June 2017 I-129F Filers, Part IV

[Gators15 182]

On 3/14/2018 at 1:45 PM, Jeanette & Jason said:

please please let me know how that POE went, it is the same place I am going to in few months 

 

My fiancé arrived in Orlando last Friday as her POE. Everything went smooth for her. She handed them her packet. They opened it and asked a couple of basic questions like the address where she’s going to live and reminder her that she has 90 days to get married. The only down side was it took her almost 2 hours to get through the line. Good luck!

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

16 hours ago, akdf2014 said:

For us is North  Carolina, but our wedding will be held at my fiancé’s parents  home in Kansas.

Hi fellow Carolinian!  I just thought it was cool to see you're from Wake Forest; I'm originally from Durham and my dad lives just outside Raleigh, so not far

 

 

15 hours ago, purplepink said:

Not sure if anyone will know, but will he have to provide his taxes from 2017?

 

He was being lazy and hasn't filed for 2017 yet. He probably will in the next week, but will his taxes from 2015 and 2016 be okay?

I think I saw someone already say this, but if the interview date falls after tax season ends, I would assume they will be looking for it. My fiancé's interview was end of February and I had already done my 2017 taxes just because my employer issues W2s literally the first week of the new year. He said the lady that looked at our papers made a comment about how I'd already done 2017, like it was a little surprising or something, so at that time they clearly weren't expecting that tax year. Even if it's cutting it close, I'd probably still have 2017 out of the way if it were me. I had everything from 2017 and 2016, and only the one page for 2015, and that was enough for them.

 

 

3 hours ago, Hadassah123 said:

California!

 

Our legal ceremony/wedding will be on the 14th - just decided that over the weekend actually It'll be small with just a couple people from his church and potentially his sister.

 

Our actual reception with friends and fam will be just outside of Chicago end of September.

 

We'll basically have 2 wedding dates....?

 

We're doing the same! Our traditional wedding/reception with family will be in the fall and we'll just be getting legally married soon after he comes home in May. I wasn't sure how to do that, because we never expected having "two" weddings before this, but we didn't want a summer wedding and it's cheaper for his family to fly to the states for it in the fall. But I'm going to go ahead and say it's an excuse to have cake two different times and have two dates to celebrate every year

 

[Katemdedo 30]

Hey all! I've had a question for a while and haven't really been able to find any direct answers about it. So I thought I'd ask you guys!

Can couples choose to have a small non-legal wedding with family while still waiting for their approval? Like if it's just a ceremony done before God is it still contradicting the K1 visa process? I know some friends that actually opted to have their (non-legal) marriage before their approval and it didn't affect them with their visa approval.. and they're now approved, but I'm not sure if they'll have to keep it a secret once they have their interview or not..

anyone have any insight on this topic? I'm very curious..

[Hadassah123 523]

16 minutes ago, Paul & Mallory said:

 

We're doing the same! Our traditional wedding/reception with family will be in the fall and we'll just be getting legally married soon after he comes home in May. I wasn't sure how to do that, because we never expected having "two" weddings before this, but we didn't want a summer wedding and it's cheaper for his family to fly to the states for it in the fall. But I'm going to go ahead and say it's an excuse to have cake two different times and have two dates to celebrate every year

 

to the cake thing! I hadn't even thought of cake for our legal ceremony, but hmm.... you've given me an idea! I do agree on the two dates to celebrate - more reasons for celebrations, yes!   Now only to have him remember all those dates....... haha.

 

We had not expected to do both either. We had initially set a date for all of it together end of April, but then with all the slow downs, and no NOA2 till early Jan, we decided to move the reception date to late September. No more stress on that - whoo! Just feels a bit weird to have 2 events, while I hadn't imagined that when we started this process.

 

Re summer wedding - same for us. For summer everything is more expensive. Venues, flights etc. So outside of summer season is sooo much better. My parents and aunt have actually already booked their flights. AMS - Chicago 8 days for 340 Euro's (with a direct going flight)! Prices for end April were originally around 550, prices for summer are likely 700+. Win - win for all of us

 

 

[Jeff_9802 121]

5 minutes ago, Katemdedo said:

Hey all! I've had a question for a while and haven't really been able to find any direct answers about it. So I thought I'd ask you guys!

Can couples choose to have a small non-legal wedding with family while still waiting for their approval? Like if it's just a ceremony done before God is it still contradicting the K1 visa process? I know some friends that actually opted to have their (non-legal) marriage before their approval and it didn't affect them with their visa approval.. and they're now approved, but I'm not sure if they'll have to keep it a secret once they have their interview or not..

anyone have any insight on this topic? I'm very curious..

People have been denied for appearing to be married while applying for the fiance K1 visa.  I would say don't risk it.  Wait until you have your visa in hand.

[Jolie&Charles 172]

Just got out of the interview and it did not go as expected..
They want the original divorce decree from my fiance. I had the photocopy with me (the same we sent with the 129F) they said its not enough..
They gave me a 221g copy and said they keep everything to just mail them back the divorce copy and they will send me back the passport with the visa as soon as they receive it.

I'm just very surprised cause this stage about my fiance being USC free to marry is supposed to have already been checked during the Noa1 process.

Ive read on the Arizona County Court that its possible to get a certified copy, I thought thats what I had..

Is a certified copy will be enough ?

[misken 61]

42 minutes ago, Jeff_9802 said:

People have been denied for appearing to be married while applying for the fiance K1 visa.  I would say don't risk it.  Wait until you have your visa in hand.

To be even more safe, wait until you've passed POE with your K1. Anything even close to smelling like a wedding could endanger your chances. Don't risk it.

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

1 hour ago, Hadassah123 said:

to the cake thing! I hadn't even thought of cake for our legal ceremony, but hmm.... you've given me an idea! I do agree on the two dates to celebrate - more reasons for celebrations, yes!   Now only to have him remember all those dates....... haha.

 

We had not expected to do both either. We had initially set a date for all of it together end of April, but then with all the slow downs, and no NOA2 till early Jan, we decided to move the reception date to late September. No more stress on that - whoo! Just feels a bit weird to have 2 events, while I hadn't imagined that when we started this process.

 

Re summer wedding - same for us. For summer everything is more expensive. Venues, flights etc. So outside of summer season is sooo much better. My parents and aunt have actually already booked their flights. AMS - Chicago 8 days for 340 Euro's (with a direct going flight)! Prices for end April were originally around 550, prices for summer are likely 700+. Win - win for all of us

 

 

Yesss I'm ALWAYS looking for a reason to have cake

 

That's sort of how it happened for us, too. Once he cleared his interview and we picked a POE date (May 16 so he could stay for his nephew's birthday before leaving), we initially picked June 16 as our wedding date. We never planned on having anything big and are actually using my sister's house since they have a large backyard that's private with pretty trees/woods behind it and a really big outdoor patio/deck area. So booking stuff last minute wasn't an issue, and we wanted to do everything at once within the 90 days. But while I was still in Sweden, right before I left, his family voiced their wishes to come for the wedding, which we hadn't been aware of or knew they'd be able to. So we looked at flights for them in June, and even though it's WAY cheaper to fly from Sweden to SC versus from here to there, it was still crazy expensive for them to come in June. So I threw out the idea of having it later and just getting legally married once he's home. Seemed to work for everyone and gives me the fall wedding I've actually always wanted

 

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

1 hour ago, Katemdedo said:

Hey all! I've had a question for a while and haven't really been able to find any direct answers about it. So I thought I'd ask you guys!

Can couples choose to have a small non-legal wedding with family while still waiting for their approval? Like if it's just a ceremony done before God is it still contradicting the K1 visa process? I know some friends that actually opted to have their (non-legal) marriage before their approval and it didn't affect them with their visa approval.. and they're now approved, but I'm not sure if they'll have to keep it a secret once they have their interview or not..

anyone have any insight on this topic? I'm very curious..

I've come across multiple posts around the forums here of people having been denied as a result of doing something just like that, even if it's not legal. It is NOT worth the risk. Wait until you're done with the process. If it's a matter of having something when certain people are available, plan something afterwards even if it falls outside of the 90 days - for us, we'll be getting legally married at the courthouse once he's here but having a traditional ceremony/reception in the fall so his family can come into town for it.

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

39 minutes ago, Jolie&Charles said:

Just got out of the interview and it did not go as expected..
They want the original divorce decree from my fiance. I had the photocopy with me (the same we sent with the 129F) they said its not enough..
They gave me a 221g copy and said they keep everything to just mail them back the divorce copy and they will send me back the passport with the visa as soon as they receive it.

I'm just very surprised cause this stage about my fiance being USC free to marry is supposed to have already been checked during the Noa1 process.

Ive read on the Arizona County Court that its possible to get a certified copy, I thought thats what I had..

Is a certified copy will be enough ?

While this is understandably disappointing, this is NOT bad news. The fact that they took everything else, including your passport to send back with the visa, is a good thing. It means you basically check out, they just need the appropriate issue of the divorce decree. Once you send it to them, it shouldn't take long to get your visa if/once everything checks out - in our case, the same thing happened to my fiancé because they hadn't received the official papers from his doctor for his medical yet. They took his passport and everything. They received the papers on 2/27 (interview date was 2/22), and his visa and passport arrived in the mail 3/5.

 

I BELIEVE certified should be sufficient, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. If I recall correctly, my fiancé had a certified copy of his, which was in Swedish, and a certified/notarized English translated copy as well.

[Jolie&Charles 172]

8 minutes ago, Paul & Mallory said:

While this is understandably disappointing, this is NOT bad news. The fact that they took everything else, including your passport to send back with the visa, is a good thing. It means you basically check out, they just need the appropriate issue of the divorce decree. Once you send it to them, it shouldn't take long to get your visa if/once everything checks out - in our case, the same thing happened to my fiancé because they hadn't received the official papers from his doctor for his medical yet. They took his passport and everything. They received the papers on 2/27 (interview date was 2/22), and his visa and passport arrived in the mail 3/5.

 

I BELIEVE certified should be sufficient, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. If I recall correctly, my fiancé had a certified copy of his, which was in Swedish, and a certified/notarized English translated copy as well.

Thank you very much, its true that the bottom line is that its not a denied but moslty put the case "on hold". 

Im feeling down and waiting for the Court Office to open to see if they can mail it to me since my fiancé is currently deployed..

Thanks for your words, I appreciate it ♥️

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

6 minutes ago, Jolie&Charles said:

Thank you very much, its true that the bottom line is that its not a denied but moslty put the case "on hold". 

Im feeling down and waiting for the Court Office to open to see if they can mail it to me since my fiancé is currently deployed..

Thanks for your words, I appreciate it ♥️

You're doing the best thing possible - getting right on it and taking care of it

 

You'll feel a lot better once it's sent back, and you're back on track. My fiancé was bummed monetarily after his interview for the same reason, but we decided to consider ourselves approved, he just had to wait a little while longer for the visa. Once it came, we no longer thought about the fact that it even happened.

[Katemdedo 30]

32 minutes ago, Paul & Mallory said:

I've come across multiple posts around the forums here of people having been denied as a result of doing something just like that, even if it's not legal. It is NOT worth the risk. Wait until you're done with the process. If it's a matter of having something when certain people are available, plan something afterwards even if it falls outside of the 90 days - for us, we'll be getting legally married at the courthouse once he's here but having a traditional ceremony/reception in the fall so his family can come into town for it.

I figured it was a no no. I just don't really understand why.. if something is personal and not deemed as 'legal' why is it wrong to do? we don't plan on doing anything before our approval, but it just frustrates me how there's no real answers to anything when it comes to uscis. 

[Katemdedo 30]

1 hour ago, Jeff_9802 said:

People have been denied for appearing to be married while applying for the fiance K1 visa.  I would say don't risk it.  Wait until you have your visa in hand.

Yeah, I bet it's a scary situation to be in for couples that chose to do things that way.

[britishandusa 446]

1 hour ago, Jolie&Charles said:

Just got out of the interview and it did not go as expected..
They want the original divorce decree from my fiance. I had the photocopy with me (the same we sent with the 129F) they said its not enough..
They gave me a 221g copy and said they keep everything to just mail them back the divorce copy and they will send me back the passport with the visa as soon as they receive it.

I'm just very surprised cause this stage about my fiance being USC free to marry is supposed to have already been checked during the Noa1 process.

Ive read on the Arizona County Court that its possible to get a certified copy, I thought thats what I had..

Is a certified copy will be enough ?

Hey, I wouldn't worry about it. My fiance got a 221g too because they wanted me to send in another I-134 and proof that I am a USC. It pushed us back a week but he's here now. Your visa will be with you very soon!