Our K1 visa journey (I-129F to AOS) timeline and wait times

[m134 1]

I’d like to share the timeline of my fiancé’s(now spouse) K-1 journey last year. I periodically lurked around this website during the process and found valuable information throughout the different steps. I always enjoyed reading the timelines people included in the signatures with how long each step took. It was very informative. As many know, the waiting is the hardest part. I was always a little worried that something will get held up or lost or a mistake would be made (when dealing with government organizations this is always a concern..). I saw some people’s timelines showing really long waits for certain milestones. There’s always a feeling of hopelessness and frustration when you don’t know how long it will take or what is happening. Calling USCIS is close to impossible so basically it all boils down to waiting. So, I decided I would share the timeline/milestones for us. Maybe someone going through the process now will read this and have some hope for a painless process and less waiting than expected. It certainly happened that way for us! I’d like to add three notes.

First, DHL delivered the documents sent from the embassy to the wrong person. By the time we figured this out two weeks had gone to waste waiting. So technically the K-1 visa interview could have been done two weeks earlier. The fault is with DHL though, not the embassy.

Second, we lagged a bit to get married. If we did it earlier it could have cut some more time. All in all I think if those two steps (which depended entirely on us or DHL) were done faster the green card would have come in before the end of 2015.

Third, there was no interview for the AOS and green card. It just came in the mail. I realize this may not happen for everyone, and I wasn’t expecting it either. But it certainly proves it can and does happen!

Anyway, kudos to USCIS, NVC, and the embassy for absolutely exceeding all our expectations with regards to wait time, and for making it a painless process. From sending the initial I-129F to receipt of green card was around 9 months, but could’ve been 8 if not for the factors I mentioned above. Since I don’t post much, I figure this would be more useful to people than including it in my signature. I hope this is the right place to post this info. This is a great site!

I-129F package sent 4/16/2015
NOA1 4/20/2015
NOA2 5/19/2015
NVC Clearance received

and documents sent to embassy 6/18/2015
Medical exam 7/17/2015
Interview at embassy 7/27/2015
Receive pasport with K-1 visa 7/30/2015
Arrive in USA 8/7/2015
Apply for SSN 8/28/2015
Get SSN 9/9/2015
Get married 10/24/2015
Apply for AOS + EAD + AP 11/2/2015
Receive EAD/AP 1/18/2016
Receive green card (NO interview!) 1/30/2016

Edited July 11, 2016 by m134

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from K1 Process to K1 Progress Forum~