k1 application am i missing anything?

[Gman]

I'm intending to send in my K1 application this weekend.
Can you check my list and see if i'm missing anything?

Check for fee
Copy of my passport
Copy and translation of her birth certificate
Statement from her stating intent to marry
Statement from me stating intent to marry
Application
Signed copy of her biographic form
Signed copy of my biographic form
A couple of pictures of us together
Copy of a couple of plane ticket receipts
Copy of phone bill showing call
Copies of a few e mails
My ¾ face picture
Here ¾ face picture

am i forgetting anything?

Thanks,
Gman

[MarkInTx]

... in response to k1 application am i missing anything?, posted by Gman on Oct 2, 2003

You know, it was really hard for Victoria and me to wait for seven months.

But we were talking about this the other day, and (now that it is over) we see that it was really a blessing that it took that long.

In the six months between our filing and when we started making arrangements to go to Warsaw, Victoria was able to quit her job and study English.

She took lessons three times a week, and studied in her off hours. She was also free to visit her relatives and say good-bye which was really important.

America was a big shock for her as it was. Everything was completely different.

I cannot imagine how bad that would have been for her if English was as difficult as it was when I first visited her in Kiev.

So, the time apart was hard. But it helped her be better prepared for when she got here.

It really was for the best...

[Gman]

... in response to BTW... use this time well, posted by MarkInTx on Oct 6, 2003

Thanks for the thoughts.
My fiance' is already fluent and spent a year as an exchange student in Texas. So she has some idea of what she's getting into.

And she's coming to visit in 5 weeks for a 2 week visit. So she'll get an idea as to how i live.   She still has to finish her master's degree.  So a 6 - 8 month wait is OK, because she wouldn't come before then anyway.  

Gman

[Jack]

... in response to k1 application am i missing anything?, posted by Gman on Oct 2, 2003

Gman, only last week a man I know was able to save from 10 to 14 days on his interview date by doing a few extra little known things.   When considering the advice given on this board you might want to check the archives as to the reliability of past information and advice offered by some posters.

The most important thing you can do is to get the clock started, that is getting the K-1 filed.  Once the clock has started you can then send in supplemental information to your original petition. There is no sense in any man waiting 2, 3 weeks to get certain information such as police reports and birth certificates from there lady and anyone who leads you to think you need to take this extra time before filing is in my opinion passing out mis-leading information. Instead file the K-1 petition with the minimum amount of required information you need from your lady which is her signed G-325A form, her letter of intent to marry (and ofcourse photos of her with you). Then, once the clock has started, once you have recived notice from the BCIS that they have your petition and you have a receipt number, now work on getting the information that will be required from packet III and once gathered send in as a supplement to your original petition. Once this additional information is added to the packet and provided you can make the call to the Kiev / Moscow embassy before this packet III has been mailed out to your fiancee, you can get an interview date given at that time, thus saving anywhere from 9 to 14 days in the time it would take the embassy to mail packet III to your fiancée and for her to mail it back. However if you reach the embassy after the packet has already been mailed out they will not generally give you an interview date as they will wait for her to send back confirmation that she has all required information. You must make your telephone request before packet III has been mailed out.  Usually if you begin calling the respective embassy some 5 or 6 working days after you have received notice that your petition has been sent to the embassy, you can usually get hold of someone about the time the petition has got to them.  The telephone call is important and the only way you will be given an interview date but I also recommend to send a fax and e-mail request the day before your first telephone call.

[SteveM]

... in response to Re: k1 application am i missing anything..., posted by Jack on Oct 3, 2003

Jack,

I realize you have more current information than me on most subjects, and I didn't realize that Moscow has started mailing Packet 3.  When we did our K-1 in 2000, Moscow was not doing Packet 3, but rather mailed a combined Packet 3/Packet 4, along with an interview date, upon receipt of our approval from Vermont Service Center.

Let me know if I should be updating what I am telling people.

Steve M.

[MarkInTx]

... in response to k1 application am i missing anything?, posted by Gman on Oct 2, 2003

Well, for one thing, you might want to send a cashiers check or money order instead of a check. The INS keeps flip-flopping on that one.

I know that for our adjustment of status, I sent a check (because they said you could) and then they changed policy (and rates, too) between the time I mailed it and the time they received it (which was about three days.)

You'd think they would "grandfather" me and accept it because the postmark was before policy changed...huh? Nope. Sent it back and told me to send a money order...

Anyway... If you want the whole checklist I sent, email me and I can send it to you.

Some guys on here will tell you that you need a lot more than you are sending. I didn't send what they claimed you need, and she got here just fine.

To me, it seemed senseless to spend weeks gathering things (which you don't need) in order to "speed up your application" by... weeks.

Start to stop, Victoria was here in a little over seven months, which ain't bad for Texas. (That is from the moment I started the process to the time she stepped onto American soil in Boston...) I do not think she would have been here any faster if I had gathered up Police Reports, blood tests, and all the rest of the stuff that I have read here that you need (and which, btw, the INS website never asks for...)

But to each his own, I guess.

If you want my TOC, let me know...

[LP]

... in response to Re: k1 application am i missing anything..., posted by MarkInTx on Oct 3, 2003

....is that all? You were lucky it went that quickly for you. I personaly feel it would have gone just a little faster had you'd done some things differently. You were right to send only what they require but the downside of a smaller package is that it can get misplaced and delay processing for a few weeks.

At any rate, it's a moot point now...

[exlabman]

... in response to 7 months?..., posted by LP on Oct 3, 2003

I am now in the process and thought this might help....I sent the bare minimum of documents to Texas Sevice Center for my bride to be in Ukraine.

1st NOA....May 23
2nd NOA....Sept 29
Paperwork is already at NVC in New Hamp.and should be in Kiev in about 2 weeks or so and we have already prepared the needed documents for "Packet 3" so as soon as Lena get Packet 3 in the mail she will fax the reply form to the embassy the same day. The embassy seems to be working on a 3 week time frame for interview dates. So all in all she should be here in USA for Thanksgiving ( everyones prayers will be appreciated).

The main point is that you do not need a thick stack of paperwork in order to get their attention.

Larry
Atlanta

[MarkInTx]

... in response to Re: 7 months?...  My time -line to this ..., posted by exlabman on Oct 3, 2003

That would make a great Thanksgiving!

Our prayers are with you!