Process to cancel K-1 petition after interview

[I+H 11]

We had our interview on Monday and received AP. This visa is not our lives and we know that AP can be a long process. We are just concerned with being together. Nothing is for sure yet, but if I do decide to move to his country, we cannot live together unless we are married (it's the law). Of course we do not want to break the law and would get married, thus invalidating our K-1. So my question is, what would we have to do to cancel the K-1 and file for the spousal visa? We are not trying to bypass AP. We realize that we can just as well get AP going the spousal visa route. We just want to be together and start our lives and eventually get to the US even if it takes a couple years, just as long as we are together.

[monyfer 27]

I totally understand your reasoning. I imagine you can withdrawal your K-1 but do not know for sure...

[Andy and Pui 16]

I+H, I am not sure what you would have to do to cancel the k-1. I saw a post of yours from earlier in the week and it sounds like you got Standard AP and the visa will be issued once it is over(correct me if I am wrong if it was not standard AP). Even if you do a spousal visa in the future you will still have AP. If it were me I would at least try and wait out the AP for a little while and see if it is issued shortly or if it is not issued shortly then go about trying to cancel the k-1. Good luck and I hope you both can be together either here in the US or the UAE soon.

[Alcheringa 39]

By marrying, you'd automatically abort the K-1 visa process. Sending a withdrawal letter to the USCIS would be customary and appropriate, given you'd be considering a Spousal visa in the future.

That being said, if the only thing governing your options is a desire to quickly be together, almost anyone's best advice here would be to give it some more time and see where the K-1 AP goes. I don't know the specifics of your case, or the nature of the AP, but that would be the most logical thing to do.

Waiting can be hell, but so can starting the entire process over for no other reason than impatience. If we all abandoned our K-1's for that reason, the service centers would have a very light workload...

And, of course, if you marry and relocate to Saudi under the impression to you can pursue a Spousal visa then you embark on an entirely different route. And cannot be certain you'd even get the Spousal visa, which leaves you married in Saudi. Which may or may not be feasible, depending on your intent and wishes.

[I+H 11]

I+H, I am not sure what you would have to do to cancel the k-1. I saw a post of yours from earlier in the week and it sounds like you got Standard AP and the visa will be issued once it is over(correct me if I am wrong if it was not standard AP). Even if you do a spousal visa in the future you will still have AP. If it were me I would at least try and wait out the AP for a little while and see if it is issued shortly or if it is not issued shortly then go about trying to cancel the k-1. Good luck and I hope you both can be together either here in the US or the UAE soon.

I can only assume it is standard as well, though the women seemed much too interested in my past marriages and my children. When we started this process money was not a big issue. We are at a point now where I cannot take more time off of work and I don't have to money to come either. We plan to wait for now, but will probably not wait much longer than January. We too are afraid that we will make a haisty decision and as soon as I move he gets approved which would be great and terrible all at the same time.

[I+H 11]

By marrying, you'd automatically abort the K-1 visa process. Sending a withdrawal letter to the USCIS would be customary and appropriate, given you'd be considering a Spousal visa in the future.

That being said, if the only thing governing your options is a desire to quickly be together, almost anyone's best advice here would be to give it some more time and see where the K-1 AP goes. I don't know the specifics of your case, or the nature of the AP, but that would be the most logical thing to do.

Waiting can be hell, but so can starting the entire process over for no other reason than impatience. If we all abandoned our K-1's for that reason, the service centers would have a very light workload...

And, of course, if you marry and relocate to Saudi under the impression to you can pursue a Spousal visa then you embark on an entirely different route. And cannot be certain you'd even get the Spousal visa, which leaves you married in Saudi. Which may or may not be feasible, depending on your intent and wishes.

Waiting is hell and it has only been 4 days. It feels like a blackhole of which there is no return. Nothing is for sure as far as moving goes, we are just exploring options for now. I read somewhere before that if you cancelled your K-1 you would have to file a waiver to be able to file for any type of visa in the future. Something about when you initially filed you two were saying you wanted to do things one way and then after having gone through the better part of the process you cancel it is almost as if you were lying about your intentions in the first place and so you have to go through all this other stuff just to file a different visa. Do you know anything about this? I'm sorry if I didn't explain it right, my memory is very vague concerning this info and I cannot seem to find it again. Thank you for your time.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Waiting is hell and it has only been 4 days. It feels like a blackhole of which there is no return. Nothing is for sure as far as moving goes, we are just exploring options for now. I read somewhere before that if you cancelled your K-1 you would have to file a waiver to be able to file for any type of visa in the future. Something about when you initially filed you two were saying you wanted to do things one way and then after having gone through the better part of the process you cancel it is almost as if you were lying about your intentions in the first place and so you have to go through all this other stuff just to file a different visa. Do you know anything about this? I'm sorry if I didn't explain it right, my memory is very vague concerning this info and I cannot seem to find it again. Thank you for your time.

The US citizen petitioner can withdraw the petition anytime up until the beneficiary enters the US with the visa. There's no form for this. A written letter signed by the petitioner is all that's required. Since the petition is already at the consulate it would be best to submit similar letters to both the consulate and the USCIS service center where the petition was adjudicated. Be sure to mention the DoS case number in the letter to the consulate, and the USCIS case number in the letter to the USCIS service center. The petitioner should explain the reason for withdrawing the petition. Withdrawing because you've married would raise no suspicions whatever.

There is a statutory limit to the number a K1 visa petitions a person can submit - no more than one approved petition within a two year period, and no more than two petitions (approved or not) within your lifetime. It's possible to get additional K1 petitions approved by requesting a waiver of the filing limitation in a letter included with the petition. These waivers are usually granted. The filing limitation affects only K1 visa petitions. It doesn't affect any other sort of family based visa petition, including spousal visa petitions.

[I+H 11]

The US citizen petitioner can withdraw the petition anytime up until the beneficiary enters the US with the visa. There's no form for this. A written letter signed by the petitioner is all that's required. Since the petition is already at the consulate it would be best to submit similar letters to both the consulate and the USCIS service center where the petition was adjudicated. Be sure to mention the DoS case number in the letter to the consulate, and the USCIS case number in the letter to the USCIS service center. The petitioner should explain the reason for withdrawing the petition. Withdrawing because you've married would raise no suspicions whatever.

There is a statutory limit to the number a K1 visa petitions a person can submit - no more than one approved petition within a two year period, and no more than two petitions (approved or not) within your lifetime. It's possible to get additional K1 petitions approved by requesting a waiver of the filing limitation in a letter included with the petition. These waivers are usually granted. The filing limitation affects only K1 visa petitions. It doesn't affect any other sort of family based visa petition, including spousal visa petitions.

Thank you soooooo much! That was the exact answer we were looking for! We just wanted to know the process if that becomes our decision. We really appreciate it.