Which USCIS office to submit to...

[Eddie1984 0]

Hello all,

I am new to the forum; actually, I have been lurking for some time now. This is an amazing forum, and I have found a lot of great information here thus far. Since this is my first post, I would assume, I should give a little background on my fiancée and myself. I am from the U.S., and she is from Bosnia and Herzegovina. We met while we were both working overseas in Iraq, and currently we are still here. We plan to get married as soon as possible, however, there are some other factors that we must take care of first, before that can happen. I am just trying to prepare everything before hand, so as soon as I get the ok, I can file for her K-1 visa.

This also brings me to my question. I sold pretty much everything I had after I was working overseas. So currently, I do not have a home address, thus, leaving me wondering which USCIS office I should be concerned on filing with. I know, seems like an easy question, I should just go with the office in which we plan to live the closest to…easier said than done. We actually, plan on buying a home together once we are in the states. With that said, we are planning to continue working overseas until such time comes. She has a ten-year tourist visa, so her taking trips to the US are not an issue for our leaves when we visit my kids, her family, and whatnot located in the US. But, with me not having a physical address (use friends address for mail) what other options do I have for filing? Once the process starts, would she have to go back to Bosnia and wait??? And would I have to go back to the states as well??? If possible, we would like to continue to work, while waiting for her K-1 visa, and after, we plan to hang-up contracting, and just spend the rest of our time building our home with each other.

Has anyone not had a physical address when filing? And, does everything else we want seem passable? Since I work on the U.S. Embassy – Baghdad, could we process anything from there? Even when we get to the interview part, would she have to travel back to Bosnia for it, or could she do her interview here in Baghdad? Also, for her daughter, does she have to go with her to her interview at Embassy – Sarajevo?

I believe, I most of the forms required for her to file. However, I can find little to nothing on the process for the K-2 visa for her daughter. Are their any forms I can pre-fill out, for when the time comes?

Lastly, and a bit off topic, with her working here (Iraq), she is always having to get a new passport—Bosnia doesn’t add pages, just issues a new passport. Will that affect anything once we file? I will have to ask her again if she keeps the same passport number, or if a new one is given.

Thank you in advance, for any words of advise you can give.

Ed

[Eddie1984 0]

Any guidance anyone can give will be greatly appreciate.

Ed

[kitthekat 1,317]

Hi, welcome to VJ. All K1 petitions are filed at the Dallas Lockbox. The sorting facility there will decide which service centre (either California or Texas) will adjudicate your petition. You can find the address to mail the petition and other useful instructions here: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=a10e4154d7b3d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD and here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

You will have to list an address in the forms where you will be sent notices of action or requests for further evidence. Maybe someone else can confirm whether you can list your friend's US address in the forms and have him forward you any mail you receive from USCIS.

Since you are already together, have you also considered marrying and then filing an I-130 instead?

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

You need to read the I-129F form instructions. All petitions are mailed to the Dallas lockbox intake facility. No one mails their forms to their local USCIS office.

If she is a legal resident of Iraq, then she can interview there, The US Embassy in Baghdad states on their website that children under 13 do not need to attend. Each consulate has their own procedures and requirements.

[Eddie1984 0]

Since you are already together, have you also considered marrying and then filing an I-130 instead?

Thank you for your help and the links you provided, they were helpful. I actually sent an email today to consulate in Sarajevo today about the address, so we will see what they say; since that will be the Embassy we will have to deal with. We haven’t discussed getting married first, I will have to talk to her more about that, but I think the intention right now, is to get married in the states.

You need to read the I-129F form instructions. All petitions are mailed to the Dallas lockbox intake facility. No one mails their forms to their local USCIS office.

If she is a legal resident of Iraq, then she can interview there, The US Embassy in Baghdad states on their website that children under 13 do not need to attend. Each consulate has their own procedures and requirements.

No, she is not a legal resident of Iraq, she is Bosnian. I was asking if she could do interview here, because this is where we are working, and she was able to get her interview for her tourist visa here. I would assume the tourist visa isn’t as hard as a K-1, and they might not want to process here…thus making her go to her home country to process.

Thanks again for your responses

[Avery Cates 1,141]

No, she is not a legal resident of Iraq, she is Bosnian. I was asking if she could do interview here, because this is where we are working, and she was able to get her interview for her tourist visa here. I would assume the tourist visa isn’t as hard as a K-1, and they might not want to process here…thus making her go to her home country to process.

Thanks again for your responses

If I'm not mistaken the NVC is going to send the I-129f information, once approved, to the embassy/consulate of the country she is an actual citizen of.

[kitthekat 1,317]

Thank you for your help and the links you provided, they were helpful. I actually sent an email today to consulate in Sarajevo today about the address, so we will see what they say; since that will be the Embassy we will have to deal with. We haven’t discussed getting married first, I will have to talk to her more about that, but I think the intention right now, is to get married in the states.

No, she is not a legal resident of Iraq, she is Bosnian. I was asking if she could do interview here, because this is where we are working, and she was able to get her interview for her tourist visa here. I would assume the tourist visa isn’t as hard as a K-1, and they might not want to process here…thus making her go to her home country to process.

Thanks again for your responses

Legal resident just means that she has legal status to reside in the country, e.g. an employment pass, permanent residency, etc. If she is working in Iraq, I assume she is a legal resident. If so, she can interview in Baghdad instead of her country of citizenship. Under questions 36a and 36b of the I-129f form, you can indicate the embassy/consulate she wishes to interview at.