New to the K1 process and needing advice

[Yoms 0]

Hi all, i read thru the forum and i have a good idea of the process. I was trying to find someone on here who could help me with the question i have, i called the department of Homeland Security but i think the guy that helped me was having a bad day.

Any way, i am a U.S. citizen, originally from Nigeria, i met my girl last April (2009) when i went to Nigeria...we decided to start dating officially in February of this year, by then she was in London working on her masters. We tried to get her a tourist visa twice, once in February and another time in June but they were denied, i guess because she is in the UK on a student visa, they said she has little ties to come back. I also went to see her in February and in June.

So i asked her of she would want to marry me since i was hoping she would get the tourist visa in June and i would propose to her when she got here, but since it didn't work that way i decided to go this way, she said yes and i started the visa process.

I filed for K1 in August, and i got a receipt letter that they got the documents on the 25th of August, they cashed the check and it says under initial review on their site. Now it's been a month and i called the USCIS office and the guy told me it will take them 5 months to make a decision that it is the minimum time, my center is the Vermont Center. I was shocked!

My question is how long will this take? i was hoping she would be contacted by December or January. I also set her appointment to the Embassy in London, when she gets the visa, must she leave from London or can she go back to Nigeria and then leave from Nigeria.

Thanks for taking the time.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Unfortunately, nobody can tell you how long it will take. You'll see the timelines around here vary. Some people take three months, some people take almost a year. There's no predicting it, and no explanation for it. It likely will not take five months for USCIS to approve (it's usually 2-4), but it very well could. Prepare for the worst case scenerio of it actually taking that long. Then it must go to the NVC, and then to the consulate. Then there's a medical and interview.

Wishing for December/January is unrealistic. There are people from both service centers who filed in June still waiting.

Don't call until you've waited five months. USCIS won't give you the time of day until you're beyond the estimated processing time. You've only filed last month, you'll be waiting for awhile, unfortunately.

Edited September 23, 2010 by Coconuts

[corazónENparaguay 46]

Review the tabs above, specifically the ones titled "processing times" and "portals". This is the best guess at how long it will take.

[Darnell 8,478]

On the outside, 11 months, if no RFEs and she has her police clearance certificates from Nigeria in hand, on interview day.

Maybe as soon as 7 months, as well.

Sorry yer just learning of the timelines, though.

AFTER she has VISA in the passport, she has up to 6 months to come into the USA -

so can she go to Nigeria prior to coming to USA, after VISA interview? Absolutely !

Good Luck !

Edited September 23, 2010 by Darnell

[Nik+Heather 121]

It's ~5 months for the petition phase, and then another ~2 months to get an interview from London (in general, they do slow down whenever there's a holiday etc) That is all assuming that you have all your ducks in a row and don't get an RFE or drag your feet on responding to the invitation to apply for a visa when it gets to London.

As your fiancee is Nigerian, I would strongly recommend that you sift through the London Embassy reviews (At the top of the page, there is a link for " Reviews: Embassy") I can recall that there are at least 2 Nigerian beneficiaries who went through London since they were there on a student visa, and they did not go so well. Take the advice about London for how to fill out the forms correctly, but make sure that you really hit your relationship bonafides hard, despite the typical advise to London applicants that this isn't necessary. You might also peruse the Nigeria forum and the embassy reviews for them as well to get an idea of what level of burden of evidence they will be looking for.

Forewarned is forearmed. Good luck!

Edit to add that she may go from London to Nigeria to the US and use the K-1 for the US entry, but remember the K-1 is a single entry visa, and governs where she enters, not really where she's coming from.

Edited September 24, 2010 by Nik+Heather

[Yoms 0]

Thanks for your replies. I greatly appreciate it. I will look into it some more especially concerning the embassy in London. If they might give her trouble, i will want to prepare her for this so that it will go well.

Thanks again!

[Yoms 0]

APPROVED!!!!! We were approved and we are over joyed! finally! But i have a concern....we just got approved but i just lost my job this past friday...will that affect anything? like the embassy thinking i won't be able to take care of her when she is here? and what happens next when we get the documents?

thank you all!

[Penny Lane 8,159]

APPROVED!!!!! We were approved and we are over joyed! finally! But i have a concern....we just got approved but i just lost my job this past friday...will that affect anything? like the embassy thinking i won't be able to take care of her when she is here? and what happens next when we get the documents?

thank you all!

You will have to prove that you can take care of her.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

APPROVED!!!!! We were approved and we are over joyed! finally! But i have a concern....we just got approved but i just lost my job this past friday...will that affect anything? like the embassy thinking i won't be able to take care of her when she is here? and what happens next when we get the documents?

thank you all!

What got approved? The petition? Or the visa?

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Nigerians have a tougher time ANYWHERE. Lagos is a horrid place, but because of the bad reputation that comes with the word Nigeria every consulate tries to be especially through in issuing visas to Nigerians. Make sure to looks at the Nigerian embassy thread also and prepare more like you are interviewing there than in the UK. You should expect them to look at you like you are guilty of fraud before you even get to the interview. If you luck out and get an easy interview then consider yourself blessed.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

The OP states he is a US citizen but originally from Nigeria.

IMO, this is going to make a difference in how his relationship is viewed at the consulate.

I think it would be a good idea if he went to the interview with his fiancee.

[Darnell 8,478]

APPROVED!!!!! We were approved and we are over joyed! finally! But i have a concern....we just got approved but i just lost my job this past friday...will that affect anything? like the embassy thinking i won't be able to take care of her when she is here? and what happens next when we get the documents?

thank you all!

approved for what? please make a timeline at http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=92310

[Yoms 0]

i apologize for replying late. We were approved as in we got our NOA2 letter and the documents have been mailed to London, London embassy has mailed the packet 3 documents to her and she is waiting to receive it in the mail. I guess it's almost home from here on, mail in documents, physical, packet 4 and interview! I totally understand what the user means by the extra scrutiny because we are originally from Nigeria, i pray this will not be case. I will try to be there for the interview with her in that case. Also, i got a new job now :-)

I will also create my vjtimeline shortly.

:-)

[Yoms 0]

Hi guys, something just popped in my head after reading Nich-Nicks document on the K1 visa process at the London Embassy. When i filed for my Fiance she was on her student visa in London, we were hoping it will take the 4-6 months that was advertised but it did not. My concern is that when i filed for her to take it at the London embassy she was on the student visa, the student visa has expired now but she got a visiting visa last month so she can go for the interview, will that be a problem? will the embassy ask what visa she still has? Also if they ask and we tell them that she had a student visa at the time and we were hoping it would be done before it expired 6 months after filing started but since it did not we had to get a visiting visa to come for the interview, the address she is staying in London is still the same, a family members place. I am worried they might put her on the administrative hold process, any ideas?