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Be prepared for more of a 40-50 day wait just for your case to get sent to the Department of State. These stages are extremely delayed. Research your embassy and what documents it asks for, I would say be aware of preparing these if you want them to be dated closer to the interview I'd hold off because the interview is still several months away. If you live or work in Canada, it can be Montreal *only Canadian embassy that does k1* but you can change it to Philippines if you want. Be aware this forum has several threads about Montreal Embassy being widely known for significant periods of administrative processing and delays. (Search ds-5535) 3. Yes any country you've lived in longer than 6 months. So Philippines and Canada if you've lived in both for over 6 months. 4. As long as you have some form of it you'll be fine - original or photocopy. I'd recommend scanning it so you don't lose or misplace it.

Same here, I misread and thought they were naturalised. Thank you to @EatBulagafor the info & correction.

I 2nd this, we're still undergoing the k1 process and if I could re-do it I would definitely go spousal visa. But particularly in your situation (OP) I would say go the spousal route simply because it would make things *less* complex rather than applying for another k1. That's just my opinion, I know a lot of people here will recommend spousal over k1 anyway. As Edward said, it's a higher bar than the k-1, less expensive, no adjustment process and being able to work and travel straight away is a huge benefit.

Congratulations. Please fill out your visa timeline so that it can be useful to other people

In this situation, have you considered marrying and going the spousal visa route? It doesn't eliminate the potential scrutiny but in these circumstances it might be more appropriate or "better" for you considering a previous k1 with you as the petitioner/sponsor has happened. All the best!

Usually, the embassy correspondence lists the evidence required. As most countries will ask for this (and some countries even want to see more evidence regarding the i-134 - it really is embassy dependent) it's recommended to bring the tax transcript regardless of country. Better to have something that is listed as required evidence, and not need it, than to not have it, and they ask for it. (Not to mention the i-134 instructions lists this as one of the forms of evidence) In addition, most embassy will send (either via email, physical letter or their website) the list of documents that they require (again, this can vary from country to country, but most of them will say I-134 and evidence). Some countries are known to not ask for it, or have a less chance for the officer to ask for it, but every officer is different and it's better to have it than to not have it and they ask for it. Regardless; many say the focus in general is on current income, but there are so many countries on here you can read interview experiences' for that state they were asked for the tax transcript.

Easiest way to see others' timeline on here in relation to interview is, go to immigration timelines, filter by country - Canada, click advanced search then sort by interview date descending. Then you'll see all the dates; noa2, nvc, embassy and interview date. Edit; upon doing this myself for Canada seems as if the average / shortest you can see is just under 2 months between Consulate received to interview date.

Same here, contacted USCIS and they told me a worker just used a generalised approval template, and that all i-129f / k1 go to NVC then the embassy and to ignore the generic template that didn't reflect the actual k1 process. My case also went from approved, to sent to DOS, through NVC then arrived at embassy.

Wow, I never actually knew this. It's actually terrible an organisation can do that. But then again there are only limited sources that can actually do something about their obscurity and inefficiency, and even when you contact Congressmen or senators, they usually accept any generic response USCIS provides. I never knew they hid data like that, thank you for sharing, but sorry that happened to you and others. Either way it's really terrible USCIS is able to do that type of thing without any consequences or accountability.

If you file when in the U.S, then you would answer those questions because it is applicable to you, because at the time of completing the form, you are in the U.S. If you are filing when in the U.S, and requires the i-94, then include the i-94 to show your entry. As, at the time of filing, your i-94 shows the entry, and you are in the U.S so it's accurate at the time of filing. Edit: if you're really worried about it, then you can always use the extra pages to include an explanation and just say you're leaving on X date.

As someone who was a part of that feb-march skipped batch, we tried literally everything and nothing worked. Congressional aid, senator aid. Calling USCIS. nothing worked. we even had screenshots and proof that they skipped the period - USCIS took the stance that they didn't skip any cases, that it's impossible that that happened and that there's no way for us to prove or know we were skipped because cases are processed in order of when they are received. Which we all know in reality this isn't true. We all know we had proof, but USCIS refused to acknowledge any of it. I know for a fact dozens if not hundreds of us called regularly and tried congressmen etc. They just essentially gaslight you on the phone lol. I'm fully aware the customer service people are only tier 1 officers and have nothing to do with adjudicating cases, but to us at the time we all felt like if they just put their hands up and said "hey, yea, you guys were skipped, we'll get back to it eventually" it would've felt less upsetting. But they just denied it was even happening and then any congressional or senator aid responses were "USCIS has informed us that you filed on [insert date] which is within normal processing times" and that I could re-request assistance after my inquiry date - as a March 4 filer, my inquiry date was April 25th 2025. At the same time, people who filed just a week after me, up to May filers were getting approved in under 90 days - so many even under 40 days. It was heart breaking. The situation now is with June/July filers is still the same in terms of being skipped, but generally processing times aren't as fast as they were in early 2024. It seems like they're slowing down. The initial feb/march skipped period filers speculated that we had been skipped to make their data look better; processing times looked so much faster but they had skipped over 3k cases from feb-march at the time. that could be what's happening here -who really knows haha. As much as it is upsetting and unfair, please hang in there. It isn't the first time it has happened, and unfortunately with how USCIS processing behaviour works, it is unlikely to be the last. For a bit of hope/motiviation; we got approved Aug 23, (I was extremely lucky compared to others skipped in this period, some of my friends from the same filing day as me had to wait until October or even November to get approved) and booked the 2 days ago for Jan 23rd. So there definitely is light at the end of the tunnel - we went into the process saying anything under 12 months would be considered a huge win for us, since the processing times for k1 were, in previous years, atrocious compared to what we have in 2024. Hang in there! ❤️

Unfortunately not all immigration journey's are fast. Try to keep hold of the positive; approval is a wonderful thing and a big step of the way is now checked off, and it'll all be worth it in the end once you and your fiancé are together and getting married!

Whilst this is true this is on the rarer / less frequent side to happen. People have been religiously tracking and posting updates regarding cases being sent to DoS & even making little graphs/tables to share for everyone to keep up to date with what cases are being sent to DOS and when, across the facebook groups, reddit and k1 discord. Either way, it's taking an extremely longer time to get sent to DoS - averaging at around 50-60 days and that has been the case since October. (October it was taking around 40-45 but this has increased since then) and hasn't decreased since & so only waiting 2 weeks since approved is still too soon in these circumstances. Most recent cases that were sent to DOS were cases approved Oct 16, sent to DOS on December 5 & 6th.

That's still too soon for right now. Until your case status at USCIS updates as "case was sent to the Department of state", USCIS still has possession of your case and therefore NVC cannot help, all they will say is they don't have your case yet - which is natural as USCIS hasn't sent the case the case to DoS yet. The average right now is minimum 50 days. But for some it takes over 90 as per what USCIS states. The most recent cases I've seen sent to DoS this past week are cases approved Oct 9th - 16th sent this last week. So most likely you have several weeks of waiting- if not close to a few months.

We literally just said a small paragraph something like "We initially met through a gaming group chat in mid 2019. In late 2019 we started playing video games together daily and spending time together every day. This included watching movies and TV shows together, video calls, gaming and phone calls." I then said we physically met and listed all the dates and trips and times etc. Went into details and that's about it relating to written evidence. Then I included as much evidence and proof of physical meeting and the relationship as possible. I didnt use ant proof relating to xbox, i didnt think it wouldve been useful. I included 1 page of call log screenshot and 1 page of social media posts (one announcing the engagement and one from a family occasion). Amongst other evidence of course, but just was summarising here what i did in relation to xbox. The officers are still people, they will understand what you're talking about, I didn't feel the need to go into more detail, because that's basically how we met, that's what I tell people if they ask how we met anyway. We got approved with no RFE on Aug 23rd. (March 4 filed, initially part of the skipped period of cases). We are now at interview stage.

Yeah like others have said.. your job here is to essentially convince a random stranger whose job it is is to scrutinise and decide if a relationship is genuine, that your relationship is real. Naturally that would require strong evidence - I'd encourage physical evidence more; proof of physical meets, time spent in person - of course people include online things, that's common, and by all means, but imho the strongest evidence is always being physically together, travelling, doing activities etc etc. Like Edward and Jaycel, we included about a half page just quickly summarising how we met - online via xbox video gaming, just because I felt like not everyone would understand, then included photographs of physical meets (several different meets), boarding passes, the typical evidence etc etc. That's essentially what the "describe the circumstances under which you met" means. They don't need an entire relationship story or timeline, just tell them how you met. At the end of the day it's your job to try and convince a sceptical stranger that your relationship is genuine and real; what you include evidence wise is down to you, but most people will include how much they feel it is necessary to do so.

Just disclose all names used as you're supposed to & then perhaps include a short paragraph like you have here. Name change disclosure is most likely just to ensure they can carry out the relevant background checks on you. Disclosing every name you've ever had or used or gone by is the only logical way to proceed. If you feel the need to explain to them why your name was changed or the nature then write a paragraph explaining it.

Canada has a p3 and p4 process where they have to email some documents. They have to do that then wait for the status to update as a 2nd ready status. I don't recall the specifics but I remember my Canadian friend talking to me about it. Essentially the embassy has some sort process where once its ready at embassy the beneficiary should receive an email requesting certain things, they send it to the provided email address then once the embassy confirms they have it, they get sent p4 which details instructions for the interview and once they receive 2nd ready status then they can proceed. Something along those lines. I'd suggest the k1 discord OP, it has a channel dedicated to Canada and there's a whole thread on there about the updated Canadian process including p3 and p4 steps. My friend said she emailed the embassy herself because she didn't get p3, and a few days later they sent her p3(email) and she responded with the relevant docs, they then responded the following morning and she could proceed to book interview as soon as p4 arrived. I don't recall the specifics so I am sorry! I just remember my friend saying how different Canada was to the UK (I'm UK and she's Canada)

Unfortunately in regard to the accepting mediocrity - it's not like there's much that can be done- USCIS has always ran and processed this way, that's just how it is. Until there are means of holding organisations like that accountable there isn't much that can be done. It's not a tax funded organisation and only other elements of the government can hold it accountable in relation to these issues (unless it exceeds normal processing time and other serious issues which can be addressed via congressional aid, senator aid and other methods like ombudsman and even seeking White House assistance, but like I said, these routes are only helpful and result in action when it's serious or has exceeded a specific time frame). There's hundreds of thousands of people who go through these processes. The people who filed during covid, the ridiculous delays seen in previous years.. Yeah it's crappy they lost or misplaced or even just overlooked a document, but at the end of the day it happens a lot not just with USCIS but things like that happen in every organisation. Whilst it may seem straight forward to us like you wanted to previous condense and downplay, we don't know the true extent and processes of the i-129f, background checks happen and those are commonly external or with other organisations and naturally intergovernmental communications aren't instantaneous. Expecting an approval in 30 days is ignorant. You mention someone getting approved in 21 days but no one knows their case details, whether an expedite occurred, every single case is different and the only people who know the true details of the case are the petitioner and the case adjudicator. Whilst I have no specific explanation as to why cases vary so much with processing times, I can assure you the amount of people approved in extremely short periods of time are small in comparison to those who wait months. I do think you're simplifying and downplaying the process. Immigration isn't just 4 question/tick boxes and then the petition should be decided.. You can see that via statistics readily available not only via this site but on other resources on the internet. Also involving politics here, in my opinion, is completely irrelevant to the topic at hand. No president or government has made this visa process take less than 30 days. Historically in general it takes months from start to finish - yes filers at the start of 2024 saw faster approval times, but not all of them. I was one of the ones who didn't. Let's not ignore the majority in favor of highlighting a smaller amount of fast approvals. Historically this isn't a fast process. I think sometimes perspective is needed. Look on this forum and read the huge amount of posts from people who waited 6+ months, over a year, etc etc. We should be thankful it isn't as bad as it used to be. & I agree 100% USCIS is inefficient and it's completely unfair some get approved so fast whilst others wait longer times in comparison, and that is so unfair and makes no sense, but that's how USCIS has always been for every visa type. If you think 159 days is ridiculous then you should be so thankful we aren't in the same position as the filers from before 2024. The process has never been fair or balanced. Is that an issue? Yeah, it's messed up. But things could be worse. Overall you really have downplayed the visa process. It's not as simple as asking 4 questions then boom, there's a decision.

That's true, but in the circumstance that being a thing, there is the option for them to marry in the UK. Since the OP mentioned the partner is a UK citizen, they could just go home to the UK and marry. Just thought to mention anyway

Unfortunately 150 days is still quite normal. Whilst there have been a lot of people approved in short times, that still isn't bigger than the amount of people who have waited 6-9 months. That's really the main issue, the unfairness and inconsistencies with the approvals, but that's how every visa category is really. Some get lucky, some don't. Try to stay positive! At least you got an RFE. Many people from before you are still waiting for any response at all. Progress is still progress and patience is key during any immigration process. I understand the frustration, I was a March filer who got skipped for months watching people who filed just a few days after me get their visa in under 100 days, be in the US and already be married before I even received NOA2. Not making excuses for USCIS at all, I think the organisation is extremely poorly managed & inefficient. They claimed moving to their new Cali office would help improve processing times and streamline the process, yet all that's happened since then is a decrease in processing and productivity, the numbers and statistics don't lie. But even when these sub 100 day approvals were happening, there were still thousands and thousands of people waiting over the 5 month mark. I know it sucks and it's ridiculous and unfair, but unfortunately it's all random and a lot of it seems to be based on luck - imo that is part of the problem. But all we can do is wait and be patient. It'll be worth it in the end. I'm just thankful I received noa2 in under 12 months. After all, this year was the first year processing times have been a lot faster and I'm happy with that because I can't imagine the pain previous year filers went through Hang in there & i am sure good news will come your way! Remember the end goal is worth the hurdles you face! 😊

Based on the info you have provided in your post & that she isn't too fond of the idea of being stuck in the US unable to leave for a certain period and she wants to remain in her country and working, the spousal visa process might suit you guys better than the k1. The spousal visa takes longer, but upon approval receive the green card (no adjustment of status process) meaning you can work and travel freely immediately.

That isn't correct. Again, the notice is a generalised template. Current timeframes to get sent to DOS is 55-90 days AFTER noa2 date. The approval/noa2 date are not the same thing as when your case actually gets sent to the Department of State National Visa Centre.. You will receive an addition USCIS WAC# status update where your case will go from "Case was Approved" to "Case was sent to the department of state" and as Mallory has stated, until this status update, USCIS has your case still. You can contact NVC as much as you want, they are going to repeatedly tell you they do not have your case until at least 1 week AFTER your case status updates as "case was sent to the department of state". Since they just sent cases approved September 25 to the department of state on the 21st November, you can do the math to guess/estimate when your case will be. e.g if your case was approved in the last week of September, your case in theory could get sent today or early next week (in theory).

Okay - so your USCIS status has told you that? Or not? If so, what date? The notice is a generalised template and doesn't actually mean they have sent your case yet. If your USCIS case tracking status appears as "case was sent to the department of state" that is when your case has actually been sent - until that occurs, USCIS still has possession of your case and NVC cannot do anything. USCIS will state it can take up to 90 days to receive this case status update and to send a case to the DOS. Currently this is taking a minimum of 55 days after noa2/approval date.

Also isn't really clear - did you receive NOA2 7 weeks ago, or did you receive the "case was sent to the department of state" update 7 weeks ago? They aren't the same thing. Whilst the NOA2 mentions the case being forwarded to the NVC, the case isn't actually sent to the DoS NVC until the case status updates as "case was sent to the department of state" via the USCIS # tracking. These timeframes can vary and currently it's taking 55-90 days after noa2 to actually have USCIS send your case to the Department of State/NVC. Sometimes even longer, but this has been the average as of late. Regardless, you can use the Public Inquiry form on the NVC website to contact them about your case; this is only helpful after that USCIS case status updates. Also many people have implied that the "timeframes" of what NVC are working on aren't exactly accurate for k1 - we do not submit documents nor pay NVC fees and therefore the process at NVC is slightly different and usually doesn't take as long as the time frames posted - whilst there is no way to confirm this to be 100% true, many people across the facebook groups, discord and here have mentioned these time frames not appearing/being accurate. Therefore, even if you email/contact them, there's no guarantee it will result in anything. Please fill out your VJ timeline too as it would help others.