Colombia Club

[BYRON-LEIDY 0]

I have a buddy whose Colombian fiance got a K1 visa today. She went alone. They were pretty tough on her. They claimed that his divorce papers were not in the papers although they actually were. This through her off gaurd since. At this point they had the papers, so she couldn't show them. Then they slammed her with questions.

What was his birthday

How many kids did he have ( a bunch )

How many grandkids did he have ( even more )

Where did they all live and what were their names.

One of his wives died of cancer. They asked what kind of cancer she had and what her name was.

They asked about Spanish / English communication.

There may be more that I can add later. This is hot off the wire report. I will try to post again when I know a little more.

God Bless all of you, I know what you are going through. I was there a long time ago and VisaJourney was an incredible source of information.

I agree,visajourney is great!!! as far as the interview, i wish i was worryng about that right now...right now im terrified about getting denied!!!!!!!!! my lawyer turned out to be horrible...the package she sent in had nothing but, all my info, her info , and a letter saying how we met and what we feel for eachother,, God i hope i dont get denied!!!

[lucho562 0]

Byron,

Chill out. It is very hard to get denied at the USCIS level. You'd have to be ineligible for some reason to get denied. Ineligible such as being married (not being divorced yet), being here illegaly etc. Worst case scenario is that you will receive and RFE. All you have to do if you receive an RFE is return what they ask for. An RFE should only delay your case a few weeks or so....but it wont mean a denial. Relax bro. At this rate you'll end up as bald as me.

[BYRON-LEIDY 0]

Byron,

Chill out. It is very hard to get denied at the USCIS level. You'd have to be ineligible for some reason to get denied. Ineligible such as being married (not being divorced yet), being here illegaly etc. Worst case scenario is that you will receive and RFE. All you have to do if you receive an RFE is return what they ask for. An RFE should only delay your case a few weeks or so....but it wont mean a denial. Relax bro. At this rate you'll end up as bald as me.

....im losing it bro!!!! time has never gone so slow in my life!!!! out of all the girls in my life the one that got me had to be like a million miles away?? go figure!

[HAL 9000 96]

If you continue at this pace, Byron, you will have a heart attack. That won't do your fiancee any good. Instead of stressing out spend your time planning better things and continue to learn about each other. Take a chill pill every morning, afternoon, and night just before bed. It also helps if you bring questions to the forum that can be answered- we all agree that this is the kind of place for that. The rest you can find by reading up and using the search functions.

Relax, breathe, and wait. All of us here that did not get lucky to be able to file through Vermont had to wait a LOT longer than you will have to for an NOA2.

[jediknight 0]

byron, read the signatures of the people that have gone through this and you´ll see that most, if not all have had to wait a long time. whether its for a CR1 or K visa we´ve all had to endure the slow paced system along with dealing with procedural changes along the way, just relax. use this time to ready everything, get things filled out ahead of time, read james shortcuts, plan ahead so when the time comes to move onto the next step you´ll be ready. good luck

JK

[Mononoke28 135]

I suggest you read every post Lucho made here since the beginning of May. That way you will get an idea of what he and his fiancée had to go through and what type of paperwork you'll need since he also filed for a K1 visa. It will definitely keep you busy.

[TonyS 0]

I understan Byron. I was fortunate. Our visa process was pretty fast...Dec to Feb! I must admit the speed caught me by surprise so I was not where I wanted to be when she arrived ( still remodeling house, looking for second car,etc ). So relax, you two have a long life together. Prepare for here arrival. Get her ready by prepping her for the interview. Practice possible questions and get to know more about each other and your lives. The interviews are different, if the CO senses a red flag then they will ask many questions..so have her ready and confident. After ready many posts on VJ, i'm not a fan of visa lawyers. I know some cases warrant them ( visa overstays, criminal record, etc ) but for most I don't think they are worth it. But you anyway, you will be fine.

Edited July 18, 2007 by TonyS

[BYRON-LEIDY 0]

I understan Byron. I was fortunate. Our visa process was pretty fast...Dec to Feb! I must admit the speed caught me by surprise so I was not where I wanted to be when she arrived ( still remodeling house, looking for second car,etc ). So relax, you two have a long life together. Prepare for here arrival. Get her ready by prepping her for the interview. Practice possible questions and get to know more about each other and your lives. The interviews are different, if the CO senses a red flag then they will ask many questions..so have her ready and confident. After ready many posts on VJ, i'm not a fan of visa lawyers. I know some cases warrant them ( visa overstays, criminal record, etc ) but for most I don't think they are worth it. But you anyway, you will be fine.

Thanks Tony, wow i didnt realize that your process was tha fast, hopefully you will rub some of that good luck on all of us!!!! You know i am overlooking the whole interview process a little, great, another thing to worry about .....off the top your head or anybody else in here, what are some typical questions being asked???????

[lucho562 0]

Byron,

Read my post on page 81, post #1214. It is a report from our interview. It has a few questions there. When I get home I can forward you a list I compiled of possible questions that I gathered from reading all the posts.

Edited July 18, 2007 by lucho562

[BYRON-LEIDY 0]

Byron,

Read my post on page 81, post #1214. It is a report from our interview. It has a few questions there. When I get home I can forward you a list I compiled of possible questions that I gathered from reading all the posts.

Gracias!!!! i would appreciate that. I will read the post also. Thanks so much Lucho.

[BYRON-LEIDY 0]

Byron,

Read my post on page 81, post #1214. It is a report from our interview. It has a few questions there. When I get home I can forward you a list I compiled of possible questions that I gathered from reading all the posts.

Gracias!!!! i would appreciate that. I will read the post also. Thanks so much Lucho.

I also wanted to ask where can i get a full scope of all the documents i need for the packages...maybe this will keep me busy and sane!!

[OjosAzules 0]

Hey Byron,

I didn't get a chance to welcome you yet. If you read through this thread from about 6 to 7 months ago forward...you'll find a lot of people posted the questions that they were asked. It can be varied, but all of it is pretty much along the lines of, "do you really know this person and do they know you".

Don't necessarily try to guess what the questions would be, but think of yourself as an officer in the embassy window with the job of trying to figure out if this couple in front of you is legit. The officer's goal is not to trick you, it's to make sure they're certain you're not pulling a fast one on the U.S. and A. So think about what would you ask you. What is her grandmother's name on her mother's side? A question like that shows that you've actually met her extended family. Have you ever travelled together? This is a question that covers two things, it checks to see if you've ever been alone together and it's not an arranged visa thing, and it also makes you discuss details. The officer can ask the same question to you and your fiancee and it's vague enough for you to accidentally reveal a lie (if you're lying). Our interview experience was great, as was many other's here in this forum. Andrea and Oscar's not so great....but even with all they've been through they figured out what to do to press on and get to the next step. I'll echo above statements that patience is the most important thing here all you'll drive yourself insane with things you can't control.

Make sure you and your fiancee always answer the truth no matter if it's what they want to hear or not. But I digress, you'll have more chance to worry about the interview down the road. We'll prep you.

On the stress note...it might be helpful to think about it this way....

It's non of the governments business how quickly you fell in love, or how quickly you asked her to marry you. Their job is to decide if the situation is realistic and if you meet all the legal categories. The first part is to check for legal requirements. That's the I-129F. All you're doing is opening a petition to get a visa. If you meet the requirements, and you showed that to them, they'll approve you.

The next part admitedly is more stressful. The interview. (that's why you need to keep cool now). With the interview you need to prove to the embassy that you are legitamately a couple and that they shouldn't be concerned that your fiance will become a problem to the state. The good thing is, the two of you ARE proof of that, you just need to figure out how to show the government. So instead of stressing about whether they'll accept you, think about how you're going to present your case. Come up with your angle, just as if you were trying to show a skeptical mother that you found the woman of your dreams.

for example:

We met doing....it was amazing and I'll always remember it because of.....

We then couldn't stop talking, we would talk on the phone every night until my bill became $....... then we switched to messenger and you can see our conversations here.....

I had to get back to see here, and i came back here....We did ....and this...., (from her perspective)...it was hard for him to meet my family, he was shy but we did .....and we bonded over ...... my mother cooked with him...etc..

you get the point. Once you have your story board in your mind that you want to present, then you choose all the evidence to back up your story. If you see "holes" in your story, or things that might not be so believable, fix the holes. Go back if you need to, travel somewhere in colombia if you need to. You have time for all of this. Your story will continue to develop as you go.

Hope that helps.

[lucho562 0]

Byron,

K1 Visa Packet 3 link

http://bogota.usembassy.gov/wwwsck1instructions.shtml

(actual packet 3 is the 1st bulleted link)

K1 Visa Packet 4 link

http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/co1/wwwfck1cita_temp.pdf

[paisita411 0]

Byron,

I hope these last few days have helped you put this process into perspective. I'm amazed at how many VJers are willing to invest the time and energy to help each other through this journey. You're in the best place you could be and at the right time. Don't freak out, be prepared. Don't focus so much on the paperwork and the processs (though its very important), focus on your fiance. I echo blueeyes and tonys on this one: spend time getting to know each other. The paperwork in the US is not usually a problem, but speaking on my personal experience, I will advise you to address ANY possible red flags at the USCIS level BEFORE your case goes to the consulate. Here's some info that I learned AFTER my husband's visa was denied and that EVERY VJer should read BEFORE they send their I-130 or K3 application in:

First of all, while its not a bad idea to think of WORST case scenarios early on, the other VJers are right in advising you to just be as honest as you can be with everything up front. If there are ANY issues you think may come up during an interview, bring them up from the begining. This may include you writing out the concern and the explination and including it with your I-129F and I-130 application. This way, it can be address at the USCIS level BEFORE your case goes to the Embassy. See...once the NVC approves your petition, the EMBASSY cannot deny the visa based on circumstances that USCIS is aware of and you've address. The Embassy can only deny issuing the visa based on evidience or circumstances that were not evident or exposed in your initial application. You may want to refer to this article by Ellis Island, an immigration attorney that posts here on VJ and has represented several VJers with 'soft denials' and 'administrative processing' proceedures: http://www.ilw.com/articles/2006,0323-ellis.shtm

I WISH I had read this before our February Interview. If you would like a COMPREHENSIVE list of questions (hahaha), PM me and I'll email them to you. Believe me...I have just about every possible question known to man...They asked me most of them in February.

And Byron...please don't read my posts and think this will happen to you too...if you look at the trends for VJ Colombia Club, I'm probably the only one with this issue, so its just the exception. And as you can see, I'll be in Bogota on Monday for my 3rd interview because I didn't give up.

Good luck,

Dre

Edited July 18, 2007 by OskaryAndrea

[Mononoke28 135]

As much as I've hated to wait this long, I'm really glad we did because it's given us time to gather every piece of document we've needed and we've also had time to plan for the interview. You can never have too much time to prepare for the interview.