K1 and K2 Immigration Stories
K1 and K2 Fiancee Visa
After the two of us decided that we wanted to be together, we needed to find out what was the best way to go about it! We looked at hundreds of different sites and I even went as far as seeing an Immigration Agent in Adelaide. He was very little help and very costly ($120.00 p/h) for my one and only visit!
We decided that the K1 visa was the way to go. Through this process my Fiance would sponsor my son and myself out to live withhim in America.
My fiance sent the first lot of paper work (he down loaded the I-129F Form from the US Immigration website) in early Feb and received approval notification in March.
Then I waited (although you can contact the consulate directly and ask for the Fiance package) for my package to be sent to me. Hey, these are scary times and all filled with uncertainties but if you take it step by step and do all that is asked, and in the way that is asked, then it will go very well for you! I received my package in April and proceeded to fill them out.
First step is the Biographical Information they want you to fill out; immigration want addresses of where you have lived back to the age of 16 and other info such as work history, school history, previous marriages if any. A lot of questions to be answered but nothing very difficult either! This data needs to be sent to the US Immigration office you are dealing with in Australia, as soon as possible, for them to process your case.
The package you are sent requires you to supply the following:
With the medical exam, you are required to use Immigration doctors that the American embassy will send you a list of. In Adelaide there are only two, our exam was over in about 10 minutes! We were asked a bunch of questions, blood pressure taken, stomach felt for anything abnormal and that was it. Painless! Although I needed to have all my immunizations done again as there weren't any records of mine as a child. You will be given a list of what is immunizations are needed.
Evidence of Relationship: Gather as much info as you can on this! For my interview in Sydney I brought photos (but not boxes of them!), phone bills (I picked out one every couple of months for about 3 years to show the length of time we had been talking), e-mails (the not so personal ones) , cards, letters from my fiance to me and letters that he and my son had sent each other to show that those two also had a relationship as well! The lady beside me at the interview even had a newspaper clipping of her engagement announcement! I had a lot less than those around me but I had a little of all areas, which was more than acceptable at the interview.
Children: With bringing children to another country you need additional information. For passports it takes two parents to sign the papers unless one parent has had nothing (absolutely nothing) to do with the child. I also made sure that my ex signed a Statutory Declaration stating that he was allowing my son to go and reside in the US. It made the going a lot smoother for us.
In the mail you will receive a time and date for your interview (I received this at the end of June). My interview set for August 5th at 10 am. BUTTERFLIES!!!
Interview: D-Day! Expect to be nervous on this day but also know that those around you are going to be as well! Make sure you have everything in order of how they want your papers to be in ( this is a MUST!). You will be asked to go to two windows and be interviewed by two separate people. One lady just looked through my papers, told me everything was in order and to sit and wait. Lady number two wanted more from us, she asked a lot of questions about Jim and myself and even asked my son a lot of questions. Actually she seemed more interested in my son than me. Then when you are told to sit and wait while they get your visa ready, what an incredible, heady feeling!!
The cost of the visas themselves were $123.00 each.
I just wanted to add that in the process of gathering data and information about your life, there are mountains of paperwork in which to get through and there isn't a set time line in which immigration will get back to you. Your life will be put on hold, you will be in the process of downsizing your life (ours was reduced to 4 suitcases) maybe even move from the home you are in, till the interview time. This can be a very stressful time, but that is quite normal! Don't give up, take it one step at a time and even though it is difficult, in no time at all, you will be with that person that makes your life just so wonderful!
Good luck future fellow K1 and K2 visa applicants!
K1 Fiancee Visa
After we decided we wanted to get married and live in the US my fiance and I had to find out what Immigration required from us. I have a cousin who came to the US and married on a Visa Waiver and had all kinds of problems because they didn't inform Immigration so I knew I had to have some kind of special Visa but didn't know what. I did a search for US Immigration and found their website and information on the K1 Fianc(e)e Visa which, seemed logically to be the one we needed. I sent a link to my fiance and he down loaded the Fiancee Petition form and sent it to Immigration in September 2002.
About two weeks later my fiance received a Confirmation of Receipt from Immigration. The document had a number on it that we could use to check our petition status on the INS website. It also said that this type of petition takes 70 to 90 days to process.
Early in October I contacted the US Consulate in Sydney via email to try and find out what to do next. The Consulate advise they would send out a package so I could begin work on the required documents. The package arrived on October 25th and I started working my way through it.
The first item on the list was the Biological Information. Immigration provides identical four forms with questions on where you have lived, work history, schooling and other basics about yourself.
I filled in the forms and sent them back to the Consulate as soon as I could then started on the other forms in the package which was then to hold onto until my interview at the Sydney Consulate. The forms were as follows:
Medical - the toughest part of this for me was trying to gather medical records with evidence of vaccinations. It helps if you can get a hold of your baby records but unfortunately my mother didn't have mine anymore. I tried contacting all the medical centres I had attended over the years without much success. Eventually I decided to make my appointment with a doctor from the list Immigration provided. These doctors are only in capital cities so I had to make the three hour drive to Melbourne to see Dr Okraglik in December 2002.
The medical exam involved filling in forms on my general medical history, a chest x-ray to check for TB, blood test tocheck for HIV/AIDS and another blood test to look for antibodies for the diseases I couldn't prove I was immunised against (I ended up having to have a couple of shots because not everything showed up in the test).
I suffer slight hearing loss in one ear and because of this had to see a specialist before Dr Okraglik would issue the medical report. I couldn't get in to see him until January 2003 and when he examined me all he found that I had slight hearing loss in one ear. I got the specialist to write a report which I faxed to the Melbourne doctor. I received the Immigration doctors report in the mail a couple of days later.
Police Report - For this I had to visit my local Police Station and have fingerprints taken. These were then sent by the Police to the state Records Services Branch to be checked. One month later I received the Police Certificate by mail.
Evidence of Support - This form is basically so Immigration has evidence showing that you have income allowing you to live in the US until they allow you to find employment. My fiance would be supporting my financially so he downloaded an Affidavit of Support form from the Immigration website, filled it in and had it notarised then sent it over to me.
Evidence of Relationship - I had loads of letters and email from my fiance and photos from my trip to the US to visit him. I gathered these and photocopied them for Immigration. If you have phone bills make copies of them too.
There were additional forms for things like Military Service and previous marriages but none of these applied to us. I did have to have my Passport, Certified copy of my Birth Certificate and Passport Photos in order before my interview too.
The time waiting to hear from Immigration was extremely painful and frustrating for us. The 70 to 90 days we were told it would take to process our application came and went. We tried contacting Immigration to find out what was going on. They refused to give information via email and phoning them meant spending hours on hold before eventually speaking to someone who was always very vague in answering questions and would get you off the phone as quickly as they could. We were both a mess. Not only did my fiance and I miss each other terribly but I felt like my life was on hold. It was like I was in a kind of no man's land. My life in Australia was winding down but I couldn't begin my life in the US. I had a garage sale, packed up what was left of my belongings, gave my cat to a neighbour and moved in with some of my long-suffering family and waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally on April 16 my fiance received a Notice of Action from Immigration! This notified us that they had approved his petition and forwarded information to the National Visa Center for processing. This processing should take 2 to 4 weeks (we weren't going to hold our breath this time) after which, NVC would forward information to the US Consulate in Sydney. Then I would be contacted by the Consulate regarding an interview.
May 5, 2003 - I received a phonecall from the US Consulate advising that they had received information from the NVC in the US. They requested that I advise by fax or mail when I had my documents ready for an interview. I faxed my response immediately after the phonecall (I'd had the documents ready for months) .
One week later the US Consulate in Sydney sent notification by mail to me to advise that they had set my interview for June 17, 2003. Finally it was all happening! I remember shaking with excitement and nerves as I read and re-read the letter.
On June 17 I flew to Sydney to attend my interview. I was extremely nervous because I had heard a couple of horror stories about the Immigration Officers. I made sure that all my documents were in the exact order requested by Immigration as someone told me that was something they were extremely fussy about.
I arrived at the MLC Building and after several security checks upon entering the MLC Building and then at the floor the Consulate is on went to the first window and handed over my documents to the officer who checked everything was in order and told me to sit and wait to be called to the second window.
The second office asked questions about when and how we met, our wedding plans, etc. She seemed to be more concerned about firing questions at me than listening to what I had to say. After the questions she told me to sit back down and wait to be called again. When she called me back she handed me my Passport and an envelope to give to Immigration Officers when I entered the US. The time taken from me entering the Consulate Office to me leaving with my Visa was one hour (I had previously been told it took all day). About half of this time was spent in the waiting room. I don't think I have ever smiled as hard as I did walking out of the US Consulate that day!
I flew to Seattle on June 25th. At US Immigration in Vancouver (my entry point to the US) the officer took the envelope and checked it's contents then stamped my Passport and I-94 (Departure) Form.
After we married my fiance and I went to Immigration in Seattle to apply for adjustment of status (again we down loaded the form from the INS website) and separately, apply for employment authorisation (I was given that form at the Consulate in Sydney). We had previously been advised to arrive at Immigration early to be sure of entry. We got to Immigration at 6am (office opens at 7am) and were 10th in line. The officer we handed the forms to advised that employment authorisation should be given in 60 to 90 days (only took about six weeks for me). Status adjustment time was not advised.
Toward the end of September I got a letter from Immigration letting me know that my Work Authorisation Application had been approved and I could get my card on October 6th. On that day we went to the immigration office, I was photographed, fingerprinted and autographed. The immigration officer gave me my Work Authorisation Card and I was now legally allowed to find employment in the US.
On December 24th we received a letter from Immigration stating that our Permanent Residency interview would be on January 23rd, 2004. We took the letter received to Immigration and were taken into an interview room. The officer took the documents we had with us (bank statements, rent agreement and other evidence of relationship) and put them in a file. He asked for copies of Ron's last three tax returns which we did not have as they weren't listed on the letter as required. The officer gave us a letter saying that these documents are to be brought in within 30 days and said the Greencard will be issued when the documents are brought in.
Two weeks later we took the extra documents requested along with the letter given to us on our previous visit to Immigration. We saw another officer who took the documents and said Permanent Residency will be granted once cleared with the FBI. We were told that this could take up to four months which was disappointing news.
On February 23rd we received a letter from Immigration welcoming me to the US. It advises that my Greencard should arrive within 3 weeks. Four days later we got another two letters the same as the first one and... MY GREENCARD!!! YAY!!! No more INS for two years!!!
The K1 Fianc(e)e Visa process is not easy because of the time involved. For us it was the only option and that's why we used it. If you are an American/Australian couple wanting to live in the US after you marry, I would strongly recommend looking at other options like the DCF or Spousal Visa. If, like us, you don't have any other choice, just remind yourself of why you are going through this process. It is so worth it! All that waiting is just a memory and now I get to spend time with my love every day. Life couldn't be better!
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