Starting our K1 journey

[Michelle+Tim 1]

Hello all!

My fiance and i are about to begin our K1 visa journey and i had stumbled upon this website, and thank god i did!

So thankful for all you lovely people that have been through/are going through this process for posting tips and tricks as well as your journey's. i had been checking out the gov't website and was beyond confused. Reading some of these posts, guides and example forms has really helped us out. So far, he's filling out his I-129F/G-325A and im gathering my stuff to send to him so we can package it all together and send it off.

From what i've been reading the process takes roughly 8-9 months, am i correct? assuming all paperwork is in order and no RFE's are sent back...

i'd love any tips and tricks or "just so you knows" if anyone would like to share, anything to put my mind at ease! can you tell i'm a worrier?! lol

Let me tell you a little about us, I'm michelle and my fiance is tim. We've been together almost 4 years now and we've been talking about doing this for probably about 2 of those years! I wanted to have a stable career in place before i moved/we got married. I'm an LPN and have been for almost 1 1/2 years, i plan on taking my RN sometime in the near future, after we're married of course! my fiance is a CNC machinist and is currently taking courses to further his career in the field. I'm Canadian and will be filing through the Vancouver consulate and he is from just outside Madison, WI. I'm a big city girl, so ill have some adjusting to do and im sure small town life will have its ups and downs for me!

[EndlessStory 53]

welcome to the forum and the waiting game

[Girl from Celebes 588]

Read the guide here

As long as you follow the guide, you'll be fine. Also, you can ask tips and trick from Canadian fellows here to give you some insight. My fiance and I followed the guide and got approved in 38 days. Good luck.

[Michelle+Tim 1]

Thanks!

Hopefully its a smooth ride

[Michelle+Tim 1]

Read the guide here

As long as you follow the guide, you'll be fine. Also, you can ask tips and trick from Canadian fellows here to give you some insight. My fiance and I followed the guide and got approved in 38 days. Good luck.

Wow, 38 days! thats great!

I know, i'm glad i found this site. I'm a serial worrier even if the path is set in stone and right in front of my face lol

looking forward to the support from all the visajourney members and hopefully being able to lend a hand to future members

[Loving_girl 38]

Hi!

We are also to start our application process in November. I can only wish you good luck As for the tips, i made some list of things that should be presented (after reading on this forum and USCIS web. So, if it helps, here is the list of things we shall present and how to assemble the package.

How to assemble package for filing:

1. Check or money order.

2. G-1145 (E-notification)

3. Cover Letter for I-129F (describes what package has inside) dated and signed.

4. I-129F - dated and signed. where no answer leave it BLANK (Declaration of how we met: one sheet, dated and signed. On the top of sheet say Attachment to question 34-a of the I-129F form)

5. G-325A - Fiancee biography. Attach my photo sign with pencil on back: Photo of ____________ (put it in plastic bag and attach to a sheet)

6. G-325A - Fiance biography.DATED AND SIGNED!!! Attach your photo sign with pencil on back: Photo of _________ (put it in plascit bag and attach to a sheet)

7. Fiancee letter of Intent - dated and signed.

8. Fiance letter of intent - dated and signed.

9. Copy of birth certificate (front and back!!!)

10. Copy of US passport (all pages)

11. Copy of Divorce Decree. (If any)

Proofs of having relationship and that we met:

1. Copies of boarding passes (to Kiev and from Kiev).

2. Photos where we are together (signed on back with date, with yours and mine names and places name. i send you this on email already). Put photos or on plastic bag or paper bag for photos.

3. Skype chats (word document 9 pages, and print screens of chats 11 pages), you can print screen also recent chats.

4. Copy of train tickets.

5. Copy of invoice of the present sent.

6. Copy of my package envelope. (if any packages were sent to your fiance via normal mail)

7. Copy of receipt of engagement ring. (if any)

8. Letter from my parents. (we asked them to sign to show we are together hehehe)

11. You can print an emails.

This is basically the most important to my mind, and is already ordered how it should be presented before sending. Hope you will manage to be together sooner than expenced. Keeps us up to date as for how it goes with your application!

[Girl from Celebes 588]

Wow, 38 days! thats great!

I know, i'm glad i found this site. I'm a serial worrier even if the path is set in stone and right in front of my face lol

looking forward to the support from all the visajourney members and hopefully being able to lend a hand to future members

Some VJers are faster than me like 18 days, 19 days, and 20 days. I you can ask anything here.

[clairegie 265]

To the OP, you sound like a wonderful, mature couple who is genuinely ready to take the relationship to the next level. I like this a lot.

You want to know the "trick" I learned from all this?

The only trick to make the approval come faster is NOT TO WAIT FOR IT. Keep living your life. Keep yourself busy. I was so focused on this process that now (that I'm so close to finishing it) I felt sad that I didn't spend more time with my family and friends. All I did was check for an approval every so often. Trust me, 6 months will go by too fast.

Use your wait time to talk to your fiance about plans AFTER the wedding. Things a normal (couples who live in the same zip code) couple considers. Like kids, how living arrangements should be, your plans after the wedding and if the budget makes it feasible, etc. This tends to get overlooked by people. The journey doesn't stop from getting the visa and being together. The journey starts when the marriage starts

Welcome to the visa journey, keep us updated We're here for ya.

Edited October 20, 2013 by iammrsregi

[Michelle+Tim 1]

To the OP, you sound like a wonderful, mature couple who is genuinely ready to take the relationship to the next level. I like this a lot.

You want to know the "trick" I learned from all this?

The only trick to make the approval come faster is NOT TO WAIT FOR IT. Keep living your life. Keep yourself busy. I was so focused on this process that now (that I'm so close to finishing it) I felt sad that I didn't spend more time with my family and friends. All I did was check for an approval every so often. Trust me, 6 months will go by too fast.

Use your wait time to talk to your fiance about plans AFTER the wedding. Things a normal (couples who live in the same zip code) couple considers. Like kids, how living arrangements should be, your plans after the wedding and if the budget makes it feasible, etc. This tends to get overlooked by people. The journey doesn't stop from getting the visa and being together. The journey starts when the marriage starts

Welcome to the visa journey, keep us updated We're here for ya.

Oh my goodness, im such a sap i about cried reading that. I know all to well that my time with my current family will be short-lived and soon enough my definition of family will be greatly expanded! My family, as is stands is my mom, my sister and i, we arent exceptionally close with any of our relatives since my parents divorce a number of years ago. My fiances family on the other hand is large and full of step-parents/siblings and the like. I'm going to have my hands full when i get there! lol

I just joined this site and already im thankful for members like all of you who have taken the time to post for us!

And as for your advice, its greatly appreciated! we've spent many hours talking such things over already both of us definitely dont want a fancy wedding, we're planning on going to the courthouse for a simple ceremony. Eventually we would like a small beach wedding with our close family members but we would like to have ourselves grounded first as well as be able to save up a nest egg for ourselves. As for starting a family and building a life together, we've learned to talk things through and listen to each other, both of us can be hard-headded and stubborn at times but in the end we've always found a way to make things work. I'm a firm believer that if you can work out a disagreement over a text/email/long distance phone call you've already won part of the battle because it forces you to take a step back and actually listen to the other person. Most people tend to scoff at a long distance relationship, and obviously if i could be close to him 24 hours day i would but it makes you appreciate the other person all the more being apart from them! what little time you do get to spend together is precious and hopefully once our K1 journey is over and we're married, we continue to appreciate each other and value the lessons we've learned having had developed a relationship with 2500kms between my hand and his.

[clairegie 265]

hey Michelle, is your fiance in the military, specifically us marines?

[del-11-03-13-3 11]

The approval times from the USCIS has been crazy fast for some people recently but I think it's better to expect an approval within 5 months then it will take 2-3 more months to eventually get an interview. But doesn't hurt to look at what happens after approval and what you need for the interview, especially if you are lucky and get a fast approval. I filed in February and my approval was 5 months and visa 3 months after that. You never know when USCIS will speed up or slow down! People who filled only a few months before me had to wait a while, 6-8 months, and not long after my approval I started seeing people posting approvals in a month!

[Michelle+Tim 1]

hey Michelle, is your fiance in the military, specifically us marines?

Nope, y? He look familiar?

The approval times from the USCIS has been crazy fast for some people recently but I think it's better to expect an approval within 5 months then it will take 2-3 more months to eventually get an interview. But doesn't hurt to look at what happens after approval and what you need for the interview, especially if you are lucky and get a fast approval. I filed in February and my approval was 5 months and visa 3 months after that. You never know when USCIS will speed up or slow down! People who filled only a few months before me had to wait a while, 6-8 months, and not long after my approval I started seeing people posting approvals in a month!

Wow, so fast. I think it'll slow down with the govt having been shutdown the last few weeks. Oh well, either way we're one step closer than yesterday!

[Girl from Celebes 588]

Nice picture both of you're together but I think will need some massage on my neck afterwards,

[Michelle+Tim 1]

Nice picture both of you're together but I think will need some massage on my neck afterwards,

Yeah lol it wouldn't let me rotate it!!

[clairegie 265]

Oh, its just because the background of your photo looks exactly like how my fiance's barracks are set up lol. You are a beautiful couple. Its ok girl from celebes, we can give each other neck massages XD