K1 Expiring

[awakingbrooklyn 0]

We have had a relatively seamless process so far on our K1 application for my fiance from Colombia. However, somehow they sent our final pre-interview approval of our I-129F form with the required steps and information packet to the wrong email address. It was nowhere near either of our listed emails and we lost a month of time because of this. There was also no hard copy sent to our regular mail.

 

In any case due to our diligence we got this final form and packet via emailing the Bogota consulate/embassy and scheduled our interview for next month. However we then noticed that our I-129F expires a week before the earliest date available to interview. We aren't sure how to get the supposed extension we've read about or if it is actually necessary to get before going. Our only effective communication so far has been with the embassy in Bogota and we've just emailed them to ask what to do. But we'd like to hear from anyone else that has been in a similar situation and what they did.

 

Thanks so much, and good luck to all of you.

[KULtoATL 1,551]

Contact your embassy via e-mail and request for extension. The I-129F NOA2's validity could be extended up to 12 months. However, they only extend it between 3-4 months at any one time. 

[Mamed 18]

As above person said emailing embassy is the best option. I did that when our case was ready for interview months early than we expected

[Mr Geminian 691]

On 11/08/2017 at 3:17 AM, awakingbrooklyn said:

We have had a relatively seamless process so far on our K1 application for my fiance from Colombia. However, somehow they sent our final pre-interview approval of our I-129F form with the required steps and information packet to the wrong email address. It was nowhere near either of our listed emails and we lost a month of time because of this. There was also no hard copy sent to our regular mail.

 

In any case due to our diligence we got this final form and packet via emailing the Bogota consulate/embassy and scheduled our interview for next month. However we then noticed that our I-129F expires a week before the earliest date available to interview. We aren't sure how to get the supposed extension we've read about or if it is actually necessary to get before going. Our only effective communication so far has been with the embassy in Bogota and we've just emailed them to ask what to do. But we'd like to hear from anyone else that has been in a similar situation and what they did.

 

Thanks so much, and good luck to all of you.

Hey...I was in a similar situation.

 

When my wife (then fiancee) petitioned me for I-129F, I wanted her to write New Delhi Consulate for the Visa Interview on the application form and the whole packet reached to New Delhi Embassy.... My wife got a letter in first week of November saying that the packet has reached to New Delhi. I waited for the Interview Instructions Packet and it was coming to December last week. I then contacted ustraveldocs and told them that its been nearly 2 months that my wife got a mail saying the packet has reached New Delhi Embassy and I didnt receive any interview instructions. The customer care rep looked into the issue and said a mail was sent to my home address on December 2nd 2016 with interview instructions. I was shocked and i told her i didnt receive any mail? and since i was a registered with ustraveldocs, she asked me to email me from that email describing my issue. I did that and within 24 hours i received interview instructions by e-mail. Then i had to start my medical exam, police clearance certificate etc i was running out of time.

 

Another stupid thing which i did was, After having all the documents ready for the interview, it was the time to pay visa fees and schedule for biometrics and visa interview. When i logged into UStraveldocs to schedule a interview date, it was automatically showing the nearest date for interview is in Mumbai Consulate. There were available date for New Delhi consulate too but the expiry time on my I-129F was due to expire and so I selected a date 2 days prior to my I-129F expiring and that too at Mumbai Consulate(but my case was with New Delhi Embassy). I went to Mumbai Consulate for the interview and the lady who checks documents at the first counter before sending you to the visa officer, she said your file is with the New Delhi and why did you come here. I said the date was autometically showed on ustraveldocs and i had to select this as my I-129F was expiring in 2 days !!!....she said i should have my case transferred to Mumbai Consulate to be interviewd here. ANyways she said not to worry about the visa fees and I-129F expiry is subjected to the Visa Officer at your next interview. I said to myself "what the hell have i done". Anyways i came back home, went back to ustraveldocs website and my Visa Fees was active again so all i had to do is select New Delhi and the date and within 3 weeks i was in New Delhi. The interview went fine. Remember that my I-129F expired 3 weeks ago ! and i was issued a visa !!!...

 

The best thing to do is to send e-mails to ustraveldocs. Do not contact the embassy. They will still guide you to go to USTRAVELDOCS so send your emails to ustraveldocs because when they receive your e-mail they will create a case number to your query and it will be on their system and they will keep updating it until your query is solved. If they sent the wrong e-mail its not a big issue. When you call they will ask for your passport and date of birth for security reasons and you can your e-mail on their system. Hope this helps

[theanswerisdance 144]

My mom became chronically ill with an initially unknown disease when my husband and I were doing the K-1. I emailed the embassy every couple months and ultimately asked for no less than 3 extensions which wound up extending our validity for an entire year from its initial expiration date. I've also heard from some people that as long as your interview is scheduled before the expiration date, they will automatically extend your expiration because they see that the interview is scheduled, but I wouldn't personally feel comfortable not having that in writing and relying on anecdotal experience, so you were smart to contact the embassy. In my own experience, the embassy is among the most helpful cogs in the immigration wheel and usually pretty understanding as long as you make every effort to communicate with them in a timely manner.

[awakingbrooklyn 0]

thanks for all the feedback. I got a response from the embassy via email rather quickly (same day) and they told me "not to worry" that the consulate officer can extend the date of the i-129f approval during the interview visit. Although it was reassuring to hear that I still emailed them again to clarify exactly what the situation was again, and again they said "it is not a problem, do not be concerned."

 

It is still unnerving to have no official document stating that, but I assume since the interview was scheduled more than a month before the expiration date we should be ok. Time will tell, I guess.

 

 

[theanswerisdance 144]

40 minutes ago, awakingbrooklyn said:

thanks for all the feedback. I got a response from the embassy via email rather quickly (same day) and they told me "not to worry" that the consulate officer can extend the date of the i-129f approval during the interview visit. Although it was reassuring to hear that I still emailed them again to clarify exactly what the situation was again, and again they said "it is not a problem, do not be concerned."

 

It is still unnerving to have no official document stating that, but I assume since the interview was scheduled more than a month before the expiration date we should be ok. Time will tell, I guess.

 

 

If nothing else, you have that email exchange between yourself and the embassy telling you it will be extended, so you can keep that as part of your records. I think you'll be fine though. 

[Mr Geminian 691]

4 hours ago, awakingbrooklyn said:

thanks for all the feedback. I got a response from the embassy via email rather quickly (same day) and they told me "not to worry" that the consulate officer can extend the date of the i-129f approval during the interview visit. Although it was reassuring to hear that I still emailed them again to clarify exactly what the situation was again, and again they said "it is not a problem, do not be concerned."

 

It is still unnerving to have no official document stating that, but I assume since the interview was scheduled more than a month before the expiration date we should be ok. Time will tell, I guess.

 

 

Good that you've received the response from them. All the best for your interview. 

[KozmicBlues 592]

On 8/12/2017 at 11:23 AM, awakingbrooklyn said:

thanks for all the feedback. I got a response from the embassy via email rather quickly (same day) and they told me "not to worry" that the consulate officer can extend the date of the i-129f approval during the interview visit. Although it was reassuring to hear that I still emailed them again to clarify exactly what the situation was again, and again they said "it is not a problem, do not be concerned."

 

It is still unnerving to have no official document stating that, but I assume since the interview was scheduled more than a month before the expiration date we should be ok. Time will tell, I guess.

 

 

Hi...We need to extend our petition due to my fiance requiring additional medical testing. Can you advise which email you contacted to get help? Was it IVND@state.gov?