How do I handle my I-797 expiring before I can attend an appointment?

[Rebecca95 1]

So I was made aware that the U.S Embassy in London re-opened today. I have yet to make any appointments (medical and otherwise) for my K1-Visa due to everything that's been going on, and by the time I received my letter, everything had started to close including the embassy so I wasn't able to make any appointments until now.

 

My I-797 is due to expire in a few weeks. When inquiring via e-mail/contact form, I received an automated response with a list of Q&A's and one question was similar to my situation, and it said that I'll need to "revalidate the petition with a letter from the petitioner stating that you both remain legally free to marry". I decided to call the embassy today and ask some questions regarding appointments and my I-797 expiring as the earliest appointment I can make online is 8th July, which is way after my I-797 expires, and I wanted to double check if that was correct for the K1-Visa as I wasn't sure if it was so far ahead because of the backlog or because of the executive order for immigrant visas (even though the K1 isn't an immigrant visa, online you have to go through the immigrant site). The person on the phone sounded like they weren't really interested in my questions so I got a bit flustered and anxious and didn't want to ask any further questions after that. 

 

Basically what I'm asking is, how do I go about extending/revalidating my I-797 when it expires in a few weeks and when I can't actually get an appointment until July? I thought my expiry date might've been extended due to everything going on, and I don't know how to re-apply or revalidate with a letter stating that we're still planning on getting married. I apologise if this post is a bit of a mess, I'm all anxious and flustered because I thought there'd either be earlier appointments available, or there'd be a way to extend my expiry date because of the situation.

[payxibka 10,045]

11 minutes ago, Rebecca95 said:

So I was made aware that the U.S Embassy in London re-opened today. I have yet to make any appointments (medical and otherwise) for my K1-Visa due to everything that's been going on, and by the time I received my letter, everything had started to close including the embassy so I wasn't able to make any appointments until now.

 

My I-797 is due to expire in a few weeks. When inquiring via e-mail/contact form, I received an automated response with a list of Q&A's and one question was similar to my situation, and it said that I'll need to "revalidate the petition with a letter from the petitioner stating that you both remain legally free to marry". I decided to call the embassy today and ask some questions regarding appointments and my I-797 expiring as the earliest appointment I can make online is 8th July, which is way after my I-797 expires, and I wanted to double check if that was correct for the K1-Visa as I wasn't sure if it was so far ahead because of the backlog or because of the executive order for immigrant visas (even though the K1 isn't an immigrant visa, online you have to go through the immigrant site). The person on the phone sounded like they weren't really interested in my questions so I got a bit flustered and anxious and didn't want to ask any further questions after that. 

 

Basically what I'm asking is, how do I go about extending/revalidating my I-797 when it expires in a few weeks and when I can't actually get an appointment until July? I thought my expiry date might've been extended due to everything going on, and I don't know how to re-apply or revalidate with a letter stating that we're still planning on getting married. I apologise if this post is a bit of a mess, I'm all anxious and flustered because I thought there'd either be earlier appointments available, or there'd be a way to extend my expiry date because of the situation.

You bring the updated statement on the day of interview,  they revalidate at the window during the interview 

[Rebecca95 1]

3 minutes ago, payxibka said:

You bring the updated statement on the day of interview,  they revalidate at the window during the interview 

Thank you very much for your response. So I shouldn't need to worry about booking an appointment that's way after my expiry date as long as I bring an updated statement to the interview? I wasn't sure if I had to revalidate/extend it some other way before any interviews take place.

[payxibka 10,045]

8 minutes ago, Rebecca95 said:

Thank you very much for your response. So I shouldn't need to worry about booking an appointment that's way after my expiry date as long as I bring an updated statement to the interview? I wasn't sure if I had to revalidate/extend it some other way before any interviews take place.

That is London's process.  

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1 hour ago, Rebecca95 said:

My I-797 is due to expire in a few weeks. When inquiring via e-mail/contact form, I received an automated response with a list of Q&A's and one question was similar to my situation, and it said that I'll need to "revalidate the petition with a letter from the petitioner stating that you both remain legally free to marry".

You already answered your own question.  No need to worry about this at all. You can also read the instructions London provides for K1s. In the list of documents to bring to the interview https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/fiancee-2/required-documents/ it says:

 

Petition Affirmation Letter (if applicable)

If your petition expires before the visa interview takes place, you are required to bring to your interview a signed letter from your petitioner confirming that you both remain legally free to marry and that you will marry within 90 days of your arrival in the United States

 

[Rebecca95 1]

46 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

You already answered your own question.  No need to worry about this at all. You can also read the instructions London provides for K1s. In the list of documents to bring to the interview https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/fiancee-2/required-documents/ it says:

 

Petition Affirmation Letter (if applicable)

If your petition expires before the visa interview takes place, you are required to bring to your interview a signed letter from your petitioner confirming that you both remain legally free to marry and that you will marry within 90 days of your arrival in the United States

 

Thank you, I really appreciate the response. I wasn't sure what it exactly meant at first and I didn't want to call the embassy again. I appreciate you clearing it up for me!

[emfish 2]

Sorry if this is off topic, just wondering where you heard the embassy had reopened? This is good news!

[Wuozopo 4,293]

On 5/11/2020 at 1:48 PM, emrid364 said:

Sorry if this is off topic, just wondering where you heard the embassy had reopened? This is good news!

The embassy is not open to the general public. A small staff is working. They have opened up some visa appointment slots for July.  You might want to read this thread in the UK FORUM