Children of a K1 VISA Beneficiary (merged)

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Hi Everyone,

 

My fiancé & I got approved for our NOA2 on February 3rd, 2023. When we first started our relationship back in 2020 and up until now, we had made the decision that she would come over on the K1 Fiancé VISA on her own for the first year to get acclimated to the US, get used to being a wife & a step mom without also having to care for her children. At the time we felt it was a good decision & she had the support of her family to care for her son. We planned to petition for him as soon as we could with the hope of bringing him over to join us within 1-2 years (depending on the length of the process). She has since had second thoughts about leaving him behind for a year & she has since started to feel that her family would not properly care for him once she leaves.

 

First question...is it too late to have him added to our current K1 VISA application. I am assuming that this answer is yes & if we wanted to go this route, we would likely have to start all the way over back on step 1. 

 

Second question...what is the best way to handle this situation to try to get him to join us within a year (or however long the current process takes)? I am assuming that we would petition for him as an immediate family member as we would be married & I am more than happy to adopt him as part of the process.

 

Thanks!

 

Kawika

[powerpuff 6,697]

Its not too late. Did you list her son on the I-129F petition (as in list him where it asks if the beneficiary has children)?

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Yes I did.

[powerpuff 6,697]

32 minutes ago, Kawika said:

Yes I did.

You do not need a separate petition for him. All you need to do is, when the petition gets to the consulate, you would have to fill out and pay for two DS-160 and two medical exams. They will interview together and her son will get a K2 visa. 

[JeanneAdil 6,498]

is the child a minor?

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Yes...3 turning 4 next month.

1 hour ago, powerpuff said:

You do not need a separate petition for him. All you need to do is, when the petition gets to the consulate, you would have to fill out and pay for two DS-160 and two medical exams. They will interview together and her son will get a K2 visa. 

She'll be overjoyed to hear this. She was ready to break up with me in order to stay back with her son.

Edited February 12, 2023 by Kawika

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

From what I can gather thus far...the costs will be:

 

DS-160 Fee (x2) - $265.00 x 2

 

Medical Exam for my fiancé: 14,975 pesos

Medical Exam for her son: 9,853 pesos

[Mike E 11,739]

5 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

is the child a minor?

 

7 hours ago, Kawika said:

She has since had second thoughts about leaving him behind for a year & she has since started to feel that her family would not properly care for him once she leaves.

When does he reach age 21 years?

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

10 hours ago, Kawika said:

Yes...3 turning 4 next month.

 

[mate96 1]

Quote

My fiancé & I got approved for our NOA2 on February 3rd, 2023. When we first started our relationship back in 2020 and up until now, we had made the decision that she would come over on the K1 Fiancé VISA on her own for the first year to get acclimated to the US, get used to being a wife & a step mom without also having to care for her children. At the time we felt it was a good decision & she had the support of her family to care for her son. We planned to petition for him as soon as we could with the hope of bringing him over to join us within 1-2 years (depending on the length of the process). She has since had second thoughts about leaving him behind for a year & she has since started to feel that her family would not properly care for him once she leaves. First question...is it too late to have him added to our current K1 VISA application. I am assuming that this answer is yes & if we wanted to go this route, we would likely have to start all the way over back on step 1. Second question...what is the best way to handle this situation to try to get him to join us within a year (or however long the current process takes)? I am assuming that we would petition for him as an immediate family member as we would be married & I am more than happy to adopt him as part of the process. Thanks!

Hello! I'm glad to hear that you and your fiancé have been approved for your NOA2.

Regarding your first question, it is unfortunately not possible to add a family member to an existing K1 visa application. You would need to start the process again from the beginning if you wish to bring your fiancé's son with her.

As for the second question, the best way to handle this situation would be to petition for your fiancé's son as an immediate family member once you are married. You can do this by filing a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, and if he is already your stepson, you can also consider filing for his adoption as part of the process.

It is important to note that processing times for immigration applications can vary and are subject to change. You may check the USCIS processing times for an estimate of how long the process may take.

I hope this information helps. Good luck with your journey!

[powerpuff 6,697]

2 minutes ago, mate96 said:

Regarding your first question, it is unfortunately not possible to add a family member to an existing K1 visa application. You would need to start the process again from the beginning if you wish to bring your fiancé's son with her.

This is not true. As I said before, you do not need a separate petition for the child and the child was already listed on I-129F. 

[mate96 1]

4 minutes ago, powerpuff said:

This is not true. As I said before, you do not need a separate petition for the child and the child was already listed on I-129F. 

Ok ...

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

To add a spin to this...as we are now reconsidering sticking with our original plan to give her a year to get accustomed to her new normal first...would it be possible to fill out the K2 for her son & go through the process and get them both approved but instead of having them both travel to the US...just have her come alone as we originally planned? With the key being that after we are married & change our status...would we then be able to simply adjust her son's status at the same time even though he never officially entered the US?

 

I figured this would allow us to bring him over to the US once she feels comfortable enough & we have everything in order in our home to allow him to join us. Our plan is to bring him over with us during the summer of 2024 when we return to the Philippines to have a wedding ceremony for her friends & family. If we went through the process of petitioning for him as an immediate family member, I am assuming that it would still be a very lengthy process with all of the backlog still clogging up the system.

[IWander 589]

2 hours ago, Kawika said:

To add a spin to this...as we are now reconsidering sticking with our original plan to give her a year to get accustomed to her new normal first...would it be possible to fill out the K2 for her son & go through the process and get them both approved but instead of having them both travel to the US...just have her come alone as we originally planned? With the key being that after we are married & change our status...would we then be able to simply adjust her son's status at the same time even though he never officially entered the US?

 

I figured this would allow us to bring him over to the US once she feels comfortable enough & we have everything in order in our home to allow him to join us. Our plan is to bring him over with us during the summer of 2024 when we return to the Philippines to have a wedding ceremony for her friends & family. If we went through the process of petitioning for him as an immediate family member, I am assuming that it would still be a very lengthy process with all of the backlog still clogging up the system.

If they interview at the same time his visa would have only 6 mos of validity from the date of the medical 

 

Follow to join is available for up to one year.  He would have a separate interview and the visa needs to be issued before the one year anniversary of the k1s issuance and have the same 6 months validity, so in theory you can stretch it out almost 18 months 

[Mike E 11,739]

5 hours ago, Kawika said:

adjust her son's status at the same time even though he never officially entered the US?

Adjustment of status requires entering the U.S. 

 

Simplest choices  are to: 

 

1.  for the child to interview for K-2 when mother interviews for K-1 and enter the U.S. at the same time.  

 

Or

 

2. You file I-130 for your step child the moment you marry your fiancée 
 

Everything else is mind numbingly complicated.  For one thing who is later going to go back to fetch a 4 year old? Can’t be mom because she will still be waiting on her advance parole document. 

 

I’ve seen tragedies where the K-2 never adjusts status or is never added to the I-751.  I trust you will do what is  in your power to avoid this.  

Edited February 14, 2023 by Mike E