I+H

My fiance doesnt work though - neither of us do, we are both fulltime college students. My father and and maybe his uncle will be our finacial support until I start my job once we are married. Will that be a problem? How do I go about doing this form then?

If the embassy in Australia accepts co sponsponers then you should be ok. Look around VJ and see if you can find a case where a co sponsor was used or ask in your portal and see if someone responds. You will still fill out the I-134 but your cosponsor will have to as well. Both of you must provide financial info, paystubs, tax transcripts, proof of employment, etc. The I-134 isn't sent to USCIS though.

Hope this helps! Best of luck!

Hi VJ community.

In reference to K-1 Visa,

I am hearing talk of "Packet 3" and Packet 4". Not so much Packets 1 and 2.

Would someone who has had this experience, please explain what "Packet 3" is and what documents it contains"? Also "Packet 4".

Thanks.

This is the link I found for your place http://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=Kazakhstan&cty=Almaty

Hope this helps. From what I read it appears your consulate handles the packets the same way our consulate did, so if you have more specific questions let me know.

Good luck!

I haven't gotten one, and you have two. Can I have one?

Doesn't hurt to ask, right?

I got my NOA2 and the notice date was July 27th... I got another NOA2 in the mail yesterday and it was dated August 4th ? I went online and said the notice date was August 4th.. Was it a mistake on their part or what ?

That is crazy! I would just call USCIS and ask them what is going on. I have personally never seen heard of this happening.

On July 18th, my I130 petition for my hubby was approved. On July 22nd, I received the letter from the California Service Center regarding the approval. About 7 days ago, I called the NVC office and spoke with a customer rep there. All I wanted to ask them was what were the chances that they might already have my case number, but the automated service just doesn't have it updated yet. She told me if the automated service doesn't have a case number for me by August 9th that I should call again and speak to a human being. Honestly, I'm terrified to call them. This perticular lady was very nice and I apologized for bothering her. She said, "It was no problem". Now, my question is, do I call them on August 10th if the automated service doesn't have a case number for me or should I wait until August 18th like it says in the letter before calling them again??? Thank you!

Ashlyn&Grevin are right. The people at NVC are super nice. I called everyday, seriously, everyday. Call as much as you want. The way I figure it is I am a paying customer in this process, if I want to call everyday I will. So don't feel bad and like I said they are super nice.

Good luck! Hope you get good news soon!

Is DS-156 filled out online on website, and then printed?

Is there PDF version of DS-156 (like DS-230) we need to fill out?

The DS-156 is filled out online and then printed. There is no PDF version to the best of my knowledge. When printed, this form contains a barcode which I assume is why it is not offered in a PDF fomat.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

My fiance and I are currently trying for a K-1 visa. Prior to filing we had attempted twice to get a visitors visa for him to come visit me in the US and both were denied. For the first visitor visa I went with him and we were upfront and honest about our relationship. The second time his company was asking for him to come to the US for training but due to his previous interview with me and him confirming that we had an ongoing relationship it was denied again. Now as we are waiting for an interview date I am becoming more and more worried that these previous visa tries could affect the decision on the K-1 visa. Am I being silly for worrying?

I don't have experience with this type of situation personally. But it appears that your previous visa attempts were denied based on the fact that the consulate thought that your fiance may intend to immigrate to the US and not just visit. With this petition the intent is clear that he does want to immigrate, so I don't think there is a reason to deny him based on that. I would provide as much information possible at the interview concerning the previous visa attempts. I would think that they would understand the previous attempts and see now that you two are doing what you need to to be together. I would recommend providing lots and lots of proof concerning the validity of your relationship, because they may be under the impression that he is just desperate to get to the US. All in all just try hard not to allow them to question your relationship in anyway.

I hope this helps in some way and I wish you two the best of luck.

Some of the responses to Sannybel's thread about the rejection in the Dominican Republic got me wondering, how much of a red flag is a previous K-1 petition?

In my case, I petition for my then Canadian fiance in 1998; the K-1 was accepted and we went through the AOS process with no issues (and it was much quicker). The marriage ended in divorce in 2007. There were no children. She did not become a citizen, but as far as I know, still resides in the US as an LPR.

How much of a liability will this be for the petition I just filed? This was 13 years ago after all.

I was previously told and someone correct me please if I am wrong. You can file 2 K-1 petitions during your lifetime without a waiver. I have seen other cases on here where previous K-1s had been filed and it appeared that there was no problem.

I would say that considering your previous marriage lasted for nearly 10 years and I am assuming you didn't have any problems with it previously that it wouldn't be a big deal. You will just be asked about it. Provide as much info about it as you can. Be straight forward and honest about it, which I am sure you intend to do.

I honestly don't think you have anything to worry about. I wish you the best and hopefully someone that has some experience with this situation will come along and provide you with a better answer.

I posted this post in K-1 visa forum too.

We were in AP for 1.5 weeks, the consulate website said AP was over and to turn passport in to receive the visa. So this past Sunday my fiance did just that and he as given a white paper that said, "Your case will be reviewed by a consular officer who will make the final determination on your case. Your passport may be pickup at 1:00pm August 15."

Sounds like he's getting the visa. But the first line is throwing us off. Can anyone clear this up for us? Is this just standard form or could the visa not be issued? We're afraid to get too excited and just want to know if anyone has seen this before. Thank you so much!

Hi There-I am completing the G325A for my fiancee. There are several addresses over the past 5 years where she does not have the complete street address, but has the name of the city and Provence where she lived. Any suggestions on how best to handle this? None of her friends or relatives she stayed with are still there and can not provide address either.

Many Thanks

Where my fiance is they really dont have addresses, so we wrote what we could provide them with. This was not a problem for us, but I will say that I am sure that the Consular Officers are aware of this at interview time. Your forms need to be as complete as possible. If there were actual street addresses I would advise you to do your very best to obtain those addresses. If actual street addresses are not very common there it will be understood. Advice for your entire case as a whole BE AS THOROUGH AS POSSIBLE. I cannot emphasize that more. Do not leave anything up to question and you should not have any problems.

We wish you both the best of luck on your jouney!!!!

We were in AP for 1.5 weeks, the consulate website said AP was over and to turn passport in to receive the visa. So this past Sunday my fiance did just that and he as given a white paper that said, "Your case will be reviewed by a consular officer who will make the final determination on your case. Your passport may be pickup at 1:00pm August 15."

Sounds like he's getting the visa. But the first line is throwing us off. Can anyone clear this up for us? Is this just standard form or could the visa not be issued? We're afraid to get too excited and just want to know if anyone has seen this before. Thank you so much!

Hey guys,

I just got my NOA2 and am gathering all the documents so we can send package 3 in right when it arrives. I was hoping to get some advice about the police report and the medical.

My fiance (the beneficiary) has a old police report from 2008 already. Does he need to get a new one? I can't find anywhere where it says how recent it needs to be. Anyways, we are going on monday to the police station to get another one. But, I was wondering do you need to send that in with package 3 in order to get a interview date or do you bring that in to the interview? I was just thinking maybe we could send the old one in and say we are waiting for a new one? and what type of police report do we need?

Also with the medical...do you have the doctor send the records or can you take them yourself?

Anyone recently schedule a interview in sydney? how long did it take? we are trying to get him to the states as soon as possible! Sick of waiting! also, is sydney the only place they interview in australia?

thanks for your help in advance.

does anyone know what thread it is where someone lists everything in package 3? what forms and what documents you need to send through. thanks!

I'm not familiar with Australia but I am sure someone will come along that is. However I am pretty sure the police report should be no more than 6 months old. I could be wrong, but I will say this, it is best to have the most recent of EVERYTHING. We applied a 30 day rule to ourselves, nothing more than 30 days old. Better to be safe than sorry. As far as when to turn it in, in our case it was to be brought to the interview. Look up consulate specific info here on VJ. Best of luck to you.

i recieved my I-129 today, let the fun begin... Step one...and i want be sure i do everything perfect (As well as i can)

soo help me out what are some tips and pointers that absolutly can not leave out

or forget.!! =]

thanks to Everrrry oneee!

Visa Journey itself provides most everything you could possibly need.

The Alex&Mari is right, MAKE COPIES! We just had our interview and those copies really came in handy.

All the other info given was great too, just one more thing I would like to add is: CHECK, RECHECK, HAVE SOMEONE ELSE HELP YOU CHECK and CHECK AGAIN!!! The last thing you want is an RFE for something dumb. Also one more thing, send it FedEx asking for a confirmation of receipt.

Good luck to you and the yes that wait totally sucks, but it is worth it. When you get down, come here, we will help you.

After weeks of gathering and signing and checking and re-checking and checking again and MORE checking... the I-129f has been collected by FedEx. And so begins the wait...

God bless all of you on this Journey.

Now I need a drink!

Filling out these papers and going through this process is a tremendous task and even after all is said and done with the initial petition it still goes on from there. More paper work and more fees. But in the end we all do it because what we have is worth it. It sucks, I know. It is long, I know, but is so worth it. I wish you the best! As well as all of you here that are waiting for your NOA2s. I swear the great feelings are yet to come!!!!

FWIW when replying in line to a post it helps to use a different font color when answering.

I tried

It didn't want to work for me

Thanks for support I+H, and congrats to you!

@Penguin_ie, Thanks for moving, couldn't for the life of me find the 'general' section.

No problem. Just hope I could help.

And thank you!

First, apologies for this barrage of potentially stupid questions. They’re mostly the result of my fiance freaking out and I want to put his mind at ease.

Boyfriend/Fiance is currently waiting for his O-1 artist visa in his home country. He just had his interview and was given a “Notice of Temporarily Refused Visa” saying his application “requires administrative processing,” which shook him up quite a bit. He’s gotten the O-1 visa before with no problem and says the American embassy in Japan is stricter this time than they ever have been (interview was 20 minutes this time and it had always been about 10 seconds in the past.)

They said they’ll fill him in within 14 days. For now he’s just very anxious that he’ll be permanently denied like others in his situation have been for this or that reason.

So, question 1:

Is anyone else familiar with this “Temporarily Refused Visa” thing? Does it really take only 14 days to sort out or is he going to end up waiting 6+ months for this “administrative processing”? As this is for a relatively difficult visa type to get, I suspect this is just a recently-introduced background check on his agency/sponsor. But we’re not at all familiar with this issue and would truly appreciate if anyone can enlighten us.

Administrative Processing takes however long it takes to put it bluntly. I have seen couples on here in AP for weeks months and years. AP can be just name checks, it could be that they do not believe his intentions and need to reevaluate the evidence he provided them. I am not familiar with the O visa though.

Question 2:

In the event that he has to wait quite a long time for the final decision on his O-1, is it at all possible to file for K1, or get married in his home country and file for CR-1 in the meantime? (I’m guessing the answer to this is no, but I dream)

First off, if a person files for all types of visas at any point in time it can look suspicious. I would assume that he would need to cancel the O visa to apply for any other visa. I am not 100% sure about that. I am sure though that filing for several visa types can appear suspicious though.

Question 3:

In the event that Fiance is ultimately denied the O-1 (gasp! knock on wood) within 14 days, what is the safest, fastest course of action to get him into the States?

a) Marry in Japan, fly back home and immediately file for CR-1.

b) Have him apply for K-1 fiance visa, get married in US, apply for AOS.

(and are either of these especially difficult if you are denied a previous visa?)

K-1 would probably be the faster route, but only by weeks and maybe a couple of months at best. You can check timelines concerning the different visas and get kind of an idea of which is faster. I again am not sure whether or not filing for the previous visa will have an effect. I can say that if he was put in AP over the O visa, he has a good chance of getting AP on a future petition as well.

Question 4:

Fiance tells me that if we go with option A, he won’t have to deal with an interview at the notoriously strict American embassy and risk denial, but if he files for K-1 he does need an interview there. Is that true? Wouldn’t he need to go to the embassy to collect the visa either way?

Spousal visa and fiance visa both require an interview.

Question 5:

Fiance also seems to think it’s possible to (and wants to) apply for a K-1 and then CR-1 upon arriving here. I’ve never heard of anyone doing this. Can someone please tell him that he is a crazy person.

If you file K-1 you file for AOS here, you cannot change to CR-1. If he came on the O visa and you got married then it would become a CR-1 (if you are even allowed to do that, not sure on that either)

Infinite thanks for donating 15 minutes of your life! Would really appreciate any advice at all!

Ankai

I cannot give advice about what I think you too should do, but I can say try not to damage future chances. Keep it real and clear, which I am sure you two are. Good luck!

Congratulations! :dance: :dance: :dance:

You're right but at the same time we can be proud that we are going thru the process the right way and we will be with them soon... Inshallah!!!

Inshallah we will. I have thought of that before. Thousands of people enter into the US illegally every year and here we are doing things that right way and we suffer. But in the long run, I know it will pay off. I just hope that our AP is the standard. Like I have sad in other posts, the women was much too concerned with the fact that I had kids and that I have previously been married. She was very cold to him and that worries me. We just have to remember to keep our faith and know that this is not in our hands.

Just to let you know.. my husband had his interview june 15th and was given the 221g requesting one document to verify household so we submitted proof as to who lives with me (even tho they already had it)

In the meantime, he was placed in mandatory AP due to being from pakistan. During the AP process, we did call DOS and at one time someone mentioned we were in standard review... so they were reviewing our case documents and the new submitted docs. Now as of June 25th our case is approved pending ap... i got a call from the embassy on monday, the same co that interviewed my husband called and asked me some questions and finally said that our case has nothing to worry about and now that they have verified evthing they are putting him in namechecks and it can take 1 week up to months depending on the variables.

So at least we know that our i864 was accepted, our case is approved and the namechecks have officially been started.

I'm sure its the same with you, in the MENA group, they are being very careful due to some of the intending immigrants being fraudulant but that also creates hardship for those of us who are genuine. (That isnt' just MENA either that is ANY of the embassies who are high risk for fraud)

HAng in there.... who knows how long it will take... i do wish I could find statistics on the ap process to see how many actually get thru within a few weeks, months and how many actually end up spending a year or more... there are few cases denied after ap but that is only because something really significant came up in background checks.

It's a dark lonely place this ap but ...there is light at the end...

Good luck

Thank you for your kind words. AP sure is a dark and lonely place. Days feel like weeks. Please let us know when your AP ends. We just want to keep up with everyone and give ourselves a timeline as well. It is so unfortunate that because of a few bad eggs the good ones don't pass on through.

The US citizen petitioner can withdraw the petition anytime up until the beneficiary enters the US with the visa. There's no form for this. A written letter signed by the petitioner is all that's required. Since the petition is already at the consulate it would be best to submit similar letters to both the consulate and the USCIS service center where the petition was adjudicated. Be sure to mention the DoS case number in the letter to the consulate, and the USCIS case number in the letter to the USCIS service center. The petitioner should explain the reason for withdrawing the petition. Withdrawing because you've married would raise no suspicions whatever.

There is a statutory limit to the number a K1 visa petitions a person can submit - no more than one approved petition within a two year period, and no more than two petitions (approved or not) within your lifetime. It's possible to get additional K1 petitions approved by requesting a waiver of the filing limitation in a letter included with the petition. These waivers are usually granted. The filing limitation affects only K1 visa petitions. It doesn't affect any other sort of family based visa petition, including spousal visa petitions.

Thank you soooooo much! That was the exact answer we were looking for! We just wanted to know the process if that becomes our decision. We really appreciate it.

By marrying, you'd automatically abort the K-1 visa process. Sending a withdrawal letter to the USCIS would be customary and appropriate, given you'd be considering a Spousal visa in the future.

That being said, if the only thing governing your options is a desire to quickly be together, almost anyone's best advice here would be to give it some more time and see where the K-1 AP goes. I don't know the specifics of your case, or the nature of the AP, but that would be the most logical thing to do.

Waiting can be hell, but so can starting the entire process over for no other reason than impatience. If we all abandoned our K-1's for that reason, the service centers would have a very light workload...

And, of course, if you marry and relocate to Saudi under the impression to you can pursue a Spousal visa then you embark on an entirely different route. And cannot be certain you'd even get the Spousal visa, which leaves you married in Saudi. Which may or may not be feasible, depending on your intent and wishes.

Waiting is hell and it has only been 4 days. It feels like a blackhole of which there is no return. Nothing is for sure as far as moving goes, we are just exploring options for now. I read somewhere before that if you cancelled your K-1 you would have to file a waiver to be able to file for any type of visa in the future. Something about when you initially filed you two were saying you wanted to do things one way and then after having gone through the better part of the process you cancel it is almost as if you were lying about your intentions in the first place and so you have to go through all this other stuff just to file a different visa. Do you know anything about this? I'm sorry if I didn't explain it right, my memory is very vague concerning this info and I cannot seem to find it again. Thank you for your time.

I+H, I am not sure what you would have to do to cancel the k-1. I saw a post of yours from earlier in the week and it sounds like you got Standard AP and the visa will be issued once it is over(correct me if I am wrong if it was not standard AP). Even if you do a spousal visa in the future you will still have AP. If it were me I would at least try and wait out the AP for a little while and see if it is issued shortly or if it is not issued shortly then go about trying to cancel the k-1. Good luck and I hope you both can be together either here in the US or the UAE soon.

I can only assume it is standard as well, though the women seemed much too interested in my past marriages and my children. When we started this process money was not a big issue. We are at a point now where I cannot take more time off of work and I don't have to money to come either. We plan to wait for now, but will probably not wait much longer than January. We too are afraid that we will make a haisty decision and as soon as I move he gets approved which would be great and terrible all at the same time.

I am sorry that I am just seeing this...There is no way to know which one takes longer. At the embassy level, it just depends on how quickly they do their verifications. As far as name checks, how common is your husbands name? Hopefully it won't take more than a couple of months, but there are no guarantees.

I really appreciate all of your posts. You have been very helpful.

We had our interview on Monday and received AP. This visa is not our lives and we know that AP can be a long process. We are just concerned with being together. Nothing is for sure yet, but if I do decide to move to his country, we cannot live together unless we are married (it's the law). Of course we do not want to break the law and would get married, thus invalidating our K-1. So my question is, what would we have to do to cancel the K-1 and file for the spousal visa? We are not trying to bypass AP. We realize that we can just as well get AP going the spousal visa route. We just want to be together and start our lives and eventually get to the US even if it takes a couple years, just as long as we are together.

One year and six months of my life is wasted all because of one stupid decision. Now I might be denied and stuck down here for 10 years if my waiver don't approve.

Waiver for what? To file a different petition?

Don't give up! This is the standard form...which tends to scare people to death due to it's ridiculous wording! AP is very normal and as hard as it is, you must just wait for them to finish their process. We went through it, if you read through many of the posts in this section, you will see you are in good company! Best of luck, it will all work out!!

Thank you. It is scary. Just not knowing what is going to happen or how long it is going to take is very upsetting.