Questions before applying to K-1 visa

[Rose11 0]

Hello,

I have a couple of questions before we start the process of applying for a K-1 visa, I am from Chile and my fiancee is from FL, we met in a web site and we have been friends over 3 years, we decided to get married a couple of weeks ago, we are deeply in love and of course we want to live together, because of his job it means I am the one who has to move over there. He will send the application and he will be my sponsor. We know one of the requirements is meeting in person at least once, we are trying to decide if it would be better that I go first before applying. I've never been to the USA, would you recommend that I go over there or not? He will come here in two months. Second, should we hire an immigrant lawyer to help us with the whole process? Third, is there any advice you could give us before we start this process? 

Thank you in advance

[Georgia16 2,858]

Well you guys can't sent it off before you have met. If you go or he goes doesn't really matter for the immigration. 

Maybe you would like to see where you will be moving before you decide? 

 

90% in here do it without a lawyer and are fine just follow the guides. (Located in the upper right corner)

 

Save the boarding pass for the travel, get pictures of you guys together and also a good idea to get fotos with family to sent in with your package.

[Georgia16 2,858]

5 hours ago, srlopez3 said:

^I agree. 

 

It doesn't matter who visits whom. The people who will process your documents only cares for the proof of your relationship so take lots of photos, send each other letters/cards, gather your chat/Skype logs.I would suggest for you guys to build up your "proof of relationship" first before you proceed. Also, read through the guides and discussions on this site, they are really helpful.

 

My husband and I went through the entire process without a lawyer although I was told by a fellow immigrant that hiring a lawyer saves you a money and time.

 

Goodluck!

How can it save money? And a lawyer can not make any immigration process faster. 

[karice 29]

If you're a careful, organized person, do it yourself. It's cheaper, and you have more control over what goes in your packet. 

[pantonia 39]

I am from Chile too so I guess you'll have a similar experience to mine. First of all, you HAVE to meet in person at least once before applying for the I-129f, so do that first. As everybody else said, make sure to have lots of proof of meeting in person. I know everybody says to include chat logs and skype logs, but I did that and I got a letter from USCIS saying they don't count and to add primary evidence, meaning photos (I HAD included many pictures, they just didn't bother looking further into the pages, they just saw the first pages were chat logs and assumed all of them were chat logs).

 

Good examples of evidence (and what I did sucessfully) is to include pictures of you together, as well as pictures of you with each other's friends and family. If you guys have social media, I would include those photos taken as screenshots from the social media, because it shows dates and also other people's likes/comments, which makes it more real.

 

As for the lawyer, you shouldn't need one, unless you are A MESS of a person when it comes to organizing documents or your case has any red flags. 

 

good luck!