K-1 Visa Tracking

[halfwing 0]

Hello,

First, let me say thank you for making all this information available and for providing a way for those of us going through this process to communicate. Sometimes this vast intellectual wasteland we call the Internet surprises me with something useful.................

Okay. My question.

Rather than try to figure out this K-1 Visa process on my own, I retained an attorney to handle the process for my fiance and I. It seems like I have had to push and prod to make things happen and I've lost confidence that my case is going to be handled in an expeditious manner.

Is there a way I can check on my application/document status independent of the attorney's office?

Thanks in advance,

John

[didopage 337]

Are your at the petition stage or visa stage?

Does your petition have been sent to USCIS yet?

I will assume you're at the petition stage and that it had been sent already... If you have a copy of your NOA1 (form I-797C, Notice of Action=petition received), you can check status of your I-129F petition on the USCIS website using your receipt number. Usually, the status of your petition doesn't change for 4-6 months and appears as in "Initial Review" (meaning your case is just sitting somewhere, waiting 4-6 months until an adjudicator looks at it).

Just curious, you said "an expeditious manner". Did you have a reason to expedite and your attorney asked for an expedite at the USCIS or do you just think your case will be handle faster because you use an attorney?

PS: Please create a timeline, enter your NOA1 date and you'll have an interval date estimate of when to expect your petition approval (NOA2), based on VJ members data.

Edited May 2, 2012 by didopage

[halfwing 0]

Are your at the petition stage or visa stage?

Does your petition have been sent to USCIS yet?

I will assume you're at the petition stage and that it had been sent already... If you have a copy of your NOA1 (form I-797C, Notice of Action=petition received), you can check status of your I-129F petition on the USCIS website using your receipt number. Usually, the status of your petition doesn't change for 4-6 months and appears as in "Initial Review" (meaning your case is just sitting somewhere, waiting 4-6 months until an adjudicator looks at it).

Just curious, you said "an expeditious manner". Did you have a reason to expedite and your attorney asked for an expedite at the USCIS or do you just think your case will be handle faster because you use an attorney?

PS: Please create a timeline, enter your NOA1 date and you'll have an interval date estimate of when to expect your petition approval (NOA2), based on VJ members data.

Hello,

Thanks for your response.

When I say "expeditious manner", I mean that I don't want any self-inflicted delays caused through ignorance on my part. Because of the long waiting periods in between periods of activity, I want to be sure that everything is correct the FIRST time.

At this time, I don't have ANYTHING back from the attorney's office. Last week they received my initial package with the GA-325A forms, the I-129F forms and many other pieces of information documenting our lives and our relationship.

From what you said above, should I ask about my NOA1 date? That is part of my problem, I don't even know what to ask.

As I mentioned, I think I need to stay on top of this because my impression is that my case will sit around unless I stay involved.

Do I understand it correctly when I say I should ask the attorney's office about my NOA1 Date?

Thanks again,

John

[LeftCoastLady 441]

You should really become familiar with the K-1 guide on this site. While your attorney may be doing the work, you need to educate yourself about the process to know which questions to ask. That seems to be the biggest issue from other VJers who opt to use an attorney.

K-1 Guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

[feli114 65]

A word of advice. As Left Coast Lady said, you REALLY need to keep up with your case. I hired a lawyer for just the petition. We got an RFE. Well, USCIS sent the hardcopy to my lawyer who lives in another town. I had to wait for him to send it to me. Good thing I had text updates, because I called him to alert him that it was coming. Next, when my case went through NVC, he got the letter in the mail from them, but I didnt get it until I got the email from the embassy that they had my case. I hope you have better luck with your lawyer than I did. As I said, I only hired mine for the petition, then I found VJ.

[tru_loves_journey 117]

Hello,

Thanks for your response.

When I say "expeditious manner", I mean that I don't want any self-inflicted delays caused through ignorance on my part. Because of the long waiting periods in between periods of activity, I want to be sure that everything is correct the FIRST time.

At this time, I don't have ANYTHING back from the attorney's office. Last week they received my initial package with the GA-325A forms, the I-129F forms and many other pieces of information documenting our lives and our relationship.

From what you said above, should I ask about my NOA1 date? That is part of my problem, I don't even know what to ask.

As I mentioned, I think I need to stay on top of this because my impression is that my case will sit around unless I stay involved.

Do I understand it correctly when I say I should ask the attorney's office about my NOA1 Date?

Thanks again,

John

Hi, Study the K-1 Visa Guide that way you will know more than your lawyer The NOA1 is a notice of acceptence and Receipt. Ask the lawyer about it. You can go to www.uscis.gov to watch for activity, it's a 4 - 6 month wait for NOA2. When you have your dates click on Timeline and add all your info, at the bottom of that page it will give you an estimate of the NOA2 date. Good Luck on your journey

Edited May 2, 2012 by tru_loves_journey

[didopage 337]

Hello,

Thanks for your response.

When I say "expeditious manner", I mean that I don't want any self-inflicted delays caused through ignorance on my part. Because of the long waiting periods in between periods of activity, I want to be sure that everything is correct the FIRST time.

At this time, I don't have ANYTHING back from the attorney's office. Last week they received my initial package with the GA-325A forms, the I-129F forms and many other pieces of information documenting our lives and our relationship.

From what you said above, should I ask about my NOA1 date? That is part of my problem, I don't even know what to ask.

As I mentioned, I think I need to stay on top of this because my impression is that my case will sit around unless I stay involved.

Do I understand it correctly when I say I should ask the attorney's office about my NOA1 Date?

Thanks again,

John

Just ask your attorney if your petition package has been sent, and if yes, if he received the notice of action from USCIS saying your petition has been received. If yes, ask for a copy of it. You will then use the receipt number on it to check your status online.

[Pitaya 2,577]

Hello,

Thanks for your response.

When I say "expeditious manner", I mean that I don't want any self-inflicted delays caused through ignorance on my part. Because of the long waiting periods in between periods of activity, I want to be sure that everything is correct the FIRST time.

At this time, I don't have ANYTHING back from the attorney's office. Last week they received my initial package with the GA-325A forms, the I-129F forms and many other pieces of information documenting our lives and our relationship.

From what you said above, should I ask about my NOA1 date? That is part of my problem, I don't even know what to ask.

As I mentioned, I think I need to stay on top of this because my impression is that my case will sit around unless I stay involved.

Do I understand it correctly when I say I should ask the attorney's office about my NOA1 Date?

Thanks again,

John

Welcome to the forum.

Your mention of avoiding self-inflicted delays and doing it correctly the first time is quite consistent with everyone's attitude on this Do-It-Yourself (DIY) site. Of course, that would only make sense. Unless it is a complicated situation, the majority of folks here do not feel the need to expend their precious resources retaining the services of an attorney for this process. There have been reported instances where the paid representative did erroneous actions and caused delays in the visa processing. But to each his own.

Sorry, I am a bit confused since you have your attorney in the mix. When you say, "....Last week they received my initial package...," are you saying that your attorney, or that USCIS has received your initial package? If you mean USCIS, then you should have an NOA1 date and a receipt number. Depending on your legal arrangement, your attorney likely has your I-797c, NOA1 notice. You need to inquire with your attorney, and be sure to obtain that information. After you receive that information, you can check your account status here (though it isn't always updated in a timely manner). Additionally, you can set-up an account with USCIS and also check your status and receive email/text updates.

for great information on the visa process.

Good luck on your visa journey.

[halfwing 0]

Wow!

After my first reading here, I asked about the I-797C.

Subject: Status Update?

Good morning *********,

I'm checking in to see if you have any questions on the material ******** and I sent.

Is there something called a I-797C I should be looking for? How long does it take to receive that?

Please let me know if there are any problems with the information we sent and if there is anything else I can do to help you with our work.

Sincerely,

John

And the reply.............

Sure I will be getting back to you this afternoon.

Yeah............. I'm going to have to stay on this.

Good stuff from all.

A & B. I meant that my attorney has received the package. My fiance and I worked our butts off to get this information gathered up and in the attorney's office so I don't want it sitting around.

When I get some more time, I'll create a "timeline" with updates as they occur.

Thanks again for the information and I'll be in touch.

Chao

[tru_loves_journey 117]

Here's some interesting reading http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/293162-lawyer-vs-self-file-k1/

[Sveta & Ron 23]

i also hired a lawyer and she told me uscis will send ME in postal mail any and all papers she gets also from uscis ... since this is your life make sure uscis has your postal address as we know lawyers takes their time opening mail and keeping clients in the loop if you not get hard copy i would remind lawyer they are working for you and ask why uscis not send to you hard copy

Edited May 2, 2012 by Sveta & Ron

[halfwing 0]

An update..............

Our information is finally on the way to the embassy in Guayaquil from the National Visa Center and I have been trying to contact our attorney on the phone. In the process of exchanging emails, my contact in the attorney's office told me they are too busy to talk on the phone and I should limit my communications to email........

Seriously? I would never tell a customer I'm too busy to talk to them.

I wish I had done a little more research and avoided the law firm of Michael S. Solomon http://www.k1-fiancee-visa-law.com/

Through this entire process I've been made to feel like I'm being a pest, the attorney's office has continually made mistakes on the forms and I've had to make the phone calls in order to keep up with our K-1 process. For some reason I didn't receive the NOA2 from USCIS and I have to wonder if our attorney made the change of address with them when I moved to California. Seriously, I've notified the attorney's office of status changes related to our case before they knew of them!

I've learned more about the K-1 process from this website than I have from the attorney I paid to help us. I wish I had discovered VisaJourney.com and saved the $2,000 and the headache of working with these people.

Live and learn..............

[TBoneTX 45,292]

I hope that your attorney told you that YOU, the petitioner, had better be in Guayaquil and on the consular premises during your fiancee's interview. I hope that he told you to be in Guayaquil a full 24 hours before the scheduled interview day & time, because of the monkeyshines that the consulate pulls. I hope that he had you front-load the holy hell out of your I-129F petition -- and, if he did not, that he has told you to bring the kitchen sink's worth of "evidence of bona fide relationship" to the interview in the hope that it will be accepted at that time.

If he did none of these things, and if you receive a 221g or an outright refusal from the consulate, report him to the Bar association for negligence.

Edited to add: Have you read this thread in its entirety, paying close attention to the worst tales?

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/110313-us-consulate-in-guayaquil-ecuador/

Edited again to add: Here's another, started by a guy who got hosed even worse than most of the rest of us:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/180306-guayaquil-consulate-administrative-process/

Time to take matters into your own hands, Brother...

Edited December 7, 2012 by TBoneTX

[halfwing 0]

Thank you for your input and warnings. I've gained a lot of useful information here at VisaJourney and I've discovered many other interesting things elsewhere on the Internet. I've picked up information I would not have gotten from the attorney and as you suggested, I'm taking a boatload of information documenting our relationship. A lot of what I do for a living depends on documentation and if I know what I need, I can document something to death!

It's funny that you mentioned the attorney telling me to be at the interview because the guy in his office actually told me I did NOT have to be there. I know better but that's the kind of knowledge his office brings to the project.

Before our case left USCIS, we didn't have an approximate date for our interview so I bought tickets and scheduled time away from work for Christmas. Now we know our interview will be in January. As soon as we have our interview date, I am going to change my flight for the interview. The attorney's office told me not to bother. Just go for Christmas and let Lucia attend the interview alone.

I'm basically finished with the attorney at this point. I'm going to get through the interview then ask for a refund of the additional money I paid to help with the post-entry stuff.

I don't want to be a burden to the law firm of Michael S. Soloman. I understand how busy they are so I want to help them make time for their paying clients.................

C'mon January!