Waltlaw

Visa interview and approval was Fri. Sep. 16/11! For those who were following my previous posts, I was initially confused about whether I had an interview because I hadn't received the letter confirming approval of my fiancee's K1 petition.)

My medical exam was 2 days early (Sep 14/11). If you would like to read about my experience with both, go here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/329885-my-experience-with-medical-interview-in-vancouver/page__p__4904881__fromsearch__1#entry4904881

My POE will occur soon after I receive my visa documentation. I'll keep you all updated.

Very sorry to hear about your denial. Too bad you didn't hear about VisaJourney before you started the process. Anyway, you're here now.

I cannot answer whether it is better to refile or appeal, but I can tell you what we used for evidence, which was accepted without RFE.

We included:

--Itineraries of flights and copies of boarding passes

--Pictures of me and my fiancee, along with pics of me and her family

--Our respective Facebook wall posts announcing our engagement

--Receipt and picture of the engagement ring

--Receipts of payments we made to each other via Pay Pal

--Emails discussing our plans for trips (I refused to include overly personal correspondence)

--Letter by my fiancee's brother documenting how he knew me, how my fiancee and I met, and that he knew how long were in a relationship

--My fiancee included one of her journal entries with a sketch of me that she drew (I didn't like it because it was too personal, but my fiancee insisted)

--My fiancee also included stubs from events we had attended (I don't think these were particularly strong pieces of evidence because our names were not on these stubs, but my fiancee sent these anyway)

--Our respective statements of intent to marry

It seems to me that the harder the evidence (e.g., receipts, flight itineraries, pics, letter from fiancee's brother), the better.

Good luck!

Walter

Hello everyone,

I am new to VJ.

We really need help. My fiance who is petitioning me just received a denial notice on September 15, 2011 saying that we lack evidence and that we can appeal. They did send him RFE notice and has sent more evidence on July and have received it for review but didn't state we are having a baby. We Sent the I-129f package with evidence of relationship on March 2011 and on April we found out that we are having a baby and will be due on December 10, 2011. I was there while we were getting the I-129f form ready and we didn't put on the form that we are going to have a baby because we have already sent the form. Sorry if I am not making any sense here. My questions are:

• Should we appeal or refile for a K-1 fiance visa?
• If we do refile do we need to state that we got denied the first time?
• What is the best choice refile or appeal, which will take longer?
• Can I refile after receiving denial notice?

If anyone can help me with this question I much appreciate it.

Sorry for so many questions.

We just really need help with baby coming on the way. We just want to be together and get our family going for the sake of the baby.

Thanks everyone,

She

Good news first: Visa is approved!

But I bet you're more interested in knowing what the medical and interview was like. Well here's my story...

My medical exam was at Woking Medical Services in downtown Vancouver on Wed, Sep 14/11. The night before, I stayed at the Sheraton Hotel, which is only 150 m from the clinic. There's several hotels in the area, so no worries there. All visa medical exams are scheduled on Wednesdays at 6:30 AM. I was early (6:10 AM), but there was still 16 people in front of me picking up a wait-list number. There was about 25 people in total. They were pretty good at directing people on how to fill out the initial forms, which you sign, and then they direct to one of two areas: blood test or x-ray. Both these procedures took a few minutes each. Most of your time at the clinic is in the waiting room, so bring a book or something to keep you entertained. Some folks chatted with each other, but I was too tired to socialize. The final step was getting a physical, which took all of 5 minutes. It was very, very basic. The order of the physical follows the waiting-list # you picked up when you first arrived. I was #17 and was done by 9:30 AM. I picked up my results (sealed envelope & vaccination record +CD to submit once we're married) at 1:30 PM. Staff were very friendly, as was the doctor ("Bob").

My visa interview was today (Sep 16/11) at 10 AM. I am staying in Surrey (with relatives), which is very far from downtown Vancouver, but the Skytrain is cheap ($5 from Surrey) and fast (35 minutes). I got off at the Burrard Skytrain station, which is only 1.5 blocks from the US Consulate. Getting into the US Consulate was a bit of a gong show. The line-up was long outside (10-15 people), but they were processing people quickly. I was asked if I had any metal or electronics, which i indicated I did. Then she looked at my laptop bag (no laptop inside, just my paperwork) and she said I couldn't bring it in. She indicated I could drop it off at where I'm staying (impossible for me; too far away), or a store across the street. I went to a convenience store (next to Purolator) directly across the street and asked they guy if I could leave it there. The convenience story guy said "Yes. $5 please." Obviously, he had done this before. He reminded me about the metal objects and electronics, which I dumped into my bag. (It was safe with him. I got everything back.)

Upon returning to the consulate, I was quickly brought to security (bypassing the line as I had already waited in line earlier). On my initial check-in, I had shown her my sealed envelope with medical exam results and passport. So she had checked off my name and was waiting for me. Security was pretty much like airport security: empty your pockets, remove your belt and your jacket. The scanner was on the fritz, so I had to wait until it was reset and tested. I've waited 8 months, so I could wait another 5 minutes. I was then told by security that when I get to the consulate office, I was to go to booth B and press the "light-switch." (I kind of forgot this instruction by the time I got there.) I was guided to a waiting area, waited a bit, then guided to an elevator, then guided to another waiting area, then directed into the interview waiting room. Everyone else had a wait-list number, except me. I then asked a woman across from me and she reminded me that I had received an instruction at security. Ah, that's right: Booth B. I went to Booth B and the female administrator started the paperwork quickly, making copies, and asking me to organize the forms and documents I had brought. Then I signed the DS-156K form, vowing verbally that I'll marry my fiancee within 90 days of arriving within the US. I was then given the wait-list number, but didn't have to sit long.

Within minutes, my number appeared on the monitor and I went to the appropriate booth. Standing across from the immigration person, who was behind a glass, he reviewed the folder given to him from the previous administrator that had processed me. Before starting the questioning, I had to pledge to be honest and all that. He asked me some very basic questions like, "When and how did you meet?", "How often do you visit?", "When are you going to get married?", "What kind of work does your fiancee do?". "What do you do?", "When are you going to finish that damn dissertation??!!!" Just kidding, that's a question I always ask myself, but he did ask me about my progress with school (e.g., "Where do you need to go to finish your degree?"). And really, that's about it. I've been asked more questions crossing the border. I think everything is in the paperwork because there sure is a lot of it! Surprisingly, neither the initial administrator or this one asked for further evidence of engagement/on-going relationship. So the material we submitted with the petition was sufficient. Anyway, after about 10-15 minutes of questioning, he said, "I've approved your application. Congratulations!" Almost kind of non-eventful given what I was expecting in terms of an interview. I then went back to the first officer, who explained that my timeline for moving the US was extended for 6 more months and that my visa would be expedited through DHL, which is what I chose when I paid online for the interview. Hopefully, I'll get it next week. I would like to move ASAP. The officer also explained

The medical and interview cost $350 each (Canadian currency for the medical; Woking Medical Servcies accepted Money Orders or cash; American currency for the interview).

That's my experience with medical and interview. Hope current K1-Visa applicants going to Vancouver find this helpful.

Good luck all! Patience will pay off in the end.

Walter

Thanks, Anh. I'm hoping that since the process has been very smooth so far, that it will be a few days to a few weeks. I can live with either.

It can be anywhere from at the interview, to a few days, to a few weeks, to over a year later if a person is required to submit additional documents or is put into Additional Processing. The range can be that large.

Just curious to know how long it has taken people to receive visa approval after their interview. I have to be in the US by Sep. 26/11 and I'm wondering if scheduling my interview for Aug. 17/11 gives me enough time. Thanks in advance!

Congratulations! Patience, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, paid off!

I'm booking my visa interview (in Vancouver, Canada) for early August. Did your fiance have to bring in proof that your relationship is still on-going (i.e., proof beyond what you provided in the visa petition)?

Walter

w00t! Just got the call from my fiance that all went well and his visa was approved!! Many thanks to those of you who have chipped in when I was a newbie and helped lead us towards today.

Advice to those of you just starting the process now...positive, positive, positive! Don't bring each other down. Research as much as you can, learn learn learn and ask questions even if they're stupid. Don't stay at home. Get a hobby! Something new and exciting.

Good things come to those who wait, however impatiently

woohoo! See you all in AOS!

As of May 26, 2011, we've been NOA2ed! Looks like the interview is not necessary, but we'll see what the letter says.

Thanks so much for the invite, Mari & Kadri. Here's my timeline:

http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=91958

We received an email dated Dec. 29/10 notifying that our I-129F was received and given a receipt #, which we've been able to check online, but we (my fiancee, the petitioner) did not receive snail-mail of this confirmation. The email indicated that the snail-mail would be sent in 7 to 10 days. The online status indicates that the petition is under "initial review." Should we be concerned that we didn't receive the confirmation mail?

Thanks,

Walter

Thanks so much, Amy. It doesn't look like our situation qualifies (as I suspected), but at least we can put in the request and hope for the best. For those following this thread, the link to the USCIS Expedite Criteria is here: http://tinyurl.com/yjau56e

Walter

My fiancee has filed an I-129F (Dec 22/10) en route for a K1 Visa. I recall reading somewhere that it's possible to expedite the visa process under special circumstances. If advice or link where we can get more information would be greatly appreciated. There's a terminal illness of a parent involved, so that's why we're asking. Thanks so much.

Anh:

The ceremony we had planned did not have an officiant. It was simply going to be an exchange of vows between us in front of a small group of people. We know that the ceremony is not legally binding, but as the lawyer says, immigration tends to take a conservative position on wedding-like ceremonies.

No one says that you can't have a party and stand in front of the group and exchange promises. Just have the officiant be someone that is not licensed/approved/allowed to perform legal weddings.

I want to thank everyone for their honest feedback. Based on what folks here were warning us about, we consulted with 2 laywers: one a colleague of a lawyer-friend and the other an immigration lawyer through JustAnswer.com. Their feedback was consistent. The JustAnswer lawyer responded as follows:

"The general rule is that any legal or religious ceremony that is recognized in your home country would be recognized by the US Consulate to be a marriage for immigration purposes.

If there are not existing precedents that interpret this ceremony as not a marriage for immigration purposes, the US Consulate would probably be more inclined to consider that you are married and require that your fiancee/spouse petition for you as K-3 spousal visa. The majority of immigration laws favor a conservative interpretation so the US Consulate and USCIS will generally decide cases based on this perspective even if there is reasoanble contrary legal argument.

The K-1 visa would most likely be denied or delayed so unless there is a very compelling reason to have the ceremony, you and your fiancee may unintentionally delay or complicate your immigration to the US."

Regrettably, we have postponed our ceremony until the K1 Visa has been approved. Fortunately, we had planned a very small ceremony, so it only required about 6 emails and 6 phone calls.

I'm the Canadian in this relationship :-). I'll be interviewing in Calgary.

Thanks for the input.

I'm not sure about the specifics of your questions, re: facebook status and pictures, etc.... but consulates have been known to deny K1 applicants on the basis that they are already "Married" after having such a ceremony.

I think the rule of thumb is, if the gov't could possibly construe it as a wedding or valid marriage, don't do it, or just get married for real and file the CR-1.

I'm not sure how that would pan out in Canada, because Canadian culture doesn't have a big engagement ceremony that could be construed as a wedding.... so I guess my advice would be to NOT change your facebook status to that of "married", since you are not, and you don't want a simple thing like fb status to come back and haunt you in this process... and if you plan to wear a white dress and all the rest, if I were playing it safe, I personally wouldn't post pictures.

That's just me, though. You should get lots of other opinions.

Oh, and what part of Canada are you/he in? You mentioned moving to the US in the spring... I wouldn't count on that, especially if you'll be interviewing in Montreal. We filed out i129F May 24th, just got Packet 3 sent back to Montreal, and are currently anticipating March-ish for an interview. Springtime might be more feasible if you are going through Vancouver. Oh, I should add - our K1 petition approval took almost 5 months, which is typical right NOW for CSC, but is not generally the case. Your petition could definitely move through the service centres a lot quicker.

Anyway, hopefully someone else comes along and has a better answer!

Good luck!