Singapore K1 filers (2017-18)

[CCCCCF 174]

On 4/7/2018 at 9:57 AM, AL-MJD said:

@cywrainide@allisonf

 

Heyya fellow Singaporean-K1 filers.

 

I just thought you'd like a detailed update. I'm the beneficiary. I'm Singaporean.

 

My NOA1 was on 28/7/2017

Received NOA2 16/2/2018

 

For some strange reason, I have 2 NOA2 dates lol. Online says 21/2/2018, everywhere else says 16/2/2018. USPS misplaced our hardcopy letter, which is so very sad.

 

Anyways, I called in to NVC - (603)-334-0700 on 16th March 2018 (I was in U.S. then), and received awesome news. I am not very sure when NVC received our petition from USCIS, but they made a case for our petition on the 6th March (i.e. a case number was assigned).

 

You will need to call in to NVC to harass them for your case number, which starts with SGP btw, and an invoice ID number, which acts like a username-password to check online, the status of the courier of your petition-case from NVC to U.S. Embassy of Singapore.

 

NVC sent out our case to U.S. Embassy of Singapore on 15th March and the Embassy received our case on 19th March 2018. It sent out forms, copy of the I-129F, etc, to the mailing address provided on I-129F. These reached my home on 21st March, but I was in the States until 2nd April. This is called Packet 3.

 

These are the forms that are part of Packet 3.

1. Letter that Embassy is ready to process your case -- has case number and full name of beneficiary on it.

 

2. Letter to request for COC(police certificate) -- you will need to scan this letter to upload into your application for Singapore police certificate(COC), along with scans of beneficiary IC front, IC back, passport biometric page, and a digital copy of Singapore-passport-sized photo. There is a $55 fee.

After sending your application for COC, you will be asked to make an appointment online to go to Police Cantonment Complex at Outram Park for fingerprinting. You legit can book an appointment on the day itself. You can take an underpass via the MRT Station there, follow the directions to the complex's Block D, you will need to surrender an ID(NRIC or Driver's License) for a visitor pass then proceed through security checks to level 2. Show your appointment notice to the men at the counter and follow the men's instructions. Don't forget to return your visitor's pass.

 

3. Letter for medical appointment -- You're just going to have to call-in to the number on the letter to schedule an appointment. You will need to inform them that you are scheduling one for a U.S. Visa. You don't need to wait very long for one. Ladies should make an appointment outside of their period duration, at least 3 days before her period starts or 3 days after it has ended. They will send you a pre-registration form via e-mail, you will need to complete it and send it back to their e-mail, along with a scan of your passport biometric page and this letter before your appointment date.

On the day itself, you need to produce 4 Singapore-passport-sized photos which are the same(3 for children). You will need to bring your original passport and the letter on Number 1, the one with your case number and name on it, as well as vaccinations history.

Currently I have no details on how the medical goes, my appointment is on 9th April. But, the fees are a minimum of $320(before GST); $150 Visa medical exam, $135 lab tests, $35 chest x-ray. Additional fees for vaccines, which I will talk about after my medical appointment.

 

4. I-130 and I-130 instructions. This is the affidavit of support. When you read about it here on VJ, you will see many people saying a photocopy of the sponsor(s)'(petitioner's included) signature will suffice. Some will say their consulates only accept wet ink signatures. I was in the States, and I asked my Baby to sign me I-130s before I left for Singapore, therefore I'm doing this in wet-ink.

 

5. Brochure on domestic violence, and information on assistance available to the beneficiary in United States.

 

6. Copy of the I-129F sent by the petitioner -- this is important, this will have the beneficiary's new A-number, needed on the I-130.

 

OKAY, THESE ARE THE IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT OF THE LOT.

 

• CHECKLIST.

This will list all the things that you need. You only gather the documents that pertain to you.

1. Complete DS-160. 

This form will ask for your Singapore passport book number. It is the same as your Singaporean passport number. I'm not going to be familliar with book numbers for passports of other countries. You will also need a digital copy of U.S.-passport-sized photo.

You don't have to complete it in one sitting, in fact I encourage you to partially-complete it after receiving a case number. The application number is valid for 30 days.

You must print out 2 photocopies of the confirmation page only.

2. Payment information.

You will need to pay US$265 in SG$357.75 through Singpost or S.A.M.. You need to print out a DMV deposit slip which is remarkably easy to find online even without the website listed on the checklist.

3. Documents: Passport, Birth Certificate or the best possible secondary evidence, Police Certificate(COC), Police Cerificates from all other countries that you have lived in for more than 6 months after the age of 16, or have been arrested in. Court and Prison records, Military records, 2 colour photographs in U.S.-passport-size. Marriage certiificates and/or termination of previous marriage(s) document(s) of both petitioner and beneficiary. Evidence of support, which is I-130 Affidavit of Support. Medical Examination. Evidences of relationship. And translations of any document that is not in English.

•Form

It's really just a declaration form that you have everything ready for an interview and that you know that you are not guaranteed a Visa approval until a consular officer interviews and approves you.

 

After you are done with all of that, you will need to mail back the form, the checklist, one of the photocopies of the DS-160 confirmation page and the original receipt you get from paying the DMV, back to the office. Only these 4 need to be mailed. Do not mail anything else, do not mail your original or photocopies of documents.

 

I had it mailed to:

Embassy of United States of America, Singapore

Consular section, Immigrant Visa Unit

27 Napier Road

Singapore 258508

 

I decided to mail it by registered mail. You don't have to. It's just that the Immigrant Visa unit is not able to tell you if they have received your documents. Since it's registered mail and that's only available on Singpost counters, I paid my DMV fees literally 10 mins before I mailed these 4 things to the Embassy.

 

So I mailed packet 3 back to the Embassy on 3rd April, registered mail informed me that the Embassy received it on 5th April, and I got an e-mail notification on 6th April, saying that my interview is on 24th April. They will send this interview notification to the e-mail you provide on the form that you mailed back to them. You must print this e-mail to bring to the interview.

 

So conclusion, prepare all original documents that pertains to you beforehand. Remember to make photocopies, the interview notice will reflect that they want photocopies, but the checklist will not.

You will receive the COC on the spot after your fingerprinting, which confuses me too because the Embassy letter says the Police Complex will send it straight to the Embassy. Maybe I did something wrong somewhere in the application, who knows?

It allegedly takes maximum 2 weeks for the medical exam to reach the embassy, something I will confirm later.

Feel free to mail back the packet 3 sooner than you receive your COC or medical exam date.

 

I wish you all the best. (:

So the medical results will be sent to the embassy directly and we don't have to worry about it, right?

How long did it take to reach embassy in your case? 

Thank you!

[Guacamole 60]

4 hours ago, CCCCCF said:

Hi Guacamole, thanks for sharing these information. Do you mind share your timeline for NOA1, NOA2 and NVC received your case and receiving packet 3?

Thanks a lot!

I have received NOA2 and still waiting for the next steps. But not sure how long on average the rest of those steps will take. Appreciate!

 

 

 

Hi, my timeline is as follows:

 

I-129F Filed: 11 October 2017

NOA1: 16 October 2017

NOA2: 21 April 2018

NVC Received: 14 May 2018

NVC Case No. Assigned: 16 May 2018

NVC Left: 18 May 2018

USEM Singapore Received: 21 May 2018

Packet 3 Received:  24 May 2018

Packet 3 Response Sent: 25 May 2018 (USEM Singapore had a long weekend where they were closed, so they only received this on 31 May 2018)

Packet 4 Received: Still waiting!

[CCCCCF 174]

12 minutes ago, Guacamole said:

Hi, my timeline is as follows:

 

I-129F Filed: 11 October 2017

NOA1: 16 October 2017

NOA2: 21 April 2018

NVC Received: 14 May 2018

NVC Case No. Assigned: 16 May 2018

NVC Left: 18 May 2018

USEM Singapore Received: 21 May 2018

Packet 3 Received:  24 May 2018

Packet 3 Response Sent: 25 May 2018 (USEM Singapore had a long weekend where they were closed, so they only received this on 31 May 2018)

Packet 4 Received: Still waiting!

Hi Guacamole, thanks a lot for sharing! So it takes like almost a month for NVC to receive the case from USCIS?

Did you call and ask to get the case number or did you just wait?

[AL-MJD 144]

9 hours ago, CCCCCF said:

So the medical results will be sent to the embassy directly and we don't have to worry about it, right?

How long did it take to reach embassy in your case? 

Thank you!

To be honest. I don't know. Fullerton will tell you at most 10 working days. When I went for my interview on the 24th April, the officers there did not even mention about my medical report and I did not notice until I was out the gates, so I assume it has arrived. I went to my medical on 9th April, 2 weeks and 1 day before my interview.

[AL-MJD 144]

4 hours ago, CCCCCF said:

Hi Guacamole, thanks a lot for sharing! So it takes like almost a month for NVC to receive the case from USCIS?

Did you call and ask to get the case number or did you just wait?

Honestly, you could simply wait for packet 3 to come to the beneficiary's home. Or via e-mail. And one of the letters that come with packet 3 has your case number on it.

 

But your invoice ID will never reach you. Neither my hubby nor I received any letter or e-mail informing us of our case number and invoice ID. Only when I called in, and I called in a day after they sent our case on its way - many days after NVC assigned us a case number.

 

To be absolutely fair, you can make do without calling into NVC. Just calling in and receiving your case number and invoice ID gives you access to an online portal where you can keep track of where your case is.

Edited June 4, 2018 by AL-MJD

[Guacamole 60]

22 hours ago, CCCCCF said:

Hi Guacamole, thanks a lot for sharing! So it takes like almost a month for NVC to receive the case from USCIS?

Did you call and ask to get the case number or did you just wait?

We actually emailed NVC through the queries website about a week after we got our NOA2, then NVC auto-updated us on the next few steps it took within NVC until it was sent to the Embassy.

[Guacamole 60]

Hi everyone! I just did my K-1 interview today and got my approval yay!

I used a joint-sponsor in my case so some of the interview questions were pertaining to it.

 

The person at counter 7 (document collection) asked me the following questions:

- Is the petitioner currently working?

- How is the joint sponsor related to the petitioner?

- Does the joint sponsor have any dependents?

 

Then for the actual interview at counter 8, I was asked:

- How did the petitioner and I meet?

- When did we meet for the first time in person? 

- Did the petitioner come visit me? When did he come over to meet me.

* She seemed a bit skeptical about our story, so I told her I had pictures of him visiting me and my family. She prompted me to show her our relationship evidence, so I showed her pictures of my fiance with my family, extended family, our boarding passes from when I left the USA and from when he left Singapore.

- Does the petitioner work? Where did he work before/what will he be working as soon?

- What does the joint-sponsor work as?

 

The lady at counter 8 had a very stern demeanor, she was pretty expressionless until she was convinced we were in a bona fide relationship, then she beamed when she told me that all my documents were in place and that I should expect my visa in about 2 weeks. I smiled so wide hahaha! 

That's all I remember for our interview, all the best everyone else!

[CCCCCF 174]

Hi all, I am wondering how to apply for COC?

When I try to apply online, it asks for eappeal number which I have no idea what it is. Can anyone give me some idea? Thanks!!

[Guacamole 60]

Hi all, just posting a mini update to show the timeline of when I got my visa on hand.

 

Interview date: 10 July 2018

 

After-interview update on CEAC Website:

10 July 2018: "Ready", case last updated date changed from 24 May 2018 to 10 July 2018.

12/13 July 2018: "Application Received", switched from "Immigrant Visa Application" to "Non-immigrant Visa Applicant", case created date changed from 21 May 2018 to 12 July 2018.

14 - 16 July 2018: "Administrative Processing"

17 July 2018: "Issued" - This is the last update I got.

 

Then on 21 July 2018 the courier delivered visa packet to my home.

So it took a total of 11 days from interview to VOH and 4 days from issued to VOH for my case.

 

All the best everyone else! 

 

[CCCCCF 174]

I am sharing my medical exam experience over here.

My appointment is at 3:30pm today.

Time of arrival: 2:58pm

 

Step1: Sign in on a sheet and wait tobe called.

Step2: Sign on the 4 passport size photograph.

Step3: Given a urine test bottle to fill in half of the bottle and return it back. I was also given a disclaimer sheet of paper and asked me to keep it.

Step4: Did an X-ray. I had to take off the cloth and bra and was provided a blue color cloth to wear.

Step5: A nurse asked what vaccine did I take before and did I exposed to chickenpox virus. 

I provided them with my vaccine record book and a chickenpox blood test result that I did in TTSH.

The nurse made a copy of these and told me I do not need to take extra vaccine. But still need a blood test for syphilis.

Step6: Height and weight was examined. And color blindness and eye sight tested.

Step7: The doctor asked me a few questions and I answered. Questions such as if I have ever had problems with heart, lung, or did I have any surgery before. Have I been pregnant before, etc.  And lung test and abdomen tests.

Step8: Payment!

 

I paid $342.40: $150 US Visa Medical Exam, $135 Laboratory, $35 Chest X-Ray, $22.40 GST(7%).

 

 

I had all vaccine taken before I went there and for chicken pox, I did blood test.

So mine should be the minimum for a medical exam I guess. 

 

Hope they will not make any mistake and can deliver the results safely to the embassy.

 

[Duane & Haney 95]

Hello fellow Singaporeans!

 

Thanks for this information. 🙂

 

I understand, based on this thread, that the Singapore Embassy sends everything via post, and will send packet 3 to my fianceé's address in the I-129F.

 

The problem is she has moved since filing the I-129F, so I suppose we need to change the address or somehow inform the embassy, correct?

 

Does anyone have any tips on how to best do that? It occurs to me that we could call or write the embassy, or is there an official process?

 

Thanks and appreciate your help! 👍

Duane & Haney

[tiggermuffin 41]

Hi all! I am following this thread as I finally found some K1 filers from Singapore! I am waiting for my NOA2, my NOA1 is on 9 May and I am the beneficiary.

 

Just one question:

- Did any of you have an engagement party and showed some picture evidences during the interview? I had mine with mostly with our relatives and close friends and it was pretty grand, but I made sure that my decorations on cakes, stage, etc had the word 'Engagement Party' on it, will it be good/bad to show the pics to the interviewer? I read about K1 visa rejections because people showed ceremony pictures on VJ forums but I feel that it also depends on the country and  it will support my relationship better since both of our families attended our engagement party, I am just apprehensive about showing the pictures and would like have opinions on this, thanks!

[AL-MJD 144]

On 8/17/2018 at 11:41 AM, Duane & Haney said:

Hello fellow Singaporeans!

 

Thanks for this information. 🙂

 

I understand, based on this thread, that the Singapore Embassy sends everything via post, and will send packet 3 to my fianceé's address in the I-129F.

 

The problem is she has moved since filing the I-129F, so I suppose we need to change the address or somehow inform the embassy, correct?

 

Does anyone have any tips on how to best do that? It occurs to me that we could call or write the embassy, or is there an official process?

 

Thanks and appreciate your help! 👍

Duane & Haney

Hi! I see from your immigration timeline that you have not received your NOA2.

 

So what you can do right now is wait on your NOA2 approval. It would take a few weeks to get your petition from USCIS to NVC. I am not sure if you know, but after approval, you're suppose to call NVC for your new case number -- that will start with SGP -- and an invoice number. As you call NVC almost everyday, when they have officially received your case is the best time to let them know that the beneficiary's address has changed.

 

Otherwise, with the NVC case number and invoice number, you will be able to track when your case is Ready at the U.S. Embassy of Singapore. At this time you can e-mail the Embassy, mention your case number, invoice number, beneficiary's full name and birthdate, and let them know that the beneficiary's address has changed.

 

Finally, you can always seek to forward mail from the old address to the new address with Singpost.

 

I hope this helps you. All the luck in the world and all our love.

 

Andri&Matt

[AL-MJD 144]

On 8/18/2018 at 5:42 AM, tiggermuffin said:

Just one question:

- Did any of you have an engagement party and showed some picture evidences during the interview? I had mine with mostly with our relatives and close friends and it was pretty grand, but I made sure that my decorations on cakes, stage, etc had the word 'Engagement Party' on it, will it be good/bad to show the pics to the interviewer? I read about K1 visa rejections because people showed ceremony pictures on VJ forums but I feel that it also depends on the country and  it will support my relationship better since both of our families attended our engagement party, I am just apprehensive about showing the pictures and would like have opinions on this, thanks!

We did not have an engagement party at all. But yes, you will be fine showing the engagement party pictures to the interviewer.

 

On another note, we sent 3 photos of us having met prior to submitting our petition and I, as the beneficiary, was not asked for any photo proof of relationship or any proof for all that matter during the interview. It was odd and I didn't even notice until I was out of the building. 

 

All our love and good luck! ❤️

[Duane & Haney 95]

6 hours ago, AL-MJD said:

Hi! I see from your immigration timeline that you have not received your NOA2.

 

So what you can do right now is wait on your NOA2 approval. It would take a few weeks to get your petition from USCIS to NVC. I am not sure if you know, but after approval, you're suppose to call NVC for your new case number -- that will start with SGP -- and an invoice number. As you call NVC almost everyday, when they have officially received your case is the best time to let them know that the beneficiary's address has changed.

 

Otherwise, with the NVC case number and invoice number, you will be able to track when your case is Ready at the U.S. Embassy of Singapore. At this time you can e-mail the Embassy, mention your case number, invoice number, beneficiary's full name and birthdate, and let them know that the beneficiary's address has changed.

 

Finally, you can always seek to forward mail from the old address to the new address with Singpost.

 

I hope this helps you. All the luck in the world and all our love.

 

Andri&Matt

Hello AL-MJD, fantastic information!

 

Really appreciate you took the time to come back, check the thread, and write a comprehensive answer. 🙂

 

God bless, hope you're doing well moving into your future.

 

Duane & Haney