K1 Approved! Yay! (Same Sex)

[SV350z 3]

Hi fellow VJ friends,

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone! My fiance's K1 was approved today in San Salvador. We are a same-sex couple and the experience was good.

I emailed ahead of time to ask if I could attend with him and they said yes, but, when we arrived they rudely told me no. That is fine, I went ahead and went back home (we live together abroad). There is no waiting area outside except across the street on the sidewalk under the hot sun. You can walk down the road to McDonalds or Starbucks but that gets old.

He arrived at 6.30 for a 7AM appointment. By 7.05 he was instead. He says it went like this:

1. Reviewed his primary documents

2. He went and got a number

3. He was called and interviewed, they asked for:

• His documents
• Proof of relationship - we presented a binder with pictures of our relationship and business over the last 2 years, they carefully read over this and looked at every picture. Very carefully.
• I gave him my US passport as evidence, he did present that and it seemed to be favorable
• They asked him if he had prior issues with the law, he did not
• They asked him about our tattoos, we both have each others named tattooed. In El Salvador tats can disqualify you due to their strong gang association (yes even dumb things like a music note have gotten people denied). In our case it was not an issue since it was our names.
• They told him congrats you are approved and handed him a slip with how to track the progress, within 2 weeks the passport will be in cargo express

They did not review my I-134 nor my tax return nor my W2, which they do ask for. They also did not review several other documents. Seems like the main focus in our case was on our relationship pictures. My fiance mentions the officer was reviewing my original packet we sent when we started and the original proofs such as pictures, etc. He asked about a few of them and was overall very polite and respectful. I am pleased to hear this.

Arrival time: 7AM

Out of Embassy time: 9.10 AM

Actual interview time: 12-15 minutes

Good luck to everyone with pending visas and if you have any questions about El Salvador I am glad to help! Props to the US Embassy here for improving greatly overly the years, it used to be a mess!

Edited August 25, 2015 by SV350z

[gfcarr1982 5]

Congratulations! That's great news.

[cdneh 3,112]

Congratulations!

[SV350z 3]

Thank you both! Could not have survived it without VJ!

[hampguy 9]

Thank you for posting this. We are expect our NOA2 by end of week(per USCIS). I have heard wonderful stories about US Embassy in Manila(partner is from Philippines). I hope when he has his interview it goes as well as your partner's interview went. It is very nice to see SS petitioners getting approved.

Hi fellow VJ friends,

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone! My fiance's K1 was approved today in San Salvador. We are a same-sex couple and the experience was good.

I emailed ahead of time to ask if I could attend with him and they said yes, but, when we arrived they rudely told me no. That is fine, I went ahead and went back home (we live together abroad). There is no waiting area outside except across the street on the sidewalk under the hot sun. You can walk down the road to McDonalds or Starbucks but that gets old.

He arrived at 6.30 for a 7AM appointment. By 7.05 he was instead. He says it went like this:

1. Reviewed his primary documents

2. He went and got a number

3. He was called and interviewed, they asked for:

• His documents
• Proof of relationship - we presented a binder with pictures of our relationship and business over the last 2 years, they carefully read over this and looked at every picture. Very carefully.
• I gave him my US passport as evidence, he did present that and it seemed to be favorable
• They asked him if he had prior issues with the law, he did not
• They asked him about our tattoos, we both have each others named tattooed. In El Salvador tats can disqualify you due to their strong gang association (yes even dumb things like a music note have gotten people denied). In our case it was not an issue since it was our names.
• They told him congrats you are approved and handed him a slip with how to track the progress, within 2 weeks the passport will be in cargo express

They did not review my I-134 nor my tax return nor my W2, which they do ask for. They also did not review several other documents. Seems like the main focus in our case was on our relationship pictures. My fiance mentions the officer was reviewing my original packet we sent when we started and the original proofs such as pictures, etc. He asked about a few of them and was overall very polite and respectful. I am pleased to hear this.

Arrival time: 7AM

Out of Embassy time: 9.10 AM

Actual interview time: 12-15 minutes

Good luck to everyone with pending visas and if you have any questions about El Salvador I am glad to help! Props to the US Embassy here for improving greatly overly the years, it used to be a mess!

[SV350z 3]

@hampguy - congrats on NOA 2. You will see it's not so bad, Manila is much more open minded than San Salvador. In theory the SS or not SS should be the same but in reality in many countries the local culture frowns upon SS and it makes it harder. Fortunately the employees at the embassy are very professional.

[ato1223 0]

Just want to say thank you VJ. We just got approved yesterday in Manila. We are same sex. I've been reading tips and experiences here before my interview. The interview went very smooth. Goodluck to those who are filing.

[hampguy 9]

@hampguy - congrats on NOA 2. You will see it's not so bad, Manila is much more open minded than San Salvador. In theory the SS or not SS should be the same but in reality in many countries the local culture frowns upon SS and it makes it harder. Fortunately the employees at the embassy are very professional.

Oddly, i just saw this. We are still waiting for our NOA2. We are in the "black hole" of TSC.

[hampguy 9]

Just want to say thank you VJ. We just got approved yesterday in Manila. We are same sex. I've been reading tips and experiences here before my interview. The interview went very smooth. Goodluck to those who are filing.

Congratulations! When did you file? We just passed the 7th month mark of being at TSC waiting for our NOA2. How i wish our petition was received at lockbox after March 27th so it would have gone to CSC.

[ato1223 0]

Congratulations! When did you file? We just passed the 7th month mark of being at TSC waiting for our NOA2. How i wish our petition was received at lockbox after March 27th so it would have gone to CSC.

Hi. Thank you. We filed last May 29 and got our noa2 last July 8.

Edited October 10, 2015 by ato1223

[tamcloud 92]

Congratulations on the approvals!

[ato1223 0]

Congratulations on the approvals!

Thank you ??? Edited October 10, 2015 by ato1223

[ato1223 0]

Congratulations! When did you file? We just passed the 7th month mark of being at TSC waiting for our NOA2. How i wish our petition was received at lockbox after March 27th so it would have gone to CSC.

My fiancée in US called NVC to follow up our application after two weeks of receiving NOA1. She just gave them the receipt number to track our papers. The NVC told her to wait a couple of weeks because they were still reviewing our application. Then after less than a month of receiving NOA1, the NOA 2 arrived. I think, calling NVC speeds up our NOA2. Try calling them.

[TheMusicSpeaks 1]

Hi all.

I am from NY and I filed a K-1 Visa for my fiancé from Brasil. I received my NOA1 on Oct 1. Waiting for NOA2 in the next following weeks. It's been a pretty quick process. Thankfully we were sent to CSC. I hope everyone from TSC gets some info soon.

[Bin deeq 10]

Congratulations !