Nyosh

When filing concurrently, does one have to include the Form I-601 after February 24th?

1 minute ago, SusieQQQ said:

So then really why the rush, unless he wants to drop out of school which hopefully isn’t the case? Plenty of time for them to plan a wedding. 

They both will be in their last years in Med school. 

46 minutes ago, Going through said:

April isn't that far away---why the pressure to do it sooner?  When does his schooling end, I wonder?

He has one year to go.

1 hour ago, NikLR said:

Sounds like your sister should evaluate this relationship and it's validity. 

The relationship is genuine. 

2 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

May I ask what the rush to get married is? The boyfriend is still in status if he is attending school. Is the pressure coming from him?

The pressure is coming from him. He is still in status. My sister wants to wait till April so they can gather more evidence before they get married. 

17 hours ago, carmel34 said:

Most VJ members will advise not to use attorneys or "rapid" visa services, as they tend to make the process longer and are prone to mistakes since they don't really care about much except taking your money.  Read the guides here on V J for adjustment of status and things should be find doing the process without attorneys unless there are complications like visa overstays or deportation orders to overcome.  Good luck!

Thank you. I advised them not to use an attorney too because I don't see any complications. She was just wondering about the 10 years age difference.

Is it advisable to use an attorney? 

6 minutes ago, NikLR said:

Look at the I864, I-864 instructions and I-864p.

Your sister should join, follow the guides, read all the instructions, and learn for herself.  She will feel more confident if she has the knowledge. 

She has looked at that. She was just wondering

18 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Nope. Just so long as she originally got her green card via marriage more than 5 years ago she's fine.

Okay. She is just scared of doing anything.

Is it okay to file a few months after they get married? 

What about income? My sister makes $60K a year and she does not have any children. Will they need a cosponsor?

1 hour ago, Going through said:

Only issue I can see is if your sister acquired LPR status through marriage and is then trying to petition for someone else within 5 years of that divorce.

 

You haven’t clarified if your sister is a LPR or a USC so wanted to mention the above issue that can arise depending on her own status.

She is a USC. Got her citizenship through marriage. She was married for 8 years. The divorce was finalized some time in November this year. Does she have to wait for 5 years to file or get married? 

25 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Yes (once they get all the paperwork, like the marriage certificate).

 

Depends on local customs. Seems unlikely to be an issue IMO.

 

That's good to have, and they can provide more at the interview. Nobody can say what is "enough" - it is a judgement call by the IO based upon the entire set of circumstances and evidence provided.

Thank you.

What if the joint evidence is from before they were married. Is it acceptable?

Hello everyone,

I am posting this on behalf of my sister. She recently got her divorce finalized. While they were separated, she met someone else and they want to get married before the year ends.

The boyfriend has a student visa that is expired but is in status because he is still going to school. Can they get married and she can file papers for him immediately?

They have an age difference of 10 years, my sister is older than him, is this a red flag? 

If they do not get married before the year ends, they will not have filed joint taxes but they have joint bills, bank account statements, car insurance which are like two months old. Is this sufficient enough? 😕

Thanks.

Well, we were APPROVED!!!!! Sorry for the delay.. I'm also a grad student and of course EVERYTHING is happening this week!

My husband stayed at China Garden Hotel, which is only about a 5-10 minute walk from the embassy, so that he wouldn't have to deal with the horrible Nairobi traffic. The staff was also very encouraging!

He got to the embassy at 5:45 for a 6:30am appointment and they opened the gates a little before 6. He had to show his appointment letter, then at the first desk inside, they asked for my husband's new police certificate (good thing we decided to go for the new one even though the embassy said we didn't need to when we emailed them!). Then, after fingerprints and more waiting, during the interview they asked:

1. When did you get married?

2. Who is [my mom's name]? (She's our joint sponsor and visited us when I lived in UG)

3. When did you two travel to [____] (We had provided evidence of previous travel together)

4. What is your (my husband's) occupation?

Then as the woman was preparing our file, she told my husband to get out the pictures we brought. He told me that since I had added dates and captions to each of them, that it made it really easy for her to go over them very quickly. Then she said that she didn't think any other questions were needed...and congratulations! The visa was approved!

Just like everyone else said, it was really such a short interview. I think that it really helped that I had sent in so much evidence at the I-130 stage and then we had a bunch of updated and captioned pictures from my visits over the last 2 years. We had evidence that he had met my mom and several of my friends from the US, plus a ton of pictures of me with his family, both at official gatherings and just helping around the home. My husband had more evidence than most of the other people at the interview, but all the officers asked for was the police certificate and pictures.

I can't believe it is actually done and we made it through! It's a long process, but it works and it's so worth it! My husband is planning to be here in less than a month!

Good luck everyone! And feel free to pm me if you have any other questions.

Congrats to you both!!!!

Hello,

I am curious, I will be visiting my fiance for the first time in Nov. Can I file for a K-1 VISA after our initial visit; and then once approved, have her enter the USA to start the 90 day period and then have us both fly back to her country for the wedding (since all her family is in her current country) or is it REQUIRED that we marry in the USA for a K-1 VISA?

Yes you can file the K-1 (I-129F) for your fiancée after the visit. You will need proof that you have met physically. Once it is approved, she can come to the USA and you have 90 days to get married. The marriage has to take place in the USA.After marriage, she has to file for her adjustment of status so that she can get an Advance Parole or Permanent Resident Card(whichever comes first) to enable her travel to Kenya again and you guys can have a wedding there with her family. During the 90 days period she cannot leave the USA as K-1 Visa only allows one to enter the US once.

The reason for this strategy is we can get the clock started earlier and there is no way to have all her family come over to the states for a wedding.

Here you both have to decide on that Some people who come here in K-1 get married in the US before a county judge then maybe later on plan on a wedding.

Here is the Nairobi Embassy thread. You can read about people's experiences.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?app=forums&module=post&section=post&do=edit_post&f=80&t=516120&p=7266543&page=

I just realized that today....printed it and signed it. Going to try to send by Thursday, Sept 11. She needs to get it by Sept. 29th....hopefully 17 days will be enough if I send it thru FedEx or DHL.

Any idea how long it takes thru FedEx or DHL???

It will depend with how you send it. If you use "Express" (like urgent mail) it will be delivered in Kenya in about three to five days. But you can confirm with FedEx or DHL offices and they will let you know how long its going to be. Hoping your fiancée has a reliable address where it will be sent to.

I haven't emailed it yet....Her interview is on Sept. 30th. She has almost everything she needs except the I-134.

John

You cannot email the I-134. It has to have your original signature, unless things has changed at the Consulate and one can is allowed to show a copy of the I-134.

Medical Appt was at 7:30....my fiancee' arrived at 7:05 and waited a short time. There was another lady going thru the same process with her from Nakuru. My fiancee had everything but they said the passport pictures were the wrong size (geez I can't believe we screwed that up). They told her that for part 2 of the medical, which is Monday, she will need the correct size photos. Thankfully they let her proceed. They said the consulate will not be as nice. Other than that my fiancee said she got some shots, they did some x-rays, took some blood and it was a lot of waiting around. She said they were very nice to her and things went fairly smoothly.

It was raining and she said the gal from Nakuru offered her a ride to the bank to pay the fee and a ride all the way home....my gal lives in Regen/White House area past Kinoo. So that was very very nice of the gal. The total cost for my fiancee and her son was 38,000KSh, which was a lil bit less than we thought. So far so good...keeping our fingers crossed for Monday. My gal said 2 other things....the medical bldg is a long walk from the bank. They actually drove over. And finally the part I found humorous...the gal from Nakuru, her fiance is a Kenyan living in Chicago, and she told my gal that Mzungu's in the US are not nice to Africans. Sadly I hope that is not true. I know everyone I know better treat my lady with respect and kindness. Most of my friends and family are very much looking forward to her arriving.

John and Liz

Glad the medical went on smooth. She needs to get a 2x2 passport size photos, and yes, the Embassy will not be nice to her if she doesn't have them. Have you sent her the other evidence for the interview day?

Mzungu's in the US are not nice to Africans............

First time I'm seeing the evisaforms website....we filled out the DS-160 form and have an interview (sept 30th) and a medical (Sept 5th....tomorrow) set up. For the medical to be setup we needed to submit copies of the DS-160 (just the page with the bar code). So far so good.

Good Luck David....and if you find out that the DS-160 is the wrong form...which I don't think it is, please post here.

Hi,

Hope all went well with your medical appointment. Kindly share the experience here.

Good luck with your interview.

Ok I have a question...we just got our case number last Fri. My husband lives in the village not in Nairobi, he wants to get his Certificate of Good conduct from a local Divisional CID office. He told me that it could take up to 1-1-1/2 months depending on the number of applicants locally.

1. When is it a good time to apply knowing this and the backlog at NVC?

2. Should he apply now or wait, if so how long?

Thank you!

Hey,

A Certificate of Good Conduct is good for one year. He can apply now or wait a few months. Just don't apply when its too late plan ahead of time.

Good luck

We got the cert from the CID Headquarters already....

Regarding the I-134....great Idea....should I add a statement, about where all my money came from....bcuz as of right now, there's really no justification or reason all the money showed up in my acct. My tournament over a 3 day period cleared about 50Gs....see the attached pic. College Coaches paid $300 a pop to be there....and I had almost 200. So I went from having 18,000 in my acct to having 58,000 in just 3 days at the end of July, but unless I "tell" or "document" where the money came from....how would anyone know?

Again...this is why I want to have a co-sponsor...someone who has a steady job, with employer letter and pay stubs, in case the consular thinks my "assets" are questionable. I just don't want it delayed any longer. I submitted my I-129F almost a full year ago now...and we are finally getting an interview. It will be heart wrenching to get denied and have to go another year without my gal. I'd just go live in Nairobi and come back here to run my tournaments in July if it wasn't for my 9 year old son....my family would kill me if I moved him to Kenya.

A statement from the bank showing details of your account and bank statements should do. You would need a co-sponsor at the AOS level not at the K-1 Visa level. You are supposed to show that you can take care of your fiancée and she will not become a public charge when she gets here. Just send the tax returns for at least three years and the documents on the checklist that I gave you. Also include the statement from the bank showing the details and a few bank statements for like 2011,2012,2013 such.. Of course the consular knows that people change jobs, one time you are without money and another time you have money. You should be ok. Gather all the evidence you can to support your case. If you get a co-sponsor right now, most likely your fiancée will be denied visa because you will be trying to show that you are not able to care for her.

Nyosh....Thank you SOOOOO much for taking the time to offer your advice.

A few things -

1. Great advice about passport, airline boarding passes, etc etc etc as far as proof goes. Your 100% right, I need to start rounding up all of that stuff. Better safe than sorry, the more proof the safer we are.

2. I didn't have to submit an I-134 to file the petition. I haven't had to submit any financial documents so far. And I've read where I can have a co-sponsor if I make under a certain amount. Which I don't make under that....but my own business just got off the ground this summer (and I made 60-70K). I don't have proof of that becuz I haven't done taxes for this year yet and it's my own business which again I just started this spring/summer (therefore no pay stubs, no employer letter). Last year (2013) I was unemployed 1/2 the year and the other 1/2 I only made 12K....so I only have 19,567 in taxable income from 2013 of which 7K is unemployment. That's my biggest issue. I have 60,000 in the bank. The 2 previous years (2012 and 2011) I coached at a bigger college and my salary was 35,000, so I should be fine there.

3. I think things are different now-a-days....we had to pay for the visa fee upfront via Mpesa and then schedule the interview ourselves, which we did (It's Sept 30th) then we scheduled our medical appt (Sept. 5th). Thankfully we figured it out on our own before you answered.

Again thank you for replying. Please if anyone can offer their 2 cents about the financial part I would VERY VERY much appreciate it. I'd hate to get this far and get denied becuz of finances (or lack thereof) especially when I have 3 years worth of (minimum) income (requirements) currently in the bank.

You are welcome.

You will sign an I-134 because you are the petitioner. Get a statement from an officer of the bank/financial institution with your deposits, identifying the following: 1. date account opened; 2. total amount deposited for the past year; 3. present balance

Refer to this guide on visajourney and see the documents that you need to send before the interview. Also tell your fiancé to get a Certificate of Good Conduct from CID Headquarters on Kiambu Road in Kenya.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

Refer to this link

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-864p.pdf

Your friend cannot submit an I-134. You will use the same one you used to file the petition.

Ok, I first submitted my I-129F almost a year ago....Finally we are at the point of scheduling medical and interview....

I have a few questions.

1. How much documentation is "enough" to prove our relationship....we have about 6 or 7 pictures together from my 2 trips to kenya. We also have tons of pages of chats (yahoo and Facebook). We can print more pictures if we need to. We have probably 100 pix together that we have posted on FB. What else should we bring??? My fiance knows me well and the few questions that we found that she didnt know (like what town was I born in), we went over that info so she knows it now. Any insight as to how much they critique this....I believe we will be fine here, we have been "dating/in a relationship" for almost 2 yrs now and we talk multiple hours EVERYDAY.

Add these to the evidence:-

Airline ticket stubs (boarding passes) that include the passenger’s name, date, and flight information.

Airline ticket receipt that indicates the month, day and year of the flight ticket purchase, passenger name, and itinerary (not just the itinerary alone).

Copies of passport pages that show the identification (biographic) page and admission (entry) stamps.

Credit card receipts showing the two of you spending money at the same place and same time.

Film-dated (required) photographs of the petitioner and beneficiary together. The date that the photo was taken must have been created by the camera and appear on the actual photograph

2. I am a college basketball coach. i lost my job last year and took a part time coaching gig and I barely make any money at my "job". I also started a business running some tournaments and my events did really well this year....I made close to $70,000 this july, but I have yet to make it an "official" business which I plan on doing this week. I have close to $60,000 in the bank but no real documents as of now, showing where that money came from. I have a friend willing to be my co-sponsor, who is a school teacher. Again....not sure which direction I should go and or how much "paperwork" is enough. My friend is willing to do the I-134, get me his last yrs tax returns and his pay stubs....will that be enuff?? Will it matter if I also submit my bank account records and a I-134 myself??? Finally last year my adjusted gross income was 19,567. Should I submit my tax documents?? PLEASE ADVISE...THIS IS THE PART THAT IS MAKING ME THE MOST NERVOUS...

You will submit the I-134 that you used to file the petition --129F. You can print out bank statements and send them to your fiancée.

You also need to send her your tax returns for the last three years, (*** to confirm this one)

3. It's saying interview appts are available in 2 weeks....yet my fiance hasnt done her medical yet....should she schedule the medical first??? then schedule the interview?? they are saying schedule the interview for 2 weeks after the medical appt. Is this accurate?? We want to be done with all of this....but we want to make sure we do everything correctly.

Has she received the K-1 Visa Packet instructions from the Embassy? If yes, it should tell her when the interview is scheduled.

For the medical, she will have to schedule an appointment

Read through this thread (k and r) post has detailed information

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/160251-nairobi-embassy-thread/page-96

Thanks for all your help and advice in advance

John and Liz

Someone who has gone through the Nairobi Embassy recently, kindly share your experience here. I understand that there has been changes. Was there in 2010 and things are way different now. Thanks

Hi Nyosh,

Yes, I understand that things have changed slightly and payment is now a medicals prerequisite.

Hi G & Oxy,

Thanks for that clarification.

They keep changing stuff around

thanks. I have sent them an email, i hope they will reply before the end of the business day tomorrow. they have never picked up their calls when i call them.

Ok. Wish you the very best.