K1, please!

[afoyoswa 178]

Hi everyone!

I just joined here, and so far this forum has been immensely helpful in making our upcoming K-1 process seem somewhat (although not entirely!) manageable.

I'm Joy, a US citizen living in New England, and my fiancé, Aaron, is Ugandan. We met just after Christmas 2010 when I went to Uganda for the first time to visit a good friend, who is Aaron's cousin. I've been back to visit them twice since then, and just before I flew back last Sunday, Aaron asked me to marry him and I very happily said yes.

We're aiming eventually to spend time in both of our locations, but the initial plan is for him to join me here. We're working on gathering the paperwork for the I-129F petition so that I can submit it within the next few weeks. Coordinating all of this using only a spotty phone connection and occasional email access (him) will be a feat, but it will all be worth it once he arrives.

There is so much good advice here that I'm sure I'll be making frequent use of, and it is so comforting to read everyone's email signatures and be assured that people *DO* actually successfully get through this. Glad to be here!

[meadowzephyr 26]

Hi everyone!

I just joined here, and so far this forum has been immensely helpful in making our upcoming K-1 process seem somewhat (although not entirely!) manageable.

I'm Joy, a US citizen living in New England, and my fiancé, Aaron, is Ugandan. We met just after Christmas 2010 when I went to Uganda for the first time to visit a good friend, who is Aaron's cousin. I've been back to visit them twice since then, and just before I flew back last Sunday, Aaron asked me to marry him and I very happily said yes.

We're aiming eventually to spend time in both of our locations, but the initial plan is for him to join me here. We're working on gathering the paperwork for the I-129F petition so that I can submit it within the next few weeks. Coordinating all of this using only a spotty phone connection and occasional email access (him) will be a feat, but it will all be worth it once he arrives.

There is so much good advice here that I'm sure I'll be making frequent use of, and it is so comforting to read everyone's email signatures and be assured that people *DO* actually successfully get through this. Glad to be here!

Congrats on your engagement! VJ is an excellent resource for all your petition and K-1 visa related questions. My petition was approved just last week, so I can attest to the usefulness of the information here.

[rodceasar 34]

Congrat's and good luck through this journey! The one thing, I highly recommend to you is to folow VJ immensely to understand the process very well. Also, keep in mind that for Uganda, any immigrant visas must go through Nairobi. This is an extremely difficult embassy. Keep track of and records of everything and be sure to have enough proof of a bonafide relationship.

[GandK 168]

Good luck on your journey. My fiancé and I lived in Jinja, Uganda for 5-6 months! Lovely country and friendly people!

Be sure to keep everything you can use as evidence of bonafide relationship, you will need them.

[afoyoswa 178]

Congrat's and good luck through this journey! The one thing, I highly recommend to you is to folow VJ immensely to understand the process very well. Also, keep in mind that for Uganda, any immigrant visas must go through Nairobi. This is an extremely difficult embassy. Keep track of and records of everything and be sure to have enough proof of a bonafide relationship.

Thanks! From what I have already seen about Nairobi here, it does sound very difficult. I'm very worried about doing something wrong/insufficiently and delaying things unnecessarily, so I am trying to learn all I can here.

I especially worry about not having enough proof! This could be something that would be more appropriate for the K-1 forum (? still figuring this place out), but...I have 3 documented (passport stamps, email ticket purchase confirmations, boarding passes from the most recent) trips there, during which I was staying in my friend/his cousin's house, where he also lives (but there's no paper record of that, other than perhaps a statement from the friend). We've primarily communicated by phone, and I have phone records of the dates/durations of all of the calls. Also a lot of emails, some online chat transcripts, and photos from all 3 visits.

The only meeting-in-person-within-2-years proof we have is the trip we took together to Nairobi last weekend: bus tickets with our names, matching passport stamps, my ATM withdrawal, and (if I can get it) a hotel receipt with our names (plus matching credit card charges from the same hotel). Also, photos of us with his sister's family at their apartment in Nairobi.

It's a real pity that it's not possible to go back in time and be more intentional about doing things that create evidence! Uganda is such a cash-based place, though, that almost nothing we've done together has any sort of records associated with it. Not good.

[meadowzephyr 26]

Thanks! From what I have already seen about Nairobi here, it does sound very difficult. I'm very worried about doing something wrong/insufficiently and delaying things unnecessarily, so I am trying to learn all I can here.

I especially worry about not having enough proof! This could be something that would be more appropriate for the K-1 forum (? still figuring this place out), but...I have 3 documented (passport stamps, email ticket purchase confirmations, boarding passes from the most recent) trips there, during which I was staying in my friend/his cousin's house, where he also lives (but there's no paper record of that, other than perhaps a statement from the friend). We've primarily communicated by phone, and I have phone records of the dates/durations of all of the calls. Also a lot of emails, some online chat transcripts, and photos from all 3 visits.

The only meeting-in-person-within-2-years proof we have is the trip we took together to Nairobi last weekend: bus tickets with our names, matching passport stamps, my ATM withdrawal, and (if I can get it) a hotel receipt with our names (plus matching credit card charges from the same hotel). Also, photos of us with his sister's family at their apartment in Nairobi.

It's a real pity that it's not possible to go back in time and be more intentional about doing things that create evidence! Uganda is such a cash-based place, though, that almost nothing we've done together has any sort of records associated with it. Not good.

The items you named such as passport stamps and boarding passes are EXCELLENT primary evidence. Supporting evidence can be pictures of the two of you together and email flight confirmations.

[TiklingGuy 211]

Welcome to VisaJourney

[daryl&lada 8]

Congratulations and welcome!

[John Dam Dam 4]

Welcome to Visa journey.

[Ashlee and Bjørn 6]

Congratulations on your engagement, and good luck.

[mounir412 101]

Congratulations and good luck