South African K1 Visa applicants

[HOORAY7 165]

4 minutes ago, LuFlolady said:

thank u so much! and good luck on ur upcoming interview

You're very welcome, trying to attach the medical appointment information, but file is too large, but i'll get it and still attach it  

[HOORAY7 165]

20 minutes ago, HOORAY7 said:

You're very welcome, trying to attach the medical appointment information, but file is too large, but i'll get it and still attach it  

I can't get the file, even in separate pages, small enough to download, its only 3 pages, ugh!!  If you would like it you can email me at goop7@msn.com and I will email it to you or anyone else that needs it.

[SAlove18 61]

14 hours ago, HOORAY7 said:

Hi everyone in South Africa!  My fiancé and I are almost done in our process, she lives in South Africa and I live in the Seattle Washington area.  It took us 5 months to get our NOA2, so be prepared for a wait and don't lose the faith!!  Go on this and search for your month and K1 visa and you will probably pop into a forum, we had one for us in the May 2017 forum.  Help me out a lot to know we were not alone.  We have a lawyer, so I wasn't too concerned about the process, but the waiting is to die for!

Best thing for you all to do is get your police certificates BUT they cannot be older than 6 months.  If you were 16 and older and lived in another country besides S.A., then you will need a police certificate from there as well, so be prepared. 

Start gathering documents, originals of birth certificates, divorce decree's, pictures and other evidence of your relationship that was not included in your original package (since it will take some time, they still want to see you are still an active couple).  Any passport photo's cannot be older than 6 months old. 

When you get your NOA2, give it about 10 days before you call NVC and asking status of your case.  You can always call USCIS for your status, but they are not the friendliest and I wouldn't even but them until at least 90 days minimum, I highly doubt they have caught up with the backlog, especially with all the immigration and DACA stuff going on.  The NVC is much friendlier, when you get there and will help you with no problem with any update you are asking.  But normally when you get your NOA2, like I said give it at least 10 days before you call them.  They didn't get our package for at least 14 days.

After you get your NOA2 and your package goes to NVC, it goes pretty quick, so use this time wisely to gather all your documents.  The petitioner needs to provide pay stubs (3 months), I-134 Aff. of Support, Employment verification letter, VA eligibility letter, if applicable, to show as part of income and last 3 years of tax records.

Then once NVC processes your package, a medical appointment can be made, you only have 2 options, one in Joburg and one in Cape Town.  My fiancé went to Joburg.   It's a 2 day process, but spread between 3 days.  You go one day for bloodwork and xrays and the next for shots and discussion with the dr., so plan on that.

Your finance, not the petitioner, will need to fill out the Visa app online, DS-160 and pay the fee.

Make sure you set up your online account correctly and schedule the interview, she finished her phyicals (her and her boys) in November, but we missed the interview's for Dec/Jan/Feb, due to holiday schedules.  They only do K1 visa interviews there at the consulate the last 2 weeks of the month and only on Tues and Thursdays.  So our interview is 20 March, we scheduled it 26 Dec, because they kept telling her there were no appointments, then we call and it jumped 3 months!  So plan wisely.

Hope this helps some.  Any questions let me know, i'll try to help.

 

Good luck to you all!!

Thank you so much this was extremely helpful! I’m so nervous I went over everything like 50 times. We are going to get his unabridged birth certificate next week I heard it takes forever and in 3 months  we will go get the police clearance so that we are on top of things and can book our medical and stuff ### soon as possible when NVC receives everything. I also already asked for my letter of employment without it being dated so I have that as well 

[LuFlolady 881]

9 hours ago, HOORAY7 said:

I can't get the file, even in separate pages, small enough to download, its only 3 pages, ugh!!  If you would like it you can email me at goop7@msn.com and I will email it to you or anyone else that needs it.

ok perfect I will email you thank you so much for this... It is hard finding folks going through the SA embassy on this forum most of the info is dated no up to date filiers! I just sent the email

Edited February 23, 2018 by LuFlolady

[Bethicas 43]

18 hours ago, HOORAY7 said:

Hi everyone in South Africa!  My fiancé and I are almost done in our process, she lives in South Africa and I live in the Seattle Washington area.  It took us 5 months to get our NOA2, so be prepared for a wait and don't lose the faith!!  Go on this and search for your month and K1 visa and you will probably pop into a forum, we had one for us in the May 2017 forum.  Help me out a lot to know we were not alone.  We have a lawyer, so I wasn't too concerned about the process, but the waiting is to die for!

Best thing for you all to do is get your police certificates BUT they cannot be older than 6 months.  If you were 16 and older and lived in another country besides S.A., then you will need a police certificate from there as well, so be prepared. 

Start gathering documents, originals of birth certificates, divorce decree's, pictures and other evidence of your relationship that was not included in your original package (since it will take some time, they still want to see you are still an active couple).  Any passport photo's cannot be older than 6 months old. 

When you get your NOA2, give it about 10 days before you call NVC and asking status of your case.  You can always call USCIS for your status, but they are not the friendliest and I wouldn't even but them until at least 90 days minimum, I highly doubt they have caught up with the backlog, especially with all the immigration and DACA stuff going on.  The NVC is much friendlier, when you get there and will help you with no problem with any update you are asking.  But normally when you get your NOA2, like I said give it at least 10 days before you call them.  They didn't get our package for at least 14 days.

After you get your NOA2 and your package goes to NVC, it goes pretty quick, so use this time wisely to gather all your documents.  The petitioner needs to provide pay stubs (3 months), I-134 Aff. of Support, Employment verification letter, VA eligibility letter, if applicable, to show as part of income and last 3 years of tax records.

Then once NVC processes your package, a medical appointment can be made, you only have 2 options, one in Joburg and one in Cape Town.  My fiancé went to Joburg.   It's a 2 day process, but spread between 3 days.  You go one day for bloodwork and xrays and the next for shots and discussion with the dr., so plan on that.

Your finance, not the petitioner, will need to fill out the Visa app online, DS-160 and pay the fee.

Make sure you set up your online account correctly and schedule the interview, she finished her phyicals (her and her boys) in November, but we missed the interview's for Dec/Jan/Feb, due to holiday schedules.  They only do K1 visa interviews there at the consulate the last 2 weeks of the month and only on Tues and Thursdays.  So our interview is 20 March, we scheduled it 26 Dec, because they kept telling her there were no appointments, then we call and it jumped 3 months!  So plan wisely.

Hope this helps some.  Any questions let me know, i'll try to help.

 

Good luck to you all!!

This was so helpful! Thank you! 

 

We are trying to figure out our budget, can you share how much the medical cost you in Joberg and what vaccinations they pushed? 

[HOORAY7 165]

5 hours ago, SAlove18 said:

Thank you so much this was extremely helpful! I’m so nervous I went over everything like 50 times. We are going to get his unabridged birth certificate next week I heard it takes forever and in 3 months  we will go get the police clearance so that we are on top of things and can book our medical and stuff ### soon as possible when NVC receives everything. I also already asked for my letter of employment without it being dated so I have that as well 

Good luck, if you have any questions feel free to ask , I will help where I can.  I've also attached the letter we got from the consulate, be sure to follow the instructions for setting up the account on ais.usvisa. Can't do any of this until Consulate gets your package from NVC though.

K1 Instructions (1).pdf

1 hour ago, LuFlolady said:

ok perfect I will email you thank you so much for this... It is hard finding folks going through the SA embassy on this forum most of the info is dated no up to date filiers! I just sent the email

Very welcome!  I just sent the email, any questions please let me know! Good luck!

[HOORAY7 165]

51 minutes ago, Bethicas said:

This was so helpful! Thank you! 

 

We are trying to figure out our budget, can you share how much the medical cost you in Joberg and what vaccinations they pushed? 

I believe you were one of the emails I got, were you?  If not, email me at goop7@msn.com and I will forward it to you.

[waiting561 5]

still waiting a number to proceed with the next step.

[HOORAY7 165]

2 hours ago, waiting561 said:

still waiting a number to proceed with the next step.

When did you file and have you received your NOA2 yet?

[LuFlolady 881]

12 hours ago, waiting561 said:

still waiting a number to proceed with the next step.

waiting for a number for what? which visa are u going for and when did you file?

[Wouter Erwee 11]

Hi guys,

 

Fellow Saffa here from PTA waiting for K1 to move to Seattle.  We filed Jul 18th 2017, NOA2 on 13 Feb '18 & NVC number on the 28 Feb '18.  On the case tracker website it says "READY", but I think we need to wait for the Joburg Consulate to contact us with the Packet 3 email.  Can anyone confirm this?

 

We have collected

• Police Clearance
• Unabridged Birth Certificate
• Affidavit of Support documents

Great to meet fellow SAFFAS going through this process!!!

 

Cheers

Wouter

[LuFlolady 881]

18 hours ago, Wouter Erwee said:

Hi guys,

 

Fellow Saffa here from PTA waiting for K1 to move to Seattle.  We filed Jul 18th 2017, NOA2 on 13 Feb '18 & NVC number on the 28 Feb '18.  On the case tracker website it says "READY", but I think we need to wait for the Joburg Consulate to contact us with the Packet 3 email.  Can anyone confirm this?

 

We have collected

• Police Clearance
• Unabridged Birth Certificate
• Affidavit of Support documents

Great to meet fellow SAFFAS going through this process!!!

 

Cheers

Wouter

yes u have to wait to get pkt 3 to schedule ur interview good luck!

[HOORAY7 165]

21 hours ago, Wouter Erwee said:

Hi guys,

 

Fellow Saffa here from PTA waiting for K1 to move to Seattle.  We filed Jul 18th 2017, NOA2 on 13 Feb '18 & NVC number on the 28 Feb '18.  On the case tracker website it says "READY", but I think we need to wait for the Joburg Consulate to contact us with the Packet 3 email.  Can anyone confirm this?

 

We have collected

• Police Clearance
• Unabridged Birth Certificate
• Affidavit of Support documents

Great to meet fellow SAFFAS going through this process!!!

 

Cheers

Wouter

@Wouter Erwee  I sent you an email that should answer your questions.  Good luck!!

[LuFlolady 881]

10 hours ago, HOORAY7 said:

@Wouter Erwee  I sent you an email that should answer your questions.  Good luck!!

@HOORAY7 can you share the info here as well so that those coming up in the process can have the info as well? Thank you

[HOORAY7 165]

12 hours ago, LuFlolady said:

@HOORAY7 can you share the info here as well so that those coming up in the process can have the info as well? Thank you

@LuFlolady  Sure can!  The only attachment I can't put on here because the file is too big is the medical appointment info for JOBURG.  But if anyone wants that, email me at goop7@msn.com and I will respond to you with it.  Also, since this response is so long, it will not let me attach the K1 instruction sheet, so I will add that in a response to this, so it should show up in the next window.

A little history:

We were approved by USCIS on 15 Oct 17

Our package did not arrive at NVC from USCIS until 13 Nov 17

Our letter from NVC to me (petitioner) was mailed on 16 Nov 17, I received it on 20 Nov and the SA Consulate received it 22 Nov 17. 

We received, via email, the attached letter of instructions (I believe this is the packet 3 instructions, because it’s all we received) on 22 Nov 17. So ensure you both check your email addresses, it came to my email address, but addressed to my fiancé because they had my email because i’m the petitioner.  But both of you should be checking your email inbox and spam, just in case your filters are pushing it to the spam folder.

On 27 Nov 17, my fiancé filed her DS-160 applications (herself and her two boys) online at the website listed in the attached K1 instructions (1). 

My fiancé scheduled her medicals and because of the holidays and the fact there is only one dr in JOBURG for Visa physicals, her appointment was not until 11 Dec 17.

You cannot schedule an interview until you’ve had your medical, but what I am telling people (based off our experience and delay), schedule your interview right after you have scheduled your medical; BUT be sure to schedule the interview at least a week AFTER you have completed both days of the medical.  The medical is a 2 day process, but spread over a 3 day period, there is a day in between the 2 appointments.

*Remember they only schedule VISA appointments the last 2 weeks of every month and only on Tues and Thursday’s.

You can schedule it as indicated on the K1 instructions sheet. When you schedule your interview is when you will pay the $265, either in US dollars or ZAR, Kerren paid in ZAR because it was her credit card she used.

The K1 instruction sheet I enclosed is everything you will need to bring to your interview. The DS-2001 listed on the SA Consulate interview page is no longer required, I confirmed that today via email from the Consulate.

If you ever have a question for the consulate, they have been wonderful replying to all my emails, usually 1-2 day response time.

Our interview is on 20 March, it was quite disappointing to have to wait 3 months, but because of the holidays they said, appointments in Jan/Feb went fast, didn’t make sense, but none the less we have our date.  That is why I suggest to people to schedule the interview AFTER you get your medical scheduled and schedule the interview for at least a week after the last day of your medical, this gives them time to get your medical results to the consulate for your interview.

 

If you follow the K1 instruction sheet (Packet 3 in my opinion) you will be fine and this is the letter you are waiting for from the Consulate via email.

Best of luck to you all, not an easy process, glad to help with any questions and I will definitely update you all after the interview.

Julie

Remember the K1 instruction sheet I will put in my next response since this is so long it won't let me attach it.