Initial Questions While Preparing K-1 Peitition

[yddapoel 1]

Hello, I am preparing to file a K1 visa petition for my fiance.
I have followed some helpful guides found here and on YouTube to prepare the form and packet.
A few questions remain, I thought others with similar experiences might have advice:

 

1. When listing petitioner's address history: petitioner has been staying in the Philippines (mostly) for about 1.5 yrs (including full duration of the relationship with beneficiary) as a temporary visitor (tourist visa extensions), (during which made a few short trips to other nearby countries). I have a home in the US (my official 'residence') (and file taxes there the normal way, with no foreign income exclusion).
   Is my assumption that address(s) 'lived' at in PH while a tourist, not a resident of the Philippines should be excluded under petitioner's address history, with my current address to 'present' being my US address?
2. When listing petitioner and beneficiary's employment history, both of us had a period of self-employment during a portion of the past 5 years. Should we list: 'Employer: Self-Employed' with 'Employer's Address' matching our personal residential addresses at the time?
3. When utilizing G-1145 for e-notifications, do you get notified only once for the NOA1 upon case being received, or do you also receive text/email notifications when NOA2 and next steps like NVC processing starts? Since I will be staying overseas during the processing, I am planning to have the mail deliver to my US address with family able to retrieve it -- would be nice to know when a document is likely to have been delivered there.
4. If either party has a legal name change in the past, apart from listing the former name under 'Other Names Used', is it smart and/or necessary to include a copy of the name change court order with the petition packet? Was planning on including a scanned copy. (note: all documents/IDs used in petition reflect current legal name).
5. Any issue with initially mailing the packet from a family member's different US address (different from petitioner's address) to the USCIS Lockbox? I (petitioner) will still use my own US address in the petition itself.

 

 Thank you

Edited December 29, 2024 by yddapoel
clarification.

[OldUser 7,227]

2 hours ago, yddapoel said:

When utilizing G-1145 for e-notifications, do you get notified only once for the NOA1 upon case being received, or do you also receive text/email notifications when NOA2 and next steps like NVC processing starts? Since I will be staying overseas during the processing, I am planning to have the mail deliver to my US address with family able to retrieve it -- would be nice to know when a document is likely to have been delivered there.

G-1145 is not reliable, works half of the time. In addition, set up USPS Informed Delivery to monitor any incoming mail to your address. It's free.

Edited December 29, 2024 by OldUser

[Edward and Jaycel 395]

Like @OldUser said, G-1145 is not 100% reliable and in any case it only notifies you when the application was received and gives you the receipt number that was issued for your petition. They do not e-notify you of anything else after that. Once you get the receipt number, you can set up an account on my.uscis.gov and you will see any updates there (RFE, Approval, etc.) 

[EmilyW 1,498]

If you're already in the Philippines with her, why not marry and get the spousal visa instead?  That way, when she lands in the US she has a Green Card, can start working immediately, no issues with adjustment of status etc.

[Edward and Jaycel 395]

3 hours ago, yddapoel said:

When listing petitioner and beneficiary's employment history, both of us had a period of self-employment during a portion of the past 5 years. Should we list: 'Employer: Self-Employed' with 'Employer's Address' matching our personal residential addresses at the time?

Yes

 

3 hours ago, yddapoel said:

If either party has a legal name change in the past, apart from listing the former name under 'Other Names Used', is it smart and/or necessary to include a copy of the name change court order with the petition packet? Was planning on including a scanned copy. (note: all documents/IDs used in petition reflect current legal name).

 

Can't hurt to include a copy to explain the name change

 

3 hours ago, yddapoel said:

Any issue with initially mailing the packet from a family member's different US address (different from petitioner's address) to the USCIS Lockbox? I (petitioner) will still use my own US address in the petition itself.

 

Just be sure you mail it to correct lockbox location based on the mailing service (PO Box if mailing it via USPS or the physical address if sending it via FedEx, UPS, etc.)

 

[Edward and Jaycel 395]

3 minutes ago, EmilyW said:

If you're already in the Philippines with her, why not marry and get the spousal visa instead?  That way, when she lands in the US she has a Green Card, can start working immediately, no issues with adjustment of status etc.

 

And this is the best advice so far anyone has given in this post Heh We're going through the Adjustment of Status from a K-1 visa now and I really wish we had got married in the Philippines when I lived there with her and gone the Spousal Visa route

[yddapoel 1]

Thank you for the advice! The tip about setting up USPS Informed Delivery is very helpful, as well as this:

12 minutes ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

Just be sure you mail it to correct lockbox location based on the mailing service (PO Box if mailing it via USPS or the physical address if sending it via FedEx, UPS, etc.)

 

We are opposed to the spousal visa route due to the longer timeframe to be able to relocate, our impression is K-1 is fastest (although more cumbersome).

 

3 hours ago, yddapoel said:

When listing petitioner's address history: petitioner has been staying in the Philippines (mostly) for about 1.5 yrs (including full duration of the relationship with beneficiary) as a temporary visitor (tourist visa extensions), (during which made a few short trips to other nearby countries). I have a home in the US (my official 'residence') (and file taxes there the normal way, with no foreign income exclusion).
Is my assumption that address(s) 'lived' at in PH while a tourist, not a resident of the Philippines should be excluded under petitioner's address history, with my current address to 'present' being my US address?

Typo on my question here, meant to say: "Is my assumption correct that address(s) 'lived' at in PH while a tourist, not a resident of the Philippines should be excluded under petitioner's address history, with my current address to 'present' being my US address?"

Also, is it possible to receive the mail during the process at a P.O. Box address, or is it required to be a residential address? (I have both options...)

[spicynujac 33]

13 minutes ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

 

And this is the best advice so far anyone has given in this post Heh We're going through the Adjustment of Status from a K-1 visa now and I really wish we had got married in the Philippines when I lived there with her and gone the Spousal Visa route

As someone who did the research in advance here, and went the spousal route, I've seen DOZENS of cases where the couple wished in hindsight they went with spousal visa.  I've never seen one who wished they went fiance visa.

 

There are some cases where a fiance visa makes sense (I believe when adopting your wife's children from a prior relationship) but otherwise spousal visa is cheaper, easier, better, and about the same amount of time.  We are days from the final step/ embassy interview, and I can't stress enough how nice it will be to avoid further interactions and payments with US Immigration (this goes on for years and is currently at least a thousand more dollars, assuming they don't raise any fees before you are done, with fiance visa)!

The only thing that's changed since we made our decision is that with the upcoming US administration, we are very happy to be bringing a *family member* to the states, vs bringing in an unrelated immigrant... perhaps (probably) nothing will change with border admissions, but it's a superior position to be in if things do.

 

If you're already there, together?  You could file for spousal visa in a week if you do the Utah video marriage.  If you are physically together, and know you want to marry, why keep her in the fiance zone?  (You cannot marry until she is admitted to the US if you go that route).

[OldUser 7,227]

26 minutes ago, yddapoel said:

We are opposed to the spousal visa route due to the longer timeframe to be able to relocate, our impression is K-1 is fastest (although more cumbersome).

If you count time to enter the US, then K-1 may be 3-6 months faster.

 

If you count time to get GC, spousal route is probably 6-9 months faster.

 

If you count the expenses, CR-1 is probably $1500-2000 cheaper (don't have exact numbers, sorry).

 

K-1 is easier to deny.

 

[Edward and Jaycel 395]

3 minutes ago, OldUser said:

If you count time to enter the US, then K-1 may be 3-6 months faster.

 

If you count time to get GC, spousal route is probably 6-9 months faster.

 

If you count the expenses, CR-1 is probably $1500-2000 cheaper (don't have exact numbers, sorry).

 

K-1 is easier to deny.

 

All of this 👆👆 We are going on about $4k total so far for fees, etc.

[yddapoel 1]

I was able to confirm using a PO Box as the mailing address for paperwork through the process, including PO Box of a family member, seems to work fine for other cases. Seems safest.

I still have the question of address history in the petition.

 

I thought also about this:
Since I've been overseas for some time (which would be explained in proof of relationship), should I include any proof of domicile upfront in the petition packet?

Or perhaps that would only apply at the interview stage with affidavit of support?

 

Regarding the spousal visa comparison: I agree in the convenience of landing with residency status already pre-approved, and the cost reduction.

Most current trackers seem to be around 15-20 months for CR-1 processing though, vs. about 6-12 months for K-1 to get the visa, be able to travel (not factoring AOS) we could relocate at least 6 months sooner.
That's why we lean to it as opposed to a foreign wedding and CR-1.

 

Is $4K in K-1 costs DIY, including removal of conditions?
My estimation is roughly $2630 with K-1    (675 + 265 + 250 (med exam est) + 1440)
vs. around $1475 with CR-1                         (675 + 325 + 250 (med exam est) + 225)

(plus eventually removal of conditions at $750, with either option)

 

 

 

[Edward and Jaycel 395]

14 minutes ago, yddapoel said:

Is $4K in K-1 costs DIY, including removal of conditions?
My estimation is roughly $2630 with K-1    (675 + 265 + 250 (med exam est) + 1440)
vs. around $1475 with CR-1                         (675 + 325 + 250 (med exam est) + 225)

(plus eventually removal of conditions at $750, with either option)

 

Yes we are DIY and I did not add in ROC fees- You forgot to addd Employment Authorization Application ($260 when filed concurrently with I-485) plus we set aside $750 in case something happened in the transit of her yellow packet from CBP to her USCIS A-File and they give us an RFE for needing a new Medical. We also did not file the I-131 Advanced Parole for travel purposes, but if you want your fiancee to be able to leave the country while the AOS is being adjudicated you will need $630 for that application. We also spent about another $100 on miscellaneous things for the AOS filing (Passport photos, Printing and shipping costs, etc.)

Edited December 30, 2024 by Edward and Jaycel