When to start paperwork for Affadavit Of Support.

[WestHighlander 64]

Hello, folks. Just a quick question regarding the timing of the paperwork for the Affadavit Of Support. My fiancee in Washington State is in the final stages of preparing the I-129F package and is planning to mail it by the end of the week. Assuming the petition is approved, I've been reviewing the instructions on the London Embassy website for the application process at my end, and it says, "Assemble all of the documents required in support of your application, including the Affidavit of Support from your fiance(e)". That conflicts with other information I was given which stated that my fiancee should only proceed with the application for the Affadavit Of Support after we're married and applying for adjustment of status. I'm now assuming that we she should start the paperwork for the affadavit as soon as she receives notification that the petition has been approved? Thanks in advance for replying.

[powerpuff 6,748]

With covid delays and the uncertainty about how fast your case will be sent to the consulate, I’d say can fill out form I-134 and prepare supporting documents around the time your case will show status “in transit” or “ready”. At least that’s what I did. Some people might say do it earlier but I personally don’t see a point. I would want latest pay stubs and fresh employment verification letter. Plus it really doesn’t take long to get everything ready. You will need another affidavit of support (I-864) when you apply for adjustment of status.

[WestHighlander 64]

There are TWO Affadavits Of Support to file for? Just as well I asked! Thank you for the info, I've passed that info on to my fiancee. Incidentally, how would I go about checking my case status? Is there an option to do that on the USCIS website?

[powerpuff 6,748]

13 minutes ago, WestHighlander said:

There are TWO Affadavits Of Support to file for? Just as well I asked! Thank you for the info, I've passed that info on to my fiancee. Incidentally, how would I go about checking my case status? Is there an option to do that on the USCIS website?

The second one is filed down the road when you get to the US and apply to adjust your status to receive a green card so I wouldn’t worry about that for a long while. 

You will need to call NVC about a month after your case is approved to get a case number. You should read the following to familiarize yourself with the process:

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by powerpuff

[WestHighlander 64]

Thank you for those links; my fiancee is already using the second one as a reference before mailing the I-129F package.. I'll bookmark the first one as well to help us caluclate an approximate timeline. 🙂

[Wuozopo 4,293]

16 hours ago, WestHighlander said:

Thank you for those links; my fiancee is already using the second one as a reference before mailing the I-129F package.. I'll bookmark the first one as well to help us caluclate an approximate timeline. 🙂

Concerning your K1 timeline. K1 interviews were shut down at the embassy in London in March 2020 due to covid and Fiancé’s not allowed to travel to the US directly from the UK even with a visa. The approved I-129F petitions were just piled up at the NVC to wait until K1 interviews resumed. That pile-up became a year’s worth of fiancé’s awaiting their files to be sent on to London. K1 Interviews have resumed somewhat in London but at a trickle pace, so you are facing a serious backlog before you interview and actually get your visa. 
 

Here’s some London timelines to view that recently interviewed (July 2021)

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=365551. Sent I-129F in July 2020

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=392000. Sent I-129F in October 2019

 

Concerning the items mentioned in that second link your fiancé is following. Your fiancé does not need to send anything to you except her I-134 Affidavit of support and that can wait until she has received notice from the NVC that they have finally sent the file on to London.  You won’t need the whole I-129F packet for your London interview. They will have received all the original from the NVC and will be looking at it when you interview. You won’t need additional evidence of your ongoing relationship or photos for a London K1 interview. They won’t look at it if you bring it.  All the documents you take to your interview are your civil documents except for the Affidavit of Support your US fiancé provides with proof of her income. Often those proofs of income on Visa Journey will state a long list.  London is super easy. They will approve on just one proof of income. Take two if you don’t believe me. One tax return or an employer letter stating her income are good choices. Skip all that bank statement talk unless she has no job and is depending on cash assets to sponsor. Skip the asset part if she has a job that covers the minimum income required.  You won’t get bonus points for assets if you have an acceptable salary. You won’t believe how easy-peasy a London K1 interview is. 
 

Best advice for one just starting out on an immigration path—

Make a photocopy (for your records) of the entire package before mailing off. That includes a copy of the payment  check, the addressed Priority Mail envelope, as well as every page being submitted. Bind it in a folder with brads and file away. Then when you start second guessing yourself, get a request for more information, or read how somebody else messed up; you know exactly what you submitted, how you answered every question, if you signed applications, how you made out the check, and if you addressed the envelope correctly.  Do this all the way to US citizenship.

[WestHighlander 64]

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

Concerning your K1 timeline. K1 interviews were shut down at the embassy in London in March 2020 due to covid and Fiancé’s not allowed to travel to the US directly from the UK even with a visa. The approved I-129F petitions were just piled up at the NVC to wait until K1 interviews resumed. That pile-up became a year’s worth of fiancé’s awaiting their files to be sent on to London. K1 Interviews have resumed somewhat in London but at a trickle pace, so you are facing a serious backlog before you interview and actually get your visa. 

We were expecting that to be the case.. I've been following the announcements on the London embassy's website, so I knew there would be a monstrous backlog when they finally started processing visas again.. To be honest, we're not expecting final approval until at least 2023, so anything earlier than that will be a bonus. I haven't managed to get over to Washington to see Tana since the pandemic struck last year, and there's no sign of the US travel ban being lifted any time soon, so we decided to just go ahead with the K1 application before our two-year window expires in January, just in case I can't get over again this year. I'm determined to try again, though; I'm going to have to spend two weeks outside the UK and Europe in order to get into the US, so I've booked an AirB&B in Istanbul for two weeks in October, then flights to Seattle 16 days later. If the ban is still in place if and when my K1 is approved, I guess I'll just have to do the same thing again, and enter the US after two weeks in a third country.

 

 

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

London is super easy. They will approve on just one proof of income. Take two if you don’t believe me. One tax return or an employer letter stating her income are good choices. Skip all that bank statement talk unless she has no job and is depending on cash assets to sponsor. Skip the asset part if she has a job that covers the minimum income required.  You won’t get bonus points for assets if you have an acceptable salary. You won’t believe how easy-peasy a London K1 interview is. 

That's a relief.. We've probably been stressing a bit too much about the financial aspect of the application. Tana's a licenced clinical social worker, and works as a school-based therapist for a healthcare company in the Tri-Cities, so she has a good job and a good salary. Thanks for the info!

[SalishSea 18,133]

6 hours ago, WestHighlander said:

If the ban is still in place if and when my K1 is approved, I guess I'll just have to do the same thing again, and enter the US after two weeks in a third country.

No, you would qualify for an NIE.

 

You should probably do lots of reading and research into the entire AOS process.   With a K-1, the visa itself is just the tip of the iceberg.   Good luck.

[SalishSea 18,133]

On 8/9/2021 at 8:03 PM, WestHighlander said:

I'm now assuming that we she should start the paperwork for the affadavit as soon as she receives notification that the petition has been approved?

No.   You will still have many months to wait.  There is no need to assemble anything until you have your interview date.

 

She can order tax transcripts from the IRS now though.

[WestHighlander 64]

36 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

You should probably do lots of reading and research into the entire AOS process.   With a K-1, the visa itself is just the tip of the iceberg.   Good luck.

I invested in a 656-page legal textbook called "US Immigration Made Easy" which has an online appendix, constantly updated with the latest legal changes. It has a comprehensive chapter on the AOS process, which I'm reading now. As I understand it, aftter successfully entering the US on a valid K1 and marrying my fiancee, the K1 allows me to skip the I-130 and proceed directly to the I-485, but by the looks of it I'll have plenty of time for supplementary reading during the long wait for the K1! Thanks for the help.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

On 8/10/2021 at 5:59 PM, WestHighlander said:

If the ban is still in place if and when my K1 is approved, I guess I'll just have to do the same thing again, and enter the US after two weeks in a third country.

That got changed earlier this year and K1 visa holders are now allowed to travel directly. Last year they said a fiancé with a K1 visa in hand is not “family”. No worries anymore unless things get really bad and new travel rules are put in place. You just never know what to expect from month to month with Covid. 
 

You know if you make it to the US to visit, you could marry while there and apply for the spouse visa instead of K1 fiancé. Those visas are a better deal and have been moving along through the embassy in London since the embassy reopened last year after the total lockdown, while the K1s were piling up. Slower due to reduced staff but at least moving. 
 

 

18 hours ago, WestHighlander said:

As I understand it, aftter successfully entering the US on a valid K1 and marrying my fiancee, the K1 allows me to skip the I-130 and proceed directly to the I-485, but by the looks of it I'll have plenty of time for supplementary reading during the long wait for the K1!

A K1 visa allows you to enter the US for 90 days. You can’t work or get a driver license or leave the US and return.. You have to apply for AOS (a greencard) but can remain past your 90 days while that is pending.  It could take a year to get your greencard. You can also apply for a work permit and a travel permit but even that takes months. 
 

With a spouse visa, you are a permanent resident the day you enter the US on your CR1 visa. You can begin work immediately, get a driver license, and leave the US and return (because you have a greencard).

 

The people who file an I-130 spouse petition concurrently with AOS are ones already living in the US on a visa like a work visa, or who who may have entered as a tourist without getting the fiancé or spouse visa so never had an I-130 petition filed on their behalf. 

[SalishSea 18,133]

14 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

You can’t work or get a driver license or leave the US and return

You can get a drivers license in the state of Washington, without regard to immigration status 🙂

[WestHighlander 64]

2 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

You know if you make it to the US to visit, you could marry while there and apply for the spouse visa instead of K1 fiancé. Those visas are a better deal and have been moving along through the embassy in London since the embassy reopened last year after the total lockdown, while the K1s were piling up. Slower due to reduced staff but at least moving.

We've talked about that, but that opens up a whole world of problems for me back in the UK while waiting for the CR-1. I would have to declare that I was married to the Department For Work & Pensions, and it would cause me a huge amount of financial problems (I've been on DWP Employment & Supported Allowance for seven years due to a chronic liver condition which almost killed me back in 2014). It's much simpler if my circumstances don't change until I'm ready to hand the keys of my house back to the local council and move out. It's a good thought, though.

 

 

2 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

You can get a drivers license in the state of Washington, without regard to immigration status

Well, my fiancee will be please to hear that.. And that gives me something to do while waiting for my Green Card: Driving lessons. (I never learned to drive in the UK!). 

Edited August 12, 2021 by WestHighlander

[SalishSea 18,133]

1 minute ago, WestHighlander said:

We've talked about that, but that opens up a whole world of problems for me back in the UK while waiting for the CR-1. I would have to declare that I was married to the Department For Work & Pensions, and it would cause me a huge amount of financial problems (I've been on DWP Emplpyment & Supported Allowance for seven years due to a chronic liver condition which almost killed me back in 2014). It's much simpler if my circumstances don't change until I'm ready to hand the keys of my house back to the local council and move out. It's a good thought, though.

 

 

Well, my fiancee will be please to hear that.. And that gives me something to do while waiting for my Green Card: Driving lessons. (I never learned to drive in the UK!). 

Might be cheaper to learn during the long wait for the petition approval?  

[WestHighlander 64]

7 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Might be cheaper to learn during the long wait for the petition approval?

I thought about that, but learning to drive in the UK, then having to unlearn everything and start from scratch in the US would be crazy. The controls are on the other side of the vehicle, all cars are manual transmission (no automatics), all the road signs are different, plus we drive on the other side of the road. I'd much rather learn in the US since that's where I'm going to be driving!