k1 process on visajourney vs. travel.state.gov

[shanemesser 0]

A. Visa Journey flowchart says that the basic process for the K1 visa is to a) get an approved petition, b) have it be sent to NVC, and from there the NVC sends the information to the country's embassy for information collection and an interview.

B. On the travel.state.gov site, the petition part of the process is the same. However it mentions that the documents are collected and AFTER this, the case is transferred to the embassy.

Both of these processes explicitly state different things. Visa Journey says that docs are collected by the embassy; then (after collection), the embassy schedules the interview. State.gov states all this is done online and then the case is sent to embassy for the meeting.

So, the confusing part here is this: after the petition is approved and the documents for the k1 are to be collected, are these documents handed to the embassy or uploaded and sent to the nvc directly? And what about the choosing of an agent and the payment of fees.

Can anyone clarify what they did (if anything) on the NVC website or if they did everything through the embassy?

I'm referring to http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents.htmlvs http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1flow

[Sunya and Tim 55]

The link you have provided is for an immigrant visa. A K-1 is a non-immigrant visa and you should be referring to this link.

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/family/fiance-k-1.html#4

Hope this helps.

[G Walters 136]

Follow the VJ version they are spot on.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

You have the immigrant and non immigrant visa process mixed up.

Here is the non immigrant (K1 ,with immigrant intent) flow chart http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/family/fiance-k-1.html

and you will see that it is the same as VJ's K1 flow chart.

After your I-129F petition is approved it goes through NVC for about 3-4 weeks and they will forward your petition to your embassy.
The embassy will send you the information you need to submit to them before the interview.

[shanemesser 0]

According to this: http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/all-visa-categories.html#iv -- I was thiking that K1 immigrant visa, but then at the bottom it says they just make it look that way because it's for "immigration purposes" -- I am surprised this doesn't confuse a lot more people.

So technically it appears that the k-1 is a non-immigrant visa which is used to assist with immigration purposes (which I guess is technically because the purpose of the visa is to marry and not to immigrate; in theory, someone could come to marry but never actually immigrate).

Anyway, thanks a lot for pointing this out as this wasn't clear to me at all prior to this.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

The K-1 is a nonimmigrant visa with immigrant intent, sometimes referred to by lawyers as a "hybrid" visa. The status of the PERSON changes throughout the steps of the process. K-1s are processed by the Immigrant Visa Units of consulates.

Post quote from TBoneTX

Edited August 13, 2015 by Ebunoluwa

[TBoneTX 45,309]

[blush]

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

[blush]

Give honor where honor is due

[shanemesser 0]

So apparently this visa is called immigrant by some places and non-immigrant by others.

When I checked at the department of state, it clearly says "Immigrant Visa (IV)" and "Immigrant Visa Application" -- (in other words, there is a non-immigrant as well, but my status was not located under that non-immigrant status)

When I got the packet from the Costa Rican Embassy (which came via email) -- It say to go to the http://evisaforms.state.gov/to fill out the DS160. Then when I got to the that page is clearly states not to fill out the DS160 if we are filing for the K1 and instead fill out the DS-156. So then I emailed the CR embassy and they said that Costa Rica no longer use the DS156 and to ignore what the state department said and to proceed filling out the DS160 anyway. After that I paid the fee and got the schedule the next day.

I have no clue why the evisaforms.state.gov site says this (or at least they could say "please check with your embassy to see if you need to fill out the DS160 or DS156 if you are doing a K-1 Visa).

So looks like we are set for the interview next week, but I can see how this verbage and lack of clarity can be frustrating.

Hope this post helps anyone looking.

[Ash.1101 1,756]

Government websites are awful. I was looking at those for info before I found VJ. Now I only go to government sites if I'm looking for a specific form or form instructions.

Those sites are updated every once in a while and follow a protocol, where as here, you have people sharing their experiences and confirming that yes, this is how the process goes!

Good luck on your journey!