Do I have any hope at all?

[bgnsmn 0]

Hello all,

I'm new to this website, and I have been reading some pretty sad stories about how long it is taking people to get their visas when filing with the California Service Center. I have a wedding planned in September of this year, and I filed my I-129F on January 25th. Do you think there is any hope at all to have the visa by then, or should I start rescheduling? If I need to reschedule, is there anyway to bring my fiance here to the U.S. from Bulgaria with a visitor's visa while the K-1 is still in process? I would appreciate any help at all!! It's a little overwhelming, and my parents are insisting that everything will be fine, but I see that it takes some people almost a year to get their visas.

[brnidokiegurl 0]

Dont make any definate plans on something so important, you just never know whats going to happen and each case timeline is different

[*JG* 2]

Do you need to cancel by a certain time in order to get your money back?

I would never recommend scheduling anything at all until you have visa in hand. So many thing can (and have) gone wrong in the process.

[~Laura and Nick~ 5]

I think with California, you are cutting it a little close.

You may get lucky and get your NOA2 in like 4 to 5 months...It's really a guessing game.

Also, I don't know how long Bulgaria is taking to give out interviews.

Montreal (my consulate) is taking 3 to 4 months to book.

I wouldn't make any definite plans, don't put anything in stone until you are much closer to getting your visa....

I'd even wait till you had your interview date, and even then, things can get backed up so it's better to wait till Visa in hand.

Best of luck!

[lisalu100 0]

If everything is booked, and you will lose a lot of money, I would try to get a visitor's visa, and consider getting "married" unofficially. It will just be a ceremony that means a lot to you, but is not official. (Jeraly did this) I think you may find that a lot of vendors are sympathetic to you though, and if you tell them now, they may be able to postpone your date, and not keep the whole deposit. Good luck.

[wifetobe 2]

Hello all,

I'm new to this website, and I have been reading some pretty sad stories about how long it is taking people to get their visas when filing with the California Service Center. I have a wedding planned in September of this year, and I filed my I-129F on January 25th. Do you think there is any hope at all to have the visa by then, or should I start rescheduling? If I need to reschedule, is there anyway to bring my fiance here to the U.S. from Bulgaria with a visitor's visa while the K-1 is still in process? I would appreciate any help at all!! It's a little overwhelming, and my parents are insisting that everything will be fine, but I see that it takes some people almost a year to get their visas.

Yes you do have hope Keep the faith because it will happen. Unfortunately the circumstances that weigh the K1 visas are very alarming when looking at timelines, specially if CSC is dealing with your petition but they do work through them and try to make the "adjudication" date referring to timelines. It will seem like forever and a day but will be very worth it. The ends justify the means and I also think you guys have a fair shot of September.. I haven't seen your timeline but you should receive your NOA2 next month or June if you haven't already received it, and even by then you still have another 3 months til September (good timing for the medical and interview etc.) so you may be good to go. Keep the faith, God works in mysterious ways and alot of the time in your favour. I shall pray for you, good luck

[45495 1]

well, should never loose hope. it's what keeps you going. the question is how realistic it really is and i'm afraid i have to agree with the above on that: too much things one has no control over and that might go wrong...

good luck.

[joelunchbox 0]

Have you considered having a small wedding for the legal aspect when you two get together. And then, plan the big wedding after. That is what we are doing. Although our big wedding isn't really that big. But, she and I will get to dress up and cut the cake and all of that stuff then.

[bgnsmn 0]

I'm actually a little confused with all the terminology here. I don't really know much, and when I check my case status online it just says that it is in process. I see in many peoples' timelines that they know when the application has at least been looked at, and I was wondering how I get that information. Can I get it by calling or will they just show the same info? And, what's the difference between an NOA1 and an NOA2? Sorry, I feel like an idiot, but I am not very informed about this stuff yet.

Also, I have reserved a separate date at my location, my photographer is a really good friend, so hopefully he will be understanding, and I haven't put down any other major down payments. The plan was to wait until June, and if we haven't received approval by then to move the wedding. I just can't help but feel like somehow everything is going to fall through, it seems like there are many more horror stories than happy endings.

As far as the time lines for interviews in the U.S. Embassy in BG, it shows that in the Spring it's 10-12 weeks, but any other time it is no more than 4-6 weeks, so that seems positive.

Thanks for all of your input!!

[BlakeandOlha 0]

Hello all,

I'm new to this website, and I have been reading some pretty sad stories about how long it is taking people to get their visas when filing with the California Service Center. I have a wedding planned in September of this year, and I filed my I-129F on January 25th. Do you think there is any hope at all to have the visa by then, or should I start rescheduling? If I need to reschedule, is there anyway to bring my fiance here to the U.S. from Bulgaria with a visitor's visa while the K-1 is still in process? I would appreciate any help at all!! It's a little overwhelming, and my parents are insisting that everything will be fine, but I see that it takes some people almost a year to get their visas.

First of all know that each journey is unique so the experiences and waiting period for one is not necessarily going to be the experiences that you will have. Secondly, you should distinguish between the stories of people who filed prior to July 2007 from those who filed when you did. At the end of July the fees for the visa application increased significantly and there was a rush of people filing prior to the increase. It has taken a long while for the CSC to work through that backlog and many people's timelines got pushed farther and farther away. For those, like yourself, who filed well after the July date, your experience and waiting will not be the same. There have already been some December filer approvals, so theoretically, we should see some January approvals soon. The problem is that this is theoretical, and based on the recent performance of the CSC over the last few weeks, it is difficult to say.

So lets play with the dates a bit. Say you're approved June 15. It will then take two weeks (sometimes less, sometimes more) for the application to go to the NVC (national visa center) The NVC sits on it for another two weeks before forwarding it on to the embassy in Bulgaria. Your now at July 15. Each embassy has its own way of handling the applications and setting the interviews. In the Ukraine, for example, they'll send a checklist when when you are done gathering the information, you call and set an interview time. Here, you can actually gather all the information ahead of time so when you know the embassy has the visa application in hand for a couple of days, you can call and start asking for an interview. One person did this and was lucky enough to get an interview the next week. If you assume 45 days from when the embassy receives the info to the interview that will place you around September 1. (check the regional forums for other people's experiences with the embassy in Bulgaria) It can take another 10 days to get the passport with the visa stamped in it back from the embassy after the interview, so now you're looking at a mid September arrival. If, under this scenario, you planned a late September wedding you should be fine.

But - and this is a big but - there are many potential problems: you could get an RFE from the CSC which will extend your wait at least 10 days, possibly more; the CSC could take a long time to send the approved application to the NVC, which I've seen on a number of occasions, or the embassy's interview schedule could push the interview date beyond the 45 day window. On the other hand you could be approved at the end of May and sail through the rest of the process and have your SO in the states by mid August.

So, at the end of the day you'll have to figure out how much risk you are willing to assume. You and I filed around the same time, and I am planning for a wedding that will take place after the first week of October. Even then, I'm making sure that I can get a refund of deposit if the date looks like it will be longer. Good Luck to you on this journey.

[JULIAFERNO 0]

I filed through CSC late November/Early December and received our NOA2 in a little over 3 months, but I know there are still November filers who are waiting. Like everyone has said, every case is different and there is no standard wait-time, only estimates. I do think CSC is speeding up a bit compared to several months ago. I agree with everyone that it's best not to plan a big wedding until your fiance has the visa. My fiance and I probably won't have our big wedding ceremony until several months after we are legally married, as we aren't going to begin planning it until he's here. Not necessary for everyone else to know that we are already legally married...the average person doesn't know anything about a K1 visa!

[bgnsmn 0]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Wow, that's some great information, it seems that I am cutting it pretty close. The second date I have is for 10/18, so that might be a better one to choose. Also, I was wondering if it's possible to get a visitor's visa while the K-1 is in process...anyone know?

[BlakeandOlha 0]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Wow, that's some great information, it seems that I am cutting it pretty close. The second date I have is for 10/18, so that might be a better one to choose. Also, I was wondering if it's possible to get a visitor's visa while the K-1 is in process...anyone know?

Yes it is possible to do this.

[SerenityNOW 11]

Hi, great to see another person here dealing with the embassy in Sofia. There aren't many of us.

I am going CR-1 route, but that is precisely because we couldn't get a tourist visa for him when we applied in November. We were already engaged and decided to get married while I was there and start this immigration process rolling.

I WISH we had gone the K-1 route at this point, but I didn't know what I know now about wait times. I'm sorry to hear that it takes so long for the K-1s as well!

Anyway, we submitted MOUNTAINS of evidence indicating that he would return to Bulgaria after a visit to meet my family around Christmas - including my plane ticket there in May, letters from all of my family, a work contract and the plans for remodeling his house, which is happening this summer. They may have turned us down because I was honest about us being engaged, who knows. They didn't give a reason, just a big fat No.

But that's not to say that you wouldn't get a nice person at the embassy who approves you. All you lose is ~$100 for trying. We got our appointment for the interview within the week, so hopefully it won't take you that long to schedule.

I will PM you with some Bulgaria-specific information...

Best of luck for your K-1 coming through soon!

/bb

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Wow, that's some great information, it seems that I am cutting it pretty close. The second date I have is for 10/18, so that might be a better one to choose. Also, I was wondering if it's possible to get a visitor's visa while the K-1 is in process...anyone know?

Yes it is possible to do this.

[erintoronto 0]

Hello all,

I'm new to this website, and I have been reading some pretty sad stories about how long it is taking people to get their visas when filing with the California Service Center. I have a wedding planned in September of this year, and I filed my I-129F on January 25th. Do you think there is any hope at all to have the visa by then, or should I start rescheduling? If I need to reschedule, is there anyway to bring my fiance here to the U.S. from Bulgaria with a visitor's visa while the K-1 is still in process? I would appreciate any help at all!! It's a little overwhelming, and my parents are insisting that everything will be fine, but I see that it takes some people almost a year to get their visas.

don't give up hope! it will all happen and be fine. it might just take a little longer than you were hoping it would. i think lots of people are in the same situation here... hang in there

Montreal (my consulate) is taking 3 to 4 months to book.

good grief. CSC and then MTL...

well, at least when i was thinking about all this originally i told myself it would be at least 9-12 months so i'm not TOO upset. maybe just a little impatient at times