K-1 Journey Completed

[rjm_cmyk 75]

Excellent and thoughtful post TB . When we are all so focussed on the detail and the immediate timescale (however drawn out it may seem) it good to see the longer perspective. Thanks for sharing as they say.

[TBoneTX 45,155]

Excellent and thoughtful post TB . When we are all so focussed on the detail and the immediate timescale (however drawn out it may seem) it good to see the longer perspective. Thanks for sharing as they say.

Thank you, si man. I'm available for input.

[raf.luv.leah 5]

Great story.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Excellent post - and congratulations on making it through this.

[TBoneTX 45,155]

Excellent post - and congratulations on making it through this.

Thank you, si ma'am.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

Hello there Mr. TBone! I almost missed this post. Glad you bumped it up though. Good thinking.

It must be on overwhelming sense of relief for you and your family to be done officially with everything immigration related. I wish you and Mrs. TBone the most sincerest of congratulations.

I've been a member of this site for 1.5 years now and I still am grateful for the overwhelming amount of help, advice, and tips you gave me through my early threads or personal messages. This was during the days when Mr. SinghSingh and I were still contemplating the K-1 and my anxiety levels were high after reading about the trouble and denials faced by inter-racial couples interviewing in India especially by the New Delhi consulate. After the incredible guidance of this site and other incredibly helpful senior members, we changed our path and chose to pursue a CR-1/IR-1. Those tips you gave me allowed me to compile a thorough and well-planned I-130 package. In fact, I still have a copy of the advice you gave me that I printed out from a message. You had a tortuous start to your visa journey but I thank you for turning your negative experience into a positive one by allowing your experience to be a guideline for dos and don'ts. I know you've helped countless members going through the Guayaquil consulate but also those through Casablanca, Lagos, and of course New Delhi

Our visa journey is nearing its end, the stressful part anyhow, K's interview should be in June and yes I will be attending as I couldn't agree more about the presence of the USC petitioner.

Thanks TBone, for being a valued member of this community.

-A

[TBoneTX 45,155]

You honor me, A-Bone, si ma'am. I continue to pull for you vis-a-vis this visa business (pun intended) and in every other area of life, si man.

Edited March 10, 2013 by TBoneTX

[AISMAEL 0]

Thank you for this insightful writing.

[TBoneTX 45,155]

You're welcome. I hope that it helps.

[TBoneTX 45,155]

I'm thrilled to report that Toshtishtash (recognized in the original post as a long-inactive VJ member) has resurfaced, si man.

Also: After having applied for passports for Mrs. T-B. and Mini-Bone (a USC but a minor, for whom both parents must show up in person) at a Post Office in March 2013, we received the coveted blue booklets in 3.5 weeks, in separate envelopes, on the same day. The applications were filed via "standard processing."

Separately, Mrs. T-B.'s Certificate of Naturalization (required for submission with a passport application) came back, unmangled, in a Priority Mail envelope a few days ago; and Mini-B.'s U.S. birth certificate (required for his passport application) came in a fourth envelope (First Class), folded very neatly in half.

So, we're finished with USCIS (as of the oath ceremony) and technically with the State Department (as of the received passports and returned documents).

We're only technically finished with the State Department because the last step is my writing the blistering after-visa complaint to the Bureau of Consular Affairs. Although the culprits of the time are gone from the baastard Guayaquil consulate, it's unclear that policies there have totally changed, and I will point this out. I've waited nearly 6 years for this.

As a reminder from the original post in this thread, it's too easy to focus on prying your I-129F petition out of USCIS and then completely relax thereafter. Do not take the consular phase of this immigration process lightly.

Edited July 10, 2014 by TBoneTX

[jetlagged 3]

Youre the man! Need I say more?

[Toshtishtash 1]

I'm thrilled to report that Toshtishtash (recognized in the original post as a long-inactive VJ member) has resurfaced, si man.

I am SOOOO happy for you! And feel honored that you remembered me for being helpful to you. You did have a tough ride but got through in the end! You rock!

I look forward to catching up

[mrs thb 331]

Bump, for cause.

thanks for bringing this thread to the surface.

I too had a long ride....and started back in 2007 under a different user name. I remember you and a bunch others who saved my butt more than a few times. this process is difficult and is so easily misunderstood. although way back my ride was easy, this second time around wasn't. proves to show you there are no givens.

you need to be your own advocate and research, research, research. consulting the wise and tested here on vj was a godsend.

thank you to all!

peace!

[M and Ed 74]

On 1/23/2013 at 11:00 PM, TBoneTX said:

Mrs. T-B. attended her oath ceremony today (23 Jan 2013) and got her Certificate of Naturalization, si man. She is a citizen now, after a 5.5-year visa journey with some giant obstacles.

The story is posted in the K-1 Case Progress forum because, if you're like I was, you don't visit many of the later-stage forums or have a firm vision of the entire visa journey just yet. Indeed, I remember a buddy in my own monthly I-129F progress thread who got the NOA2 for his petition and wrote, "Can someone please direct me to the next forum?"

Some of the following might yield some perspective on "the visa journey" and perhaps help you in your visa journey.

I joined VisaJourney in mid-2007. I was overwhelmed, nervous, and bewildered by the upcoming K-1 process and the voluminous information on the site. Many of my first questions were met with patient variations of "read the Guides!"

I sent off the I-129F petition to USCIS (the CSC) via overnight mail with green reply card. I was frantic when the card didn't come back for several days.

I checked on-line case status of the I-129F at least once daily. Except for me, everyone else in the May 2007 filers group had received their NOA2 by 6 months (the timeframe then). I made several calls to USCIS (waiting on hold sometimes for hours, listening to that maddening "hold" music). I finally reached a kindly Immigration Officer who determined that my file had been sitting on a transit station for some time. I asked him to please send an e-mail to the processing floor to ask someone to move the file to the next place it ought to go. A very few days later, I got the NOA2. On this site, I reported the foregoing method of loosening the stuck application; the message was twisted and roundly mocked by a group led by a viper who still sometimes poisons this site.

Being naive, I underestimated the consular process nearly 100% and was not on the premises during my fiancee's interview. She was kicked out after about 3 minutes, without her brought evidence having been considered, with these exact words: "More proof! Second interview! Bring your fiance!"

In subsequent correspondence, the devious consulate referred to the second interview as a "marriage interview," hiding the fact that it would be a Stokes.

The Stokes interview was not even conducted by an American, but by a Foreign Service National (a local Ecuadorian employed by the consulate). A decision was not even to be made on that day. The first interview was "not enough evidence -- go away!" and the second was "too much information -- go away!"

I got perhaps 45 minutes of sleep on the 5.5-hour return flight. Being home was worse.

After weeks of torment and of calling the State Department's visa line daily, I fought through the phone lines at the consulate by insisting on speaking with an American. After 20 minutes on hold, I ended up speaking with the Section Chief of the Immigration Visa Unit. We discussed the situation and I sent him a confirmatory e-mail. Within 72 hours, the visa was approved.

Mrs. T-B.-to-be wrapped up her business affairs and arrived through the Port of Entry without incident, but very ill with an upper-respiratory infection. Our first week consisted of an expensive out-of-pocket medical appointment + prescriptions toward her recovery.

We married by the third week and filed for Adjustment of Status (AOS). I mailed it overnight but without extra receipt confirmation. I checked on-line case status sporadically. The NOA arrived in timely fashion, and there was no interview.

Mrs. T-B.'s EAD and AP arrived in due time and without incident. We used the AP on a land border trip to Mexico. Upon our return, the CBP agent knew what AP was but had obviously never actually processed one. Parts of this were quite comical. However, having our marriage certificate with us was perhaps the chief element in our approval for re-entry. Little did we know that Mrs. T-B.'s green card was in the mail to us (and on schedule) during that very trip.

We later took a driving trip through south Texas. The CBP agents at the internal checkpoints most certainly would have given us huge trouble had Mrs. T-B. not had her green card with her. The experience taught us to keep it -- and our marriage certificate -- with her at all times.

We filed for Removal of Conditions (ROC) as soon as Mrs. T-B. was eligible. I had taken others' advice and, since AOS, had taken appropriate pieces of evidence and thrown them into a box. By ROC time, there was more than enough support of our merged financial & personal lives through the span of our marriage. I mailed the package first-class with delivery confirmation (yellow sticker). I never signed up for on-line case status. The NOAs were timely, and approval was timely and without interview.

About a week before we filed for ROC, Mini-Bone was born, made of genuine U.S. & Ecuadorian parts.

We filed for Naturalization (citizenship) somewhat after Mrs. T-B. became eligible. I mailed the package regular first-class mail and never even thought about signing up for on-line case status. The NOA2 was timely, the process was uneventful, and her interview was easy. The Oath Ceremony featured 2,272 new citizens from 126 countries.

Lessons learned and insights gained from this visa journey and from spending it as a member of VisaJourney:

1. It's not necessary to freak out over how to mail the petitions or how to assemble the packages. Just include what the VJ Guides recommend, plus what knowledgeable members before you recommend (for example, front-loading evidence for tough consulates).

2. Rely upon advice from the most knowledgeable, trustworthy VJ members. Chief among these are JimVaPhuong, pushbrk, and Kathryn41. To this day, I read every post of theirs that I happen across, and I invariably learn something. More recently, KayDeeCee has joined the ranks of the elite, and Darnell is practically unparalleled in situations of "damage control" when things go screwy.

3. The squeaky wheel truly can get the grease. If your USCIS filing is grossly out of timeline, or if you have truly been wronged at the consulate, polite phone calls might yield action. (NOTE: "Grossly out of timeline" means exactly that. It does not refer to "I want my fiance(e) here NOW, no matter what. I have no patience or circumspection about the petition process, and I don't WANT any patience or circumspection!" Read the VJ forums thoroughly to see what objective factors might be influencing the processing of petitions. As hard as it can be, avoid "ready, fire, aim" reactions during this stage.)

4. Procedures, policies, and outcomes at the Manila embassy are, chances are, unique to Manila and not automatically transferable to other consular experiences. Go atop any VJ page and click "Embassy Info" and "Reviews: Embassy." Read the reviews for YOUR consulate, attending particularly to the WORST stories. Prepare accordingly. Also pay attention to cautions offered by experienced members who did not deal with your consulate. Take offerings of "No worries -- you will be fine!" with a large grain of salt -- yes, the interview might turn out fine, but no one can assure you of this in advance.

5. Never EVER underestimate the consular phase of the process! The consular officers have just about 100% power over the continuation of your visa journey. Treating the consular phase casually can be like loading a revolver with 5 bullets, spinning the cylinder, and putting the gun to your temple and pulling the trigger. Bear in mind that a previously "easy" consulate's policies and procedures can change without notice if a new Section Chief is transferred in. Expect the best outcome, sure, but prepare for the worst conceivable.

6. We never got an RFE. However, an RFE is a golden opportunity to provide not just what USCIS requests to satisfy the RFE, but also to add additional evidence of bona fide relationship for the consular officer's eyes, later. Everything that you submit to USCIS goes to the consulate after the petition is approved. Front-loading (or, later, "loading along with an RFE") ensures that key information that you want the consul to see is there before the beneficiary's interview at a tough consulate.

7. There is never a disadvantage to a petitioner's being on the consular premises while the beneficiary is being interviewed. In fact, the advantages are many and distinct. Emotional support for the beneficiary is the minimum. His or her handing your U.S. passport to the consul at the interview's beginning can result in a standard interview's turning into a slam-dunk approval, a borderline interview's being turned into an approval, or a presumed denial (in the mind of the consul) given a fighting chance. It can also result in the petitioner's being invited into the interview.

8. As outrageous as this may sound (and as outrageous as it would have sounded to me during the I-129F wait), it indeed can be a relief to return to dealing with USCIS after having dealt with a consulate. Nevertheless, to this day, if I'm on hold on a business call and the music is the same as USCIS's "hold" music, my heart begins pounding faster.

9. Like me, you'll start with close friends who post regularly and support you in public and private. Sadly, many will fall away from VJ along the way. Some of my earliest friends who are no longer around are:
StillThePrettiest - last log-in, 6 Aug 2010;
Toshtishtash - 7 Oct 2011;
Jeraly - 23 Aug 2012;
DanielParul (of incomparable support during my consulate torment) - 15 June 2010.

10. As I wrote to Captain Ewok privately tonight, I could not have negotiated this visa journey -- either procedurally or emotionally -- without the help of this site and the good people on it.

I hope that the foregoing will confer some helpful circumspection at this early stage of your visa journey, si man.

Thank you so much for putting so much time and effort to share your journey so selflessly. I absolutely appreciate your comments, answers and advice. Congratulations to you and your family for having finished this long process. We live in a crazy world and it's mind bending to me the fact that we have to do al this just to be with the person we love, but I guess it's the game we've chosen to play.

I wish you and your family a blessed life ❤️ 

 

[TBoneTX 45,155]

Here is Mrs. T-B. rather recently:

 

 

Edited May 22, 2019 by TBoneTX