Time limits/Visitation for K-1

[entrepy 0]

Hello all

I have a few questions concerning the K1 visa and this website seems to be the best place for answers online.

Firstly, if a K1 visa is issued, is there a time limit on when you have to travel to the US? I ask this as I understand the process can be lengthy and am considering doing postgraduate study, but am worried that if I do I will have to leave the county (UK) before it is finished and thus waste a lot of money.

Secondly, I have read that it is very difficult for the foreign party to come to the US on a tourist visa to visit their spouse while a K1 is being processed, but does the same apply for the American party to leave the States and visit their spouse?

Thanks

[MichelleN 0]

Once the Visa has been issued, your fiance has 6 months to enter the US. And once in the US you have 90 days to get married.

I haven't heard it's difficult, per say, for the beneficiary to visit, just that there's a chance you could be denied entry. But there's no problem with the American leaving the country to visit

[payxibka 10,045]

Hello all

I have a few questions concerning the K1 visa and this website seems to be the best place for answers online.

Firstly, if a K1 visa is issued, is there a time limit on when you have to travel to the US? I ask this as I understand the process can be lengthy and am considering doing postgraduate study, but am worried that if I do I will have to leave the county (UK) before it is finished and thus waste a lot of money.

Secondly, I have read that it is very difficult for the foreign party to come to the US on a tourist visa to visit their spouse while a K1 is being processed, but does the same apply for the American party to leave the States and visit their spouse?

Thanks

A visa holder has 6 mos. from date of issue to enter the USA. A K-1 applicant had better be visiting there fiance(e) not there spouse. If you are visiting your spouse you have applied for the wrong visa! No travel restrictions on the USC.

Edited August 18, 2008 by fwaguy

[MichelleN 0]

A visa holder has 6 mos. from date of issue to enter the USA. A K-1 applicant had better be visiting there fiance(e) not there spouse. If you are visiting your spouse you have applied for the wrong visa! No travel restrictions on the USC.

Wow I didn't even catch that. Reading comprehension for the win

[entrepy 0]

Thanks very much! Oh, and sorry about the 'spouse', totally used the wrong word!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

There are ways to drag out the process if you need a little more time for your studies. You eventually get a Packet 3 from the Embassy in London. You can take extra time to send your documents and checklist in. Then when you send it back, you can ask for a later interview. We did that. My fiance already had plane tickets to the US when it became apparent that our approval was probably coming up and the London time averages might put the interview either before or during his trip to the US. So when we sent back the documents, we included a cover letter (as suggested) and in it asked that his interview be scheduled after July 16. Looking at similar UK couples, we probably would have been scheduled the first week in July instead of the date they gave us, July 29. So you can buy a little time, but you have to be careful that it's not so long that they consider you abandoning the petition. Timelines for a K1 are a very uncertain science, so planning with certainty is next to impossible.

About your travel. If you're a UK citizen, then you should be able to travel to the US on the Visa Waiver plan and not need a tourist visa. It hasn't been too difficult for UK people to visit after the K1 is filed. I know of a number of Brits here on Visa Journey who have done so. It depends on your circumstances. If you've come often and stayed a long time, or worse overstayed and spent more of your recent time in the US than the UK, then they could very well question your visit. But if you're a student (with proof like an id) whose coming on school holiday for a few weeks, then you should have no problems. They don't have a record of your I-129F application at the airport. That's what the Customs and Border Protection agent told me when I called their information line to ask just the question you asked above. They have no rule that if you are engaged to US citizen that you can't visit. It's all about if you look and act like a tourist who is going home. Many suggest saying, "I am coming to see friends", rather than gushing "I have a fiance here and I want to live here." The latter might make them think you aren't planning to leave when you said you were. CPB never has to let you in the US. It's a privilege, not a right they told me, so it's always a subjective assessment by the person on duty. Based on the brief description I gave, you can probably figure out if you'd be questioned extensively or not.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hello all

I have a few questions concerning the K1 visa and this website seems to be the best place for answers online.

Firstly, if a K1 visa is issued, is there a time limit on when you have to travel to the US? I ask this as I understand the process can be lengthy and am considering doing postgraduate study, but am worried that if I do I will have to leave the county (UK) before it is finished and thus waste a lot of money.

Secondly, I have read that it is very difficult for the foreign party to come to the US on a tourist visa to visit their spouse while a K1 is being processed, but does the same apply for the American party to leave the States and visit their spouse?

Thanks

You have your answers on time limits. I have heard of problems with visitors coming to the USA who are beneficiaries of K-1 visas, but I am not sure. There is no problem for the US citizen to go to the fiancees country. I visited my fiancee in Ukraine 5 times during the process and never had any problem.

Gary