K1 interview fee: 350 a pop

[NODINK 0]

This is so unfair. So we're paying 350/interview. If my fiancee passes then I don't fee so bad, but for those who don't. 350 is like a whole month salary (in Vietnam). Seems to me this is a FAT COW, CASH COW for the GOV. Man, I'm so pissoff!!

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

How exactly is it not fair?

We paid $400 each for my Wife & son's Immigrant Visa Interviews. While a K-1 technically isn't an Immigrant Visa it is a dual intent Visa which means that they move some of the processing to after POE and charge more for it.

[MeggyMo 4]

There are already so many threads on this. The fee is official nothing we can do about it

[payxibka 10,045]

How exactly is it not fair?

We paid $400 each for my Wife & son's Immigrant Visa Interviews. While a K-1 technically isn't an Immigrant Visa it is a dual intent Visa which means that they move some of the processing to after POE and charge more for it.

think of it this way as it relates to cost to obtain green card...

I-130 petition $355 + IV fee $400 + I-864 fee $70 = $825

I-129F petition $455 + visa fee $350 + AOS fee $1010 = $1815

about a $1K difference

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

think of it this way as it relates to cost to obtain green card...

I-130 petition $355 + IV fee $400 + I-864 fee $70 = $825

I-129F petition $455 + visa fee $350 + AOS fee $1010 = $1815

about a $1K difference

Even looking at it that way it's not the interview fee that is the problem, it's AOS...

I still don't understand why there is even a K-1 Visa when the CR/IR-1 does the same thing for cheaper and the separation is just a month or so longer. I know, back in the day CR/IR Visas were a slow lumbering process and the K-1 was designed to help reduce the wait for couples in love but times have changed.

I read so many complaints about the cost of AOS and the time involved not to mention the whole K-1 EAD & SSN problems that it just seems to me like CR/IR really is the way to go nowadays.

Besides, before the price increase the difference in cost was around $800 so the interview fee increase didn't make it too much worse.

[NODINK 0]

I just wanna vent my frustration.. that's all.. I'll blame it on Obama!!

[payxibka 10,045]

Even looking at it that way it's not the interview fee that is the problem, it's AOS...

I still don't understand why there is even a K-1 Visa when the CR/IR-1 does the same thing for cheaper and the separation is just a month or so longer. I know, back in the day CR/IR Visas were a slow lumbering process and the K-1 was designed to help reduce the wait for couples in love but times have changed.

Actually the LIFE act of 2000 that authorized the K-3 visa.... the K-1 has been around a lot longer than that and I think it was was authorized but the INA Act of 1952 (as amended)

Edited June 7, 2010 by payxibka

[marlea 84]

I still don't understand why there is even a K-1 Visa when the CR/IR-1 does the same thing for cheaper and the separation is just a month or so longer. I know, back in the day CR/IR Visas were a slow lumbering process and the K-1 was designed to help reduce the wait for couples in love but times have changed.

If you aren't married, you can't do the CR/IR. For my fiance and it, it wouldn't have been just a few months difference, it would have been a year or so difference. We filed for the K-1 in May, but if we had wanted to do a CR/IR we wouldn't have been able to file until one of us was able to get the funds for a ticket to visit and get married. If we paid for a ticket, it would have been $1000 or more, and we would have been separated for the majority of our first year of marriage. So, for us, the costs were going to be the same no matter what we did, but with a K-1 visa, we didn't have to wait to file or to be together after our wedding. There are definitely benefits to the fiance visa depending on the circumstances.

[Indy90 21]

Even looking at it that way it's not the interview fee that is the problem, it's AOS...

I still don't understand why there is even a K-1 Visa when the CR/IR-1 does the same thing for cheaper and the separation is just a month or so longer. I know, back in the day CR/IR Visas were a slow lumbering process and the K-1 was designed to help reduce the wait for couples in love but times have changed.

I read so many complaints about the cost of AOS and the time involved not to mention the whole K-1 EAD & SSN problems that it just seems to me like CR/IR really is the way to go nowadays.

Besides, before the price increase the difference in cost was around $800 so the interview fee increase didn't make it too much worse.

The fact that you have to be married for a CR1 can cause several problems. For example, in some countries like Ecuador, you have to have been present in that country for a certain number of days (like 50 or more) to get married. A few countries are even moving to require some type of permanent residency in their country in order to get married. Basically, this means that K1 may be the only option for some.

There are other factors as well. With a K1 visa, the foreign fiancee can be in the US 90 days before the couple has to marry, which might be considerably longer than they actually have physically spent together in the foreign country, allowing some couples to make a final decision on whether or not to get married.

Everyone has reasons for why they chose their route. For us, the CR1 made the most sense...for others, not so much, hence the K1.

Edit: CR1 applicants do have to pay a consulate interview fee...is this $350 part of the consulate interview fee for K1? It used to be $131 in Ecuador, but I have heard that the CR1 interview may now cost $400 in Ecuador. I am a bit confused. Maybe the $400 interview fee is really the IV fee?

Edited June 8, 2010 by Indy90

[Justine+David 218]

And even for couples from countries with easier consulates shouldn't necessarily go for CR1...

My fiance and I got engaged in July 2009 and filed for the K1 in August 2009. Even though we had gotten engaged, we didn't want to get married the very next day, but wanted to wait awhile to bask in the happiness that comes from being newly engaged...calling family and friends, adjusting to one's new status of being engaged. Because even though we were talking about marriage while we were dating, it's a different experience actually being engaged versus dating and we wanted to enjoy that for awhile. It would have been awful if we waited maybe 3-6 months of being engaged, then having the wedding, and then filing for the CR1, being separated for most of that time. When we get married, I do NOT want to be separated anymore! I love him dearly

Maybe that's a silly thing to put on a $1000 premium to do it that way, but over the span of a lifetime, it's not that much.

Edited June 8, 2010 by Justine+David

[Ellie-and-David 38]

The $350 isn't an interview fee. It is for the visa.

So if you get denied...you wont pay it. Eh? There's a bright side to everything....

I am glad the K1 still exists. I couldn't put a price on starting our married life TOGETHER. Oh wait..yup...the cost of AOS. Worth every single cent.

[katie & sifa 25]

The $350 isn't an interview fee. It is for the visa.

So if you get denied...you wont pay it. Eh? There's a bright side to everything....

I am glad the K1 still exists. I couldn't put a price on starting our married life TOGETHER. Oh wait..yup...the cost of AOS. Worth every single cent.

This is incorrect - the fee is non-refundable. At most embassies you pay the fee before you even interview.

As for K-1 vs. CR-1, we are happy with going the K-1 route. Sifa had never even been able to meet my family, which was very important to me before getting married. Since it costs an arm and a leg to fly to Kenya, they weren't able to go meet him there and it's also next to impossible to get a tourist visa for a Kenyan so...K-1 it was! And we haven't regretted that decision. Also ditto to what others said about starting married life TOGETHER instead of a zillion miles apart. Worth it!

[Syltan 1]

I agree with Justine+David.... I don't care how much it costs. I'd pay anything. Once I am married, I don't want to have to stand there crying my eyes out at the airport- not knowing when we'll see each other again. I don't know how military wives do it

I look at it this way...instead of spending tons of money on a wedding dress or reception...I'm investing it in the man I love.

[pushbrk 12,877]

think of it this way as it relates to cost to obtain green card...

I-130 petition $355 + IV fee $400 + I-864 fee $70 = $825

I-129F petition $455 + visa fee $350 + AOS fee $1010 = $1815

about a $1K difference

Don't confuse fair with equal or apples with oranges.

The $350 isn't an interview fee. It is for the visa.

So if you get denied...you wont pay it. Eh? There's a bright side to everything....

I am glad the K1 still exists. I couldn't put a price on starting our married life TOGETHER. Oh wait..yup...the cost of AOS. Worth every single cent.

It is a visa application fee and is paid to process the application. The outcome from processing may or may not include actually issuing a visa.

[pushbrk 12,877]

What makes the visa application fee "fair" is that it represents the cost of processing the visa application (including the interview). What would be "unfair" is to continue to have this cost supplemented by tax dollars from people not requiring the service. That we don't like something, does not make it unfair. That one thing costs more or less than another thing results in unequal costs, not unfair costs.

The idea that from filing to green card, the fiance process has higher total government fees, so it's "unfair" is ridiculous. The process isn't the same, so the fees are different. I would call the difference in petition filing fees "unfair" in that the service is the same but the fee is different. I expect the I-130 filing fee to go up soon too but these things tend to happen independently.