RD2MN2016's US Immigration Timeline
Immigration Checklist for C. & A.:
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USCIS I-129F Petition:
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Dept of State K1 Visa:
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USCIS I-485 Petition:
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USCIS I-765 Petition:
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USCIS I-131 Petition:
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USCIS I-751 Petition:
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USCIS N-400 Petition:
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K1 Visa
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
California Service Center |
| Transferred? |
No |
| Consulate : |
Dominican Republic |
| I-129F Sent : |
2016-06-20 |
| I-129F NOA1 : |
2016-06-27 |
| I-129F RFE(s) : |
2016-08-25 |
| RFE Reply(s) : |
2016-09-21 |
| I-129F NOA2 : |
2016-09-28 |
| NVC Received : |
|
| Date Case #, IIN, and BIN assigned : |
|
| NVC Left : |
2016-10-18 |
| Consulate Received : |
2016-10-31 |
| Packet 3 Received : |
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| Packet 3 Sent : |
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| Packet 4 Received : |
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| Interview Date : |
2016-12-16 |
| Interview Result : |
Approved
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
2016-12-29 |
| US Entry : |
2017-01-23 |
| Marriage : |
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| Comments : |
K1 Visa interview experience
We arrived late (!!!) to our 7 a.m. interview by 10-15 minutes. I was freaking out thinking that we would be turned away for being late. Thankfully, and for those of you who also will have this happen to you, it wasn’t that big of a deal. The only difference I could tell after it was all over and done with was that we may have gotten out of there sooner. However, I do think that because we weren’t very late by like 30 minutes or more, it didn’t affect our case. I don’t know what would have happened if we arrived later.
The waiting area is huge in front of the building. There were two areas for lines, one on the left side and another on the right side. We asked the security guard which side we should be in for a K1 visa interview and that we were late. He told us to wait in line on the right side. After a while, other people/couples started waiting in line behind us and next to us since there were 4-5 lines in a row. Maybe after 15-20 minutes, an employee came out and walked over to our line. He asked us for our confirmation page with the CITA information, looked at his tablet and entered something then asked my fiance to confirm his name. He then told us to go to the first line on the left side that was closest to the building. We waited there with others until the doors opened and a security guard let us in. Once we got inside, there were about 4 security stations set up. Everyone had to take off any belts, jewelry, watches and put any bags (including purses) in a bin. Many people did not follow directions. Expect a hold-up since this happened. Once we made it through, we were directed to go to another building. Note: you CANNOT bring in a cell phone but a purse or a bag that can close is not a problem. I had a tote bag that opened and I put all our documents and folders inside but I saw many women with their big purses and all of it passed through security.
Once we entered the building, there were sections with seats and windows that numbered from 1-45. An employee came up to us with a slip of paper that had our appointment number and stapled it to our confirmation page with the CITA information. Then he told us to go and wait for another employee to tell us where to go. She came up to us and told us to go wait in a line behind the seats. There were about 20 people waiting in line in front of us. As windows became available, the line moved forward. The seats were for people who wanted to sit down and wait for their turn rather than stand. Obviously, at least one person had to wait in line and once it was their turn, they got up and joined them. The waiting took a really long time. I would say about an hour.
Once it was our turn, we went up to a window. I thought this was going to be the K1 visa interview but turns out, it was only to get our documents prepared for the actual interview. The employee was a Dominican woman but she spoke both English and Spanish so we could answer in whatever language was most comfortable. So, the employee took out what looked like our file. She looked through some papers and then asked us for our confirmation page with the CITA information and the appointment number. Once she entered some information, she asked for my fiance’s documents that he had to prepare. We gave her the medical exam results in the sealed envelope (which she opened), police report, birth certificate, and finally his passport. She did not ask for his DS-160 confirmation page. Except for the passport, she stapled all of the other papers together. She gave my fiance a pamphlet on domestic violence and asked him to read through it. Then, she asked my fiance for his address and phone number and did the same for me. After she entered our information, she asked my fiance what he did for a living and how many years we’ve been together. The last question she asked was if my fiance had ever been married before and had any kids. Then she said she had to wait for the biometrics page to come up so she could get a photo of my fiance but it was taking a long time. So she asked us if we had a passport photo and we forgot to bring one but as we were talking, the page came up and she said it was fine. She stapled everything together then told us to take a seat in the section all the way to the left at the beginning of the windows and wait for our number to come up for our interview. This whole process to get our paperwork took about 10 minutes.
There was a large screen above the windows that had appointment numbers and window numbers to inform people of their turn and which window to go to. We waited a really long time to be called, maybe almost 2 hours. During the time, we just sat and talked to each other, practiced potential interview questions, talked about more plans to do once we got the visa (we wanted to be positive and hopeful that we would get it). We also watched people be called up to the windows. It became obvious that people were there for many different reasons since there were couples, entire families, parents with a son or daughter, siblings, elderly persons, etc.
Once our number finally came up on the screen, we got up and went to find the window since it was window 45 and we were sitting by windows 1-5. As we kept walking, an employee stopped us when we got to windows 40-44 and asked us where we were going and for what reason. My fiance said we were there for a K1 fiance visa and he said okay, that window is a private room with a door so keep going and open the door to get inside. I instantly got terrified because I thought they were taking us to a private room to interrogate us. Maybe something had happened when we answered the employee before who took our paperwork or something else. The door was marked “interview†and then I realized it’s actually a private room since it’s an interview so that couples can have privacy to answer questions.
We got inside and the employee asked us to sit down. It was an American woman. She spoke both English and Spanish. She asked us if we would like the interview to be in Spanish, English, or both. I told her (in Spanish) that we can speak Spanish since I wanted my fiance to understand everything that was being said as well. So she asked us to raise our right hands and swear that we were telling the truth for anything we said. Then my fiance had to scan his right four fingers on a machine. She opened up the same packet that was prepared earlier and looked through it. After about 30 seconds, she gave us back the photos we submitted with our I-129F. For interview questions, she only asked us 2 questions and both were directed at my fiance. She asked my fiance to tell her how we met (but I also spoke to add some more information) and she asked my fiance if he had ever traveled out of the country before and when. Once he answered the second question, she took out a stamp and said congratulations your visa is approved. It was so fast that it took me a second to realize we just got our visa. Once I realized what just happened, I told my fiance who was still waiting for more questions to be asked. We both had big smiles on our faces and kissed. The employee then told us that it would take 1-2 weeks for the visa to process and he could pick it up once it was ready. We gathered all our things and left very happy!!!
Overall, the entire process took about 3-4 hours but the actual interview was about 5 minutes. Also, I had prepared my I-134 form and supporting documents and they never even asked me for it. They also did not ask for any more proof of ongoing relationship or a current letter stating intent to marry even though we also had these prepared. I don’t know why they didn’t ask for any of these things but I would recommend that you prepare all of them anyway as it’s better to be prepared than lacking something. |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-129f was approved in 93 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 172 days from your I-129F NOA1 date. |
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Member Reviews:
Consulate Review: Dominican Republic
Review Topic: K1 Visa
|
| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
December 19, 2016 |
| Embassy Review : |
K1 Visa interview experience
We arrived late (!!!) to our 7 a.m. interview by 10-15 minutes. I was freaking out thinking that we would be turned away for being late. Thankfully, and for those of you who also will have this happen to you, it wasn’t that big of a deal. The only difference I could tell after it was all over and done with was that we may have gotten out of there sooner. However, I do think that because we weren’t very late by like 30 minutes or more, it didn’t affect our case. I don’t know what would have happened if we arrived later.
The waiting area is huge in front of the building. There were two areas for lines, one on the left side and another on the right side. We asked the security guard which side we should be in for a K1 visa interview and that we were late. He told us to wait in line on the right side. After a while, other people/couples started waiting in line behind us and next to us since there were 4-5 lines in a row. Maybe after 15-20 minutes, an employee came out and walked over to our line. He asked us for our confirmation page with the CITA information, looked at his tablet and entered something then asked my fiance to confirm his name. He then told us to go to the first line on the left side that was closest to the building. We waited there with others until the doors opened and a security guard let us in. Once we got inside, there were about 4 security stations set up. Everyone had to take off any belts, jewelry, watches and put any bags (including purses) in a bin. Many people did not follow directions. Expect a hold-up since this happened. Once we made it through, we were directed to go to another building. Note: you CANNOT bring in a cell phone but a purse or a bag that can close is not a problem. I had a tote bag that opened and I put all our documents and folders inside but I saw many women with their big purses and all of it passed through security.
Once we entered the building, there were sections with seats and windows that numbered from 1-45. An employee came up to us with a slip of paper that had our appointment number and stapled it to our confirmation page with the CITA information. Then he told us to go and wait for another employee to tell us where to go. She came up to us and told us to go wait in a line behind the seats. There were about 20 people waiting in line in front of us. As windows became available, the line moved forward. The seats were for people who wanted to sit down and wait for their turn rather than stand. Obviously, at least one person had to wait in line and once it was their turn, they got up and joined them. The waiting took a really long time. I would say about an hour.
Once it was our turn, we went up to a window. I thought this was going to be the K1 visa interview but turns out, it was only to get our documents prepared for the actual interview. The employee was a Dominican woman but she spoke both English and Spanish so we could answer in whatever language was most comfortable. So, the employee took out what looked like our file. She looked through some papers and then asked us for our confirmation page with the CITA information and the appointment number. Once she entered some information, she asked for my fiance’s documents that he had to prepare. We gave her the medical exam results in the sealed envelope (which she opened), police report, birth certificate, and finally his passport. She did not ask for his DS-160 confirmation page. Except for the passport, she stapled all of the other papers together. She gave my fiance a pamphlet on domestic violence and asked him to read through it. Then, she asked my fiance for his address and phone number and did the same for me. After she entered our information, she asked my fiance what he did for a living and how many years we’ve been together. The last question she asked was if my fiance had ever been married before and had any kids. Then she said she had to wait for the biometrics page to come up so she could get a photo of my fiance but it was taking a long time. So she asked us if we had a passport photo and we forgot to bring one but as we were talking, the page came up and she said it was fine. She stapled everything together then told us to take a seat in the section all the way to the left at the beginning of the windows and wait for our number to come up for our interview. This whole process to get our paperwork took about 10 minutes.
There was a large screen above the windows that had appointment numbers and window numbers to inform people of their turn and which window to go to. We waited a really long time to be called, maybe almost 2 hours. During the time, we just sat and talked to each other, practiced potential interview questions, talked about more plans to do once we got the visa (we wanted to be positive and hopeful that we would get it). We also watched people be called up to the windows. It became obvious that people were there for many different reasons since there were couples, entire families, parents with a son or daughter, siblings, elderly persons, etc.
Once our number finally came up on the screen, we got up and went to find the window since it was window 45 and we were sitting by windows 1-5. As we kept walking, an employee stopped us when we got to windows 40-44 and asked us where we were going and for what reason. My fiance said we were there for a K1 fiance visa and he said okay, that window is a private room with a door so keep going and open the door to get inside. I instantly got terrified because I thought they were taking us to a private room to interrogate us. Maybe something had happened when we answered the employee before who took our paperwork or something else. The door was marked “interview†and then I realized it’s actually a private room since it’s an interview so that couples can have privacy to answer questions.
We got inside and the employee asked us to sit down. It was an American woman. She spoke both English and Spanish. She asked us if we would like the interview to be in Spanish, English, or both. I told her (in Spanish) that we can speak Spanish since I wanted my fiance to understand everything that was being said as well. So she asked us to raise our right hands and swear that we were telling the truth for anything we said. Then my fiance had to scan his right four fingers on a machine. She opened up the same packet that was prepared earlier and looked through it. After about 30 seconds, she gave us back the photos we submitted with our I-129F. For interview questions, she only asked us 2 questions and both were directed at my fiance. She asked my fiance to tell her how we met (but I also spoke to add some more information) and she asked my fiance if he had ever traveled out of the country before and when. Once he answered the second question, she took out a stamp and said congratulations your visa is approved. It was so fast that it took me a second to realize we just got our visa. Once I realized what just happened, I told my fiance who was still waiting for more questions to be asked. We both had big smiles on our faces and kissed. The employee then told us that it would take 1-2 weeks for the visa to process and he could pick it up once it was ready. We gathered all our things and left very happy!!!
Overall, the entire process took about 3-4 hours but the actual interview was about 5 minutes. Also, I had prepared my I-134 form and supporting documents and they never even asked me for it. They also did not ask for any more proof of ongoing relationship or a current letter stating intent to marry even though we also had these prepared. I don’t know why they didn’t ask for any of these things but I would recommend that you prepare all of them anyway as it’s better to be prepared than lacking something.
(updated on December 19, 2016) |
| Rating : |
Good |
|
Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!
*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the
USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.
** Not all cases are transfered
ver 5.0
