LauraLou07

Hi there! Really hope you could shed some light on a few questions i have.. Im getting ready to go through the same K1 visa process. I noticed you mentioned a few things that i wasn't familiar with which was the MVR and USC birth certificate (which i assume is united states citizen). I was wondering if you could help me with a few questions about these two things.
1) What exactly is a MVR? I did a little research and saw that it was a fee, but a fee for what exactly?
2) Is the fee that is included for the I-129F the MVR? (which is stated as "Filing Fee $340. (There is no fee for petitions for K-3 status based on an immigrant petition filed by the same U.S. citizen.)" by the USCIS website)
3) Where do i file the fee if i need to?
4) How do i get a receipt automatically when paying or do i have to request it?

and the usc birth certificate, i didnt know that you had to supply their birth certificate aswell as your own for the interview as they had to supply a copy of it in the I-129F?

Going through all this makes my head whirl! Just when i think im confident with something i see a piece of information that makes me so unsure!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Noorah101

MRV means Machine Readable Visa. This is the fee for the actual K-1 visa, which is different from the I-129 petition fee.

You don't normally need the USC's birth certificate at the visa interview. That's just in case it got lost from the file.

Rene

LauraLou07

Thanks Noorah! When do i need to pay this fee and is there a specific place where i need to pay it?

Noorah101

Look at the K-1 instructions on the US Embassy London website. The visa fee is paid close to when your interview will be. Instructions for payment will be on the website.

Rene

LauraLou07

Thanks again!

iJoey

Hey there Laura! Welcome to the Forum, I'll do my best to answer your questions clearly (:

1) The MRV is the fee you pay before you attend your interview at the united states embassy, It's paying for your visa and the courier which will return your visa to either your home address or your workplace.

2) The MRV fee is not included in the filing fee for the I-129f, you won't have to worry about paying the MRV until you receive an interview at the United States embassy, which, if you've only just filed the I-129f won't be for a good six months yet at least. So try not to worry about it at the moment as there's not much in the way of movement for a while (It sucks but this is the longest waiting around part for you I'm afraid)

3) You file the fee online, but they will provide you with the internet address to file online when you receive your interview appointment letter, which as said won't be for a while yet

4) When you do eventually pay the fee, you simply print out the confirmation page of your payment and that suffices as your receipt!

I had to supply my sponsors USC birth certificate for my I-134 affidavit of support which is a requirement for the interview. Your fiance will have to evidence their earnings in the form of recent tax returns, bank statements etcetera. If they do not meet the basic income requirements, you will need another sponsor (which is what my situation was) which is why I had to evidence the sponsors united states citizenship with the affidavit.

Just to be on the safe side, get your fiance to send over a copy of their birth certificate anyway, if they do meet the income requirement as it may be asked for at the interview!

Best of luck on your journey, let me know if you've any more questions, hope I helped!

Joey

Noorah101

The proof of sponsor's US Citizenship could also be a copy of their US Passport.

Rene

ian-mstm

I want to clarify for LauraLou07 that, in this context, "another" does not mean "additional"... it means "different".

Ian

iJoey

Exactly! Although they told me it me it was meant in the 'additional' sense at the interview!

US immigration for you! Haha

LauraLou07

Thanks everyone for all of the replies, its so comforting knowing that people have done this before and its been a success! My partner earns roughly $20,000 a year (Nebraska state)so that should be enough for the I-134 and the I-864 (when we have to apply!) so i shouldnt need a different sponsor, right? Also just wondering, we haven't filed the I-129F yet, but are due to do it this week and i was just curious as to how long it has taken for the entire process such as filing the petition right untill getting the passport back and also how long does it take for a response saying that they have recieved the petition and that i can start making arrangements in the uk for such as the ds-160, medical examination and the visa interview?

Noorah101

Regarding the sponsor's income, right.

Total processing time from submitting I-129F to getting visa in hand, figure 10 - 12 months, and be pleasantly surprised if it's less.

I-129F approval can take 5 or 6 months. Don't start any of the visa application process, especially the medical, until the embassy has your case file.

Rene

ian-mstm

Correct. The new 2015 guidelines are out and the exact amount he'll need is $19,912 - so "roughly $20,000" will help only if it's actually above $19,912. Let me just say here that while "roughly $20,000" is sufficient for US immigration purposes, it's very a very low income to support 2 people... and being poor in the US is not any fun at all. How will you both live day to day?


Immigration is a 2-step process. The first step (I-129F petition) takes about 4-5 months or so. Once that's approved, you'll be invited to apply for the visa - which will take another 4-5 months or so.


It'll take a few weeks after your fiancé submits the I-129F to get notice that it has been received. You can relax now, though... because you've got about 4-5 months to wait before you need to do anything.

Ian

LauraLou07

Thanks for your replies! Our visa story is a long process! My partner initially moved over to the UK on a fiancee visa as at the time due to section 3 of DOMA we could not apply for a visa in the USA. She moved over and we had a civil partnership (same-sex marriage wasn't legal in the UK either at the time) and both resided in the UK for 2 years. When section 3 of DOMA got struck down, she moved back over to the usa, got a job and a house and i continued to save so that we could have funds saved up to live off until i could work again. Its frustrating to go through this process again, and as a fiancee too as our partnership would not justify a marriage visa.

Back to the last piece of information you mentioned Ian, you say it takes a few weeks to get notification (but takes 4-5 months for I-129F overall) of the I-129F being received, do they then send you notification of when you can start making arrangements for the visa interview? Is this when you get a case number?

Sorry for so many questions!

BunnyGirl

Once your fiancee's I129F has been approved your file will be sent from the service centre, through the National Visa Centre (where it is assigned a case number) and then forwarded to the London consulate. Once your file is received in London, the consulate will write to you with the next steps (including completing your DS160, your medical etc). You CANNOT schedule your medical until you have your case number so there's really nothing you can do until you receive further information from London in approx. 6-8 months time.

LauraLou07

Thanks Bunny! I guess its just a waiting game now