K-1 Interview Booking Question

[Kasulia 1]

Hi,

I received approved i-129f petition that is expiring 19th Jan 2017. Almost all of my docs are prepared, only medical examination left to do. I know the medical examination drill of being valid for 6 months etc.

I am trying to delay my interview to the last week of February (after I am back from my travels to visit fiance in US - I am eligible to travel under ESTA). I was wondering how the Interview booking timelines look like? How far in advence can I book?

If, for example, I want to make booking on the 15th of Jan 2017, will I be able to pick date as far as February 20th?

Many thanks!

[Ksenia_O 696]

Not sure February will work for you... If your case is not delayed by NVC or so, you have to get your medical and K-1 interview done BEFORE your I-129F expiration date, which is January 19, 2017...

[Kasulia 1]

Not sure February will work for you... If your case is not delayed by NVC or so, you have to get your medical and K-1 interview done BEFORE your I-129F expiration date, which is January 19, 2017...

I read in the forums that my petition will almost automaticaly be extended and all I need to do is schedule the interview for when I can. Similar states in the Us Embassy in London Page:

"If the visa interview is scheduled more than 4 months from the date the petition is approved, the applicant is required to provide an original letter from the petitioner, confirming that they both remain legally free to marry and that they intend to do so within 90 days of the applicant’s entry to the United States. There is no requirement that the letter be notarized."

So my question is still outstanding...how far in advance can I book the interview?

Edited October 28, 2016 by Kasulia

[TBoneTX 45,319]

*** Country-specific thread is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the UK regional subforum. ***

[Tieary 16]

I booked our interview on Sept 20th.

The soonest available date was October 26th.

I believe you can't book sooner than 4 weeks, they were at least 5 weeks out then.

You can get around that with re-scheduling when someone else sooner cancles, but seems like you won't need that. c:

Goodluck!

[Kat&Jon 85]

I read in the forums that my petition will almost automaticaly be extended and all I need to do is schedule the interview for when I can. Similar states in the Us Embassy in London Page:

"If the visa interview is scheduled more than 4 months from the date the petition is approved, the applicant is required to provide an original letter from the petitioner, confirming that they both remain legally free to marry and that they intend to do so within 90 days of the applicant’s entry to the United States. There is no requirement that the letter be notarized."

So my question is still outstanding...how far in advance can I book the interview?

Kasulia,

Jon and I have to delay his interview as well and will be scheduling his interview on Tuesday for time in January. I will have him play around with the dates a bit to see how far out you can schedule it to try and give you an idea of how far out you can schedule it! I will warn you that Knightsbride will only let you schedule your medical one month out. We tried to schedule his medical last week for the middle of December and they said they only start taking appointments one month out. So if you want to schedule your medical in January you will have to wait until December 1st to schedule it.

I will follow up on Tuesday to let you know how far out they let you schedule the interview!

[Kasulia 1]

Kasulia,

Jon and I have to delay his interview as well and will be scheduling his interview on Tuesday for time in January. I will have him play around with the dates a bit to see how far out you can schedule it to try and give you an idea of how far out you can schedule it! I will warn you that Knightsbride will only let you schedule your medical one month out. We tried to schedule his medical last week for the middle of December and they said they only start taking appointments one month out. So if you want to schedule your medical in January you will have to wait until December 1st to schedule it.

I will follow up on Tuesday to let you know how far out they let you schedule the interview!

Thank you both guys! Much appreciated!

[Kat&Jon 85]

So this is understandable, yet annoying. We checked the system today and the latest date we could schedule for on today was 12/22/16... we plan to check it in another week to see if we can get the date in January that we want. It looks like they only let you schedule for a little less than 2 months out. We went ahead and selected 12/22/16 with the intent to push it back to January. I felt it was better to have an interview scheduled that we can move later, than to not have one scheduled at all.

Hope this helps!

[Kasulia 1]

So this is understandable, yet annoying. We checked the system today and the latest date we could schedule for on today was 12/22/16... we plan to check it in another week to see if we can get the date in January that we want. It looks like they only let you schedule for a little less than 2 months out. We went ahead and selected 12/22/16 with the intent to push it back to January. I felt it was better to have an interview scheduled that we can move later, than to not have one scheduled at all.

Hope this helps!

Hi Kat,

Nice to hear from you To book and then reschedule sounds like a good idea! Do you mind updating me on how easy it was to reschedule, when you guys try to re-book?

Thank you so much!!!!

[bcking 3,157]

It may be different in your situation since you are only engaged and not married but...

My wife tried travelling under the ESTA program while we were waiting for the visa (We had just received the NOA2, our stuff was being forwarded to the NVC). The immigration officer in Dublin told us she was NOT eligible for the ESTA program given her pending application for a permanent resident visa. He said/claimed it was so loophole that even allowed her to get her ESTA approved and it should not have been approved. She eventually go into the country but we were in immigration holding for ~1 1/2 hours, the guy was very rude and basically told us he was making an "exception' for us but not to do it again.

Again maybe it's different since you aren't married yet.

[JFH 12,190]

It may be different in your situation since you are only engaged and not married but...

My wife tried travelling under the ESTA program while we were waiting for the visa (We had just received the NOA2, our stuff was being forwarded to the NVC). The immigration officer in Dublin told us she was NOT eligible for the ESTA program given her pending application for a permanent resident visa. He said/claimed it was so loophole that even allowed her to get her ESTA approved and it should not have been approved. She eventually go into the country but we were in immigration holding for ~1 1/2 hours, the guy was very rude and basically told us he was making an "exception' for us but not to do it again.

Again maybe it's different since you aren't married yet.

That's shocking! I have been to see my husband about 8 times a year since we got married, including two visits in the wait between NOA1 and NOA2. Always got it into the country without secondary inspection. In April I went through Las Vegas and he gave me a hard time. Accused me of trying to immigrate illegally and kept repeating the question. I was actually hoping he would send me to secondary where I would hopefully speak to someone more reasonable and aware of the rules. In June I went through Atlanta and he was more bothered about food and alcohol and whether I was carrying anything like that into the country. He asked me three times about food. I did have a bag of my beloved Monster Munch with me for the onward flight, which he laughed at.

[bcking 3,157]

That's shocking! I have been to see my husband about 8 times a year since we got married, including two visits in the wait between NOA1 and NOA2. Always got it into the country without secondary inspection. In April I went through Las Vegas and he gave me a hard time. Accused me of trying to immigrate illegally and kept repeating the question. I was actually hoping he would send me to secondary where I would hopefully speak to someone more reasonable and aware of the rules. In June I went through Atlanta and he was more bothered about food and alcohol and whether I was carrying anything like that into the country. He asked me three times about food. I did have a bag of my beloved Monster Munch with me for the onward flight, which he laughed at.

I'm sure we just had a very unlucky bad experience, the problem is my wife suffers from anxiety so that one bad experience was enough to turn her off the process. She could have visited me a lot but she hasn't been able to bring herself to do it for fear of being turned away.

The guy at the counter was essentially mute, didn't ask us any questions. He just saw her passport and my passport and said "They'll speak to you in secondary inspection" when I said I had paperwork about her visa process and her apartment/return flight etc... Then the guy in secondary inspection has us in separate rooms quizzing us each. We haven't really talked about what he said to her but she was pale with puffy eyes so obviously upset. To me he spent most of the time calling me an "idiot" for trying to "cheat the system" and telling me he had "seen my type all the time, you think you're smart when you're actually really dumb". I was so confused. He never actually asked to see any of the documents for the first twenty minutes. He just went straight into railing on us for having her come with me.

[Kasulia 1]

I'm sure we just had a very unlucky bad experience, the problem is my wife suffers from anxiety so that one bad experience was enough to turn her off the process. She could have visited me a lot but she hasn't been able to bring herself to do it for fear of being turned away.

The guy at the counter was essentially mute, didn't ask us any questions. He just saw her passport and my passport and said "They'll speak to you in secondary inspection" when I said I had paperwork about her visa process and her apartment/return flight etc... Then the guy in secondary inspection has us in separate rooms quizzing us each. We haven't really talked about what he said to her but she was pale with puffy eyes so obviously upset. To me he spent most of the time calling me an "idiot" for trying to "cheat the system" and telling me he had "seen my type all the time, you think you're smart when you're actually really dumb". I was so confused. He never actually asked to see any of the documents for the first twenty minutes. He just went straight into railing on us for having her come with me.

Wow, this was a bad experience! Sorry for your wife, I would've given them a good cry too! I am sure it happens from time to time and I am more than ready to fight my corner. I have 2 trips booked to US (Christmas and Valentines day) and I will make sure I will take a letter from my employer confirming that I work with them. I am also taking my work laptop as I will have to work from home few days. In addition I have an email reply from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) INFO Center confirming that it is not recommended that I travel with ESTA during this time. But if I do travel (so it is NOT against the rules) I bring docs to show permanent ties to home country. Same states on US Embassy in UK website: "However, if you wish to make a temporary visit at the end of which you will return to your permanent residence outside the United States, you may travel on a tourist (B-2) visa, or visa free under the Visa Waiver Program, if qualified. When traveling to the U.S. either with a visa or visa free under the Visa Waiver Program, you should be sure to carry with you for presentation to an immigration inspector evidence of your residence outside the U.S. If the immigration inspector is not convinced that you are a bonafide visitor for pleasure, you will be denied entry into the United States."

I think it is stupid to assume that I will stay in their country when my visa is in process. Why would anyone choose difficult way when all docs are ready and interview is paid and booked.

Edited November 3, 2016 by Kasulia

[bcking 3,157]

Wow, this was a bad experience! Sorry for your wife, I would've given them a good cry too! I am sure it happens from time to time and I am more than ready to fight my corner. I have 2 trips booked to US (Christmas and Valentines day) and I will make sure I will take a letter from my employer confirming that I work with them. I am also taking my work laptop as I will have to work from home few days. In addition I have an email reply from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) INFO Center confirming that it is not recommended that I travel with ESTA during this time. But if I do travel (so it is NOT against the rules) I bring docs to show permanent ties to home country. Same states on US Embassy in UK website: "However, if you wish to make a temporary visit at the end of which you will return to your permanent residence outside the United States, you may travel on a tourist (B-2) visa, or visa free under the Visa Waiver Program, if qualified. When traveling to the U.S. either with a visa or visa free under the Visa Waiver Program, you should be sure to carry with you for presentation to an immigration inspector evidence of your residence outside the U.S. If the immigration inspector is not convinced that you are a bonafide visitor for pleasure, you will be denied entry into the United States."

I think it is stupid to assume that I will stay in their country when my visa is in process. Why would anyone choose difficult way when all docs are ready and interview is paid and booked.

She is out of work which is why we were worried, but the sad thing is they started grilling us and being rude before even asking us ANY questions about what she does in the UK. They didn't ask for the proof of residence etc... which we had ready to give them. I offered it to the person at the window and he just shook his head as if we were "all wrong" and said "they will deal with you".

I think perhaps the red flags for us were two fold - we were flying through Dublin where you do pre-flight screening, and we were travelling together. We were doing that because my wife was so nervous she wanted me with her, and she didn't want to fly all the way to Houston to be made to turn around in the airport. However, I think they saw us travelling together and going through Dublin and "asusmed" we were taking the "easy way" and we were suspicious.

[Kasulia 1]

She is out of work which is why we were worried, but the sad thing is they started grilling us and being rude before even asking us ANY questions about what she does in the UK. They didn't ask for the proof of residence etc... which we had ready to give them. I offered it to the person at the window and he just shook his head as if we were "all wrong" and said "they will deal with you".

I think perhaps the red flags for us were two fold - we were flying through Dublin where you do pre-flight screening, and we were travelling together. We were doing that because my wife was so nervous she wanted me with her, and she didn't want to fly all the way to Houston to be made to turn around in the airport. However, I think they saw us travelling together and going through Dublin and "asusmed" we were taking the "easy way" and we were suspicious.

uhhh I can just imagine how nervous I will be! Thanks for your story, just in case, it is good to know what to expect.

Edited November 3, 2016 by Kasulia