K1 newbie and confused

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Forgot to say we have received form I-797c

I think I understand where she is.

Laura. Hi.

You have just started the process by filing the petition and got a receipt. That's the first Notice of Action aka NOA1.

Then you wait for the petition to be approved. A second notice will come saying the petition was approved. Second notice of action, so NOA2.

Then you wait for the whole file to go to the National Visa Center (NVC). They will give you a new case number starting with LND (for London) and send your file off to London.

Then London will send you a letter saying you may start applying for your visa. (So far only a petition has been done.) You got ahead of yourself and shouldn't do the DS-160 visa application or medical until London has your file. This is the instructions for a London K1. https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/fiancee-2/applying-for-the-visa/ Don't do any of that until the petition has been approved, the file goes through NVC, and was received by London. They will mail a letter to you in the UK to say "Go". You can go over the list of documents needed for the interview and get those ready now.

[Lalalaura 2]

Thank you Nick, that was very helpful. Ok so I need to wait until London get the application and we receive NOA2 and then I will have to do the DS-160 again? I thought I was missing lots of paper work and confused myself. Thank you all so much for your help! I'm glad I found this forum.

Also, has anyone used a lawyer and found it useful? Or was it just a waste of money?

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

Thank you Nick, that was very helpful. Ok so I need to wait until London get the application and we receive NOA2 and then I will have to do the DS-160 again? I thought I was missing lots of paper work and confused myself. Thank you all so much for your help! I'm glad I found this forum.

Also, has anyone used a lawyer and found it useful? Or was it just a waste of money?

Yes, wait for the NOA-2. It is also a "I-797c" but will let you know your petition has been approved.

(Alternatively, there is a possibility of an RFE asking for more information, if this happens, just send in the documentation that they ask for and continue waiting for the I-797c that says you are approved).

You can check your case status here--> https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do to find out when your petition is approved and your NOA2 (approval I-797c) is being sent. Alternatively, there is USCIS case tracker app. With an NOA-1 date of mid-January, I expect you will have the approval fairly soon if you were routed to the California Service Center (I'm not sure if you were, you should have been but your timeline is still at Texas).

After you receive that NOA-2, your case is sent to the NVC and then to London, who will send a letter to the foreign fiance detailing the next steps in the process. This is when you would schedule your medical and complete the DS-160.

Hope that clears things up. I understand the "NOA1 and NOA2" thing can get confusing, as they are visajourney-specific acronyms that are used around the forums as a form of short-hand, and not actual terms used by the USCIS or other immigration departments.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Thank you Nick, that was very helpful. Ok so I need to wait until London get the application and we receive NOA2 and then I will have to do the DS-160 again? I thought I was missing lots of paper work and confused myself. Thank you all so much for your help! I'm glad I found this forum.

Also, has anyone used a lawyer and found it useful? Or was it just a waste of money?

Right now the petition is just waiting it's turn to get reviewed. When an immigration official picks it up to check it out, If he finds anything missing, he will send Curtis a letter saying what else he needs to submit. It is possible that your petition didn't have everything needed so they could approve it. The letter that Curtis would get is called a "request for evidence" (RFE). It means you get a second chance to get anything left out of the petition packet sent in. When they have everything they need, they will mail the good news (NOA2) that the petition has been approved. Tell Curtis to hang on to that lovely NOA2 piece of paper because you will need it again after you get to the US.

Then NVC --> London --> letter to you ---> medical exam --> submit Readiness form --> get letter saying when to come interview. (You don't get to pick the date for a London interview)

I think your early DS-160 will probably be Ok. It is just sitting out in "the cloud" and not being reviewed. When you finally go to your interview and show them that confirmation page you have, they can retrieve your form for the interviewer to review.

Some people use lawyers because they don't have time to mess with this or it is just too overwhelming for them to understand. Give it some time to feel comfortable with it. A lawyer would probably not be that helpful now because they don't know London like we know London. Each country has slightly different ways to do things and most lawyers probably are real good at petitions, but can't know every little tip and trick for every embassy in the world, like the ones who have already been to that embassy in person. You would end up paying him, then coming here to get the actual London scoop.

I felt as overwhelmed as you when I started. I got lost just reading the forums and couldn't find my way back to a thread I was reading. I messed up my timeline so badly the admins on here had to fix it. And all the NOA, RFE, NVC letters just blew my mind. You will find your way if you just let it slowly sink in.

[Cathi 5,748]

the guides are your friend

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

Any info on the J-1 (if it had a 2-year home residency requirement or not)? I suppose it does not make a huge difference, even if it had it'd just mean you can't get your K-1 until June/July.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Yes, wait for the NOA-2. It is also a "I-797c" but will let you know your petition has been approved.

(Alternatively, there is a possibility of an RFE asking for more information, if this happens, just send in the documentation that they ask for and continue waiting for the I-797c that says you are approved).

The I-797c is the receipt notice. (NOA1). The approval notice(NOA2) will be an I-797.

https://www.uscis.gov/i-797-info

Edited March 3, 2016 by KayDeeCee

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

The I-797c is the receipt notice. (NOA1). The approval notice(NOA2) will be an I-797.

https://www.uscis.gov/i-797-info

Gotcha

[Lalalaura 2]

Hi,

Yes all the terms are very confusing but I think you've managed to help me figure it out so thank you all!

We received the NOA1 on Jan 14th, and it was from the California service centre (need to change my timeline) so we will wait for the NOA2. I just used the tracker online and it says it was received, so I hope it will turn to approved soon. He has not been sent an RFE form but we will see what happens. I don't think he missed anything, he sent 2 forms (the petition and the recipt form, sorry I can't remember the form names) and the money. Was there anything else?

I have some friends that I using lawyers but that's only because of previous visas, but we will try to do it ourselves.

I am not aware of my J1 visa having the 2 year residency, is there a way I can find out? But it it's June/July that's fine, as we are hoping to get the K1 for September, do you think that is possible?

Thank you all and sorry for knowing absolutely nothing about this haha. You've been a great help!!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

He has not been sent an RFE form but we will see what happens. I don't think he missed anything, he sent 2 forms (the petition and the recipt form, sorry I can't remember the form names) and the money. Was there anything else?

it would be more than forms. There is documentation to include as well. Look at this guide for the petition packet. The things that would be included are within the box area. It is quite a bit of stuff including a form filled out and signed by you, a statement written and signed by you, and a passport photo of you. http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

Go over the list and see if he included all those things. If not, you might want to work on them now so they are ready if he gets a request for them.

[Lalalaura 2]

Ah I see so We missed the G-325A form. The embassy website didn't say anything other than those two forms (I-129f + G-1144) so that's all we did. I guess we will get the RFE form sent back to us and we will have that waiting to go. Thank you!

[yuna628 9,676]

Ah I see so We missed the G-325A form. The embassy website didn't say anything other than those two forms (I-129f + G-1144) so that's all we did. I guess we will get the RFE form sent back to us and we will have that waiting to go. Thank you!

Did you send in the signed letters of intent to marry? Along with evidence of meeting within the past two years? You'll need two G-325A, one for you and fiancé filled out with your information and a 2x2 passport photo for each form.

[Lalalaura 2]

I thought those parts where later on? All we have done at the moment is what it says on the government website https://www.uscis.gov/i-129f it says nothing about letters of intent to marry or evidence etc so we did not send that.

[yuna628 9,676]

I thought those parts where later on? All we have done at the moment is what it says on the government website https://www.uscis.gov/i-129f it says nothing about letters of intent to marry or evidence etc so we did not send that.

No. Please refer to the instructions that actually go with the process.

Every form has an instruction sheet the applicants should go over carefully. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-129finstr.pdf

Did the US fiancé send in proof of their citizenship for instance? The other documents needed to be sent are all mentioned in the instructions.

For every item that was not sent in with the application will cause an RFE, my suggestion to you is to read over all instructions and get together everything, because they will absolutely request it from you.

Everything that you did not send in that applies to your case, as mentioned in the below checklist will be requested. http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

Edited March 3, 2016 by yuna628

[Lalalaura 2]

Thank you. But I don't understand why the government website does not list these other documents but visa journey does. Surely it should be on the government site?!