Timeframe for booking a K1 visa interview

[tom&cat 0]

Hi everyone, Sorry for yet another question on how long things take. We've received notification from the NVC that our case is en route to the Embassy, which is great! Unfortunately I have a job offer for a temporary position that will last 9 months, but I don't want to accept if I'll be leaving the country within 6 months or something. My question for anyone who is at a similar stage in the process is how long is the wait at the moment? I understand its not a queue but if anyone has some guidance on what to expect I'd appreciate it, I'm just trying to do the right thing!

[Wuozopo 4,293]

2 hours ago, tom&cat said:

Hi everyone, Sorry for yet another question on how long things take. We've received notification from the NVC that our case is en route to the Embassy, which is great! Unfortunately I have a job offer for a temporary position that will last 9 months, but I don't want to accept if I'll be leaving the country within 6 months or something. My question for anyone who is at a similar stage in the process is how long is the wait at the moment? I understand its not a queue but if anyone has some guidance on what to expect I'd appreciate it, I'm just trying to do the right thing!

It’s mostly up to you now. If you have been planning ahead and are prepared with your shot record, police report, affidavit of support, documents for interview, etc you could be booking your medical and interview this week. So turning it back to you, how long will it take you to get your ducks in a row?
 

You are setting the time clock now. You could be in the US pretty quickly if you get on it.  If you got your medical done before October 1, you wouldnt have to get a flu shot or be fully vaccinated for Covid. But the medical requires having things in hand to take and if you haven’t already started that then you won’t make that cutoff date. 
 

Have you read this thread from today? https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/771009-booking-an-interview-k1/

 

It has some useful K1 things I shared that I don’t want to repeat in this thread. 

 

[saksnoot 31]

With the London embassy, K1 applicants schedule their own interviews out of the available slots. If you really want it done quickly, you can probably find a cancellation for a slot coming up very soon if you check the interview scheduler judiciously.

 

Your I-129F is valid for 4 months from the approval date. This can be extended at the discretion of the consular officer. Your visa will need to be issued before the I-129F expires. Usually, your visa will be valid for you to enter the US within 6 months of issuance.

 

So without a consular officer extending the I-129F validity, the latest you could enter the US on a K1 is 10 months from when the I-129F was approved.

[HRQX 4,145]

2 minutes ago, saksnoot said:

Usually, your visa will be valid for you to enter the US within 6 months of issuance.

The visa validity usually relates to the Panel Physician medical exam completion date: https://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/panel-physicians/tuberculosis.html "Travel clearance is valid for 6 months from the time the evaluation is complete."

[Wuozopo 4,293]

22 minutes ago, saksnoot said:

Your I-129F is valid for 4 months from the approval date. This can be extended at the discretion of the consular officer. Your visa will need to be issued before the I-129F expires

That is a complete non-issue for K1s in London. If the petition is “expired”, you bring a new letter of intent (to the interview) from the US petitioner saying he/she is still free to marry and intends to marry [beneficiary name] within 90 days of his entry on a K1 visa. You don’t have to notify the embassy prior to expiration or before the interview. 

 

22 minutes ago, saksnoot said:

Usually, your visa will be valid for you to enter the US within 6 months of issuance.

The visa will be set to expire six months from the medical exam date, no matter when you interview. If you get a medical and wait five months to interview, then you get a visa good for one month.

 

22 minutes ago, saksnoot said:

So without a consular officer extending the I-129F validity, the latest you could enter the US on a K1 is 10 months from when the I-129F was approved.

Nope this is not how it works and London officers always extend the petition. Always. No hassle. Probably won’t even bring it up.  
 

@tom&cat

Edited September 20, 2021 by Wuozopo

[tom&cat 0]

29 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

It’s mostly up to you now. If you have been planning ahead and are prepared with your shot record, police report, affidavit of support, documents for interview, etc you could be booking your medical and interview this week. So turning it back to you, how long will it take you to get your ducks in a row?
 

You are setting the time clock now. You could be in the US pretty quickly if you get on it.  If you got your medical done before October 1, you wouldnt have to get a flu shot or be fully vaccinated for Covid. But the medical requires having things in hand to take and if you haven’t already started that then you won’t make that cutoff date. 
 

Have you read this thread from today? https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/771009-booking-an-interview-k1/

 

It has some useful K1 things I shared that I don’t want to repeat in this thread. 

 

Thanks for this, it's really encouraging to hear; but I'm worried I might have mislead you. We haven't heard from the Embassy that they're ready to process the case - Just that from the NVC that they've sent it to the Embassy. Bearing this in mind should we be quite so optimistic about a chance of being together before the end of the year? I unfortunately haven't got any of that prepared but could get things in motion tomorrow in anticipation of hearing from the Embassy.

 

I did read that thread before I posted, thank you. It had some helpful info but I'm still a little lost. Would you recommend booking a medical as soon as we have access and have completed the DS160 regardless of available interviews? Is the appointment letter required for the medical the same notice we'll receive from the embassy that they're ready to process the case?

 

Sorry to bombard you with questions, I appreciate the responses so far.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

3 hours ago, tom&cat said:

We haven't heard from the Embassy that they're ready to process the case -

You don’t actually need that letter of instruction from the embassy, which is mainly to tell you where to look online to find your instructions.. You have the link to their website instructions . You aren’t required to have that letter to get in the interview. The medical people will take the NVC notice that shows your LNDXXXXXXXX case number or if you have an interview booked, you will have a confirmation you print. (That interview confirmation is what you print to show when you line up outside on interview day.) The medical people mainly want to see your case number in writing. So letter or none from embassy, you can check the ceac tracker https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx

When your status says ‘Ready”, it’s go time to pick an interview, but only if you have your documents gathered or assured they will be in hand shortly.

 

3 hours ago, tom&cat said:

Would you recommend booking a medical as soon as we have access and have completed the DS160 regardless of available interviews?

You want to have your police certificate. Then shot records, and Personal Care Summary (is that the name, I always forget)…Record? ..anyway it is a short printout covering shots, meds, recent visits if any.  Some NHS surgeries are great and provide that quickly. Others lag for weeks before they will help you. So I would order the police certificate ASAP and start checking with your GP office on what shots you’ve already had and the summary print out.  Have you had 2 Covid jabs already? (That’s another long discussion.)  Get your fiancé to complete the I-134 and send it to you. You can create your account on the interview booking site without actually picking a date (once your case is at the embassy): If it’s not ready for you, it will say number not found. Nothing is wrong with your number, you’re just too early so try next day….and next…
 

Pre-Covid you could log in and find lots of appointment offerings, ring the medical and find an appointment just days away, so could really almost book both simultaneously. Appointments are a bit scare now so you just need to work it out the best schedule for you and the best dates you can find. If you wait until later to decide on that one appointment you found, it will be gone. But more will pop up. You can hardly screw this up but ideally medical followed by interview the next week. 
 

And tell them to set your place at the Thanksgiving table in Tennessee. 🦃 

Edited September 20, 2021 by Wuozopo

[tom&cat 0]

Thanks so much @Wuozopo, this is all honestly so much more helpful than any information our attorney has provided. I've applied for my police certificate today with priority mail, and contacted my GP who have told me they'll let me know when my records are ready to pick up. As soon as I have all these I'll book my medical appointment, but I anticipate having to pay for a few vaccinations as my GP have told me they won't provide the ones I need.  I have had both Covid jabs so at least that's sorted.

 

I've checked the CEAC and it says ready, but when I went to set up the booking account it explicitly says not to create an account unless I've received a letter from the Embassy saying they're ready to proceed, and that they would cancel any appointments made the day of. I assume I should hold off from the temptation of trying to look for available appointments until we hear from the embassy, and just focus on getting the medical sorted for now?

 

Thanks again, with all the delays we've had in our case I was honestly anticipating replies telling me it was foolish to consider being in the US in 9 months!

[Wuozopo 4,293]

2 hours ago, tom&cat said:

but when I went to set up the booking account it explicitly says not to create an account unless I've received a letter from the Embassy saying they're ready to proceed,

Yes, it says that, but seriously,  ignore that. You know from your ceac status that your case is ready. You choose   “I have received a letter from the consular section with instructions to register or schedule a K visa appointment” to move on. That computer software has no idea if you’ve received mail or not.  This is shortcut stuff from experiences of those who have done it through London. You will have to chose a courier depot and pay the visa fee (I think) before it will let you see the available appointments. See that other thread I referred you to and that guy’s question about this part.

 

2 hours ago, tom&cat said:

and that they would cancel any appointments made the day of.

That sounds like they don’t want you to go in on Sept 20 and pick an appointment for Sept 20 (the day of??). What are the chances of having that happen anyway. 

 

2 hours ago, tom&cat said:

but I anticipate having to pay for a few vaccinations as my GP have told me they won't provide the ones I need. 

NHS won’t give flu jabs to under 50 years old so go to Boots or maybe Tesco if they still have clinics offering jabs. Get the  dated written proof. Make sure it’s this year’s version. We’re in that transition before flu season starts so check on availability at those kinds of places. Pick the cheapest, easiest place. 
 

Many NHS surgeries give shots free, but sounds like yours won’t. You may not need much new. When you get your records you’ll know where you stand.
 

To be signed off for your adjustment of status in the US and not deal with medical again, here’s my copy/paste list:

Here are the shots needed for 19 through 59 years of age:

• Td or Tdap - Tetanus/diptheria/pertussis or get DT, DTP or DtaP and it will be accepted. The latest shot must be no longer than 10 years ago or you need a booster. In the UK they will give Revaxis which is Tetanus/diphtheria +polio. Adults don’t need polio for immigration but that’s the combo available in the UK. They don’t have a Tetanus and diphtheria only jab like Adacel given in the US.  
• MMR - (if born in 1957 or later)-Mumps/measles/rubella.  It's two doses in your life, but if you get the first dose, and 4 weeks haven't passed by your medical, they will waive the second dose for "insufficient time interval". If you only had one dose as a child, get a second one before the medical.
• Varicella - Not routinely given in the UK. A history of having chickenpox excuses you from the shot. They take your word for it at the visa medical exam. They will also waive the shot in the UK for "not routinely available". 
• Influenza - Required during flu season only, October 1 through March 31.  If your medical is not during flu season, you don't need it. 
• COVID-19 vaccine - Completely vaccinated with dose 1&2. (New starting 1-Oct-2021).

 

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by Wuozopo