J.M.

Can you provide a source for that information? I have never heard of any fees (other than 100-250php documents). is this something new?

Glad to see some movement with June filers. Still nothing for me, even though mine was sent a couple of weeks before yours. No reason to expect USCIS to start doing things in order now though. They have already proven that they do whatever they want, whenever they want.

She will take a printout of the deposit receipt to the local bank. They will print her receipt on the reverse side. Just be sure the deposit receipt date is current. They are only valid for a few days (maybe a week) because of exchange rate fluctuations.

Yes, it is for her to fill out.

Specifically for the Philippines: 1st is definitely filling out the DS-160. You can do that right away. It is valid for 1 year after submission so no worries about it expiring. You cannot search for interview dates until you have submitted and paid for the DS-160. You will "start an application" the first time. After that, you or your fiancée can "retrieve an application" to continue working on it. If you fail to log in to the application for 30 days, you might have to start over. The only communication you will get from the embassy is an email that they received your petition and that you can schedule your interview. You might not even get that email. Once you are at "ready" status there is nothing to wait for at all.

I sent mine June 7 to the Dallas office. Historically, Dallas super-fast at processing AOS, but in June they seem to have bogged down. No receipt notice yet. In May, it took only a few days to get receipt notice. I hope that doesn't mean the whole AOS process will be slowed down also.

VJ member stats show booked appointments for Manila on these days: 1 on 7/23, 1 on 8/6, 4 on 8/13, and 1 on 8/27. Just keep checking. One will show up.

I chat with a few that are going through interviews right now. There were a few weeks when nobody could get an interview, but it seems to be back to normal now. Expect 2-4 weeks to obtain an interview appointment, with the interview itself being 2-4 weeks after you find one. Decide now how much lead time you need for medical and travel so that when you do see an interview date, you can grab it instead of trying to figure it out then. The slots fill up fast.

Cenomar is not required or needed for I-129f filing. Yes, you have to provide evidence of termination of previous marriages, but you do not have to provide evidence of being single if never married. You can include it, but it is not necessary of beneficial. 14 pictures are more than enough. Your only goal when filing the I-129f is to show that you were in the same place at the same time, within the last 2 years. Pictures are OK, but not the best way to show that. Visa entry stamp and boarding passes do that. Pictures are secondary evidence. 4 to 6 is enough. I suggest saving the "official engagement photo" for the interview, and only present it if additional proof of relationship is required. You are not trying to prove your relationship when filing the I-129F, only that you have physically met in the last 2 years. Your relationship validity will be considered when you are interviewed, which for the Philippines is not very difficult to prove.

Bank account is an asset. Listing assets is not required if current employee income is sufficient.

My fiancée arrived at Dallas POE in April. Her arrival was very simple. CBP took her passport and packet. She waited 10 minutes and they returned her stamped passport. No questions at all. The international arrivals at DFW is now entirely behind closed doors. Even baggage claim is behind the closed doors. There is only one international arrivals set of doors. Everyone comes through the same place. It is very easy to find and only a few hundred feet from the parking garage. The disadvantage is you cannot help them gather their bags. Mine came through with 3 bags and 2 large dogs in kennels, so I was a bit concerned about not being able to help her. Airport staff helped, taking everything all the way to the parking garage, but of course with a tip.

You can schedule it more than 2 weeks in advance of the interview. Just be aware that the K-1 visa expiration is tied to the medical exam date, not the interview date. For normal medical exam results, the K-1 visa will be valid for 6 months from the date of medical exam.

DS-160 is valid for one year. Medical can be done early, but the visa expiration date is tied to the medical exam date, so you don't want to be TOO early because it will limit the time left to enter the US after the interview.

You are correct. This is the account that will be used to schedule the interview. Most of it can be filled out (and saved) in advance, but until you have submitted and paid for the DS-160, you will not be able to fully complete the application or see appointment availability.

Looking at VJ K-1 interview dates, members have successfully scheduled USEM interviews for 6/25, 7/2, and 7/23. I'm not sure why there is a gap for 7/9 and 7/16. One day when you least expect it, the schedule calendar will pop up and you will have a date. Do not be concerned about your approval notice expiration. It will automatically be extended for an additional 4 months if you aren't finished prior to expiration. I think you have already figured out how to keep from getting locked out. Checking 3 times a day is enough.

The VJ estimates are based on input on the VJ website from members. The estimate is generally pretty accurate, as you have confirmed by commenting that others with similar NOA1 have already been approved. The USCIS estimate is much longer, and that is the date you must adhere to for inquiries.

Oops... posted in wrong forum. Comment deleted.

Just be patient... when you least expect it the appointment calendar will pop up. The Manila website will lock you out if you check too often or linger on the website. I learned the hard way with a 72 hour lockout. I suspect mine was due to leaving the webpage open after I checked for appointments.

These are Philippines specific answers. Other countries have different procedures.

For some reason the link didn't post properly. It was just a link to K-1 timelines sorted by Philippines and NOA2.

I-129f approvals for Philippines are averaging about 3-4 month since the beginning of the year according to VJ stats: K1 Fiance Visa US Immigration Timelines for Philippines from the California Service Center - SORT : Second NOA Date - DESC (visajourney.com) Add 2-3 months to that to process the Philippines side. If you only look at the ones going through interviews recently, it is closer to a year of total processing time, but that is not really representative of current processing times. Following timelines that have filed more recently will likely give you a better estimate. The most recent NOA2 for I-130 (sorted for Philippines) was filed 9/25/23. The most recent NOA2 for I-129f was filed 4/11/24. These are just from VJ timelines, so not a 100% correlation to the real world. Processing times fluctuate, but the trend recently is K-1 is back to being significantly faster than spousal. Be sure to understand the different requirements for spousal vs. K-1 after approval.

There is a pretty extensive and current thread about CR1 interview availability here: It's 33 pages long currently, with posts nearly every day. The most current times are near the end of course.

I-485 Documents: G-1145 if you want email/text notifications 2 passport photos with name and A number on back Wife's Passport bio page copy Wife's Birth Certificate copy Visa Page/Entry stamp copy (likely on adjacent pages) I-94 printout NOA2 for I-129f Marriage Certificate, certified preferred DS-3025 Vaccine Worksheet. You will not have possession of the I-693. Cover page is your choice. It is a handy way to make sure YOU don't forget anything. I also encourage I-765 if wife has any plans to work within the next year. It's not that much more ($260 if concurrent with I-485). I separated the I-864 from the I-485 with a 2nd brief cover sheet.

Do you mean your I-129f was approved? Or do you mean you had your interview and are just awaiting delivery of your passport?

CFO and eTravel (which she will already have but will need to update prior to departure). CFO is relatively easy to schedule and takes about half a day. The catch is that it is only given in Manila, Cebu, and Davao. Hopefully she will be somewhat close to one of those. The digital certificate is emailed immediately upon completion of the class.