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Double Checking on the process

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Costa Rica
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I'm a beginner with the whole process & more so this amazing website. My fiance, Danny & I got engaged this past month when I was visiting him in Costa Rica. Upon return, all the information that we've been collecting over the past 6 months came in handy & now we are hoping God opens more doors in this process. Danny & I are hoping he'll be able to come back to the US with me & my parents in mid March when we return from our Spring Break Vaca. Shortly after our return we plan on getting married here with family & close friends. Immediately we will send in the permission to travel, to work & the paperwork for permanent resident. We are planning on getting married again in Costa Rica on June 12th, 2010, having our honeymoon in Costa Rica & then returning to MN for a decent period of time.

All questions are in BOLD!

I was told that it takes approx 5 months to receive the appointment for K-1 (obviously depending on the country & their schedule) Does anyone know specifics according to Costa Rica from their end & ours?

I was also told that it takes about a month to receive permission to work & travel after you get married. Will Danny be able to leave the country & come back in June, if we get married & send in the papers in March?

My fiance, Danny & I are hoping to have the I129 Packet sent in within the next 2-3 weeks & I really want to double check not only our plans, but what I have understood from talking with people, lots of reading, etc. is listed below:

All documents MUST have original signature & dates (no fax, copies, etc are accepted?)

Documents should be typed, not filled out in pen? Should letters be double spaced or does it matter?

Make 2 copies of every form & everything should be in ENGLISH!???!

a check for $455 made out to USCIS

1 Cover Letter (me stating that I am petitioning for a k-1 for my fiance Danny)

1 Table of Contents

1 I-129F document(both of us fill out our info, but ONLY my signature is needed)

1 Declaration of encounter (one page story of how we met with both our signatures & dates) Is this only how we met the FIRST TIME?

2 Intent to Marry (one page statements that we will marry...can it be the same statements or would you recommend them stated things differently....well do we even need 2 statements or can it be one statement with both our signatures & dates?)

Proof of having met (airline tickets, 2-5 colored pictures, conversations, phone bills, passport stamps, etc gas stubs???, appointments???)

1 G325A (for US citizen) How come all the documents say its 4 pages, but its only 2, it that right???

1 passport style picture (for US citizen)

1 G325A (for foreign fiance)

1 passport style picture (for foreign fiance)

1 Birth Certificate (ONLY for US citizen?)

any divorce documents or legal name change documents or court/police records(for both US & foreign)

So I should send all these documents together by UPS to the closest Service Center, which in my case since I live in MN, it would be Missouri?

After the package is sent I should start to work on I-134 which both me & my fiance need to fill out or just me?

Thanks! I think that is all the information or questions for now!

Robyn

Robyn Ashley

May God bless you in all you do today & always!

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I'm a beginner with the whole process & more so this amazing website. My fiance, Danny & I got engaged this past month when I was visiting him in Costa Rica. Upon return, all the information that we've been collecting over the past 6 months came in handy & now we are hoping God opens more doors in this process. Danny & I are hoping he'll be able to come back to the US with me & my parents in mid March when we return from our Spring Break Vaca. Shortly after our return we plan on getting married here with family & close friends. Immediately we will send in the permission to travel, to work & the paperwork for permanent resident. We are planning on getting married again in Costa Rica on June 12th, 2010, having our honeymoon in Costa Rica & then returning to MN for a decent period of time.

All questions are in BOLD!

I was told that it takes approx 5 months to receive the appointment for K-1 (obviously depending on the country & their schedule) Does anyone know specifics according to Costa Rica from their end & ours?

I was also told that it takes about a month to receive permission to work & travel after you get married. Will Danny be able to leave the country & come back in June, if we get married & send in the papers in March?

My fiance, Danny & I are hoping to have the I129 Packet sent in within the next 2-3 weeks & I really want to double check not only our plans, but what I have understood from talking with people, lots of reading, etc. is listed below:

All documents MUST have original signature & dates (no fax, copies, etc are accepted?)

Documents should be typed, not filled out in pen? Should letters be double spaced or does it matter?

Make 2 copies of every form & everything should be in ENGLISH!???!

a check for $455 made out to USCIS

1 Cover Letter (me stating that I am petitioning for a k-1 for my fiance Danny)

1 Table of Contents

1 I-129F document(both of us fill out our info, but ONLY my signature is needed)

1 Declaration of encounter (one page story of how we met with both our signatures & dates) Is this only how we met the FIRST TIME?

2 Intent to Marry (one page statements that we will marry...can it be the same statements or would you recommend them stated things differently....well do we even need 2 statements or can it be one statement with both our signatures & dates?)

Proof of having met (airline tickets, 2-5 colored pictures, conversations, phone bills, passport stamps, etc gas stubs???, appointments???)

1 G325A (for US citizen) How come all the documents say its 4 pages, but its only 2, it that right???

1 passport style picture (for US citizen)

1 G325A (for foreign fiance)

1 passport style picture (for foreign fiance)

1 Birth Certificate (ONLY for US citizen?)

any divorce documents or legal name change documents or court/police records(for both US & foreign)

So I should send all these documents together by UPS to the closest Service Center, which in my case since I live in MN, it would be Missouri?

After the package is sent I should start to work on I-134 which both me & my fiance need to fill out or just me?

Thanks! I think that is all the information or questions for now!

Robyn

Wow, you have so many questions in one posting...I'll try and answer them though...

First, look at the Members section, and toggle options. Find members who's beneficary are from Costa Rica. I did a quick check, and while it seems like a few members from 2008 from start to finish were done in about 5 months (until US entry), on a K-1, the ones that have entered their timeline for this year, appear to have much longer timelines. Example, one couple filed in February, and got their NOA2 in May, and are still awaiting for their interview. I didn't read their postings though, so maybe they do have an interview now. I still does appear though, that Costa Rica is a fairly quick Embassy/Consulate to go through. If you post, or go to the Latin America Forum here, you might find some posters or postings regarding Costa Rica.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showforum=96

After he gets his visa and enters the US, you must get married within 90 days. After that, you have to apply for AOS, and Advanced Parole and Employment Authorization at the same time. It's all one price. The AOS could take anywhere from 4-12 months, but you should get back the Advanced Parole and EA document within about 60-90 days. That AP document will allow him to travel outside the US while awaiting his GC. There is no guarantees however, so not booking time out of the country until he gets his papers is probably best.

When you're filling out the paperwork, all submissions have to have the orignal signatures, meaning yours and his. Anything you have typed out, doesn't have to be double spaced. The petition can be filled out in pdf format, and if you need more room, attach supplementary forms making sure that each page has the page number on it, that you've stated what question you're adding more information to, and sign each additional page that you fill out in addition to the petition.

The four copies are to reflect one for each of the people that need them. ie. one for USCIS, one for NVC, one for you, one for...gosh, I don't remember now who else! But yes, you need to send 4 copies of each page, even though they all look the same. Make sure you keep a copy of your whole package as well after you have everything ready to send away.

Remember as well that everything that is not in English, must be translated to English.

Your Declaration of encounter, is just something fairly simple, stating how you first met, even if on-line, but to include when you met in person, how long you spent together, or maybe even how many trips you've taken etc.

The intent to marry...I think there is an example in the example forms here on VJ, above. They can be simply addressed to USCIS, with both your names, saying that you're both committed to marrying upon granting of the visa, within 90 days of his arrival in the US as per the expections and conditions of the visa. We used the same statement for both of us, but signed our own and included them in our package, but I think it would be fine for both of you to sign them. Again, they should be typed, but they must contain original signatures.

Include your BC's if you have it, and you're the US Citizen. His will be needed at another date. Make sure that they are in English. The beneficiary should have a BC that includes their parents names. In Canada, it's called the "long birth certificate". See what the requirements are for his country.

No, you don't send your petition to Missouri.If you live in MN, you must send it to :

USCIS

California Service Center

P.O. Box 10130

Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-0130

After sending your package away, you'll then be playing the waiting game...you'll be looking for mail that will say they've received your application, then one saying they've approved your application. It will then move from CSC to NVC, then onto Costa Rica. You have a bit of a wait until you have to fill out the I-134 which you will fill out.

He'll need a medical, vaccinations, police report etc. before his interview. You'll need to gather, well, you both will, need to gather further "evidence" of an on-going relationship for the inteview.

Please read the Guides to look for more step-by-step directions. I'm sure someone else will come by and hopefully correct me if I've got something wrong, or further direct you to where you can find further information.

Don't forget as well, that when sending in your application, you need to also send in evidence that you've met in person within the last two years. Passport stamps, bording passes, a few pictures will also be needed to be sent in at this stage.

All the best! And please...check out the other forum where hopefully, other couples going through the process with a fiance from Costa Rica can assist.

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