charlottepickard

Hi,

I met my partner online at the beginning of last year, and visited him in America last October. He then came over to me (I live in England) in November 2005 and has been staying with me ever since. Having found out we both just can't be apart for more than a week and that we truly love each other we both decided to get married. So are going to be facing the K-1 Visa process, my problem is I have been to the Embassy website and so has he and we are just finding that all the words are blurring together and really not making any sense. It just all seems so complicated. Is there anyone who can maybe help make it a little simpler to understand?
Another problem is I don't know how long the process usually takes and the Embassy's website doesn't even give an estimated time period, so I am not quite sure when I should apply as my partner and I both want to get married next Year (June 2007), as It gives us time to plan and for both our families to get organised and find ways to get to America where our wedding will take place and where I want to reside eventually.

Also does anyone know around how much money you have to spend on the whole visa process? As from what I have read so far it seems quite a bit.

Sorry if someone has already asked these questions and I should be able to find the answers on the forum boards, but if anyone could help that would be great.

Thanks,

Charlotte

Noorah101

Hi Charlotte,

Your USC fiance should file the I-129F petition at the service center having jurisdiction over his residence in the USA. From there, it will get processed in the USA, and then you'll receive a packet of paperwork to apply for your K-1 visa in the UK. You'll have to get your police certificate. You'll eventually turn in a checklist and the London consulate will set up an interview for you, and send you to get your medical done. If approved, you'll get your K-1 visa which will be valid for 6 months to use for 1 entry to the USA, after which you'll have 90 days to get married in the USA.

A rough estimate, if you have an uncomplicated case, is about 6 to 8 months for the visa process. I wouldn't start it too soon, if you're not planning to marry until summer of 2007.

Your USC fiance will need to meet certain income requirements, although if you have enough assets, you can try self-sponsoring for the I-134 (affidavit of support). Contact the London embassy and ask how much you will need. The USC fiance will also need to have a reliable mailing address in the USA.

Go to www.uscis.gov "how do I bring my fiance to the USA" for more information. Hope that quick outline helped you some.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Noorah101

As for cost, I don't recall the I-129F fee - but that's the least expensive portion. Don't forget you'll need to pay for police report, medical, travel expenses to the embassy, photos, and the air fare for coming to the USA.

The big cost comes once you get to the USA, in order to adjust your status to permanent resident. If you also want work and travel authorization, the total comes to around $800. You'll also need one more doctor visit in the USA, which could run around $100.

I'd say a rough estimate is to have at least $1,500 - $2,000 available for immigration purposes.

Also, at that time, the USC spouse WILL need to show a certain level of income for the new Affidavit of Support (I-864). If he doesn't meet the income level, he'll have to find a joint sponsor who does.

Rene

charlottepickard

Thank you, that did help. However what I am confused with is I was able to download visa's from the Embassy's website, does this mean that I should only use the ones they send me in that "package" after the petition is accepted?
Also can you use other sponsors for the affidavit? As I won't be working at the time of our marriage because I will need to be looking for work in America, and my fiance is still studying.

Thanks again for your help,

Charlotte

evanio1978

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/in...m&page=k1guide

best place to start - gives you everything you need.

Noorah101

Hi again,

You can use the dowloadable visa forms, sure. You just can't turn them in at the embassy until the appropriate time.

For fulfilling the I-134 requirement, yes, you can use a joint sponsor. Any USC or PR living in the USA who meets the requirements, is acceptable.

Rene

charlottepickard

Thanks for all your help, it certainly has made things clearer!
I wonder if the American settlers (pilgrims) ever had these problems?!

Charlotte

Just Jenney

Dang it, I had written a response and somehow closed the Firefox tab it was in and lost it! Grrr!!

Anyway, just wanted to mention a couple of things to expound on what Rene has said...

Firstly, immigration application fees increase from time to time. (I have yet to see them DECREASE any fees!) Since you're not looking to start the K1 process until the end of this year at the earliest, keep in mind that the fees you see on the USCIS and London Consulate websites may be different by the time you apply.

Secondly, the new "poverty guidelines" for 2006, used by USCIS and the State Dept to determine the USC sponsors' minimum income requirements, have just been released by the US Dept of Health & Human Services. For immigration purposes, the amount required is 125% of the amounts listed on this webpage. (The exception is USC sponsors who are active military, I believe, who are only required to meet 100%.)

So, in determining your fiance's minimum income requirement, make sure you take whatever amount is listed for his household size (which will include you) and multiply it by 125%. If the household will ONLY consist of you and your fiance, then that's $13,200 x 1.25 = $16,500. (If he lives in Alaska or Hawaii, that amount will be greater.)

~ Jenney

charlottepickard

Thanks Jenney, and to everyone else who have replied to my post. The more information I recieve the easier I am hoping the process will become.
It is nice to have forums like this and to be able to read accounts of people's personal experiences with the visa process as it prepares you some what for what is to come.

Thanks again,

Charlotte

Folinskyinla

Hi:

A few years back there was a short lived decrease in fees. This arises from the fact that CIS adjudications are funded entirely by "user fees." The fees are determined by the marginal cost of each application PLUS a general overhead fee. The overhead fee covers things like buildings, utilities, etc etc.. Also included in the overhead are the applications for which no filing fees are collected -- e.g. asylum and initial asylum based EAD's.

A few years back, the appropriations bill included a proposal to 1) remove asylum applications from the adjudications paid for by user fees and 2) to pay for asylum directly from the U.S. Treasurey. In the debates over the appropriations bill, item #1 survived but item #2 did not. What ended up was that CIS was required to adjudicate asylum applications but was given no source of money to pay for it!

Bye and bye, a technical correction bill was passed, but it took a couple of months -- sor for about three months, there WAS a decrease in the fees.

jeffreyhy

Charlotte,

If the native residents at that time had had any inkling of what was coming, they would have!

But then, the early settlers had a pretty high attrition rate from a number of causes - I think I'd prefer today's bureaucracy problems to the settler's more physical problems.

Regards, JEff

meauxna

JEff,
Beats chopping firewood, eh? A'course, you might not mind the tracking and killing of dinner <g>

"'Camping' is staying in a hotel without room service."
-meauxna

jeffreyhy

meauxna,

Beats getting scalped, also. (And I've never fired a gun in my life.)

Regards, JEff

meauxna

I'd never accuse you of taking the easy way, JEff.