Can a K1 Visa Be Extended?

[mtb324 0]

As I posted elsewhere my fiance and I are having a terrible time getting thru the CFO bureaucracy in the Philippines. She has spent almost a week trying to get the yellow sticker that will allow her to get on the plane. Meanwhile we are hard up against the 6 month visa expiration deadline (we were close to it because she had to finish school). If they continue to delay in issuing the sticker from CFO is there any way I can get the 6 month deadline extended? We are in utter panic that the bureaucrats will push the process past April 16th when it expires. Thanks!

P.S. I tried calling the embassy in Manila 15-20 times this evening to ask them myself but could not get a human being on the phone to discuss.

[baron555 934]

Email the Embassy and ask.

[Jon and Krissy 452]

As I posted elsewhere my fiance and I are having a terrible time getting thru the CFO bureaucracy in the Philippines. She has spent almost a week trying to get the yellow sticker that will allow her to get on the plane. Meanwhile we are hard up against the 6 month visa expiration deadline (we were close to it because she had to finish school). If they continue to delay in issuing the sticker from CFO is there any way I can get the 6 month deadline extended? We are in utter panic that the bureaucrats will push the process past April 16th when it expires. Thanks!

P.S. I tried calling the embassy in Manila 15-20 times this evening to ask them myself but could not get a human being on the phone to discuss.

Go to a different CFO office. Sounds like the one you are going to is jerking you around.

[mtb324 0]

There is more than one CFO office? (To the other poster I did email but I got an autoresponse saying they dont reply within 7 business days, by that time our visa would already be expired)

[mtb324 0]

According to the CFO Website there are only 2 offices and the other one is in Cebu

[Jon and Krissy 452]

There is more than one CFO office? (To the other poster I did email but I got an autoresponse saying they dont reply within 7 business days, by that time our visa would already be expired)

I'm not sure if there still is or not in Manila. There is another in Cebu.

I've been reading the other thread you started. Look, you've got to just get everything together document-wise and get this done in time. You may disagree with having to do this, but that doesn't change the fact that you have to if you want to be with her.

Personally, I found the whole USCIS process 1000 times more obnoxious than anything the Philippines imposed on us. CFO isn't, frankly, that big a deal compared to all the other ####### you have to do with USCIS once she's here.

Good luck....

[mtb324 0]

Thanks for your response. That's a little scary that it gets worse but at least we will be together. Honestly, we are trying really hard but I don't know what to do. We are both terrified and spending 24 hours a day on this. We were extremely careful with all our documents and breezed through every section of the visa process up until this point. However, we were completely blindsided by the CFO part (my fault) and my fiance being young and inexperienced did not save copies of everything we had spent all that time put together (young person's mistake). The counselor we are dealing with asked for a parental consent and a copy of my divorce papers both of which she has with her today. She is there waiting for him now. He said before that's all he needed but we are both terrified that he will ask for something new now that will be impossible to obtain by Monday/Tuesday (the visa expires on Weds the 16th and its a 32 hour flight). For instance, a CENOMAR which she got before but does not have a copy of or whatever. Despite my annoyance we are completely playing ball with them but some of these documents are not easy to obtain in a short amount of time. As a precaution I am trying to see about an extension but can't reach the US embassy in Manila by email (7 business days) and I called over 50 times to the embassy this evening and cannot get them on the phone.

We are really really scared the thing will expire now. We are just praying this guy approves her but our entire lives are in this man's hands. If he is jerking us around or is trying to get it to expire I don't know what to do. Maybe he took some disliking to her or who knows? I don't know if another counselor can be requested or it can be appealed or anything. It's very difficult because my fiance is having to deal with them and she is 21 and not used to dealing with these kind of matters. I think I have accounted for pretty much every document they could ask for according to their checklist but they seem to be asking for docs not on their checklist. I've probably read for 4 hours today on this website and others about the CFO process.

One other question is it possible to open the visa folder given by the Americans to obtain any of these things they need? It says not to open but what if the official opened or something? Is it possible to request a different counselor if they deny you?

If anyone has any suggestions, please help, we are really getting panicked.

[DandC 13]

Sorry to hear about the CFO thing and I hope your fiancee will get her sticker soon.

What # were you trying to call? Per USEM Manila's website, they are having tech issues. http://manila.usembassy.gov/contact.html

You cannot open the yellow packet given to your fiancee or else she would have to contact the embassy and have them reseal it (more delays).

Edit:

Q.12 What if the fiancé(e) must delay their arrival in the U.S.?

The K-1 visa is valid for a maximum of six (6) months. If the visa bearer is unable to leave for the United States immediately and the visa expires, a new one may be issued upon written request to the U.S. Embassy and the payment of another application fee of U.S. $240.

http://ustraveldocs.com/ph/ph-gen-faq.asp#qlistk12

Thanks for your response. That's a little scary that it gets worse but at least we will be together. Honestly, we are trying really hard but I don't know what to do. We are both terrified and spending 24 hours a day on this. We were extremely careful with all our documents and breezed through every section of the visa process up until this point. However, we were completely blindsided by the CFO part (my fault) and my fiance being young and inexperienced did not save copies of everything we had spent all that time put together (young person's mistake). The counselor we are dealing with asked for a parental consent and a copy of my divorce papers both of which she has with her today. She is there waiting for him now. He said before that's all he needed but we are both terrified that he will ask for something new now that will be impossible to obtain by Monday/Tuesday (the visa expires on Weds the 16th and its a 32 hour flight). For instance, a CENOMAR which she got before but does not have a copy of or whatever. Despite my annoyance we are completely playing ball with them but some of these documents are not easy to obtain in a short amount of time. As a precaution I am trying to see about an extension but can't reach the US embassy in Manila by email (7 business days) and I called over 50 times to the embassy this evening and cannot get them on the phone.

We are really really scared the thing will expire now. We are just praying this guy approves her but our entire lives are in this man's hands. If he is jerking us around or is trying to get it to expire I don't know what to do. Maybe he took some disliking to her or who knows? I don't know if another counselor can be requested or it can be appealed or anything. It's very difficult because my fiance is having to deal with them and she is 21 and not used to dealing with these kind of matters. I think I have accounted for pretty much every document they could ask for according to their checklist but they seem to be asking for docs not on their checklist. I've probably read for 4 hours today on this website and others about the CFO process.

One other question is it possible to open the visa folder given by the Americans to obtain any of these things they need? It says not to open but what if the official opened or something? Is it possible to request a different counselor if they deny you?

If anyone has any suggestions, please help, we are really getting panicked.

Edited April 10, 2014 by DandC

[mtb324 0]

Thanks for everyone's help. They finally gave her the sticker. Had us really worried there for a while when he wouldn't see her. Thanks everybody...

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Hopefully you didn't open that package. If it gets opened it has to be returned to the embassy to be resealed.

[sweet cakes 326]

Thanks for everyone's help. They finally gave her the sticker. Had us really worried there for a while when he wouldn't see her. Thanks everybody...

Seems like everything is taken cared of now! Whew! Dodged a bullet there!

Yeah, that's PH bureaucracy for ya. Nothing to rationalize about it, same as every process of this K-1 to AOS, and so on and so forth. Jon and Sol is right, more to come, but everything will be definitely worth it! I meant to respond to your post in PH forum, but I figured it won't be of much help anyways.

To your fiance, have a safe flight and soon, very very soon, welcome to America! This calls for a double celebration when she arrives back in your arms. Cheers!

[Eric-Pris 1,606]

This should be a lesson to everybody involved in the visa process. The lesson is that you should always expect bumps along the road, but the key is to leave ourselves some outs (time, money, etc.) to be able to get through it.

In this case, they probably should have waited longer before applying for a k-1 knowing that she had school to finish.

[Hank_ 9,174]

As I posted elsewhere my fiance and I are having a terrible time getting thru the CFO bureaucracy in the Philippines. She has spent almost a week trying to get the yellow sticker that will allow her to get on the plane. Meanwhile we are hard up against the 6 month visa expiration deadline (we were close to it because she had to finish school). If they continue to delay in issuing the sticker from CFO is there any way I can get the 6 month deadline extended? We are in utter panic that the bureaucrats will push the process past April 16th when it expires. Thanks!

P.S. I tried calling the embassy in Manila 15-20 times this evening to ask them myself but could not get a human being on the phone to discuss.

I see this info isn't required anymore.... thankfully!

**

I will leave it for the next person that

The embassy wants a written request if you need a reissue of the visa.

http://manila.usembassy.gov/kvisas.html

What if the fiancé(e) must delay their arrival in the U.S.?

The K-1 visa is valid for a maximum of six months. If the visa bearer is unable to leave for the United States immediately and the visa expires, a new one may be issued upon written request to the Embassy and the payment of another application fee of $240.

http://manila.usembassy.gov/service/contact-us.html

Edited April 10, 2014 by Hank_

[mtb324 0]

This should be a lesson to everybody involved in the visa process. The lesson is that you should always expect bumps along the road, but the key is to leave ourselves some outs (time, money, etc.) to be able to get through it.

In this case, they probably should have waited longer before applying for a k-1 knowing that she had school to finish.

Thanks to everyone for their kind thoughts and help. She is about to get on the plane...we have the sticker and the visa and we are hoping there are no problems. I agree it is a lesson. The CFO angle was completely unexpected. I still don't know how we missed it, I haven't exactly been blase about this process, we have tried to be extremely careful through every step. We had no choice to delay the visa, the schooling was not expected to last so long.