Pimpbot

How soon can I contact the American Embassy to open a provisional file so they can send me(UK Fiance) the first set of forms for a K1 visa application.

Do I have to wait until my (US)fiancee receives the I797 notice of approval for the I129F from the INS?

Just looking for a few things that might save a few days.

Thanks

Rete

They will not open a provisional file without the original Notice of Approval from the USC.

You can, of course, get started on the documentation that is required so that you are that much ahead of the game when the time comes.

Rete

Just Jenney

This is completely contradictory to the information provided on the US Embassy-London's website:

"Note: It is possible to begin the administrative processing of a fiancé(e) visa application before the INS approves the petition. Therefore, if you reside in the United Kingdom and are applying for the visa at this Embassy, you may download the forms from this site. The forms should be completed and returned to the Immigrant Visa Unit as soon as possible. Failure to return the forms promptly will delay the processing of the visa application."

(from http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_web/visa/iv/fiance.htm under the section "What Is the Role of the Embassy?")

We haven't been through the process yet but we'll be dealing with the London Embassy as Mark is British. Based on the information I just quoted above, seeing how clear-cut it appears to be, this was how we were planning on going about things. However, if anyone knows differently, please post your information to let us all know!

~ Jenney

Morkai Kurst

    > You can, of course, get started on the documentation that is required so that you
    > are that much ahead of the game when the time comes.

In addition to what Rete said if you follow this link: http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_web/visa/iv/-
fprocessing.htm

It gives you all the forms in fillable pdf format you will need, plus the list of
documentation needed.

Most important thing is to get your police certificate sorted out asap so that its
not delaying you sending your checklist in and get your fiancee to send you the
affidavit of support which you need to take to your interview with you. If your
feeling brave you can send your checklist off before you get the police certificate
but whilst mine came in 21 days there were people reporting their's was taking the
full 40 days, so be careful. If you haven't got it by your interview it's not the
total end of the world, they will still approve your visa pending you taking the
missing document down. As long as there are no other issues of course. If you live a
long way away from London though that can be a pain as it means a second trip.

I printed all the pdf's off and filled them out roughly while I found info. When I
was ready to send it all off I just filled them out online from my roughs and printed
them off in a few minutes.

That way you can have everything ready to go the moment you get your approval. Took
London embassy about 2 weeks from receiving our approval notice to send the forms but
I believe you can call them and get your case number prior to that. I was notified of
my interview date 3 weeks after I sent the whole lot in and I got 4 weeks notice of
the interview. Seemed like a lifetime, but at 1 week to go I'm still desperately
trying to get my stuph packed

Good luck

Morkai

Rete

Contrary to the UK US Consulate website, ask the UK perspective K-1'ers about it. Many of them had to give the US Consulate their original approved I-797 Notice of Approval before the Consulate would open a provisional file. You can do a search on google for their experiences.

Rete

Rete

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Lo...pex.com&rnum=1

One Experience from 2002:
Which Embassy will you be dealing with and what Service Center did you go
through?
We dealt with the London Embassy, and we did send our forms early with a
cover letter
asking them to open a provisinal file. We did get the approval just 1 day
later, but they then
told us to send the original second NOA and they would set the interview
according to that instead of waiting to get it cabled from TSC.

--
Another experience from 2002: August 2,2002- Mailed Original I-797 (second NOA) to London Embassy because we received a reply email and it states: If you have the original I-797 approval notice and you submit that to us we can begin processing on the basis of this as it can take some time for NVC to forward the petitions to us.

Sioneva

I can't speak for other folks' experiences, but London told us we couldn't ask for a provisional file without the 2nd NOA (and A# that comes with it). As soon as we got that number, we sent in the Packet 3 forms (although we did NOT include the original 2nd NOA form, just the number), although TSC must have expedited sending the approval to the embassy, because my fiance received his Packet 3 only a couple of days after sending in his forms for the provisional file.

Paul

Sioneva <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > I can't speak for other folks' experiences, but London told us we couldn't ask for
    > a provisional file without the 2nd NOA (and A# that comes with it). As soon as we
    > got that number, we sent in the Packet 3 forms (although we did NOT include the
    > original 2nd NOA form, just the number), although TSC must have expedited sending
    > the approval to the embassy, because my fiance received his Packet 3 only a couple
    > of days after sending in his forms for the provisional file.

Well , for what it's worth....I did open a provisional file with the London embassy
in May/June of this year. They were able to confirm this to me both in an e-mail and
over the phone when I enquired.

When my U.S. fiancee recieved the I-797 NOA2 she sent the original to me and I
e-mailed the embassy to inform them of the approval. I was told that if I sent the
original copy of the I-797 to London they would schedule an interview immediately.In
fact I was e-mailed an interview date within a week and the interview was set for ten
days later.

Since it took less than 4 weeks between approval and interview I can only think that
there was some merit in opening a provisional file ( which in my understanding would
be a file prepared awaiting the final approval from the appropriate INS center.)

Anything that can be done to speed up the process must be worth a try.

Incidentally , in my experience , everyone associated with the London Embassy was
efficient and helpful.

Paul.

Paul E

Well , for what it's worth....I did open a provisional file with the London embassy
in May/June of this year. They were able to confirm this to me both in an e-mail and
over the phone when I enquired.

When my U.S. fiancee recieved the I-797 NOA2 she sent the original to me and I
e-mailed the embassy to inform them of the approval. I was told that if I sent the
original copy of the I-797 to London they would schedule an interview immediately.In
fact I was e-mailed an interview date within a week and the interview was set for ten
days later.

Since it took less than 4 weeks between approval and interview I can only think that
there was some merit in opening a provisional file ( which in my understanding would
be a file prepared awaiting the final approval from the appropriate INS center.)

Anything that can be done to speed up the process must be worth a try.

Incidentally , in my experience , everyone associated with the London Embassy was
efficient and helpful.

Paul.
[/QUOTE]

Paul,

Can you provide any additional insight into opening that provisional file with London embassy?? My wife is sending letter from Manchester to London to request opening for k3/k4 before I-129f approval is received by me here in Texas.

Contact names/#'s, e-mail addresses, etc would be great!!!

Thanks,
Paul E