marcsred

My fiance and I are currently living in Australia, so cannot begin the K-1 process until I go back to the States in January. I graduate from uni in the middle of May, and we're wondering if we have any chance of getting the visa processed by then. I've been researching exhaustively, and until I came to this site, the longest I'd heard was 2-8 months. Now I'm hearing up to 6 months my first part in the US, and 2-8 months for my fiance's part in Australia. On another website, someone had posted their personal timeline, from beginning to end, with every step updated, and it was a total of 56 days. I'm wondering if anyone has any ACTUAL, RECENT experience with this process. I'm really not looking to hear responses from people who have no idea/experience saying, "Pfffffffffttttttttt, good luck with that one guys, you've got NO chance." I've included some details that I know matter (in terms of processing centers and stuff like that) but am unsure about.

• I am an American citizen that lives in Texas (One site says that the faster processing Vermont center handles Texas, but a number of people from Texas have said theirs have been sent to California - anyone know? Do you send the application directly to one of the two centers?)
• My fiance and I have been engaged for 1 year this Christmas.
• He has spent 14 days in America, and I 7 months in Australia, so we will have NO trouble proving our relationship.

The USCIS site has this on one of its pages:
I know the first part is Form I-129f, so I guess this would not apply? Does anyone know the fees for this service and what "accelerated" means in terms of time?

Also, a rather random question, once my fiance comes to the US on this visa, how do driver's licenses work? Can he transfer his Australian one, or does he just have to go through the regular channels like any kid trying to get a license? Also, when will he be allowed to do this - not until he gets his Permanent Residency approved and get a Social Security Number (is that when you get one)?

Cheers in advance for all of the help.

English Muffin

If you want to see other people's personal timelines for getting their K1 visa try www.visajourney.com there are hundreds there.

My own personal experience is that my USC fiance filed the I-129F on 3rd July this year and we are still waiting for our NOA2. I'm hoping to have the visa by February but I'm not holding my breath.

Processing has slowed down considerably over recent months even for the Vermont Service Centre (where we filed) which used to be faster.

There is no accelerated or premium processing for the K1 visa, you'll have to get in line with the rest of us I'm afraid.

Hope this helps.

AlanR

Drivers licenses (US spelling!) vary from state to state. Look for the appropriate RMV or DMV. A foreign license allows some time for driving but, if resident in that state, then the (legal) time to get a license may be quite short. In many cases (e.g. MA) one has to first take an easy multichoice test and book a test (with a State trooper). For anyone with a European or Australian license this should be trivial. Some states offer exchanges (in MA German and Switzerland only) but one still has to have the appropriate documentation proving legality (even though people say an SSN isn't needed, it appears to be mandatory in some states. Birth certificate and other appropriate documentation to prove legitimacy). In TX then:
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/adminis...merservice.htm
http://www.dmv.org/tx-texas/departme...r-vehicles.php

AlanR

BTW, good luck with the K-1 and all that. You'll find this BritishExpats site very helpful. Also in TX:
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/adminis...ingtotexas.htm

AlanR

Foreign Driver Licenses
If you possess a foreign driver license, are between the ages of 18 and 75, and are now in Texas for an extended period or permanently, the state will recognize your license for up to one year following your arrival. This only applies for foreign nationals of countries that have reciprocity with the United States―in other words, countries that offer a similar privilege to U.S. citizens who are in their nation.
From one of the websites I just listed.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

I only give general comments on this list.

On timeline issues, I will not say "impossible" -- as you note, you seek recent actual experience. This is a very reasonable request, but I would like to caution to keep in mind the rubric of "your mileage may vary." What is happening today is not really a reliable guide to what will take place tomorrow. You give an example yourself -- the transfer of some VSC cases to CSC for processing.

That said, your plans may actually be doable.

First, why do you say you have to wait until you return to the United States to file the I-129F? You can file it from withOUT the United States by filing it at the Service Center of your last residence in the United States. Why delay two months?

Second, on the "accelerated processing", your notation on "premium processing" indicates that you may very well be looking at an unreliable web site given that you mention that CIS does premium processing for I-140's. In fact, CIS has suspended such processing until further notice -- see http://www.jasinsky.com/pdf/US_CIS_A...pRocessing.pdf

Although I-140's are not applicable in your case, this strikes me that you are looking at a website with bad or out-of-date information.

The formal "Premium Processing" is not available in the family based immigration arena. There is an informal program for requesting out-of-order processing. But the guidelines are quite strict -- let me put it this way, those guidelines are such that YOU would say "after you" to a person meeting those guidelines.

Third, please note that factors external to the marriage cases can affect timelines. When looking at the processing times at VSC, note that I-129F's are not the only type of application considered by VSC. There is an all-too-human tendency to read ONLY the line of YOUR application. The Service Centers can, and do, shuffle resources between types of applications.

Fourth, you might want to look into entering into a legal marriage BEFORE you leave for Texas and then start the I-130 process in Australia. [This has gotten the nickname of "DCF" in the on-line community]. Bear in mind that an immigrant visa is valid for six months after issuance. [BTW, if you are looking towards a big wedding reception in June -- many people do the legal wedding and the religous/social wedding at different times].

Driver's license -- it depends state by state. I don't believe you "transfer" the license -- one just applies for a new one. As a general rule, the foreign license will be valid stateside for a limited period of time.

I hope this information helps. Good luck.

"The trouble is all inside your head she said to me. The answer is easy if you take it logically. I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free." Paul Simon

"Where is task force 34? RR The world wonders." Chester Nimitz

marcsred

I figured as much on the wait, since the I-129 and I-129f are different. Thanks for the link to the other site, but it seems to give me false hope - the timeline averages for the last 3, 6, 9 and 12 months list an average TOTAL wait time for this visa as less than what people are saying they are personally experiencing...

Thanks for the links, I emailed both centers earlier today, so just waiting for a reply!

Thanks again for the info - is there any way you could send me a link to the page you saw this on? I've been navigating in futility for hours...

marcsred

This was the site I got the info off of. It was the official USCIS website. I realize the I-129 and I-129f forms are different, I guess I was just wondering if/hoping this might be applicable.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/usc...0045f3d6a1RCRD

What is this other way of going about things? How does the I-130 work if I am going back to the States in January, and he wants to come out in May? Is the wait longer? Is it cheaper? Is it harder to then change your status to a Permanent Resident?

We're definitely going the courthouse wedding so that we can get married within the 90 days. Once we know he can stay, we can plan the big wedding at our own leisure. Seems like the smart thing to do, and something I'm sure lots of other people on here have had to do.

Thanks for all of the info!

Noorah101

This is referred to as DCF (Direct Consular Filing) - but is not the technical term for the process. This option is open to certain people living certain lenghts of time in a country other than their own, or having certain status in that country. I am not sure what Australia's requirements are, but since you've both been there a good amount of time I would definitely look into this route.

It means you would legally marry in Australia, then file the I-130 directly to the US Consulate in Australia, and process everything from within Australia. You, as the USC, don't have to remain in Australia after you file the I-130, you can still return home in January. He would have to remain there to continue visa processing and attend the interview. This process is by far the quickest way to immigrate to the USA, it takes around 4 to 6 months to process, and he becomes a US Permanent Resident upon entry to the USA using his immigrant visa. No more paperwork needed to obtain his green card, and he has work authorization from Day 1. He can also apply for his SSN ahead of time this way and should receive it a few weeks after arrival.

If you qualify for DCF, definitely the way to go...if you don't mind getting married legally in Australia first.

Best Wishes,
Rene

meauxna

Here is an outline of how filing the I-130 in abroad/in Australia works

Filing your I-130 abroad - Direct Consular Filing (DCF)

And here's the link for the Australia-specific instructions:
Filing of Immigrant Visa Petitions in Australia

There is no need to Adjust Status to Permanent Resident after this visa; the immigrant's status become Permanent Resident (Green Card) when he is admitted with the visa.

How long have YOU been in Australia and under what sort of status?

Finally, if you prefer to do a Fiancee petition I-129F, you can send that from Australia; you don't have to wait until you are in the US.

Timelines are very skewed right now, and looking at recent cases will not give you an accurate estimate of 'how long' due to the current backlog mess in the US Service Centers. *Everything* changed as of July 30, so any recent cases you look at must take that date into account to give you even a remote idea of what *might* happen in yours.

marcsred

Do you know if this has any effect on his obtaining Australian Citizenship? He and his whole family have been in Australia for 5 years now, and they become eligible for citizenship on Australia Day (January 26, 2008). We wouldn't want to ruin that by having them see he is trying to obtain American permanent residency. We're going to be living in America for at least a few months because even though my graduation ceremony is in May, I still have classes until December. We haven't decided whether we want to live in the States with my family, or in Australia with his, so after the long, expensive Australian Citizenship process, I know it would devastate him to lose the possibility of ever living near his family just so we could live near mine. I would feel incredibly guilty as well.

Thank you so much for the response - it was very helpful. If you know anything about this other side of things, I'd be interested in knowing. Thanks again.

marcsred

I have been in Australia since June 6th, and will be here until January 7th, so 7 months under a student visa (I have been attending university abroad for a semester plus extra visiting time so that we could be closer).

When you say everything changed as of July 30th, what do you mean? What changed? Everything changed in that it all went to hell and takes forever, or everything changed in a (fingers crossed) good way, and things are finally starting to speed up?

Also, if you read my reply above this one, do you have any idea as to whether or not applying for this visa would affect the outcome of his citizenship application for Australia. As I've said above, it's taken him and his
family years to get to where they are (they came to Australia about 5 years ago from Scotland and become eligible for citizenship on Australia Day of 2008, so January 26th), and well, I explained it better just above this post. Any wisdom you have on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all so much for your continued support - this site has been the best resource I've been able to find in months of searching.

marcsred

So did the rise in fee changes on July 30th mean that a lot of people tried to get theirs in BEFORE that time, so a glut in the system was created? Also, does having lived in Australia for 7 months under a student visa when our relationship began long before that (and can be proved) make us eligible? The only reason we didn't want to get married (even in a courthouse) before he came out in May is that (Yet another silly kink, I know...They never stop, do they?) if we are married before May (before I receive my financial aid information for uni), he then becomes responsible, as my spouse, for paying for my last semester of school, which is insane.

I won't get into all of those complexities, but IF that is the case, cest la vie, if it means we can be together for my graduation ceremony.

• How long after the visa is issued does have have to make it to America? Does anyone know if this will screw his chances at Australian Citizenship?
• How does that affect my tax return in the US for this year, and his tax return for Australia? Do we have to report each others' incomes because we got married just before the end of the year?

On the sites I've been looking at, everyone says the I-129f is the way to go because it's so much less expensive and faster than the I-130 (is that the K-3 Visa?), and that you have much less trouble changing your status afterwards. However...

I've seen on http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/G-1055.pdf that the form I-130 is $355, as opposed to the I-129f being $455, so unless you must file other forms I don't know about with the I-130, that seems to be cheaper, and someone on here mentioned he's a permanent resident (conditional or not? anyone know?) from day one, with work authorization, so it seems like the only change in status you would need to apply for is either to have the conditional status removed (which you need to do with the K-1 visa anyway), and eventually naturalization, which, obviously, you also must apply for with the K-1.

So it looks (unless I'm looking wrong?) that the I-130 is cheaper and there's no hassle with status, but does anyone know:

• If we are eligible to do this, given the info about us I have given?
• If the processing time is, indeed, faster for the I-130 than the I-129f as someone said on here, or about 3 times slower, as I've read everywhere else (since there are SO many more people going the K-3 rather than the K-1 route)?
• If this will screw his application for Australian citizenship up?

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!! It's been fewer than 24 hours and I've learned more on here than I have with months of trolling Google...

marcsred

Okay, sorry for yet another post, but apparently I got it wrong and an I-130 and K-3 Visa are NOT the same thing? I read this on a website, so please tell me if it's bollocks or not:
So we'd get conditional residency for him, which is fine. Are we allowed to file an Affadavit of Support with a co-sponsor (my mum here in the States) with this form, as we would with the I-129f? What is the wait time?
So in this case, we'd apply...where? It says if you were married in the US you'd file at the US Embassy in your country, but what if we were married in Australia, as the case would have to be here? Where do we apply? Do we really just do the K-1 application and say we're married? If that's the case, we'd be as well to do the I-130 or do the K-1 and start our application from Australia...This K-3 option seems to make no sense at all when, if you are ALREADY married, you could just submit the I-130 and save $100 and lots of hassle since you get permanent residency AND work authorization straight away...

Elvira

Okay, take a deep breath, go and do something entirely different, THEN read all the stuff again.

I am sure it will all become clear

But the Australian citizenship questions should be asked in the Australia forum.