MalloryCat

K-1 visas technically don't have a priority date. i believe we used the NOA2 approval date case ID should be the NVC case number

https://www.uscis.gov/tools/designated-civil-surgeons/vaccination-requirements here are the vaccine requirements she will need to have had at least one of each age appropriate series

you can start filling out the forms and gathering the documents but nothing can be submitted until after she is in the US and you have gotten married. the only thing you can apply for before getting married, but after she has arrived in the US, is the social security number. it is highly recommended that you do this before getting married see here but adjustment of status (green card) and the work authorization have to come after you've gotten married

it sounds like you could easily DIY the I-129f petition yourself. as someone who used boundless (and regrets it) I would 100% say DO NOT go with them. they are not experts and not worth the money. and even though my experience with them wasn't awful, I've had to block 2 of their phones numbers because of the insane amount of calls I have received from them. I'm talking like.. 3 calls from the same person in the span of 15 minutes. each time leaving a voicemail saying the same exact thing. I didn't know this site existed at the time when we filed our I-129f, if I had I would have just filed everything myself and not gone with a company. if you do plan to do it yourself, this site will be incredibly helpful, heres a good place to start https://www.visajourney.com/k1-fiance-visa-overview/

theres no way to know for sure but USCIS jumps around a lot when processing petitions whatever site your using for estimated wait times based on other petitions isn't always going to be 100% accurate. but if your petition was filed in June (like your timeline says) then May petitions would come before yours anyway. i know the waiting is frustrating, but this whole process is a ton of waiting and unfortunately just doesn't always go quick

have you checked the status of your case through USCIS to see if they have sent it to the NVC? based on what others have said they have been much slower sending cases to the NVC. you can either check through your USCIS account or here with your case number - https://egov.uscis.gov/ if it has been sent to the NVC, you can check their processing times here - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html if it is passed the processing time for when your case would have been received (if it has already been sent) you can submit a public inquiry to the NVC to get your case number here - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/ask-nvc.html?wcmmode=disabled if you can get your case number that way, you can track its status for the embassy here (when searching, the visa application type needs to be under "immigrant visa" not "nonimmigrant", even though the K-1 visa is technically nonimmigrant) - https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?App=NIV if it has just been sent to the embassy, the tracker will show as "in transit" and will eventually update to "ready". "ready" just means that the embassy has received it and they will be contacting your fiance with the next steps (no exact time frame on that as it is embassy specific) you can read information about the consulate in Lima here - https://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=Peru&cty=Lima it also lists what documents your fiance should bring to her interview. any communication now will go directly to the foreign fiance. Once it does leave the NVC and the embassy has received it, the embassy will send what is typically called packet 3 to your fiance. this packet will contain the information for the next steps of the process. including how to schedule the interview, how and when to schedule the medical exam, and what documents your fiance will need to bring to the interview. for your side though, you will need to fill out and gather the evidence for the I-134 Affidavit of Support and send this to your fiance for her to bring to the interview. the I-134 evidence needs to show current income, so tax return transcripts, employment authorization letter, pay stubs.

she cannot receive or apply for a SSN until she is in the US on her K-1 Visa here is a guide for applying for a SSN while on a K-1 Visa

That is correct

if your case is still at the NVC, you can submit an inquiry to them about transferring your case, you can do that here. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/ask-nvc.html Calling the NVC usually doesn't get you anywhere if your case has already left the NVC and is at the embassy, you need to contact the embassy you want to transfer it to and they will initiate the transfer from the original embassy.

any communication now goes to the beneficiary (foreign fiance) the US citizen doesn't receive any mail from the NVC, only the foreign fiance will. But in my fiances case, he didn't get a letter from the NVC until well after we already knew it had been at the embassy. As the person above said, it would be better to just submit an inquiry to the NVC to get your case number, that is what we did. The DS-160 is valid for 1 year after submitting it. so it technically can be submitted at any point, but I also agree reading through the regional forms to get more clear answers on the process for your country's embassy

you should check your case status on USCIS before contacting the NVC again you can do that here https://egov.uscis.gov/ sending your I-797 won't achieve anything

when we submitted our I-129f none of the pictures we included had us with either of our families. the only pictures we had were just of us two. I believe we only included between 5-10 photos and they were all just selfies of us together. we never received any kind of RFE or anything. I believe the 2 or 3 pages explaining our relationship (how we met, how our relationship is, recounts of the visits we had, etc.) helped significantly in our case. Since we had so few pictures(I hate taking pictures of myself, always have, so providing pictures was a struggle lol) i don't believe it would cause an out right rejection. at the very least you could get an RFE to provide more proof of relationship. But USCIS mostly wants to see that you've met in person within the last 2 years before filing (i.e. met sometime in person between October 2022 and October 2024). Which is best shown through passport stamps, I-94 records, flight itineraries, etc. Pictures are secondary evidence to those things.

the interview won't be able to be scheduled until after your fiance (the beneficiary) has received instructions from the embassy on how to next proceed. same goes for the medical, you will have to wait until the embassy contacts your fiance. a DS-160 that hasn't been completed or submitted is saved as a draft for 30 days. once the DS-160 is submitted, it stays valid for 1 year.

you get your case ID from the NVC but if it was only just sent yesterday, it will take at the very least 30 days for NVC to process it and assign it a case number see the processing times here https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html they are working on cases they received on september 12th. they more than likely won't receive your case for at least a few more days, as I am pretty sure I-129f cases are still sent by physical mail. you will probably get a generic "we don't have your case" response to the inquiry you already submitted. you will probably have to wait another month or so and try again. or the foreign fiance will receive a letter from the NVC with the case number. but that is usually pretty slow.

the letter my fiance (the non-USC) received from the NVC was addressed to him. I (the USC) never received any letters from the NVC other than the email reply to the inquiry I had made. any communication from now on will go directly to you, the non-USC the wording is a little odd, but there isn't anything to correct on it i don't believe this letter is used for anything in the immigration process, as it is just to keep you updated on where your petition is

we went through boundless for our I-129f in hindsight we could have and should have just done it ourselves but the people who actually put together the packet and that you talk to for the most part aren't immigration attorneys or anything of the sort. just call themselves "experts", of which the majority are not. i guess i would say we had someone with more experience work on ours and we weren't given any incorrect information. honestly, they probably get some kind of kickback from the translation service that they advertise. wouldn't be surprised if that is why they are insisting you get the BC translated because of the one sentence. i wouldn't say "difficult" but they are very annoying i've had to block 2 different phone numbers from them because they just don't stop calling, even though we are well past the point of needing them.

i (the petitioner) never received communication from the NVC. my fiance in Germany did get a letter from them saying they had our petition. but this was over a month after it had already been at the embassy. so well past the NVC stage. you can check the NVC processing timelines here, this is usually pretty accurate and should give you a good idea about when NVC will process your petition https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html on your NOA2 it should say something like "after 4 weeks/30 days you can submit an inquiry to the NVC about the status of your petition". That would be what I would recommend you do next. you can do that here https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/ask-nvc.html

USCIS prefers evidence of in person meetings over things like purchases. while extra evidence can be good, it could also hurt you depending on what the extra evidence is. unfortunately you will more than likely have to wait and see if you get an RFE you can try contacting USCIS after you've received your NOA1, but theres no guarantee

there are several decent/cheap hotels around the consulate in frankfurt. my fiance lives in germany and just found it much less stressful to go up to night before and stay in a hotel

you should receive information from the consulate regarding the next steps of the process, including how to schedule the interview as well as the medical exam. this is typically called packet 3

that is all true, i believe there was just some miscommunication from the embassy to that person they more than likely meant just a copy of the petition, which was sent to that person in their email some embassies do it a little differently.

No you don't need to bring a stamped approved copy of the i-129f to the interview. But it is recommended to bring just a copy of the i-129f you submitted to the interview The embassy would have the stamped copy. For my fiance in Germany, the embassy sent a copy of our i-129f to him with his packet 3 instructions I don't really remember the outcome of that post

The number will be the same regardless So I don't think it'll be necessary The only condition on the card is it has "allowed to work with DHS authorization" or whatever printed on it Which I believe you would want to get removed once he becomes a citizen (if that is the plan)

i would say address it at the interview if it comes up guessing travel dates is never 100%, and the embassy should know that i don't think they put a lot of scrutiny on what travel date is put on the DS-160

technically they do, but theres still that final check through thats done. thats why the verbal approval is not 100% guaranteed. completely depends on the embassy. my fiances visa was marked as issued after 2 days, but obviously thats a different embassy. if you have a simple case it could be a few hours or a few days. no harm in being optimistic based on the officer saying they don't see a reason for denial