Got My Visa - Still Worried About Petition

[freshheir 6]

Hey VJers, this is my first time posting something original so.. here we go.

 

First of all, I know I am an extremely paranoid, anxiety ridden worried wart. I have read here on VJ time and time again that it is routine and automatic for an expired petition to be renewed. Here is why I'm freaking out:

 

My petition was set to expire in February. Due to delays collecting documents, and needing to redo a form that ended up being expired (ie. it was mostly my fault not administrative), I wasn't able to do a medical until March and the Interview until April. I just had my interview on April 26th. I had planned on asking and submitting a written request at the interview for a petition revalidation so I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. Of course, me being an idiot and literally blinded with excitement for being told I was "approved", I had a brain fart and walked out of the room. In the 30 seconds it took me to go from the room to the elevator and back the consular officer was gone. Nobody in the main sitting area would or could get him back for me and I got sent away. So even though I was approved I had to sit at home waiting for my visa just PRAYING that it was MOST CERTAINLY going to be done automatically.

 

Anyway I was able to calm myself saying that when I get my visa, the petition expiry is stamped on it as well and I could see for myself if it had been re-validated on its own accord. I got the visa SO QUICKLY. Interview Wednesday. Sent out Thursday afternoon. Received today (Friday morning). 

 

Of course I frantically flip to the visa in my passport and IT DOESN'T HAVE THE PETITION STAMP. This means if it is extended and I can stop worrying, I certainly don't know for sure. It's in the super secret visa envelope. And if it's not renewed it may be harder to be spotted by the border patrol but it's also something I won't know until I'm at the border, moving, with all my belongings and my parents in tow with even more belongings (we're driving across at Niagara Falls).

 

I've read horror stories of people being sent away at the POE the day they planned on moving. Most of the stories say its because the stamp was right there on the visa sticker, which mine isn't. Or the visa expired between the interview and going to the POE, but mine expired 2 months ago so they had plenty of time at the consulate to notice and renew it (including the day they put the visa in). 

 

So I don't know. I'm just freaking out and now I should be excited to move but, just like this entire process, it has been dampened by WHAT IFS. What if they don't approve the I129. What if they don't get the RFE. What if I fail my medical. What if I don't have enough proof at the interview. What if the petition is expired? WHAT IF I GET SENT AWAY WHEN I'M 4 HOURS FROM MY NEW HOME?

 

 

[NikLR 13,227]

You have the visa, petition no longer matters.  Stop worrying. 

[freshheir 6]

2 minutes ago, NikLR said:

ou have the visa, petition no longer matters.  Stop worrying. 

I would believe this because it's logical, except I know that even Toronto airport denies multiple people a day about this issue. They definitely do look at the petition validity if the border officer is particular enough. I think getting through with an expired petition means you got an easy going border officer.

[zilchfox 296]

They go based on the "Expiration Date" on the visa, which is 6 months following your medical. Ignore the "REVALID TO:" part, that's no longer a date you need to be concerned with.

[AliRock2016 8]

I am in the exact same position as you, and coincidentally I also interviewed on April 26, but my petition expired on March 9th.  I have an email that says it is up to the consulate to extend the validity date.  So I am just going to print that out with me as well when I go to my POE.

 

Good Luck!

[zilchfox 296]

6 minutes ago, AliRock2016 said:

I am in the exact same position as you, and coincidentally I also interviewed on April 26, but my petition expired on March 9th.  I have an email that says it is up to the consulate to extend the validity date.  So I am just going to print that out with me as well when I go to my POE.

 

Good Luck!

That's before you get a visa/interview, and that's for things like having an interview beyond the expiration of your petition, the consulate would then extend the validity date for that.

 

Your K-1 Visa is good for one-time-use only, and you must POE by the 'Expiration Date' listed on the visa, which is exactly 6 months from the date you had your medical. Disregard any info at the bottom that's talking about the petition itself, it's irrelevant to you at this point. After POE, you will be issued an I-94, and your K-1 visa will then be cancelled, your I-94 is your new status and you must get married within 90 days of the I-94 issuance. As a Canadian, you won't receive it physically, you will need to look up your I-94 after you've landed in the U.S. and moved to your new home. Use this I-94, along with your cancelled K-1 visa to go to a Social Security office to get yourself an SSN as soon as possible, as they will only issue them to you within the first 75 days of landing, married or not. If you don't do this, you won't be able to get an SSN until you've been granted EAD or AOS, several months later, which can delay things such as getting a bank account, drivers license, etc. until then.

[freshheir 6]

11 minutes ago, zilchfox said:

As a Canadian, you won't receive it physically, you will need to look up your I-94 after you've landed in the U.S. and moved to your new home. Use this I-94, along with your cancelled K-1 visa to go to a Social Security office to get yourself an SSN as soon as possible, as they will only issue them to you within the first 75 days of landing, married or not.

All new information to me - interested that I can an SSN before the EAD and AOS. Where do I look up my I-94 information to start this process? 

[zilchfox 296]

1 minute ago, freshheir said:

All new information to me - interested that I can an SSN before the EAD and AOS. Where do I look up my I-94 information to start this process? 

Yep! Most people don't know that you can, as long as you do it within 75 days of landing, but wait a week or so to ensure you're in the SAVE system from POE. You'll receive an SSN that says "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION" printed above your SSN. Once you AOS, you can get that tagline removed, but your SSN number itself will remain the same, as you'll have this number for life.

 

After POE, you can find your I-94 here. In fact, you can even look up past ones here, too. Give it a shot: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home

[freshheir 6]

5 minutes ago, zilchfox said:

After POE, you can find your I-94 here. In fact, you can even look up past ones here, too. Give it a shot: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home

I'm not sure if I'm impressed or creeped out by this travel history. But this is great information, thanks! 

[zilchfox 296]

1 minute ago, freshheir said:

I'm not sure if I'm impressed or creeped out by this travel history. But this is great information, thanks! 

Chances are you'll notice that all your previous visits are listed as "B2" visa entries (as Canadians auto-qualify for B2 based on Canadian citizenship alone). This is one of the systems CBP uses to see and enter your travel history to the U.S., based on the "Customs" sheet you fill out prior to POE (which is also called an I-94).

[KimchiLumpia 315]

10 hours ago, freshheir said:

Anyway I was able to calm myself saying that when I get my visa, the petition expiry is stamped on it as well and I could see for myself if it had been re-validated on its own accord. I got the visa SO QUICKLY. Interview Wednesday. Sent out Thursday afternoon. Received today (Friday morning). 

 

Wow! You did receive your Visa super fast.  My Canadian fiance had her K1 Visa interview last week with an approval, and have not yet received her Visa.  

Her CEAC status changed from "AP" to "Issued" just yesterday though.

Did you get an email from the Montreal Consulate telling you that it was delivered and available for pickup?  

Edited April 29, 2017 by KimchiLumpia

[Ash.1101 1,756]

There has only been ONE person on VJ since I've been here that was turned away at the Toronto Airport because of the petition date. There's petition expiration date and visa expiration date, if the CBP officer doesn't know what he's doing he may take the petition expiration date as the visa expiration date. But at the same time if the CBP officer doesn't know what he's doing I'm sure he could find other reasons to deny you.

Just for future notice, the person who was turned away at the border contacted Montreal, got their sealed envelope resealed and a new visa sticker showing a new petition date. I think it delayed them by a couple of weeks at most.

[A'n'L 735]

It IS the visa expiration date that matters, but that is unfortunately not necessarily reflected in the training the CBP officers get. I experienced this first-hand when I entered with my K1 at DTW last year. My officer was new and in training, it was his first K1. The officer supervising told him to flip to a certain page in the package ("this is important to check"), first looking for the original petition expiry, secondly identifying a hand-written statement "petition re-validated date".

 

Please don't worry, should you run into any issues (I'm sure you won't) - ask for a supervisor.

[freshheir 6]

15 hours ago, KimchiLumpia said:

Did you get an email from the Montreal Consulate telling you that it was delivered and available for pickup?  

I got an email from the Consulate when they sent it, from Canada Post when they received it, a tracking number to eagerly anticipate its arrival, and an email when it was ready. 

 

The postal lady in my town teased me for being there within 15 minutes of it being registered into their system as available.

[freshheir 6]

14 hours ago, Ash.1101 said:

Just for future notice, the person who was turned away at the border contacted Montreal, got their sealed envelope resealed and a new visa sticker showing a new petition date. I think it delayed them by a couple of weeks at most.

This is INSANELY comforting. I was worried if I got denied for a petition date of a few things. 1. is that Montreal has been horrible for me to contact. Requesting a revalidation in the first place took a 2 month reply and ended up saying 'no talk to the consular officer' as an answer, and 2. that they would see the petition expiry and THEN tell me to go to the beginning. So the fact that they acknowledge the error and work to correct it quickly is very comforting.

 

Annoying that I would have to drive out another 7 hours presumably just for a new envelope (unless they'll deal with it by mail?), but good to know it's only a couple weeks. 

 

The wedding is supposed to be June 10th. I panic at the thought of delays at this stage. In retrospect of all of this, I would have told my fiance to screw his intensely persistent concept of needing the "REAL WEDDING" right upon arrival. Too much money and friends hopes and our hopes on the line.

 

Granted I didn't think starting in July would cut so close!!