K-1 Extension?

[KJ08 0]

Good morning/evening/afternoon/whenever you're reading this (haha). So my fiance and I just received word that our application went to the embassy in London and we weren't quite expecting it to hit so soon. My approve notice is good until January 23rd. Now my concern is that I'm currently active duty military living in dorms and working on the process of moving out early and getting an apartment all set up for when he gets here. The problem is that I don't have a whole lot saved up currently and my leadership want me to get a second job to save up quicker to be able to afford the current plus last months rent plus a deposit just in case. This could take 2 months or so from now which puts us very close to the end of our approval notice. My question is an we go ahead and go through with the medical and interview and get the visa approved, then wait until I've gotten our apartment for him to come down, or if it does look like it'll go past the date can we get an extension and if so, does it require a fee to do so? Do you have a certain number of months after the visa is approved for them to come to the US, or does it still use the approval notice date? Will the visa no longer be valid? We're worried that not having an apartment address for him to present during the interview wont be good.

For clarification, my salary is well above the poverty line and I've sent my tax and salary information for the affidavit of support, but I'm a bit down in my bank account due to a 2 week trip to the UK to visit him last month. We would have held off and saved the money instead had we known it was going to go through so soon. Thanks to everyone for reading and any advice you can give.

Edited November 11, 2015 by KJ08

[A'n'L 735]

Hi,

First of all, the consulate will extend the validity of your petition automatically (for maximum a year), so don't worry too much about getting everything sorted before Jan 23rd.

Also, you will have quite some time to enter the US once the visa is issued. The visa will be valid for 6 months after your medical (which should be as close to the interview as possible)

Good luck :-)

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

For London, they ask that your fiance bring a new letter of intent from you to the interview to revalidate the expired petition. You do not have to do anything before that date or pay anything. It is okay to go past the date. Just a formality to renew it.

If you were really rushing, it would still take you about 2 1/2 months to get an interview date in London. You can slow it down by not rushing to get the required things in. Do submit the DS-160 before the expiration of your petition just so they know you are not abandoning the visa. Maybe mid-December? That will not trigger an interview. Your medical results have to be received as well as the Readiness for Interview online form before they even put you in line for an interview. You can pace those to suit your timeline. The visa will be issued to expire 6 months after the medical date so keep that in mind when picking your medical appointment. A January medical would get you a visa good until July.

[KJ08 0]

For London, they ask that your fiance bring a new letter of intent from you to the interview to revalidate the expired petition. You do not have to do anything before that date or pay anything. It is okay to go past the date. Just a formality to renew it.

If you were really rushing, it would still take you about 2 1/2 months to get an interview date in London. You can slow it down by not rushing to get the required things in. Do submit the DS-160 before the expiration of your petition just so they know you are not abandoning the visa. Maybe mid-December? That will not trigger an interview. Your medical results have to be received as well as the Readiness for Interview online form before they even put you in line for an interview. You can pace those to suit your timeline. The visa will be issued to expire 6 months after the medical date so keep that in mind when picking your medical appointment. A January medical would get you a visa good until July.

Just to verify and make sure I understand, as long as we submit in the DS-160 online application before January 23rd, all he'll need to do is do the medical in January (before the expiration date?) and when he goes for his interview, bring the new letter of intent for him (not from me).

Thanks so much for replying!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Just to verify and make sure I understand, as long as we submit in the DS-160 online application before January 23rd, all he'll need to do is do the medical in January (before the expiration date?) and when he goes for his interview, bring the new letter of intent for him (not from me).

Thanks so much for replying!

To be more clear---

You don't have to do anything before the expiration. I just think it would be a good move to get something in before the expiration and the first thing is the DS-160. You can stall the medical to February/March. It was just an example I put to show you could send DS-160 and wait a month if you wanted to before the medical. There is nothing that says the medical has to be January. But once you have a medical, the six months clock starts ticking down to a date he has to be in the U.S. Even that could be stalled but his medical would expire and it would cost to get that done again. You probably don't want to waste money on re-doing the medical. Right?

So all that needs to be done if his interview is after the petition expires is take a new letter of intent, written by you the American, to his interview. Magic! Petition is okay again. Just say in your signed letter that you remain free to marry and intend to marry [his name] within 90 days of his entry to the US on a K1 Fiancé Visa. Mail it to him. No email or scans. Then he takes it to his interview. Half the time they don't even ask for it, but the letter of instruction says do it, so that's what you will do.

[KJ08 0]

To be more clear---

You don't have to do anything before the expiration. I just think it would be a good move to get something in before the expiration and the first thing is the DS-160. You can stall the medical to February/March. It was just an example I put to show you could send DS-160 and wait a month if you wanted to before the medical. There is nothing that says the medical has to be January. But once you have a medical, the six months clock starts ticking down to a date he has to be in the U.S. Even that could be stalled but his medical would expire and it would cost to get that done again. You probably don't want to waste money on re-doing the medical. Right?

So all that needs to be done if his interview is after the petition expires is take a new letter of intent, written by you the American, to his interview. Magic! Petition is okay again. Just say in your signed letter that you remain free to marry and intend to marry [his name] within 90 days of his entry to the US on a K1 Fiancé Visa. Mail it to him. No email or scans. Then he takes it to his interview. Half the time they don't even ask for it, but the letter of instruction says do it, so that's what you will do.

Awesome, thank you so much for clarifying. You've been an amazing help!

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from K1 Process to UK Regional Forum~

~Inquiry is embassy-specific~

[Mirabellarose 0]

I wanted to make sure we are safe as well. My fiancés K-1 Visa expires on 12-06-15, our embassy is also in the UK . I was planning on expediting a letter to the Embassy in London requesting an extension on his behalf, but was told by other forums I didn't need too. We just finished the DS-160 last week. We kinda of lost a month on it because his packet 3 was misplaced & some misunderstanding on what needs to be done. Do we need to do anything to extend the K-1 visa? He hasn't scheduled the medical as of yet. I am just so stressed out and lost. From the receiving packet 3 what do after is for some reason confuses me. I did send him my info. We suppose to be married on Feb 5th. Any can help me or message me anything. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advanced.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I wanted to make sure we are safe as well. My fiancés K-1 Visa expires on 12-06-15, our embassy is also in the UK . I was planning on expediting a letter to the Embassy in London requesting an extension on his behalf, but was told by other forums I didn't need too. We just finished the DS-160 last week. We kinda of lost a month on it because his packet 3 was misplaced & some misunderstanding on what needs to be done. Do we need to do anything to extend the K-1 visa? He hasn't scheduled the medical as of yet. I am just so stressed out and lost. From the receiving packet 3 what do after is for some reason confuses me. I did send him my info. We suppose to be married on Feb 5th. Any can help me or message me anything. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advanced.

1) Your fiance does not have a K1 visa yet. He has an approved petition on his behalf that allowed him to apply for K1 visa. That application is the DS-160. Your petition will expire 12/6. Read in this thread what I said about London and expired petitions. It applies to you. Mail a new letter of intent to your fiance so he can take it to the interview.

2) The instructions for the K1 steps are on the London website. They gave him a link in the instruction letter (formerly called packet 3). http://london.usembassy.gov/iv/fiance_instructions.html. Read that page and all the links.

3) There is more explanation of the London K1 process pinned at the top of this UK forum. Read all of it because there are some corrections added about things that changed. Make notes. Write down what needs to be done in a list. Check it off as you do it. Write down things you want to remember. It helps you remember.