August 2008 Filers

[maliciant 7]

Don't worry Fred, no one wants to touch me either... and I sooooo want them to. Also, no date change on the case status for the petition either.

So far this is a pretty good week in terms of number of approvals, usually at this point in the week we still have 2 or worse... so while it's too early to say this week is looking to be a good one... but I'd still like to see a LOT more NOA2's... especially my own.

The down side is of course when it shows up, it's going to get expensive... plane tickets, medical, visa fees, AOS, etc. I can't wait to be together with my fiancee again, but I'm not looking forward to feeling even poorer than I usually feel.

Edit to add: As king I demand the aforementioned orgy of approvals! Also, no more foreplay! We don't want touches, we just want to skip to the good part!

Edited December 17, 2008 by maliciant

[PhiLandShiR 18]

Don't worry Fred, no one wants to touch me either... and I sooooo want them to. Also, no date change on the case status for the petition either.

So far this is a pretty good week in terms of number of approvals, usually at this point in the week we still have 2 or worse... so while it's too early to say this week is looking to be a good one... but I'd still like to see a LOT more NOA2's... especially my own.

The down side is of course when it shows up, it's going to get expensive... plane tickets, medical, visa fees, AOS, etc. I can't wait to be together with my fiancee again, but I'm not looking forward to feeling even poorer than I usually feel.

Edit to add: As king I demand the aforementioned orgy of approvals! Also, no more foreplay! We don't want touches, we just want to skip to the good part!

There is no expense too great!!!!!!

GWN

[Fred N Emilia 0]

Oh god I already budgeted for that and whenyou get NOA2 you will have at least 30 days for her medical and interview stuff so ish all good.

[Habibi 0]

What is the average cost for K-1 visa after NOA2, no matter what is the cost, the cost of being with your soul-mate is priceless. But just wondering

[Bulgarican 0]

Hey dont forget me for the approvals too some who are same date as me are approved already and its strange i didnt see them on the waiting list in igors before

[PhiLandShiR 18]

What is the average cost for K-1 visa after NOA2, no matter what is the cost, the cost of being with your soul-mate is priceless. But just wondering

You have the Application fee, the medical fee, transportation costs to and from each session, hotel costs...

It all varies

GWN

[maliciant 7]

I'm 100 on igor's list... yeah igor's means nothing at this point since august approvals seem to be all over the place... but it's still a cool land mark.

As for the cost after the K-1... the breakdown goes something like this...

The medical is 215.35 or something close to that (paid in the local currency, at least in the philippines it's paid in php, the US dollar amount is fixed though)

The actual visa is $131 (just like a visitor visa) and is paid in advance

There is probably a fee for delivery of some sort, the philippines it's 250 php which is about $6, this varies by country.

There are various documentation fees that may be required to get various official notorized documents etc and this will vary by country.

The philippines has a CFO seminar and stamp, I think it comes out to about $20, I don't think this exists in all countries.

Then you have at least one plane ticket one way, this cost is variable too, this is a big chunk of change.

Then you have AOS which is $1010

That's only about $1350 in the fixed expenses which isn't so bad... but odds are you are looking at 400+ for a one way plane ticket and likely more, you may be looking at hotel bills depending on how far from the embassy/medical center your fiance(e) lives...

My own personal break down on top of that 1350 standard set of fees...

I expect my plane tickets to be about 1250 and hers to be about 800 since it'll be one way, the idea is to fly back together so I'll have to purchase those tickets at the same time I think to insure that'll be possible. I will need at least her plane tickets to be flexible in term of date since there is no gaurentee that she'll get the visa in time to fly back with me (there is no gaurentee of a visa either but I don't really consider denial an option), I don't know how much that'll cost, or if it's just a fee you pay if you need to use it (especially since we might not know until the day of the flight if she can make the flight or not!).

I know last time I was in the philippines for 2 weeks I spent about $1000, some of that can be avoided but not much, I still expect it to cost about that much for two weeks.

No need for hotels since she lives in manila and is close to the embassy.

That puts me pretty close to $5000 in expenses in just a short time frame. I expect to have a few extra expenses right off, and there will probably be some other things I don't plan for (ie I plan to have to buy her a good coat, and since the climate is so different here at this time of the year from her home likely she'll need some warmer clothes). She said something about it was a cold day yesterday... according to weather.com it was 82f (and felt warmer than it was!)... here it was about 26f (and felt colder than it was!). The scary part of course is that the AOS can take many months to get approved (I plan to marry legally immediately, have to apply for the license, with both people present and 3 days later can marry, AOS will be filed as soon as possible after). It may be difficult for her to find a job once she has work authorization, who knows. I expect my expenses to go up a fair amount once she's here, but I don't know how much.

I make enough money that I'm not really too concerned about the costs, it's absolutely worth it, but at the same time I strongly dislike having debt so there won't be a lot of money for luxuries, I live in the midwest and while the cost of living is low, salaries are also low too, it'll take me at least 5 months to pay off the debt (I will get a pile of cash back from taxes which will help of course). Most of these expenses will go on a credit card, paid off quickly but not likely so quick that I don't have to pay at least a little interest on it.

Your expenses will vary depending on country and individual situation, I won't have hotel costs, but I have decided that I am going to be at the interview, that decision is going to add about 2250 (approx) to the cost due to plane tickets and basically vacationing. Depending on the economy of the country for your SO, you may or may not have to foot much of that bill... the philippines... well, I think the average income comes to something like $3300 a year, the cost of living... is not proportionally lower, families live together most of the time, sure they are close, but I don't think there is much choice a lot of the time, families have to live and work together to get by... compared with someone living in the UK... it's likely they'll pay for most of the costs of things themselves, it's something of an extreme difference... thought I'd include it since dealing with hard numbers here, a lot of people think it's a huge red flag when the USC has to pay pretty much all the expenses of the immigration process... but obviously a lot of people are also from economies as strong or stronger than the US economy and don't realize that it'd literally take every penny earned over a years time to pay just half the cost of immigration (and no one can save every penny unless they live with family who provide food and housing and transportation etc free of charge, that's not realistic).

Anyway, the short version is the average cost of a k-1 after NOA2 is probably close to $2500, the minimum being 1500 (since there are about 1350 in fixed expenses but almost everyone has to buy a plane ticket and pay country specific fees so...).

[Habibi 0]

The AOS expense is after she is in US right?

[Harsh 0]

I know it is still early but no VSC approvals today kinda has me down.... I had been spoiled last few days with the down pour lol.

[Hell0W0rld 10]

[Amy&Aldo 2]

Oops...computer glitch

Edited December 17, 2008 by Amy&Aldo

[Amy&Aldo 2]

A lot of people think it's a huge red flag when the USC has to pay pretty much all the expenses of the immigration process... but obviously a lot of people are also from economies as strong or stronger than the US economy and don't realize that it'd literally take every penny earned over a years time to pay just half the cost of immigration (and no one can save every penny unless they live with family who provide food and housing and transportation etc free of charge, that's not realistic).

Thanks for commenting on that part Maliciant. The economy is terrible in Mexico right now, so my fiance has had an extremely difficult time even making ends meet, let alone helping out with the immigration costs. Coming from a "traditional" family life growing up (i.e., Dad was the breadwinner and mom stayed home and raised the kids), it has been a strange transition for me to be the one making all the money and paying for most everything. Most people in this country don't understand really how difficult life is in some of these other countries, so I have withheld telling anyone about the financial support I am providing, not wanting them to see it as a red flag. So thanks for addressing it! I feel much better about it now.

[maliciant 7]

No need to thank me... six+ times... once is plenty (oops, guess you fixed that before time to edit ran out).

I think in general people are aware of how much a difference in value the dollar has to the mexican peso... at least in general (I don't think they know the actual conversion rate but that it favors us quite a bit), and obviously if they thought about it they'd realize that means that the total income is lower, there is so much information about illegal immigration pretty much aimed mainly at mexico, that everyone knows it's a poor country, but that doesn't mean they realize just how poor (I don't for example but I imagine making over $400 a month has to be a good job or they wouldn't take the risks to work in america illegally). The further away from america a country is the more ignorant we get it a hurry, especially if it's not a similar westernized country (a lot of people are actually aware of the conversion for Euro's... and even the Aussie $ is not so uncommon knowledge). We know it takes a math degree to buy a soda pop in japan due to the value of yen being so low (strange since japan has a strong economy last I heard). I don't think people have any idea that many other countries are as poor or worse than mexico.

As for sending someone money in another country, there is a huge stigma about that here, not just because people don't realize how different the economies are, but because of the ever famous internet nigerian money scams, no one talks about sending money to friends, family, etc, but everyone talks about getting scammed out of money by foreigners... It's a subject I avoid, my brother asked me something like how much money I was sending my fiancee, I think I said BILLIONS! (kind of using an impression of a child, all starry eyed lol)... he didn't ask for specifics after that, but it's kind of silly how people will view money sent to a fiancee in another country but most people getting married in the US wouldn't hesitate that much to spend/send or otherwise help financially the people they are marrying.

That said... asking for money is a pretty big red flag sometimes.

Edited December 17, 2008 by maliciant

[Habibi 0]

I have to say the only way i have been able to keep my sanity, is by conversing with you guys. We are all going thru the same thing, by sharing information, advising each other helps me personally to stay calm. Thanks everyone

[Amy&Aldo 2]

No need to thank me... six+ times... once is plenty (oops, guess you fixed that before time to edit ran out).

I think in general people are aware of how much a difference in value the dollar has to the mexican peso... at least in general (I don't think they know the actual conversion rate but that it favors us quite a bit), and obviously if they thought about it they'd realize that means that the total income is lower, there is so much information about illegal immigration pretty much aimed mainly at mexico, that everyone knows it's a poor country, but that doesn't mean they realize just how poor (I don't for example but I imagine making over $400 a month has to be a good job or they wouldn't take the risks to work in america illegally). The further away from america a country is the more ignorant we get it a hurry, especially if it's not a similar westernized country (a lot of people are actually aware of the conversion for Euro's... and even the Aussie $ is not so uncommon knowledge). We know it takes a math degree to buy a soda pop in japan due to the value of yen being so low (strange since japan has a strong economy last I heard). I don't think people have any idea that many other countries are as poor or worse than mexico.

As for sending someone money in another country, there is a huge stigma about that here, not just because people don't realize how different the economies are, but because of the ever famous internet nigerian money scams, no one talks about sending money to friends, family, etc, but everyone talks about getting scammed out of money by foreigners... It's a subject I avoid, my brother asked me something like how much money I was sending my fiancee, I think I said BILLIONS! (kind of using an impression of a child, all starry eyed lol)... he didn't ask for specifics after that, but it's kind of silly how people will view money sent to a fiancee in another country but most people getting married in the US wouldn't hesitate that much to spend/send or otherwise help financially the people they are marrying.

That said... asking for money is a pretty big red flag sometimes.

I agree...he doesn't ask me for money (in fact, he freaks out everytime I offer), and I don't send it regularly, but I have INSISTED on sending it a couple of times because I know how much he is struggling (for example, he was unable to find a job for 5-6 weeks after he got back to Mexico). Mostly, I am just covering the immigration costs. I would see it as a HUGE red flag if he was constantly asking me for money. The truth is, his economic life in Mexico is usually better than most because he is in the travel and tourism industry around Cancun, which typically does quite well despite the harsh economy in other areas of Mexico. And he also works in the states half the year and is able to save a bit that way too. But this time when he returned to Mexico, the economy was MUCH worse than usual. It took him more time to find a job so he exhausted all of his savings, and the job that he ended up finding pays much much less than what he can usually make. Even though we aren't married yet, I still feel like we are "in this together", so how can I watch him suffer, in good conscience, while I am living high on the hog, so to speak, with everything I need and more here in the US?