corazónENparaguay

I don't believe the service centers make any promises regarding the length of the process. They do provide projections and averages, but nothing concrete. That said, have you contacted your congressman to inquire on your behalf?

Send it to Texas and they'll process it to the appropriate service center. Texas is the appropriate mail point.

Which embassy should I contact...US or Indonesia Consulate here in Chicago?

The US embassy in Indonesia, where she would have the interview.

E-mail or call your embassy and mention to them your plans. You may just get lucky and get all the answers you need. Here, you'll be told not to jeopardize your case with a ceremonial wedding, but that isn't your only option. Find out from your embassy what can be done. It may not be an issue at all.

I have a similar case where we plan on having a ceremonial wedding first, and in one e-mail I was given all the answers I needed. Easiest e-mail I ever sent. Hopefully yours will be the same. Good luck!

I can see the point of being fair to the families, but I'd suggest for anyone contemplating this, that it be done AFTER the visa is in hand. But that's just me.

To be safe, AFTER the visa is the safest for sure, but I think people make it more complicated than it has to be. It all depends on the consulate, right? I e-mailed ours to confirm if a religious wedding ceremony would be recognized...they said it would not, and they even went on to say we were free to have our ceremony before the K-1. This took one e-mail. Perhaps we're lucky for having such a flexible consulate, but I'd say contact your consulate first, it may be much easier than you think.

Why do people complicate their process by these pseudo marriages? Not trying to be snarky, just really curious.

Family obligations.

Religious obligations.

Or because there is no one way of doing things.

Umm...they likely don't go in the "garbage" - they are likely recycled. Use recycled paper and do your best to avoid RFEs...and more paperwork.

but why would china or england or bolivia or the phillipines care about whether their citizens come to the usa?

They care because they want to ensure you legal rights abroad.

Stupid question...or maybe not so stupid considering the circumstance, but...is hiring private security to transport you to and from your appointments an option? Or at least something to consider?

You know that you must use the visa the first time within 90days and they require that if you don't apply in person, you send by express right? Turn around on the vitur is only about 10-14 days, so if your plans have late Jan entry, it may be invalid by the time you want to use it. It's better to wait until you have more concrete plans.

That said, when I applied for my vitur, we didn't have hotel plans, but I'd already bought plane tix and gave my fiance's contact info.

Iirc, they needed to see the itinerary as part of the requirements. Should double check. Overall, it is safer to wait to apply until you've got plans.

I wasn't aware of the 90 day requirement, so thank you for pointing that out. I am aware of the express service and I intend to use a 20 day service, because I have the time, and it's cheaper. I intend on buying my plane tickets next week, but my destination isn't Brazil. My destination is Paraguay where my fiancée is. And when we travel into Brazil it'll likely be at our leisure, so I won't have any contact info for Brazil until I'm in Paraguay. So do I just put my fiancée's contact info in Paraguay?

I'm guessing it's a bit too late to suggest a condom?

If I were you I'd do what's customary. If that's getting married before having the baby, I'd get married. There's a chance you could complete a K-1 before baby is due, but baby is in charge now. Focus there.

On the request form for a Brazil Visa it asks for contact info in Brazil. I have not yet made any plans for when or where I'll be in Brazil, I only know I'm traveling to see my fiancée in January. What should I put in for the contact info? Do I leave it blank? Is it important at all?

Thank you.

Your options are:

leave it blank before printing and handwrite the name in

or

write "see attachment", then include an attachment to the form, stating the form number, the person's name, their date of birth, the question number on the form, your answer, and sign/date it.

Contact the embassy. I know a church wedding is not considered a legal wedding in Paraguay, and I confirmed this by e-mailing the embassy in Paraguay. You should do the same if you have doubts.

Ya, sounds like the worse possible scenario. However, I'd spend less time worrying about the shmuck and more time pondering the reasons why you allowed someone to "drag" you through the process. I don't mean to be critical because Shmucks are everywhere and can't be controlled, and really, is he worth your concern? You do, however, have control over the choices and decisions you make, and I just want to point that out. You were self-sufficient before so there's no reason, other than by your own volition, why you can't be so again. We all make mistakes, they sometimes suck, but guess what? Today you were given two promises...1) that the sun would rise, and 2) the opportunity to change your situation. Take advantage of it and good luck!

Yes, after you are wed, you'll apply for EA (employment authorization) at the same time you apply for AOS. It takes about 3 months to bet EA approval.

I've thought about this a lot, and even though it's a bit cliché, I do believe love doesn't care about circumstance, and regardless of the choices you make, life really is full of challenges. You're equipped to face the challenges, and with a cherished partner, doubly so...IMO. Focus on your communication, speak your mind, and take the time to understand your partner.

The punches on an Acco double-hole punch is spread 2-3/4". Perfect for an Acco prong fastener. That's how I bound my documents.

I get excited reading these stories. Thank you for yours and enjoy the rest of your journey.

Good luck!

You can leave the US anytime you want. Reentry is another matter, and you'll want advanced parole (refer to the guides and AP) to do so.

I read somewhere that the documents are filed with top-page-double-hole-punches. So I double-hole-punched mine and used a prong fastener. The USCIS instruction only said to not use fasteners that would make it difficult to disassemble. I also used dividers that had the tabs on the bottom of the page to separate each section.

If you're a worry wart like me you can use a free trial program like Batch Photo to print the actual (as programmed by the camera at least) date and time on the front of the picture. It likely won't be necessary.

Review the tabs above, specifically the ones titled "processing times" and "portals". This is the best guess at how long it will take.

I suppose if you're adopted this would be a different question. Are you adopted?