Crazy Cat

Thanks. There were 1,000 new citizens naturalized in my wife's ceremony in Plano.

Every couple has their own priorities, and each couple must decide which visa is better for their situation. K-1 More expensive than CR-1 Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork) Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 6-8 months) Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 6-8 months) Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed. A K-1 might be a better choice when 18-21 year old children are immigrating also In some situations, marriage can affect certain Home country benefits, making a K-1 a better choice A denied K-1 is sent back to USCIS to expire CR-1 Less expensive than K-1 No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) required. Spouse can immediately travel outside the US Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival. Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport. Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.

No, not for an RFE. You would have to pay if you refile after a denial.

Wait.

Filing the N-400 seemingly worked for us. Check my signature below:

Incorrect. We had to upload my wife's divorce certificate from her previous marriage. She filed under the 5 year rule.

You are not filing taxes with your Mother. Taxes are filed per individual or jointly as a married couple. I suggest you talk to a qualified tax preparer.

Going to other countries before entering the US via your immigrant visa is fine. I have never heard of anyone experiencing problems as you described.

FYI- According to other VJ members the average K-1 visa is currently taking about 573 days from filing to interview. Good luck on your journey. Visa Journey is a great place.

NOTHING is fast in immigration....and certainly not super fast. Both the K-1 and CR-1 will take about 18-24 months from filing to visa in hand.

Yes, it does. The Utah Zoom marriage makes it easy to marry from anywhere in the world.

It means you don't have a chance to rebut a denial of a K-1. As the petitioner, they won't need your fingerprints.

Irrelevant to a Fiance Visa. Have you considered marriage and a CR-1? Every couple has their own priorities, and each couple must decide which visa is better for their situation. K-1 More expensive than CR-1 Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork) Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 6-8 months) Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 6-8 months) Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed. A K-1 might be a better choice when 18-21 year old children are immigrating also In some situations, marriage can affect certain Home country benefits, making a K-1 a better choice A denied K-1 is sent back to USCIS to expire CR-1 Less expensive than K-1 No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) required. Spouse can immediately travel outside the US Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival. Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport. Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.

NVC could have found an administrative error on the I-129F. If so, it will likely go back to NVC soon. That has happened before.

I strongly suggest your wife consider filing the N-400. It worked in our case. Check my signature below.

Thanks, everyone! Words cannot express how much I appreciate each one of you. My wife and I now say a "fond" farewell to USCIS....LOL!! I have deleted all my visa related emails from April 2016 to present. I have deleted all my I-751 and N-400 files!! USCIS no longer controls our lives!!!!

Final update: My wife naturalized this morning at the Plano Event Center, Plano, Texas.!!!!!

Naturalization Ceremony scheduled at the Plano Event Center this morning, January 26, 2023 at 7:30am. We arrived at the event center about 7:10am. There were hundreds and hundreds of cars already in the parking lot. There was already a long line around the side of the building. At about 7:30 am, the line started moving toward the front door. There were county voter registration people there to distribute voter registration form to those who wanted one. They also had kiosks set up to accept the voter reg forms after the ceremony. After standing in line about 40 minutes (32 degrees), we entered the building. The USCIS officer who conducted my wife's N-400 interview was there to keep everyone organized. After entering the building, new citizen applicants were directed ahead to security and tables set up to distribute packets before entering the big auditorium area. Family members were directed to small family rooms instead of entering the security area. About 40 minutes after we entered the building, the last of the long line of new citizens finally entered. Around 9:00am (IIRC), the ceremony started. Audio of the ceremony was piped into the family rooms. The speaker said, "We are here to naturalize 1,000 new citizens today". The ceremony lasted about 20 minutes (IIRC). The ceremony consisted of a short announcement by the local USCIS Director, recognition of each country represented (must have been 30 or 40), a taped message from President Biden, the spoken oath by all the new citizens, the National Anthem, and Pledge of Allegiance. The officials then directed family members back outside to wait for the new citizens to exit. After submitting my wife's voter registration form, we left the event center to warm up and enjoy some Starbuck coffee. All in all, it was a very nice event. My wife and I now say a "fond" farewell to USCIS!!!! Next objective: Submit US Passport application next Friday morning.

No, imo. Good luck.

You can apply, but don't get your hopes up. You have immigrant intent. Why would you want to return to your country after your visit? Consulate officers are aware that people want to bypass the long K-1 process. Be prepared to provide evidence to overcome the assumption of immigrant intent.

Agree. Once an RFE has been issued, I would do whatever they ask for...... asap.

Have you read the K-1 guide here on VJ? K1 Fiance Visa Step-by-Step Guide on Filing an I-129F for a Foreign Fiance - US Immigration & Visa Guides - VisaJourney Here is the example they use. [PETITIONER’S OR BENEFICIARY’S NAME] [PETITIONER’S OR BENEFICIARY’S ADDRESS] United States Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services [ADDRESS OF FILING LOCATION] or when submitting for interview United States Department of State United States Consulate, [name of country where Embassy is located] [Embassy Address] (Date mm-dd-yyyy) Dear Sir or Madam: I, (applicant’s or beneficiary’s name), do hereby state that I am legally able and willing to marry (petitioner’s or beneficiary’s name), and intend to do so within 90 days of my arrival into the US using the K-1 visa. Yours truly, (Signature) (Print name)

NVC only assigns a case number, then sends the case to the consulate after being requested.

Your DOS case number is the LPZ202352XXX number. (La Paz consulate) Invoice # is the 466XXXX number Beneficiary ID number is the 47XXXX number

There was an RFE involved. I'm sure that contributed to the long approval process.