Confusion with visa payment and needing an extension... Please help!

[Alana&Sheldon 0]

Hi All!

My fiance is in Baltimore Maryland and I am currently in Sydney, Australia, our approval notice is due to expire on the 22nd January. My medial examination is on the 13th of January which is the medical center earliest convenience for me. We will definitely need an extension on our case as I cant see us fitting in the interview and packet 4 within in a week.. I have called some weeks ago the support team which were not very helpful, one gentleman of which gave me a wrong email and had me waiting for weeks!! I have now emailed sydneyIV@state.gov - can anyone verify if this is the way to go?

I am also a little confused with the visa payment, I have read on some timelines that we pay for the visa on the day? but the person I spoke with mentioned I had to pay for the $240 online?? Can someone shine some light onto this for me as well?

One more... with packet 3.. I have sent off DS-230 as requested as soon as I received packet 3, I did not get any verification that this was received.. Is this normal?

Thanks guys.. look forward to your responses

Alana

[KayDeeCee 4,895]

~ Moved from K-1 Process to Australia regional forum - topic is specific to interviewing in that country | Duplicate topic removed ~

[Misha'sgirl 44]

"K visa applicants pay an application fee like any other nonimmigrant visa applicant. The current application fee for the K visa is USD $240.00. (The AUD equivalent is $264.00).

This fee is currently only payable in person at Australia Post via cash or EFTPOS. Please refer to http://www.ustraveldocs.com/au/au-niv-paymentinfo.asp#inperson for further information on payment options. Bring the receipt for this payment to your interview."

http://canberra.usembassy.gov/iv-fees.html

[Alana&Sheldon 0]

Thank you for that verification.. best wishes to you

[Misha'sgirl 44]

You too!

[dodgyJim73 6]

There's still some discrepancies between the information in packet 3 that the consulate send you and what happens in the real world. There's other payment options available to you, not just Aus Post. You can pay via Credit card, funds transfer or at Australia Post. You need to make an account at the ustraveldocs.com site and follow the guidelines on the link http://www.ustraveldocs.com/au/au-niv-paymentinfo.asp

I just had my visa interview and approval at the end of December. I paid online with my credit card and printed the e-mail receipt and took it in with me and that was all they needed.

I'm confused about why you are filling out the DS-230 form...since early October the DS-160 replaces most of the forms that were previously used. On your DSL-1076 form you can complete the medical checkbox with "sent direct from PP" and put the date of your medical exam, this way you can send your packet 3 in before you had the medical.

The Sydney consulate can be a little hit and miss when responding to e-mail but they usually get things done. Normally if they see your timeframe expiry is getting close they move you up in the list etc. I had my interview on Dec 24th and my petition was due to expire on Dec 29!

[Alana&Sheldon 0]

Right, this certainly shines some light onto everything for us. I received packet 3 in late October and was just going by the initial email instructions in packet 3 by doing the DS230 as it says. I have also completed DS-160 so I guess I will be more than safe lol...

Great, so can I send off packet 3 without the medical results for now? What does "sent direct from PP" stand for?

I hope all went well with you're interview?? You have been most helpful

[dodgyJim73 6]

Yeah, there's still a lot of discrepancies with the steps

All you need for packet 3 is:

• DS-160
• I-134
• DSL-1076 and your supporting documents

Which it will say this on the main document, the other reference document they link to is still way out of date. You probably know this already by now but the new DS-160 form has replaced all the other requested forms (DS-230I and 230II, DS-156, DS-156K, DS-157) so ignore any references to those old forms. I'm so glad it's just the one on-line form that you need to fill out.

"Sent direct from PP" means the results will be sent directly from the Panel Physician, the doctor who completes your medical. It's safe to write this on the form as I e-mailed the consulate about it and this is what they told me to put on the form. See their response below.

Thank you for your recent inquiry.

You may mark “sent direct from PP” and enter the date that you had your medical exam done.

When you have obtained all of the documents, mail these to our office with DSL-1076 to advise the U.S. Consulate General in Sydney that you are ready for your visa interview.

I also e-mailed them because I had to change my medical and they said it was fine to put down the future date and send in packet 3. Are you seeing Dr.Waks or Dr.Rappaport? I had Celia Rappaport and she was great, Dr. Waks also gets good reviews.

Whatever you do...get the packet 3 contents back to them ASAP. They can't schedule you in for an interview until they have your full packet 3 documents. I received my packet 4 within about 8 days of sending in packet 3 so it can move pretty fast.

My interview was a breeze, you can read my review about it here: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=168410

I would probably still e-mail them at the sydneyiv address and mention that your visa expires soon to see if they can expedite your petition or clarify any missing steps. You'll probably get an auto-reply saying something like "PLEASE NOTE that inquiries regarding non-immigrant visas are unable to
be answered from this address." with links pointing you to the ustraveldocs.com website. I still received an e-mail response from them even though the auto-reply said I wouldn't....

[Alana&Sheldon 0]

You are so helpful I cannot thank you enough! I've just read your interview.. WOW! Congratulations to you and your fiance, all the hard work has paid off and I wish you both the best! When do you get to leave Australia?

I have prepared packet 3 this evening and will be posting this via express tomorrow, thank god I decided to get on here and ask for help.

With the DS-160, is it only the confirmation page which I'm sending with packet 3?

And the DSL-1076, this is page 6 "Applicants Statement of Readiness of be Interviewed" along with the completed checklist?

I'm booked in with Dr. Waks on Monday 13th of Jan, very glad to hear they are great, that has put my mind at ease.

[Ozgirl1981 78]

Hi All!

My fiance is in Baltimore Maryland and I am currently in Sydney, Australia, our approval notice is due to expire on the 22nd January. My medial examination is on the 13th of January which is the medical center earliest convenience for me. We will definitely need an extension on our case as I cant see us fitting in the interview and packet 4 within in a week.. I have called some weeks ago the support team which were not very helpful, one gentleman of which gave me a wrong email and had me waiting for weeks!! I have now emailed sydneyIV@state.gov - can anyone verify if this is the way to go?

I am also a little confused with the visa payment, I have read on some timelines that we pay for the visa on the day? but the person I spoke with mentioned I had to pay for the $240 online?? Can someone shine some light onto this for me as well?

One more... with packet 3.. I have sent off DS-230 as requested as soon as I received packet 3, I did not get any verification that this was received.. Is this normal?

Thanks guys.. look forward to your responses

Alana

As for the extension of the petition I have not long done it as out petition expired on Jan 3rd 2014. I emailed the Syd USEM and this is the reply I got. We have done this and it has been accepted. Our interview is on 28th Jan 2014.

Thank you for advising our office.

To revalidate your petition, please have your U.S. citizen fiancé provide you a letter, requesting that your petition be extended to a further 4 months from the approval date of the I-129F petition. This letter must be dated and signed by your fiancé.

The letter from your U.S. citizen fiancé(e) should state their intention to still marry you within 90 days of your arrival into the U.S. with the K-1 visa and that you both are still free to marry.

Please scan and email a copy of this letter to SydneyIV@state.gov

If your request for revalidation is approved your application will automatically be extended & you will not be notified, however, if it is denied, only then will we contact you within 5 business days to you to advise you further.

Thank you

[Alana&Sheldon 0]

Great! Very helpful, thank you bunches. I have also received that same email yesterday.

One more question you may be able to assist me with, with the i-134 form, they request "original" copies, do I need to have my fiance send me via mail the form with his signature on there? How did you present these documents? (bank statement/cover letter from his work/latest tax return)

[dodgyJim73 6]

You are so helpful I cannot thank you enough! I've just read your interview.. WOW! Congratulations to you and your fiance, all the hard work has paid off and I wish you both the best! When do you get to leave Australia?

I have prepared packet 3 this evening and will be posting this via express tomorrow, thank god I decided to get on here and ask for help.

With the DS-160, is it only the confirmation page which I'm sending with packet 3?

And the DSL-1076, this is page 6 "Applicants Statement of Readiness of be Interviewed" along with the completed checklist?

I'm booked in with Dr. Waks on Monday 13th of Jan, very glad to hear they are great, that has put my mind at ease.

Yep, the DS-160 confirmation page is the only one you need to send with packet 3. I printed a full copy of the application but that was only for my records. DSL-1076, you need the Applicants statement of readiness to be interviewed page and the checklist page along with the supporting documents.

The I-134 is a bit ugly. My girl dealt with all that and I collected it when I was over there in November. From what I recall you do need originals so if you don't have them then will most probably need to get them to you ASAP, I'm sure somebody else can confirm hat though. We had bank account statements and balances, cover letters, tax returns, pay slips. Our I-134 was pretty thick but my girl is a contractor so I think she needed to provide more info.

I would follow Ozgirl1981's advice and get onto that extension letter straight away.