tickers and add it to my signature because, darn it, they're cute! And I want one!

Anyway, that's our story in a nutshell - again, we're glad to be here and look forward to getting to know you all!

p.s. My avatar picture is a sketch a friend of ours (from Croatia) drew for us. She blended a photo of mine with a photo of his to make our first "portrait together" and gave it to us for Christmas; I absolutely love it!

Hello, everyone! I've just joined the site as my boyfriend and I are planning to go through the K-1 process and we'd like to connect with others who've been down this road before us! It's midnight here and I'll update my profile soon; for now, I need to get to sleep but I just wanted to give everyone a hello and let you all know that I really got a giggle out of how many of you don't speak German (or much of it, anyway) - I feel better already!

Anyway, nice to meet you all and I look forward to getting to know you while learning valuable information about the immigration process!