2017 Post NOA2 for Cuba K1 - getting ready for interview

[forena99 74]

On 6/21/2017 at 7:10 PM, Mayeli said:

Here goes my first post!

Hi everyone!  I've been following the thread closely and have been so thankful for all the information and advice everyone's posted.  

A couple of questions for those that have gone through the interviews and were approved (congrats by the way): 

1. Did any of you include in your supporting evidence a letter or affidavit of support from a family member or friend validating the relationship?
2. Would anyone be willing to share an example of a letter or affidavit they used (or have seen used)?

Thanks all!

 

 

 

Hi @Mayeli,

Welcome to the group!!  So excited for you. =)  Wish you good luck in your journey.  I did NOT end up using a letter from a family member or friend validating the relationship.  I also, however, did not have a co-signer on the affidavit, so, I was just supporting myself.  Not sure if they two are related, but I didn't end up using that and we ended up being fine.

[forena99 74]

Hi all! 

Just an update.  My fiance came into FLL last Thursday from Holguin, CUBA.  He took about 10 minutes to go through customs!  It didn't take him very long at all.  They looked at his papers.  They spoke to him in English so he responded in English and everything seemed to be fine.  There is no carousel for baggage claim for his flight, so he had to ask someone after the customs POE process and they showed him where his bag was.  But he said he felt comfortable and never felt like there was a stressful moment.  They were all really friendly with him.  Just thought I'd share his experience with you guys.  

We were united last Thursday at the FLL airport and we spent the weekend in Miami and FLL just touring around.   It was great to see his face when we saw the tall buildings and planes flying banners at the beach.  All in all he took everything really well, since this was his first time to the US.

Cheers,

Forena

[TatiyPablo 32]

On 6/21/2017 at 10:10 PM, Mayeli said:

Here goes my first post!

Hi everyone!  I've been following the thread closely and have been so thankful for all the information and advice everyone's posted.  

A couple of questions for those that have gone through the interviews and were approved (congrats by the way): 

1. Did any of you include in your supporting evidence a letter or affidavit of support from a family member or friend validating the relationship?
2. Would anyone be willing to share an example of a letter or affidavit they used (or have seen used)?

Thanks all!

 

 

 

Hi @Mayeli welcome to the thread  In my initial petition i provided two notarized affidavits of bona fide relationship from my spanish teacher/fiance's friend in Cuba and from one of our friends in New York. It's not necessary, but I don't think it hurts! I'm going to include one from my mom and best friend who both traveled to Cuba to meet my fiance this year. I used a template I found on visajourney (through search section) and tweaked it accordingly. 

51 minutes ago, forena99 said:

Hi all! 

Just an update.  My fiance came into FLL last Thursday from Holguin, CUBA.  He took about 10 minutes to go through customs!  It didn't take him very long at all.  They looked at his papers.  They spoke to him in English so he responded in English and everything seemed to be fine.  There is no carousel for baggage claim for his flight, so he had to ask someone after the customs POE process and they showed him where his bag was.  But he said he felt comfortable and never felt like there was a stressful moment.  They were all really friendly with him.  Just thought I'd share his experience with you guys.  

We were united last Thursday at the FLL airport and we spent the weekend in Miami and FLL just touring around.   It was great to see his face when we saw the tall buildings and planes flying banners at the beach.  All in all he took everything really well, since this was his first time to the US.

Cheers,

Forena

Congrats! That is such wonderful news and so exciting, I'm glad he had an easy entry into the states!

[TatiyPablo 32]

On 6/20/2017 at 4:57 PM, forena99 said:

@TatiyPablo,

Not sure if this question was already answered, but I had my employment verification and bank document printed about 2 weeks before our interview day (closer to the date is better, I presumed).  However, you can fill in and start gathering all your info for the 134 affidavit form as soon as possible.  Tax info, all the proper documentation, payment stubs, letters from your boss, if you have any, saying that you got hired or anything like that, though that last one isn't necessary, just if you have something, doesn't hurt.

 

When is your interview?  And when do your payment stubs become available for you to print?  If your appointment is in mid July, and you can have a late June payment stub, you may be fine.  They probably won't ask you anything.  But if your appointment is in August and your payment stubs end in late June, then you may be asked for a payment stub for July 2017, which you may not be able to provide.  You may be fine either way, but just be honest and as prepared as possible.  =)

Just seeing this! My interview is the last week of July and my contract with my current company ends June 30. I can get a letter this week and copies of my pay stubs but again, I don't want to lie and make it look like I'm still employed with this company. Hopefully I'll have a new job by then (!) but if not what do you think I should submit?

 

For bank statements, how far did you go back - one year? Thanks again! xo

[TatiyPablo 32]

For those who submitted reservations for courthouse appointments as evidence of the intended marriage, how did you go about doing this? Is this a state issue? I've looked into the city clerk's office in Manhattan where I'm based and we will need a marriage license, obtained by both parties appearance at city hall, in order to make an appt. Obviously, that's not possible until he gets here. Thoughts?

 

Thanks!

[eruiz3 24]

26 minutes ago, TatiyPablo said:

For those who submitted reservations for courthouse appointments as evidence of the intended marriage, how did you go about doing this? Is this a state issue? I've looked into the city clerk's office in Manhattan where I'm based and we will need a marriage license, obtained by both parties appearance at city hall, in order to make an appt. Obviously, that's not possible until he gets here. Thoughts?

 

Thanks!

I have mine from online. Where I live you can make the appointment online. I found out by just googling "marriage license appointment in _____"

[eruiz3 24]

1 hour ago, forena99 said:

Hi all! 

Just an update.  My fiance came into FLL last Thursday from Holguin, CUBA.  He took about 10 minutes to go through customs!  It didn't take him very long at all.  They looked at his papers.  They spoke to him in English so he responded in English and everything seemed to be fine.  There is no carousel for baggage claim for his flight, so he had to ask someone after the customs POE process and they showed him where his bag was.  But he said he felt comfortable and never felt like there was a stressful moment.  They were all really friendly with him.  Just thought I'd share his experience with you guys.  

We were united last Thursday at the FLL airport and we spent the weekend in Miami and FLL just touring around.   It was great to see his face when we saw the tall buildings and planes flying banners at the beach.  All in all he took everything really well, since this was his first time to the US.

Cheers,

Forena

Felicidades Forena!! I love going through Fort Lauderdale it's always cheaper & faster than Miami. I'm planning on traveling & coming back with my fiancé through there. I'm hear to see he didn't have any issues at the airport. 

 

I can only imagine how nice it was to see your fiancé's face. I can't wait to experience it with my fiancé! 

 

[eruiz3 24]

On 6/21/2017 at 10:10 PM, Mayeli said:

Here goes my first post!

Hi everyone!  I've been following the thread closely and have been so thankful for all the information and advice everyone's posted.  

A couple of questions for those that have gone through the interviews and were approved (congrats by the way): 

1. Did any of you include in your supporting evidence a letter or affidavit of support from a family member or friend validating the relationship?
2. Would anyone be willing to share an example of a letter or affidavit they used (or have seen used)?

Thanks all!

 

 

 

Hi Mayeli! I didn't include any letters besides the intent to marry in the initial I-129F packet. I might take a couple to our interview in August. 

 

Not sure how that's related to the affidavit of support. You can take a letter from your employer, pay stubs, w-2 & income tax as evidence of your yearly income. 

[forena99 74]

17 hours ago, TatiyPablo said:

Just seeing this! My interview is the last week of July and my contract with my current company ends June 30. I can get a letter this week and copies of my pay stubs but again, I don't want to lie and make it look like I'm still employed with this company. Hopefully I'll have a new job by then (!) but if not what do you think I should submit?

 

For bank statements, how far did you go back - one year? Thanks again! xo

Hi @TatiyPablo,

Submit your payment stubs up to the 30th of June or however updated you have.  I think 1 yr is enough, but I submitted more, just cuz I had it.  

You won't be making it look like you are lying, but it may be that they don't ask you anything about it and it may not be a topic for one of their questions.  They didn't ask me anything about that for my interview.  Of course, if they do ask, you can say your contract ended 30th of June and that you are actively seeking employment.  It takes an average of 6 months to find a job these days, so I don't think it looks bad that you are not in the middle of a job offer by the time the interview happens.  Life happens and I think they understand.  Jobs take time to find and you don't want to just jump at the first offer necessarily.  As long as you have the evidence for the past year or so they can see that you are making income.  

 

As far as bank statements, I didn't want to give that detail of info.  I went to my bank and asked for an immigration letter.  It had the total amount in my account, savings & checking, plus how long I've been with the bank and the average amount in the account over the last 12 months or something like that.  I think that is all they need to know and probably appreciate that over 12 months of statements.  It was signed and dated by the officer at the bank within 2 weeks of my interview.

 

Hope that helps,

Forena

[forena99 74]

 

17 hours ago, TatiyPablo said:

For those who submitted reservations for courthouse appointments as evidence of the intended marriage, how did you go about doing this? Is this a state issue? I've looked into the city clerk's office in Manhattan where I'm based and we will need a marriage license, obtained by both parties appearance at city hall, in order to make an appt. Obviously, that's not possible until he gets here. Thoughts?

 

Thanks!

17 hours ago, eruiz3 said:

I have mine from online. Where I live you can make the appointment online. I found out by just googling "marriage license appointment in _____"

I did the same as @eruiz3.  Appointment online through the court house in Santa Ana.  Everything is online.  

Maybe there is a phone number you can call for cases like these?

There must be some option for Fiance Visa couples.

 

[yoel 30]

Any one here has an idea how long is taking to the US Embassy in Havana to set the appointments ? I heard they are on Sept 2015 now

[eruiz3 24]

18 minutes ago, yoel said:

Any one here has an idea how long is taking to the US Embassy in Havana to set the appointments ? I heard they are on Sept 2015 now

Don't know exactly but I am sure they are already in September of this year. We got our appointment 2 weeks ago and it is for August 21st. That can kind of show you the pace of how quickly these appointments get filled. 

[yoel 30]

1 minute ago, eruiz3 said:

Don't know exactly but I am sure they are already in September of this year. We got our appointment 2 weeks ago and it is for August 21st. That can kind of show you the pace of how quickly these appointments get filled. 

What kind of visa ir your?! My is CR1

[TatiyPablo 32]

@forena99 @058rocale

 

Hey guys  I ordered the clear folders you suggested and trying to organize all my docs so they fit. Question - did you bring a copy of your original I-129F petition? I was going to bring mine but it is like probably more than 200 pgs with all the phone records, emails, and evidence that I included. Yikes. I figured I could leave some information out but what are your thoughts? thanks!

[eruiz3 24]

5 hours ago, yoel said:

What kind of visa ir your?! My is CR1

Everyone in this forum is K1 but all visas are at the same embassy