Expediting possibility?

[Blakeables 0]

Hi all.

I'm an Australian citizen residing in South Korea (for 3 years now). My girlfriend (American citizen, currently back in America) is the petitioner of the K1 visa and I'm the beneficiary. We originally sent the K1 in September, last year. Somehow the USCIS took 3 months to find it and, as a result, it was sent back to us because the filing fee had changed in those 3 months. We sent the K1 again, per their instructions (a green paper above the package), with the new fee in February. It has since been acknowledged as received and touched once on April 4th but it is still waiting to be approved.

My Korean working visa expires on the 25th of August and I'm extremely worried about this all being wrapped up by then. We thought that sending the K1 in September was ample time, but that previously mentioned hiccup has significantly slowed us down. Would my expiring visa for this country be reason for expediting the petition? If so, how would I go about applying for it? Can I do it as the beneficiary or does the petitioner have to do it?

[Inky 1,110]

An expiring visa does not meet the criteria for expedite.

USCIS expedite criteria:

Severe financial loss to company or individual

Extreme emergent situation

Humanitarian situation

Nonprofit status of requesting organization in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States

Department of Defense or National Interest Situation (Note: Request must come from official United States Government entity and state that delay will be detrimental to our Government)

USCIS error

Compelling interest of USCIS

[Blakeables 0]

An expiring visa does not meet the criteria for expedite.

USCIS expedite criteria:

Severe financial loss to company or individual

Extreme emergent situation

Humanitarian situation

Nonprofit status of requesting organization in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States

Department of Defense or National Interest Situation (Note: Request must come from official United States Government entity and state that delay will be detrimental to our Government)

USCIS error

Compelling interest of USCIS

ah.poo. I guess we'll go back to blindly hoping then.

Thanks for the quick reply.

[Shawn & Emi 16]

Hi all.

I'm an Australian citizen residing in South Korea (for 3 years now). My girlfriend (American citizen, currently back in America) is the petitioner of the K1 visa and I'm the beneficiary. We originally sent the K1 in September, last year. Somehow the USCIS took 3 months to find it and, as a result, it was sent back to us because the filing fee had changed in those 3 months. We sent the K1 again, per their instructions (a green paper above the package), with the new fee in February. It has since been acknowledged as received and touched once on April 4th but it is still waiting to be approved.

My Korean working visa expires on the 25th of August and I'm extremely worried about this all being wrapped up by then. We thought that sending the K1 in September was ample time, but that previously mentioned hiccup has significantly slowed us down. Would my expiring visa for this country be reason for expediting the petition? If so, how would I go about applying for it? Can I do it as the beneficiary or does the petitioner have to do it?

Hi,

Current processing times for the I-129F petition seem to be 5-7 months, so you might have your petition approval (NOA2) by the time your working visa expires. However, once the petition is approved you then apply for the K-1 visa, so even if you have your NOA2 by the time your current visa expires your US immigration process won't be complete by that time unless you're very lucky.

I don't think you'll be eligible for an expedite based on your South Korea working visa expiration date - presumably when that visa expires you will return to Australia, so there's no real reason for USCIS to expedite your case based on that. Here's a link to the USCIS expedite criteria page - I don't think your case falls into any of those categories.

Good luck with your process and sorry to hear about your delay so far, I know it's frustrating. Hang in there!

[Shawn & Emi 16]

Oops - I see someone else replied while I was in the process of writing! Sorry for the duplicate information.

[Blakeables 0]

Hi,

Current processing times for the I-129F petition seem to be 5-7 months, so you might have your petition approval (NOA2) by the time your working visa expires. However, once the petition is approved you then apply for the K-1 visa, so even if you have your NOA2 by the time your current visa expires your US immigration process won't be complete by that time unless you're very lucky.

I don't think you'll be eligible for an expedite based on your South Korea working visa expiration date - presumably when that visa expires you will return to Australia, so there's no real reason for USCIS to expedite your case based on that. Here's a link to the USCIS expedite criteria page - I don't think your case falls into any of those categories.

Good luck with your process and sorry to hear about your delay so far, I know it's frustrating. Hang in there!

That's exactly what I was afraid of. Going back to Australia would cost far too much money. I have no residence there and the visa interview times are much longer than those in Korea.

A thought has popped into my head though. If I were to leave Korea for a day or two (to China or Japan) and then enter as a tourist for 90 days after my working visa expires, would that cause a problem? I could still go to the interview here and the cost would be much lower than having to go back to Australia. Would it matter that I'd not technically be a working resident of Korea?

[Shawn & Emi 16]

That's exactly what I was afraid of. Going back to Australia would cost far too much money. I have no residence there and the visa interview times are much longer than those in Korea.

A thought has popped into my head though. If I were to leave Korea for a day or two (to China or Japan) and then enter as a tourist for 90 days after my working visa expires, would that cause a problem? I could still go to the interview here and the cost would be much lower than having to go back to Australia. Would it matter that I'd not technically be a working resident of Korea?

I guess it would partly depend on whether you'd be admitted to South Korea again so soon after leaving - I know people often have trouble re-entering the US so soon after a VWP visit but I don't know how strict they are in South Korea. It might look suspicious at the POE.

Also, you'd probably need to check if the embassy in South Korea would be happy to interview you - if you were still there on a valid visa it might be fine but I'm not sure whether they would interview you if you're simply there as a tourist. Is there any way you can renew your working visa?

Maybe someone else can advise you better - what you're proposing may well be possible but I wouldn't like to give you any false hope! Good luck

[KiwiBird 132]

That's exactly what I was afraid of. Going back to Australia would cost far too much money. I have no residence there and the visa interview times are much longer than those in Korea.

How long are they in Korea? Two or three weeks if you mail back the required documentation the day after you receive it for an interview at Sydney, Australia.

[Blakeables 0]

How long are they in Korea? Two or three weeks if you mail back the required documentation the day after you receive it for an interview at Sydney, Australia.

They is me, and I'm in Korea until the end of August. I'd really rather not have to go to Sydney, I've been there once in my entire life and hated the place. Also, the flight from Australia to Michigan is so much worse than Korea to Michigan. I'd have to pay for a flight to Australia (for an interview) and then another flight to America. That's pretty pricey. Basically, going back to Australia is a huge burden which is why I want everything done whilst in Korea.

I guess I could sign a new contract and extend my Korean visa, but then I'd have to break the new contract. If I left at the end of August, I'd get some really nice bonuses for finishing. If I broke a new contract, I'd get no bonuses. It's a lot of money to throw away.

[KiwiBird 132]

I think you missed what I was asking.

"How long are [interview wait times] in Korea?" You said the wait was much longer in Australia. They are two to three weeks in Aus.

[Blakeables 0]

I think you missed what I was asking.

"How long are [interview wait times] in Korea?" You said the wait was much longer in Australia. They are two to three weeks in Aus.

Ah. Yep. Completely missed it.

The wait times in Korea vary. You usually get about three weeks. But if you call back, you can often push it up to just a week of wait time. I read of one case where somebody got in on the same week they called. Additionally, according to reviews, the interview in the Seoul office is usually about three minutes or less. Those are some rather attractive reasons to stay and do it here!

[KiwiBird 132]

The interviews at Sydney are actually rather easy as well. I have never heard of anyone being denied there.

Personally, if you want my opinion, weigh the financial bits of it. If staying in Korea would cause you to lose a bonus, is that amount less than the price of flying from Korea to Australia?

If it turns out that it's a hassle to stay in Korea that long, trust me when I say the Sydney Consulate isn't bad at all. In fact, given the option to pick any one in the world, I would have picked the same one. If you're going to go through that much effort based on interview location alone, for myself, it wouldn't be a good reason for that much work.

[Blakeables 0]

The interviews at Sydney are actually rather easy as well. I have never heard of anyone being denied there.

Personally, if you want my opinion, weigh the financial bits of it. If staying in Korea would cause you to lose a bonus, is that amount less than the price of flying from Korea to Australia?

If it turns out that it's a hassle to stay in Korea that long, trust me when I say the Sydney Consulate isn't bad at all. In fact, given the option to pick any one in the world, I would have picked the same one. If you're going to go through that much effort based on interview location alone, for myself, it wouldn't be a good reason for that much work.

Okay, I'll keep that in mind. It's just the inconvenience of having to go one country to go to another. I'll have to send all of my belongings to America first because there's far to much to cart all the way to Australia. Not to mention the time spent flying. The bonuses are about US$6000. Flying from Korea to Australia and then Australia to Michigan would set me back about $3500 in the summer. So I guess I still have a bit of my money at the end of it all.

Edited April 19, 2011 by Blakeables

[Runna&babe 1]

Hi all.

I'm an Australian citizen residing in South Korea (for 3 years now). My girlfriend (American citizen, currently back in America) is the petitioner of the K1 visa and I'm the beneficiary. We originally sent the K1 in September, last year. Somehow the USCIS took 3 months to find it and, as a result, it was sent back to us because the filing fee had changed in those 3 months. We sent the K1 again, per their instructions (a green paper above the package), with the new fee in February. It has since been acknowledged as received and touched once on April 4th but it is still waiting to be approved.

My Korean working visa expires on the 25th of August and I'm extremely worried about this all being wrapped up by then. We thought that sending the K1 in September was ample time, but that previously mentioned hiccup has significantly slowed us down. Would my expiring visa for this country be reason for expediting the petition? If so, how would I go about applying for it? Can I do it as the beneficiary or does the petitioner have to do it?

" We originally sent the K1 in September, last year. Somehow the USCIS took 3 months to find it and, as a result, it was sent back to us"

USCIS ERROR based on your statement above!

[Shawn & Emi 16]

" We originally sent the K1 in September, last year. Somehow the USCIS took 3 months to find it and, as a result, it was sent back to us"

USCIS ERROR based on your statement above!

Maybe - or it could be due to a postal service error. Perhaps it was delayed in the mail for some reason and didn't arrive with USCIS until much later than it should have done.