jeff and claire

Hi folks:

Claire just got her email about Packet 3, and in it it says that she must have her interview within four months of the petition. Can anyone tell me exactly what date they use to judge the start of that period, and how we could go about acquiring additional time for her to get back to Australia for her interview?

Thanks!

Let me know if I need to clarify anything. (she's coming here for a visit Aug 18 - Nov 14 on a vistor visa, packet 3 was sent out July 19.)

Hi everyone:

I just received Claire's original documents, G325 and attachments, passport photos, and copies of her passport stamps, rental agreement from Copenhagen of which I have a similar one, and some congratulatory cards on our engagement. I'll be adding my contributions over the next few days and we'll be filing on Monday at the Vermont Service Center, since I'm between apartments and my father's address (which we're using as a permanent) is in PA. The guides on here are extremely helpful and I hope we have everything in order!

Jeff

Hi all -

Just an update, we'll be filing our first salvo of paperwork next week once her package arrives from AUS. Thanks again for all the help.

Jeff

Okay. Thanks for all the advice again, folks. I guess we'll go with the K-1 Visa route. This is the timeline as I understand it (based off of the flowchart, but with our particulars added)

Start the process by sending in the I-129f

Claire comes to visit on VWP August 18

By then the process should be around the issuance of the NOA2

After that, we send more components to the embassy in Sydney, and compile others

When they ask to schedule the interview, we ask for a date after the 90-day VWP visit is over

(this is so we can plan ahead for plane tickets)

Claire goes back to Australia

Claire attends interview and if all the paperwork is done she has her K-1 Visa and can return with me after Christmas

then the adjustment process

Any problems with this strategy then? I like all of the step-by-step guides on here, but it's tough when we factor in her August 18th flight. As long as we have some discretion about when to schedule the Sydney interview, I think this plan is airtight. I've started gathering all of the documents we'll need and I should have our I-129f in within two weeks. Thanks again, all...

I met with a Columbus field officer today who told me the following:

We can get married when she comes to visit. Then she can stay as we apply for a green card, a work permit, and a travel document all at the same time. When she gets her travel document and work permit, which he said would be before Christmas, she can go back to Australia or anywhere else but not before. We can vacation there over Chstistmastime, and come back while she waits for her green card.

Here's what he told me:

Get married

File I-130 Petition for Alien Relative ($355) (all of these filed at the Chicago Lockbox)

File I-485 Application for Permanent Residence or Adjust Status ($1010)

Including: G-325, I-864 Affadvit of Support, I-693 Medical

File I-765 Work Authorization

File I-131 Travel Document

Wait for I-131 and I-765 which should come fairly quickly, within three months - then free to travel or work

Wait for Green Card

I hope this is right, this would work for us really well by minimizing purchases of plane tickets. The one missing link is we think she has to show that she has return transportation before entering. Would a train ticket to Canada be good enough? And we have to declare that we didn't intend to marry until she got here, right?

Thanks for all your help folks.

Look, the point is that it's a tough process and you need to understand it thoroughly. Nobody can give you what contact with the source material can. Read the guides for the K1 and CR-1 and then if you are still confused, ask for help. We are pointing you in this direction because it's an intense endeavor and you have to start at the beginning and prepare in a serious way.

I understand what you're saying, and I agree. I was asking for clarification because as I understood it you can't get married on a 90-day visit. I read that material and thought that was the case. Sensing my confusion, I asked for clarification.

First off, there are some requirements that must be met before you should ever file for a K1 visa, read the guides as others have mentioned. You mentioned a few things that did not sound good at all and could end up costing you big time in the end. First off, do not try to get her here on a different visa, then try and change status, if they feel that you lied on your original visa (visitor) and had other motives (marriage) then this is considered visa fraud, and she could be denied entry for life. What are the chances of this happening, probably slim to none, but if they found out what the original plan was, they would most certainly use that to black list her. Second thing I saw and did not really like is that you said you were both broke kids. When you file for a K1 visa you have to make a certain amount of money for the previous year, if that is not met they will not issue a visa, so once again read the guides and see if you can even file for a K1 at this time. There is a option for a co-sponser for the K1 so if you do not meet the minimum you can always ask your parents to do that for you. Now for the other parts, when you file it usually takes about 6 months for the interview to ever be set up, sometimes it is faster and sometimes not as fast, where you file from is where you will be living. There are places to send based on where you live, once again read the guides. If you are worried about her trip messing up the schedule, then simply wait to file until she is here or a month before depending on how long she will be here. The most important thing to ever do is to be honest when you do any visa application. Good luck, it sounds like you will have an uphill battle, and another option you might use is a Cr1 visa, when she is here on her visit you both can get married and when she goes home you can then file for the CR1 visa, it is cheaper all the way around and it takes about the same time for the interview to happen. Good luck Jerome

Look, I'm 25 and I have a master's degree. I just haven't gotten a job afterwards yet. We're not really kids... just not flush with cash reserves.

Is that CR-1 option realistic? I thought we couldn't get married if she was here for visiting without a visa.

VWP (visa waiver program) is something that allows people from certain countries (Aus being one) to come to the US to visit without applying for a tourist visa. Basically what I meant is that she can use that ticket to come for a visit, but she'll have to go back to Aus to complete the visa process before coming here for good.

So if they don't take her passport from her, she could ostensibly come for 90 days to visit, as long as she went back to Australia to complete the process? It might be better for us then to wait to start the process, so that she can definitely come to the USA... we were planning to go to AUS for christmas this year, so if she goes back in mid november I can join her there, and then we can re-enter together with her finished K-1.

Short answer: no.

It's possible, but unlikely. It took about four months for us to go from sending the petition (129F) to receiving approval of the petition from USCIS (NOA2). After that, there were still all of the steps that take place in the foreign fiance's country (more paperwork for her to complete, medical exam, interview at the consulate, etc.)

Her ticket is unrefundable - which I admit was a mistake - but we can pay a fee to have the date changed, I think. Would it be better to pursue her being able to come on that day no matter the status of her application, or to assume we'll have to bump it backwards? That will change things for both of us...

You can also find timelines on this website...but you should expect at LEAST a 6 month wait from the time you file to the time you receive a Fiancee visa. Also...please read about the affidavit of support. You will need to show that you are able (with or without a co-sponsor) to support her and yourself for her to even get the visa.

-Blu-

I wanted to ask someone about that affadavit of support... I printed one out and looked at it, and it seems fairly simple... the only way we could get in trouble is if I've already left my current job to go to Seattle, and am in the middle of looking for work - then I'd have no income. I'd have to work at a coffee shop or something to be able to put it on that form.

Even if the K-1 visa isn't issued by the time she arrives here, she may still be able to come for a visit while waiting for it to be issued on the VWP, providing she has evidence of strong ties to Oz. If not, I would advise her to cancel the tickets (if they're refundable) and wait until the visa is issued.

Can you expound upon this a bit? I'm not sure what you're referring to.

I was going to start my I294F and turn it into Columbus field office this week

Sorry, ya never, ever, turn in an I-129F petition INTO a field office.

Please read the instructions on the form for 'where to mail'.

Okay, that's fine. What are we supposed to do about our plans, though? Is it reasonable to expect a result in 4 months?

Hi Folks:

I'm going to explain my situation and then ask for advice. I met my fiancee (who is from Brisbane, Australia) while we were both on study abroad in Copenhagen. We dated for most of that time, realized we had something special, and then she came back to the USA with me after the program was over to stay for a while. In february of this year I asked her to marry me, she said yes, and then she went back to Australia to finish her last semester of school.

The other day she bought plane tickets to fly to LA on the 18th of August, and then we realized (possibly too late) that the visa application for a fiancee is not a quick and easy process. I live in Columbus, Ohio - and only for 6 more weeks because I am moving to Seattle, Washington, in anticipation of her coming to join me there. I was going to start my I294F and turn it into Columbus field office this week, but what I'm worried about is that everything takes so long to process that she won't be able to catch her flight.

Is there some other way we could do this? We are just broke young people, we don't have money to pay people to handle it for us and I have to do everything myself while trying to juggle our chaotic life. Should she come in on a visitor visa and then apply for something else? Should i turn in the 1-294 and just hope it will take less than 4 months? Maybe Australia is a faster country?

Any help you could give Claire and I would be greatly appreciated. I already haven't seen her in three months... eight more is not easy to think about.

Thanks,

Jeff