Help with K1 Visa Please

[cptrosco 0]

Hiya all.

Ill start with a few quick details about myself and my better half.

Im 31 and British, the other half is 24 and American. She was over here working for 3 years, met her in 2007 been with here pretty much since then, living together, and our first child is due Jan 10h 2010. She had to go back home in June 09.

We have hired a lawyer to do the K1, purely because we thought it would be easier with the paperwork etc.

All paper work sent to the USCIS, and on the 18th August 2009 they say they have received it, I have been given a case number, when i look online it says its at the 'Initial Review' stage, what i would like to know is the following.

How long does it usually stay at this stage for.

When would i expect to have my interview

When 'roughly' will i be able to enter the states.

I also see other people talk about the NAO1 NAO2 etc, what are these and should I have 1, as the only thing we have ever got from the lawyer is a email saying the USCIS have received it and dont expect to hear from us till Jan 2010

Any help/advice would be much appreaciated.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Edited October 24, 2009 by cptrosco

[gmjdmj 2]

I would tell you first off, you guys could have saved a lot of money doing this yourself but at this point, I understand why you hired a lawyer. We debated back and forth for a long time until we found this website. I would advise you to do a lot of research on here for your own education in this process. No one is going to care about your file like you do. Having said that, the I-129 petition was taking about 4 months approx to get an NOA2 )this is the approval from USCIS). Now things seem to be moving much quicker for others. On the USCIS website, our file NEVER changed status until it was approved. As far as from beginning to end there is no way to know for sure. We filed in May of this year and are still waiting for a scheduled interview date. We received our NOA2 on 9-23. Once you receive that notice, your file goes to the National Visa Center and then to the London Embassy. Once you have an interview, and are approved, you will wait to have your passport mailed back to you. At that point, you can book a ticket and come to the states. The other option that you guys did have that your attorney should have told you about is Direct Counselate filing. You could marry in the UK and file directly with the consulate. This basically allows you to do everything that you have to do with the K-1 all at once. I would suggest that you go through this website and look up and research everything that you can to know what to expect and your options. Good Luck!!!

[gmjdmj 2]

I just re-read your post. The CR-1 would not have been an option because she is back in the states. Sorry about that...

[cptrosco 0]

I know what you are saying about the lawyer but we just thought that they would do all the paperwork correctly straight away. We couldn't marry in the UK at the time as she was in the military and it would take them 6 months to do checks etc on me before they would allow her to marry me and by that time she would have left. What month do you think i should be expecting to be able to enter the states?

[gmjdmj 2]

Is she still in the military? I have seen a lot of K-1's get approved quicker because of that. Having said that rough estimate, January or February but it all depends on how quickly they approve the petition, how quickly the file gets to the embassy, how quickly you get your stuff done on your end as well as hers after receiving the NOA2. Of course with a lawyer involved, it will depend on how quickly they take care of it for you. I would suggest going to the immigration timelines on this website and see what others are posting there. I would set up a timeline as well because it helps you see in comparison to others on average how long it is taking and will give you approx dates. It also helps others judge their own dates as well.

[cptrosco 0]

Is she still in the military? I have seen a lot of K-1's get approved quicker because of that. Having said that rough estimate, January or February but it all depends on how quickly they approve the petition, how quickly the file gets to the embassy, how quickly you get your stuff done on your end as well as hers after receiving the NOA2. Of course with a lawyer involved, it will depend on how quickly they take care of it for you. I would suggest going to the immigration timelines on this website and see what others are posting there. I would set up a timeline as well because it helps you see in comparison to others on average how long it is taking and will give you approx dates. It also helps others judge their own dates as well.

I would but the only problem is that i have no idea what you mean when you say noa1 and noa2, cdj etc.

[baron555 934]

Hiya all.

Ill start with a few quick details about myself and my better half.

Im 31 and British, the other half is 24 and American. She was over here working for 3 years, met her in 2007 been with here pretty much since then, living together, and our first child is due Jan 10h 2010. She had to go back home in June 09.

We have hired a lawyer to do the K1, purely because we thought it would be easier with the paperwork etc.

All paper work sent to the USCIS, and on the 18th August 2009 they say they have received it, I have been given a case number, when i look online it says its at the 'Initial Review' stage, what i would like to know is the following.

How long does it usually stay at this stage for.

See the Immigration Timelines above, check out the K-1 process and for the first stage what you are asking is time from NOA1 to NOA2.

Go to near the top of the page and click on Immigration Dictionary to understand these acronyms.

When would i expect to have my interview

Immigration timelines again, now look for overall timelines from NOA1 to Interview. Do that math.

When 'roughly' will i be able to enter the states.

Figure about a week to receive the visa in hand after a successful interview plus any time you want to wait until you come here.

I also see other people talk about the NAO1 NAO2 etc, what are these and should I have 1, as the only thing we have ever got from the lawyer is a email saying the USCIS have received it and dont expect to hear from us till Jan 2010

That's typical legal offices for you.

Any help/advice would be much appreaciated.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

details about myself and my better half.

I can assume that you are not married?

[baron555 934]

Is she still in the military? I have seen a lot of K-1's get approved quicker because of that. Having said that rough estimate, January or February but it all depends on how quickly they approve the petition, how quickly the file gets to the embassy, how quickly you get your stuff done on your end as well as hers after receiving the NOA2. Of course with a lawyer involved, it will depend on how quickly they take care of it for you. I would suggest going to the immigration timelines on this website and see what others are posting there. I would set up a timeline as well because it helps you see in comparison to others on average how long it is taking and will give you approx dates. It also helps others judge their own dates as well.

Military expedition is only done for those on or going to the front lines.

[Wyld Blu 35]

The NOA1 is your Notice of Action, basically telling you the USCIS has received your paperwork and gives you a receipt number. Your NOA2 is the USCIS saying the paperwork has been approved to go onto the next step, to the NVC (National Visa Center).

Now a bit of advise. Get as much information as you can from VJ. The VJ boards are FILLED with horror stories about people using attorneys for simple K1's. I am not saying this is the case for you, but using a lawyer is no guarantee things will be done right, or done at all.

The best thing to do is to become WELL informed about all the steps you need to take. The general consensus here is that many times, a lawyer will slow down the process greatly. They may have many cases besides just yours to deal with. You will have to provide the information they need to fill out the forms anyway, and it really isn't hard to do. Again, this is providing you have a simple case. Now, you may have the best immigration attny around who will do everything exactly right. Be aware that it won't speed things up for you though.

I wish you the best of luck in your journey and don't be afraid to ask many questions and question many things your attny says.

-Blu-

[cptrosco 0]

so do i already have my noa1, if it was received at the uscis then?

[gmjdmj 2]

The NOA1 is the notice of receipt from the USCIS when they receive your petition.Obviously they sent one because you have your case number. The NOA2 is the approval of the petition. Since you went through an attorney then those documents will be sent to them I am assuming.

[Wyld Blu 35]

If the USCIS has sent received your paperwork and payment, they will send you the NOA1. The receipt # is handy to have because many times you can check the status on the USCIS website. I think, however, that because your case is being handled by an attny, he may have gotten it. JMO, but if it isn't too late to back out of using an attny, you are better off doing it yourself, if your case is simple and straight forward. Following the guides here, got my fiancee his visa and we did it completely on our own. Not hard at all, especially with the help here on VJ.

-Blu-

[gmjdmj 2]

Blu, I agree with you. We filed on our own as well. I would hate to see them spend all of that money and not have to. If you guys can back out...I would also.

[cptrosco 0]

too late we have already paid them, but it only cost $1200. felt the best option at the time as i was selling my house to move in with my parents to save money and time, she was getting out of the military and going back to the states.

[Wyld Blu 35]

That is a bit unfortunate, but not the end of the world. Just be the MOST well informed person you can be regarding your K1. Don't hesitate to call your lawyer on the carpet if need be. We will all be here to help you with questions you might have, but your BEST friend should be research right now. Learn as much as you can so you can KNOW your attny is doing what needs to be done and doing it correctly.

By the way, does that $1200.00 also cover the $455. filing fee, or the ultimate $1010.00 AOS fee once your finacee finally gets here?

-Blu-

Edited October 24, 2009 by Wyld Blu