K1 Visa Approved TODAY!

[TandMApproved 33]

Hello everyone!

 

As the title suggests, my fiancé and I just got approved for our K1 visa (she had her interview a few hours ago in London and got the approval). I know how nerve-wracking this whole process can be, and please if you need any help or have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! I was a lurker on these forums for most of the process and they helped me so much, I want to pay it forward and help others who may need it! I'm going to go over everything, including some mistakes we made along the way.

 

We sent our petition off in October of 2018 and received the letter that it had been received about 2 weeks later. From that point, we got our approval letter and notification that it was being forwarded to the NVC in the beginning of March 2019. This is where our first mistake happened. We were both so dead set that one of us would receive a letter letting us know the petition had been forwarded to the NVC and then to the embassy, but we never did. In the approval letter we received in March, it said to wait 30-45 days before contacting the NVC if you didn't receive a letter with your case number. We did just that, learning later on that we should have contacted them after 2 weeks to get the case number much faster. Our second mistake involves form DS-160. We again thought that my fiancé would receive a letter with an interview date and time, and we were wrong again. We had no idea at first that after you submit form DS-160, could you then schedule your visa interview. Luckily we realized this one faster than our first mistake!

 

So the interview was finally scheduled and the fee was paid, now time to schedule the medical! Third mistake inbound, we didn't realize that we should wait at least 5 business days between the medical and the interview, so that the embassy would have her medical packet needed for the approval. The next part can either count as an addition to the third mistake or its own mistake entirely, we underestimated just how busy and hard it was getting a prompt appointment at Knightsbridge. The soonest we could get an appointment would be, get this, the SAME day as the interview was scheduled, and that was ONLY because someone had just cancelled an appointment and it had just opened up! So with that we had to schedule the interview for a different date, the medical was on 5/23/19 and the soonest available interview date after was on 6/10/19. Oops!

 

The same day the above happened (about a few weeks before the medical) was when we were also gathering the last couple documents for the interview. We had everything all set, apart from the Affidavit of Support. No big deal right? Can just get that over along with the supporting documents by signing and scanning it over right? WRONG! A "wet signature" is required for that form. Thank goodness we caught that one well in advance and didn't catch it because of a delay with our visa. I printed, signed, and assembled all the documents needed and then headed to the post office. I ended up paying for Priority Express shipping through USPS to ensure the documents would reach my fiancé well in advance, and they did thankfully! After that was received, no further mistakes were made and it was smooth sailing!

 

6/10/19, today, also interview day! The day had finally come and we were both still pretty nervous even after checking hundreds of times that we had all the required documents. My fiancé brought:

 

-Passport

-Birth certificate

-Form DS-160 confirmation page

-ACRO Police Certificate

-Affidavit of Support with 1099 forms (I'm self-employed), most recent tax return/transcripts, and bank statements

-Appointment email

-Proof of fee payment and courier selection

-A few passport style photos

 

This list is generally all you need unless you fit some of the criteria that require additional documents, I recommend you check around here or on the embassy website just in case you fit into the criteria of needing the additional documents! Back on track, my fiancé had an 11:30am appointment and arrived at the embassy at 11am. Definitely be careful of delays and account for them happening, but if you're a tad bit late then it's all going to be ok! My fiancé got in the correct line and then received a ticket number, once that number was displayed she went to another window and presented all of the documents. Everything was fine and we had them all, so she went to go back to wait to be called for the interview. There were about 3 others there today for K1 visas. When my fiancé was called up, she was greeted by a very nice gentleman. He asked her how we met, and then asked her how much money I make. She obviously knew how we met, but didn't know how much I make. The interviewer jokingly showed her a few of the documents I sent with the Affidavit of Support (this wasn't a bad thing he did, I was WELL above the income level for both the visa and AOS) and then laughed saying you should have asked him (me).

 

After that was done, our visa was approved! Everything went smoothly despite the mistakes me made along the way. I guess it was very fortunate that none of our mistakes resulted in delays or flat out denial! But that's how our process went!

[Crazy Cat 41,886]

Has the status changed to "Issued"?

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

I always tell people use 'wet signature' on all forms from the USC regardless. Why be petty about some postage at this point in the stage. It's nothing compared to any delays.

 

Also, until "issued" don't get too excited or plan anything. Your fiance may end up in administrative processing (AP) for awhile still. Could be 2-3 days, 2-3 weeks, 2-3 months or longer. Just be patient, but congrats on making it this far.

[TandMApproved 33]

32 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

I always tell people use 'wet signature' on all forms from the USC regardless. Why be petty about some postage at this point in the stage. It's nothing compared to any delays.

 

Also, until "issued" don't get too excited or plan anything. Your fiance may end up in administrative processing (AP) for awhile still. Could be 2-3 days, 2-3 weeks, 2-3 months or longer. Just be patient, but congrats on making it this far.

Thanks! Yeah we haven't bought anything or made any plans yet. The interviewer said she should get her passport back in about a week, but of course this can vary and be longer than that. Regardless I'm just happy most of the process of the K1 Visa is over, it was very stressful!

[TandMApproved 33]

37 minutes ago, missileman said:

Has the status changed to "Issued"?

Not 100% sure, I'm going to ask my fiancé once she's awake later. I'm aware of processing and how long it can take, still happy the interview went well and everything though!

[Wuozopo 4,293]

7 hours ago, TandMApproved said:

We had everything all set, apart from the Affidavit of Support. No big deal right? Can just get that over along with the supporting documents by signing and scanning it over right? WRONG! A "wet signature" is required for that form.

London will be okay with a scanned I-134.

 

Were you getting all your instruction from the K-1 threads? YouTube? Processes vary depending on the embassy and some things are just out of date.. The important thing is you've interviewed and it went well. Congratulations !

[TandMApproved 33]

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

London will be okay with a scanned I-134.

 

Were you getting all your instruction from the K-1 threads? YouTube? Processes vary depending on the embassy and some things are just out of date.. The important thing is you've interviewed and it went well. Congratulations !

Thanks! Yeah I was getting most of the info from here, but I think for that part I got it from RapidVisa (I used their services for K1 Visa and also will be for AOS). I just thought better safe than sorry, didn’t want to risk getting delayed or denied.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

7 hours ago, TandMApproved said:

Thanks! Yeah I was getting most of the info from here, but I think for that part I got it from RapidVisa (I used their services for K1 Visa and also will be for AOS). I just thought better safe than sorry, didn’t want to risk getting delayed or denied.

 

But you did get delayed, so how rapid was RapidVisa?  Are you sure you can't do AOS by yourself? I really don't know how much they charge, so maybe worth it to you to have somebody type your info on the forms for you. 

[Sweetdreaming 397]

Just read up on RapidVisa its $725 for their K1 visa + AOS / green card service package, which isnt too bad for some peace of mind I guess.

I may consider using them for AOS only which is $400

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

40 minutes ago, skjourney said:

Just read up on RapidVisa its $725 for their K1 visa + AOS / green card service package, which isnt too bad for some peace of mind I guess.

I may consider using them for AOS only which is $400

My worry wouldn’t be around wasting $400 - I just wouldn’t trust RapidVisa to do a good job, having read all the horror stories about them. I honestly think the best person to handle my AOS would be me and my future husband - as no one would care more it being done correctly and successfully than us. The stranger at RapidVisa definitely won’t - so I’d worry they’d be more likely to rush and make mistakes...

[Sweetdreaming 397]

thanks, yeah im yet to research them fully, but if the reviews are as bad as you say then ill probably give them a miss.