Approved! Update to our story

[NuZayetsPogodi 117]

On September 23 (or maybe 24?), I posted my fiance's interview experience in Moscow. We thought he would be approved without issue, so we weren't expecting the emotional journey we just went on.

At his interview, the CO asked about my fiance's DS-160 forms from when he applied for a B-2 visa in the spring. He had marked that he was in a common law marriage because he had a live-in girlfriend at the time. My fiance explained why he marked common law marriage, and the CO really grilled him on the dates of our meeting. We had all the proof in the world that our relationship is genuine- I even lived in Russia with my fiance all summer! But it didn't seem to matter because the CO suspected my fiance of lying on his previous DS-160 forms.

So, coupled with the fact that my fiance is an engineer, he was put in AP. The CO said he needed to think about our story and case because "something just doesn't make sense," and he said he would make his decision in a week. My fiance and I waited nearly 6 weeks - 40 days to be exact - when his status changed to Ready and from immigrant visa to non-immigrant visa. We were excited but I was still cautious. This morning, the status changed to Issued. We are thrilled, but I am still having trouble getting excited. Every step in this process has been agonizing. We both lost a lot of sleep and our nerves are completely frayed. We drove ourselves crazy with, "What if? What if? What if?" But now he will be home for Christmas and we can move forward!

To anyone starting out on any visa journey, you have GOT to be careful on every form. Don't omit information, don't blatantly lie, don't tell a tiny lie, don't fudge numbers. Post your situation on these boards and ask people to analyze your situation from a CO's perspective. These CO's truly are trained to find the tiniest inconsistency, which can delay your case or even result in you being refused completely. If you made a mistake on your form, even unintentionally like my fiance did, you need to be upfront about that with the CO. It doesn't matter one iota how genuine your relationship is- if you are caught lying, your journey is over. You will not get a visa and you will probably be banned from ever getting a visa.

Also, if you are interviewing from Russia, China, or any Middle Eastern country, and if your job is even slightly related to science and technology, prepare a resume in English. If possible, email it to the embassy ahead of your interview because you will be asked for it. You will go through AP and it may take weeks or months. This is to run several background checks on you to make sure you don't have plans to come to the US and send sensitive information back to your home country.

Finally, make no plans. We thought our case was solid. We assumed my fiance would be approved right away and he would get his visa a week or two after his interview. Luckily, we didn't buy any tickets. Nobody is safe from a long AP wait. Nobody is guaranteed an approval. I see so many posts on here from people who have made hard and fast plans for after their K-1 approval, and after our experience and others that I've read, I have to warn everyone to be more cautious and tentative in their planning.

Good luck to everyone in their visa journey! Thank you so much for everyone's support, especially those who reassured me in those dark moments right after my fiance's interview. Looking back, I value the honest (sometimes harsh) responses I received. These ended up being the most helpful.

Edited November 3, 2016 by NuZayetsPogodi

[swalker 137]

Congrats!

[C-ma'am 684]

****Post moved from K1 Process to K1 Progress Reports.

[Tracy-Tonia 24]

Thanks for sharing.

[Light27 5]

Thanks for the honest thoughts.